News Stories from Berkshire Family History Society
We're happy to launch a series of reports that you can use to test the validity of the data you enter into YourTrees. Invalid or unlikely dates. Missing or multiple names, unknown gender and more ...
The 1921 Census is coming and you're invited to hear about it directly from Findmypast in one of two talks hosted by Berkshire FHS
Berkshire Family History Society introduces a new member service - YourTrees - to enable members to preserve their research and create a digital legacy Free for members
The Genealogist has provided some new and valuable search options for the 1939 Register. Using the combination of its unique and powerful search tools and SmartSearch technology, you now have now flexible options when searching for your ancestors in this important resource.Learn more at https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/1939-registerYou can now find your ancestors in this ‘1939 census’ by using keywords (eg occupation or date of birth), by using an address, or even by forename.Once you've found a family record in the Register, click on the street name to see the neighbours on that street, and perhaps find other relatives living nearby.By using The Genealogists’s SmartSearch facility, you can jump straight to an ancestor’s birth, marriage of death record too.Two further reminders. The 1939 Register lists people with their full dates of birth (so often better than an age in a census record or a GRO index reference). Do't forget, with The Centre for Heritage and Family History closed at present, The Genealogist remains accessible to members…
By mid-April there are over 42 million digitised pages in the British Newspaper Archive And besides titles from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, there is a growing collection of publications from Southern Ireland too.Additions this month include the Reading Standard (nearly 50,000 pages from 1891-95 and 1897-1961) and the Oxford Chronicle and Reading Gazette (for 1898).From the pages of the Aberdare Times to the 120 issues of the Young Woman, many of your ancestors featured in the press during their lives and can be found somewhere within this collection of digitised newspapers and magazines. Go to the site and search the newspapers
The Family History Federation has just added 3.4 million burial entries from the National Burial Index for England and Wales to Findmypast. Many of these entries you won’t find anywhere else. Don’t forget the society’s account with Findmypast Worldwide is available to all members, via the Members’ only area of the website.Search the NBI records at:https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-records/national-burial-index-for-england-and-wales
A landmark project to digitise all UK First World War pension records has been completed. The records are particularly precious because most First World War service records were destroyed during the Blitz. They include records of all servicemen who were injured in the war and subsequently received a pension, including the nature of the serviceman’s injury and the percentage of disablement he was deemed to have, as well as the names and addresses of his next of kin. They also include details of pensions paid to the wives and children of those who were killed.They were originally scheduled to be destroyed by the Ministry of Defence in 2012, but were saved by the Western Front Association who partnered with Ancestry to digitise the records on Ancestry’s military-focused website Fold3.The records collection has now been completed with the release of 2,917,148 records of pension cards for ordinary soldiers who were injured. In total, there are 7,522,448 records in the collection covering the Army, Royal…
Berkshire Family History Society works to meet the needs of those researching their ancestry across the UK and overseas – as well as those looking for former relatives in historic Berkshire. You do not need to be a member to benefit.
The society offers:
Research Zone in central Reading that is free to use and open to all
Free access at The Centre for Heritage and Family History to online resources like FindMyPast, the 1939 Register, The Genealogist, the British Newspaper Archive and Ancestry (the worldwide edition)
Regular free help and advice sessions
Meetings in Abingdon, Bracknell, Newbury, Reading and Windsor; and a virtual Computer Branch which meets online. All meetings are open to everyone
Community forum – informed answers to research queries and advice from experienced researchers
Members’ Area with data and other information not readily accessible elsewhere
Indexes and transcriptions of Berkshire’s historic records on CD — parish registers, probate documents, monumental inscriptions, maps, First World War history and more
Quarterly magazine, the Berkshire Family Historian, for members
a chance to join in project work, recording, transcribing and helping to preserve records
Links to the research experience, advice and support of members worldwide