Unlocking Your Family's Service In World War 2

Famous Piper Bill Millin 's
D Day landing at
Sword Beach, Normandy

With the D Day commemorations this weekend, it brings into focus the part played in World War 2 by many people's families.  

How do you find out about the part your family played in the World War 2? 

Well, it is a straightforward process to obtain your own service record or the records of your family who served in World War 2 as members of the UK armed forces.  

The process differs, depending on whether you are requesting your own records, if you are the next of kin of a deceased service person or if you simply have a general interest in an individual. 

The general rules surrounding all service records are that there is no fee for providing a copy of your own service record.  If the member of the armed services is deceased, again there is generally no fee to anyone who was the spouse or civil partner at the time of the service person's death.  This also applies to their parents if there is no spouse or civil partner.  Other people applying for a record will normally be charged a fee. At the time of publishing , the fee is £30.

There may be some other costs as you may need to provide a death certificate or perhaps proof of your own relationship to the deceased person and if you do not have these certificates then you will need to purchase them.

Applications go to the relevant service body and can take some time to be found as they are increasingly being asked for records for family history reasons. However, they will respond and in our experience, they are also good at providing information about the meaning of all the various abbreviations and terms. 

You need to give them as much information as possible to track down the correct person - especially if it is a common name. That's why it is important to know what information is important and Kin Tree can help you with this as we are experienced in helping with applications.

Under the scheme, and in recognition of the duty of care owed to the family of the deceased subject, for a period of 25 years following the date of death of the subject and without the consent of the next of kin, the MOD will disclose only:

• surname
• forename
• rank
• service number
• regiment/corps
• place of birth
• age
• date of birth
• date of death where this occurred in service
• the date an individual joined the service
• the date of leaving
• good conduct medals (for example, Long Service and Good Conduct Medal (LS&GCM)), any orders of chivalry and gallantry medals (decorations of valour) awarded, some of which may have been announced in the London Gazette

After this period, and if it is held, in addition the MOD will disclose without the requirement for next of kin consent:

• the units in which he/she served
• the dates of this service and the locations of those units
• the ranks in which the service was carried out and details of campaign medals awarded

If you have obtained the permission of the next of kin then the 25 year rule does not apply.

For more information on applying or if you want to learn more about the other records available on service personnel contact us at kintree@ymail.com.

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WDYTYA Tickets Now On Sale

Tickets are now on sale for Who Do You Think You Are's three day show in Glasgow at the SECC from Friday 29th August - Sunday 31st August. Regular readers will remember us mentioning back in March that the show was coming to Glasgow.

This show is a must for everyone interested in genealogy whether they are a complete beginner or a professional.  Along with the stalls displaying and selling all sorts of genealogy products and services, there will be talks on a wide range of genealogical subjects, experts to help you learn how to break down your brick walls and general advice on how to start your family tree 

All the major genealogical societies, archives, museums and major free and subscription websites will be there so if there is anything you need to know, then this is the place to be!

Tickets are available online or by calling 0844 873 7330. Advanced single tickets are priced £14 for adults, £24 for a two-day ticket and £30 for a three-day ticket, while children under 16 go free. 

If you can book by 4 June 2014, there is a discount on single day tickets where you can buy two for £20.  You need to quote either of these codes to get the discount: EB20 or WDM2420.

If you need any further help with your family tree or would like to find out more about how to make the most of your trip to WDYTYA, then please get in touch for a no obligation chat at kintree@ymail.com.

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Wills and Testaments - A Treasure Trove of Family History Information

Wills and testaments are an excellent way to find out more information about your ancestors. They can tell you about the types of belongings that people owned such as tools from their job, furniture, savings etc. Depending on the time period, it might also list property that is owned.

So in Scotland, what is a will and what is a testament?

A testament is basically a list of all the person's property and may also include a valuation of these items.

A will is the statement made before a person dies explaining how they wish their goods to be disposed of once they have died.

• If someone dies and has a will, it is know as a testament testamentar.  
• If there is no will then it is known as a testament dative.

Where do we find testaments in Scotland?

Testaments made from 1514-1925 have been digitally imaged and they are available to see online at Scotland's People.  They also give a good explanation and examples of testaments.  You can search for free i.e. you do not pay 1 credit to look at the summary of your search results in the way you do for some of their other records.  If you want to look at the detail of a specific record, then you will be charged to look at the record.   Records often have several pages of information but there is a standard charge to look at the whole document no matter how many pages.  If you visit a Scotland's People Centre then you will be able to look at these images too.

From 1926 up until records from 10 years ago, you need to visit the National Records of Scotland search rooms in Edinburgh.  Before visiting, it is worth checking their website for all the details that you will need to know to be able to perform a search.  It is also advisable to contact them prior to your visit to check the availability of records.

If you are looking for a testament that is less than 10 years old then you need to contact the Commissary Department, Edinburgh Sheriff Court, 27 Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1LB.

For more advice on wills and testaments contact us at kintree@ymail.com.

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Top Tips For Deciphering Old Handwriting

We are often ask why it it that we have so much success deciphering old handwriting.  Part of that is experience but there are also some good tips to help make this easier.

Check out the National Records of Scotland's website Scottish Handwriting which gives free tuition on Scottish handwriting.  Whether you want to do all the exercises or use it as a reference for the style of old letters, it is an invaluable aid.

During the 16th and 17th centuries in Scotland, most legal documents were written in Latin or Scots so it's important to become familiar with Latin genealogy terms and also to have a good Scots dictionary or visit the Dictionary of the Scots Language online.

If you are looking at a document online or scanned into your computer then it is normally possible to make a negative image of the original.  This can often decipher unclear handwriting.

Get used to the style of the writer. If you are looking at a long document then this is easy but if you are looking at a document such as a birth/marriage/death certificate then try looking for other records that you are interested in from the same location around the same time period.  You will often find a registrar is there for many years and so you have more examples of their handwriting for reading practice.

If you have trouble deciphering a word then write down what you think it is and then search for the word online.  This will often give you good results and also an explanation of any unfamiliar words.  It's also a great way of pinning down streets and place names accurately. 

If you are completely stuck with a word, it helps to try to break it down into individual letters.  If this still proves a problem, look in the document for that letter in other words where you have been able to read a word.

A fresh pair of eyes can help!  Not only if you are tired, though that can be a problem at times but by asking someone else to look.  Everyone has their own way of looking at things and sometimes they can decipher a puzzling word or phrase.

The vocabulary used is often different to the words we use now however if you read a document and find a word that is unfamiliar, it does not mean that you have made a mistake. Transcribe what you see and make an educated guess as to what it might mean in the context of the document. Once again, it is worth checking online for the meaning of words if you are unfamiliar with them.

Along with vocabulary, spelling, grammar, and abbreviations have all changed over the centuries - and more than once!  Sometimes there is no shortcut but to research these!

Find out how we can help you decipher puzzling words or documents by contacting us for a no obligation chat at kintree@ymail.com.

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Using Valuation Rolls To Unlock Your Family's Story

Many people are aware of valuation rolls but are not sure what they are or what information they hold that can be helpful for family historians. 

The Valuation Rolls were compiled every year from 1855 until 1987. Valuation rolls for the inter-census years 

1855-1856, 1865-1866, 1875-1876

1885-1886,1895-1896,  1905-1906, 

1916-1916, 1925-1926, 1935-1936

1945-1946, 1955-1956

have been indexed along with the years    

NRS, Edinburgh

1920-21, 1930-1931, 1940-1941, 1950-1951. 

At the moment, you can search the 

1885, 1895, 1905, 1915 and 1920 rolls 

on the Scotland's People website and all the indexed Rolls from 1855-1955 can be searched in the National Records for Scotland (NRS) Historical Search Room in Edinburgh. For more information, check on the NRS website.

So why might you want to use the valuation roles?

• They can help to track down ancestors.  This can be especially useful if an ancestor is known to be alive but has not been found on the census.
• It's useful for information on your ancestors for recent years where the census is yet to be released.
• It is also a way of finding out about the history of a house. It can be especially interesting if it is your house! 
• Finding out who were the owners of the property can reveal a lot about your family's history.  Did they own a property or were they tenants? 
• It can reveal if your ancestors were tenants of a house attached to a work place for example.  That can often explain why they might move locally if they go to work for a new employer. 
• If your ancestors owned a property or more than one property, it can give more of an idea of their financial position. 
• It's a way of finding out about the wider community in which your ancestor lived - shops, businesses, churches, schools, hospitals to name but a few.  The social history of the area can be great to build up a picture of your relatives.

For more information on valuation rolls, please contact us for a no obligation chat.

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Thinking Of Going To A Family History Event?

Visiting a family history event may feel a bit daunting if you have never been before but please take the plunge and go along!  Whether you are simply curious, have done some work or you are a veteran of family research, there will be someone worth talking to.

Family history societies are often the driving force behind these events and work hard to bring together all sorts of experts from local to national so do not feel that you need to have a connection to a particular geographic area to benefit from an event.  Along with stalls, there are usually talks and the chance to try out some websites.  You will often find that it's a good chance to see products for real that you may have thought about buying online.  

It's important to support these events if you can and especially when they are run by family history societies. These societies are usually run on a shoestring and the members put in many hours of voluntary work to make records accessible to us all so they deserve our support.

At the other end of the scale, for the first time, the "Who Do You Think You Are?" live show is coming to Scotland and will be at Glasgow's SECC from 29th-31st August.  Tickets are not on sale yet but when they do go on sale, they are expected to sell out fast so if you are planning to go, don't wait to buy your tickets. 

What this show can do which is beyond the financial means of smaller shows, is to bring together great numbers of national and international exhibitors under one roof, whilst still having a place for local family historians and societies.  It will be packed with genealogy experts, free workshops, a celebrity theatre and specialist exhibitors.

The event is being held in Scotland as it is Scotland's Year of Homecoming and Ancestry is one of the themes.  However, hopefully if it is a success it will come back again.

Andy Healy, Show Director of Who Do You Think You Are? Live, commented:

“I am extremely excited that our first show outside of London will be held in Scotland, and will form part of this special year of Homecoming celebrations. Who Do You Think You Are? Livehelps gnealogists, from beginners to experts, to further unravel their family history stories and I am delighted that we will be able to bring our interactive, informative and entertaining live event to a brand new audience later in the year.”

Tourism Minister Fergus Ewing said:

"There is tremendous curiosity to uncover family roots, especially in the USA, a country that boasts an estimated 9.4 million Scottish descendants.  The Year of Homecoming 2014 will provide a unique opportunity to encourage more and more visitors, both international and domestic to come and enjoy Scotland and will position Scotland on the international stage as a dynamic and creative nation. This family history event, Who Do You Think You Are? Live, will help tourism business across Scotland tap into the ancestral tourism market.”

Top Census Searching Tips

As experts in family research, Kin Tree are pleased to pass on some of our top tips for searching census returns. Don't forget though it can often save you time and money to ask an expert for help so please feel free to get in touch for a free chat. We offer hourly rates or packages so you are always in control of how much you spend.  Contact us at kintree@ymail.com

Top Census Searching Tips

Names

People's names were written down by the enumerators and so often names were spelt incorrectly or even misheard.  After that, these records have been transcribed and however good the transcriptions are, there is room for error and illegible writing!  It's a good idea to included the various options such as soundex that widens the return of names. 

Birth Dates

Even when you know a person's exact details such as their birth date, it is better to give a wider search for their birth year.  Sometimes there can be different ages given on each census as people were much more vague about details such as their date of birth. Also, it's worth remembering that depending on when their birthday falls, their birth year has often been calculated from the age at the time of the census and takes no account of whether they have had a birthday that year. 

Official Name Vs Every Day Name

Census records often recorded the name that a person was known by rather than their birth name. It could be something easy like Tom for Thomas or Peggy for Margaret but it can be enough to throw a spanner in the works.  It's always worth trying variations of the name to see if it produces results. 

Unusual First Names

It can be great to search for unusual surnames in general family research but within the census, an unusual first name can be a great bonus too.  If you are having problems, try putting only the first name in if it is unusual and it will often bring up the result for which you are searching.

Family Connections

Check out the census returns for other members of the family.  You may find your ancestor living with them!  Especially useful for tracking down younger and older relations.

Census Years

When you can select more than one census at a time then select to search only one at a time.  In most searches, the more years that the search engine has to search through, the less specific it is with the results it returns.  

Away From Home At The Census

Many people were absent from home on the night of the census.  This means they will not be recorded at the expected address.  They could be visiting someone, in the armed forces, hospital or prison, for example.

Less Is More!

Don't feel the need to fill in all the search information in the boxes provided.  If you do, it only takes only one thing to be different and you will not find what you are looking for. It's easier to refine your search further if you need to but sometimes it is necessary to simply look through a number of results to find the correct one! 

Different Site, Different Results

There are often multiple sites where you can search for census records.  Often a search on one can produce no results whilst on another site, the same search will bring up your record straight away. 

Don't stick to the same search variations

Things like a wildcard search, soundex, fuzzy matching are a good way to look for alternative spellings but each indexing method will always leave some variations out that you might expect it to include.  So remember to try all the variations if your favourite doesn't return what you are looking for.

Keep Notes

Record all the information on the census.  You can find that even those who seem like no more that casual visitors can be part of your family's story in the future!

Don't Give Up!

Even when you think that you have exhausted all avenues, remember to keep all the information you have.  There is new information available all the time which can help to track down your ancestors.

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Ever come across conflicting evidence and wonder what to believe?

Sometimes you can come across conflicting evidence when researching family history.

In Scotland, birth, marriage and death certificates give detailed information not only of the person or people registered in the event but also give details of the parents.

Death certificates are a common source of conflicting evidence.  The person registering the death is likely to be upset and can give the wrong information accidentally.  They may not know some of the details or guess at them.  Dependent on the registrar taking the details, they may have been encouraged to provide an answer so that no gaps were left!

However, even in birth and marriage certificates, details can bee recorded incorrectly.

For birth certificates, it is often only one parent who attended to register the birth and they may not know the details of their partner's family or some forget their marriage date!  

With marriage certificates, there may be problems as one person may have filled in the details for both even though each person needs to sign the forms.  

For any documentation, it may simply be that your ancestors could not read or write and they were reliant on someone else recording the details with no way for them to correct any mistakes.

So how do we deal with these types of problems?

Where we can corroborate the evidence then there is much more likelihood that this will be the correct information.  Sometimes of course, when it has been recorded incorrectly once, then it may be repeated if the information is simply copied.  However, what is far more likely is that it will be recorded incorrectly once and correctly on other occasions.

There may only be two pieces of evidence however so how should you deal with this? If you are recording a birth for example and have conflicting dates with no way to choose between the two, then record anything that is certain.  

John Hunter

Using the example of the renowned physician and anatomist John Hunter who was born in 1728, we find that his birth was recorded in the parish records as being 14 July 1728.  However recorded evidence shows he celebrated and believed his birthday to be 13 February 1728. 

On a family tree therefore we can record the year of his birth and the place as neither of these facts are disputed and are corroborated.

Keep a record of the other information and put a note in your files about the disputed date as you do not know what other information may come to light in the future to help clarify this.

If you are writing a family history book then you can record the date but add in the information about the conflicting evidence on the day and month of birth.  This can be an interesting item to include and most of us enjoy the mystery and to think about what might have happened!

For more information on how we can help you sort through conflicting evidence, please get in touch for a no obligation chat.

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How To Write About Your Own Life

Whilst researching your family history is in itself an absorbing and interesting hobby, most people also hope that they information that they have collated will be passed on down through the generations.

It can be easy to forget about your own personal story or feel that you have nothing to contribute. Don't forget though that as you are interested in your ancestors' lives, descendants will be interested in your own story.  Although we might record the big events in life and find them easy to document, it is often the small things that you find out that make your ancestors' stories really come to life.

So how do you start to do this in a meaningful way? What to write about and what to leave out?  What if you don't feel confident in writing about your own life?

A great way to start is by thinking about one of your ancestors who you did not get a chance to meet and think about what you would have liked to ask them if you had been given a chance.  

Write down a list of questions - it doesn't matter if it's a long or a short list. Sometimes it can be difficult to think of questions but usually once you get started, it gets easier as ideas start to flow.  You can try to write your list all in one go or over a period of time. If you like to write electronically then write your questions using this format and if you prefer pen and paper then use those.  The thing is to feel as comfortable as possible with the format.

After this and in your own time, start to answer these questions but for yourself.  If you can't think of something to write about a specific question then leave it.  Most of us can write down a few words at least about places where we have lived or worked.  It doesn't need to be a long piece of writing if you don't like writing much.  Anything that you write will be precious to your descendants.

It can also be good for inspiration to think about how things have changed in your lifetime.  The rate at which technology is changing our lives for example, is surprising and any observations that you make about changes that you have seen would be interesting to future family historians.

Radio Times listing

So what kind of observations might you make? 

It could be something as simple as tv schedules.  It is not long since everyone relied on a weekly magazine or magazines to check out what their next week's viewing would be for example.

Now with television guides available on your television set, catch up television and guides and news accessed online in a variety of ways, it would be interesting for future generations to know how much these magazines were a part of every day life. 

Your descendants will treasure your thoughts and memories even if they are simply a few notes on a scrap of paper.  However, it is also possible to expand on this by writing it up or by getting it written up into a fuller piece. Even if you don't have personal photos etc to add to this, a little research can easily be done to add some images.

At Kin Tree we are experts in writing up family stories so even if you are only looking for some advice or guidance, please get in touch for a chat.

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Why Cross Referencing Is Important

OK, we are going to say it.... Some family research is not exciting!  However, we are going to qualify that by saying, the bits that might seem less fun can actually turn out to be the most exciting as they can solve a few puzzles.

The bits that can seem less exciting are often when you need to write down all your facts and cross reference them.  It can be, for example that you have all the birth, marriage and death records for a couple and have found all their children too.  You may have also checked some census records and they always seem to live in the same place.  It may seem pointless to write down the details from every census but it can be remarkable what you find.

This can be particularly helpful where there has been some unclear handwriting on a record.  Perhaps a name that is unclear on one record shows up more legibly in another. This can be of particular importance when it is pre statutory BMD records.  There can be little information on church records, especially about women.  Maybe you have recorded a marriage and the woman's mother's name is not clear.  you take a stab at it but without an accurate name, you can look no further for records. At another time, you record a census record where an unexpected name turns up.  By cross referencing, you can check if it relates to the name that was unclear.  Even thought the census record should record the relationship with the head of the household, it is very common for these to be recorded incorrectly or even transcribed incorrectly. 

It is not simply handwriting that is a good reason for cross referencing. One one occasion, we had a census record where a child's birth was recorded.  Before the census, the child's father had died.  We had not found a record of his death but his widow had remarried and had noted that she was a widow on her new marriage certificate.  Later, we had tracked down her late husband's death (he had died abroad) and through cross checking, we realised that he could not be the father of the last child as he was dead before this child could be conceived.  We had not looked further into this child's birth at this stage as it was the sibling of the ancestors that we were researching.  It turned out to be an interesting story, if sad.  The child had been born in the poorhouse but through these records, we were able to piece what had happened to the family after the father's death.  Only by cross referencing all the information on this family were we able to piece this story together fully.

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Keep Asking Those Family Members!

Every family tree begins with the information that you already know and normally the next step is to ask other family members for details.  Once you have these then it may seem like you will have exhausted your family's knowledge but nothing could be further from the truth.

At the start, we tend to ask for names and dates of birth, marriages and deaths.  If our relatives have documents or photos this is great too and most are happy to allow copies to be made.

People often think they are giving you everything they have but will later find, when clearing out a box or things in the loft, that they have all sorts of other items that can help to build your family's story.

There is normally someone in the family that is good at keeping family information so ask in your family about who is normally the best source of information. However ask everybody for information as everyone has their own experiences and knowledge that is unique to them. If anyone in the family passes away then sensitively ask if you could look at any family information that is found if a family member is going through paperwork, photographs or other items.

Old letters, diaries, address books, jewellery and medals are common finds from a clear out of a loft when a family is moving home or simply having a tidy up.  Sometimes there will be more unusual items too. All these items can help to build the details of your ancestors.  At Kn Tree we are expert in explaining the significance of objects from the everyday to the unusual and what they tell us about your family.

In amongst this treasure trove, it is also common to find more documents such as certificates also.  These things are often stored away carefully but are also often forgotten about until they are unearthed for some other reason.  So it is good to ask your relatives to remember your family tree research if they later come across anything related to your ancestors.

Older relatives are good sources of information on family life and other information however people often remark that these relatives can be reluctant to talk or have seemed to have forgotten any details.  Sometimes there may have been a family rift or an event and they do not want to discuss it or anything in relation to it. Never press on a particular issue but of course, it can also be that you do not know of an issue so don't know there may be a sensitive point.  

There are ways to chat though where you will not be stepping on toes and this can help with those relatives that are simply not great conversationalists too!

Try to avoid the type of question which makes it easy to say yes or no.  For example, do not ask

Did you like school?

Instead, you could ask

What was school like when you were there?

Similarly, if you want to know more about home life then a question asking about home life might not get much of a response if it was not happy or they are someone who is not much of a talker but by saying

What was it like in your neighbourhood when you were growing up?

This can be a great starting point to find out more about family life.  The social history of a family brings it to life more than simple names and dates. 

For more information on unearthing family treasures and talking to family members :

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How Social Media Can Help Your Family Tree Research

Social media can help you in your family tree research  in a number of ways. 

1. Keeping You Up-To-Date

Genealogy sites such as Kin Tree, Ancestry and Find My Past have Facebook and Twitter pages along with blogs where you can keep abreast of all the latests news.  Even if you don't use them for anything else, it's worth checking these out and connecting with their pages t make sure that you don't miss out.

2.Tracking Down Living Relations

If you have an idea of where an unknown relative is based then a search on social media can be very fruitful. It also has the advantage of allowing them to check you out and to see you are a genuine person and not a scammer.

3. Surname Groups

Social media is full of groups who share the same surname.  This can be helpful in a number of ways.  Firstly, you can find out about the surname and where people are located in the world. Secondly, you may find a family connection. Lastly, other people researching the same surname may be able to give you pointers or have information on the family name that is useful to you.

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4. Historical and Geographical Groups

There are many social media pages out there who are interested in events or places with which your ancestors were connected.  most are friendly and helpful and can fill you in on details that you may not have found anywhere else.

5. Answering questions

Try putting in a search on Twitter for example, for something for which you have questions. In this example (below) the phrase "Seaforth Highlanders" was used and below gives you a flavour of the results.  You can select to look for people called "Seaforth Highlanders", where the phrase is used (as we did) or to look for images.

Bonnie Saunders ‏@Glasstreasures21 Sep

Here is today's feature for you. This is The Seaforth Highlanders Badge Plate. I hope you all enjoy and... http://fb.me/2s3HTQSFK 

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•  Reply 
•  Retweet 
•  Favorite 

We Are The Dead ‏@WeAreTheDead20 Sep

Pte. Eric Oswald Cleugh (Seaforth Highlanders of Canada). Dec. 27, 1942.

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Valour and Gallantry ‏@VC_GC3 Sep

VC: Lance Corporal Robert McBeath (Seaforth Highlanders) First World War http://bit.ly/Xy46jh  #VC

Retweeted by ScotsMilitaryHistory

6. Ask A Community

There are many social media communities out there or a variety of topics where you can simply ask a question.  People are generous with their help and will be glad to help you find information or point you in the right direction.

At Kin Tree, we are experts in the use of social media so please don't hesitate to contact us for more information.

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