Do you have Huguenot ancestors? 

Yes? Then you will be interested to know that we added these new 
CD-ROMS to the family history collection this week. 

1 GEN REL HUG    Huguenot Families Numbers One to Twenty
4 ENG REL HUG   Consistory and Administrative Records c. 1560-1660
4 ENG REL HUG    Reg. of the French Church of Threadneedle St, London
4 ENG REL HUG    Reg. of the French Churches of La Patente & Saint Jean, Spitalfields
4 ENG REL HUG    Reg. of the French Churches of the Cities of London &  Westminster & of Spitalfields

4 ENG REL HUG    Reg. of the Walloon & Huguenot Churches of Canterbury, Bristol, Plymouth, Southampton & Stonehouse
4 ENG REL HUG    Reg. of the Walloon & Huguenot Churches of Norwich, Colchester, Thorney & Thorpe-le-Soken
4 IRL REL HUG      Reg. of the French Churches in Dublin & Portarlington, Ireland
5 EUR REL HUG    Reg. of the French Churches of Guisnes, Cadzand, Dover & Le Mans
6 AAM REL HUG    Naturalizations of Foreign Protestants in the American Colonies

To find more resources in the family history collection, type the word 'Huguenot' in the subject search box of the Classic Catalogue and limit the search to 'Heritage & Research' in the drop down menu.

Good luck with your search!

The Family History Team

Findmypast which is available on the Digital Library now offers access to some historic Trade Union membership records, especially those for the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants (ASRS) and the Amalgamated Society of Carpenters and Joiners (ASCJ).   Unfortunately it doesn’t include the other big craft Union, the Amalgamated Society of Engineers (ASE).

Back in the day, I was asked for details on a carpenter who was active in Labour Party and Union politics in the early twentieth century in Auckland.  The family were unsure as to where he had first apprenticed and worked as a carpenter, but I happened to know that the Modern Records Centre at the University of Warwick in Britain had historical records of the ASCJ.   That Union, and others, acted as an international Union with branches worldwide, including within New Zealand.   The Centre in Warwick had no difficulty in tracing our carpenter and confirmed that he was a member of a Dublin Branch before moving to New Zealand, where he transferred to an Auckland ASCJ Branch. Members readily transferred from one Branch to another as they moved around the world for work.

Image of record from findmypast.

The example shows a page for the Mount Eden, Auckland, Branch of the ASCJ for 1911.   Note the Branch number was 892.



The particular carpenter I was looking for here was Tom (Thomas) Bloodworth who was a long time Labour Party, Trade Union and local body activist.  Note he is here just as ‘T. Bloodworth’, at number 10 on the page.

You can search by name, or drill down using Education & Work and then Record Set: Britain, Trade Union membership registers.  You can then select Image or Transcript.


David Verran

We have Fijian birth, death and marriage records on microfilm on permanent loan from the LDS in the Central Auckland Research Centre. They are divided into the categories General, Fijian, Indian and European and are helpfully indexed.

This is an example of an index, taken from Fiji births, general index 1876-1960.

A birth record may give you date, name, sex, parent’s names and ages, whether married, previous children, profession and parents’ birth place, with signature or their ‘mark’. This example is from Births general 1883-1891.


This example is from Births general 1911 in Fiji (although the child was born in 1888 the birth wasn't registered until later, along with two of his other siblings).

Church of Ireland Parish Register List

The Representative Church Body Library (RCB Library), the main repository of the Church of Ireland (CofI), has released an updated list of CofI parish registers.  The new list, which can be downloaded, free of charge, from the Archive section of the Church of Ireland website is arranged alphabetically by parish name (with parishes within the main cities alphabetically listed under the name of each city).

Sir George Grey Special Collections,  Auckland Libraries, AWNS-19140326-42-1

It may be considered as the definitive list for registers in the Republic of Ireland.  The RCB Library is working with the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) in Belfast for material relating to parishes in the nine counties of Ulster.

For further information about the project please read the RCB Library Notes article by Dr Susan Hood.

Regards
Maureen

Access  New Zealand WWI and WWII military service personnel files.

Sometimes the journey depends on the strength of the passengers. Sir George Grey Special  Collections, AWNS-19230816-40-1.

The Knights depart London aboard Orvieto on 30 April 1927 bound for Australia:

UK, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960 from Ancestry.com

Fremantle, Western Australia, Passenger Lists, 1897-1963 from Ancestry.com

New Zealand, Passenger Lists, 1839-1973 from Family Search.

Happy searching!

Karen & Maureen

     New records added to




If you have not looked at the website, findmypast recently, you may be unaware of their current scheme to add 100 record sets in 100 days.  This will cover parish registers,  military records, death and marriage notices from newspapers.  New record sets from around the world will be released weekly.

Image from www.findmypast.com.au website

To date, the following records have been added:

New York City marriage and death notices 1835-80
[USA] Civil War – soldiers, sailors, prisoners, medals of honour 1861-65
pre 1901 Irish census (some counties only)
Shropshire parish registers 1538-1900, Banns 1760-1900

Military
Malayan Emergency  - Commonwealth Deaths 1948-60
Welsh Guards 1914-18
Palestine Conflict British deaths 1945-48
Cyprus Emergency deaths 1955-60
Royal Artillery other ranks casualty cards 1939-47
Royal Artillery attestations 1883-1942
Australian Imperial Force – embarkation roll & nominal roll 1914-18
Royal Navy seamen & officers 1899-1919
Royal Marines 1899-1920
Royal Fusiliers – Stockbrokers Battalion 1914-18 & 23rd Battalion (1st Sportsman’s Battalion) 1914-18
South Down Battalions (11th, 12th & 13th Royal Sussex)
Salford Pals (15th, 16th, 19th & 20th Lancashire Fusiliers)
Liverpool Pals (17th, 18th, 19th & 20th King’s Liverpool Regt)
Glasgow Pals 1914-18
Edinburgh Pals 1914-18 (15th & 16th Royal Scots Regt)
1st Bradford Pals (16th West Yorkshire Regt)
Birmingham Employers’ Roll of Honour 1914-18
Birmingham Pals 1914-18

Sailors from the German naval ship Alexandrine which visited New Zealand in 1891. Sir George Grey Special Collections, 4-RIC176.

This looks as if it is going to be a very interesting and useful collection of records when the project is completed -- well worth checking on for new additions.

Next time you visit your local library, findmypast is accessible from the Family History eResources & databases in the  Digital Library.

Marie Hickey

Eleanor Catton’s Man-Booker award-winning tale “The Luminaries” is an excellent yarn, but it unfortunately fails the Family History test. Not giving anything away, much of the plot centres on a stolen identity, and a missing birth certificate for Crosbie Wells who was born in Newington, London around 1809. Oops! This was, of course, well before the advent of civil registration, consequently Crosbie Wells would not have had a birth certificate to steal!

Auckland Libraries catalogue

If a prize-winning novelist can make such an error, it is perhaps worthwhile reminding ourselves of the timeline for vital records.

Although a form of Civil Registration for England and Wales was proposed as early as 1752/3, the system of registering births, deaths and marriages that we know today was not actually introduced until 1 July 1837. In Scotland, registration began on 1 January 1855, and in Ireland births, deaths and marriages were registered by the state from 1864, with non-Catholic marriages registered from 1845. Civil registration in Australia commenced in Tasmania in 1838, Western Australia in 1841, South Australia in 1842, Victoria in 1853, New South Wales and Queensland in 1856, and Northern Territory in 1870. In New Zealand official recording of European births and deaths began in 1848, with marriages recorded from 1854. So, remember that if you are searching for a birth, death or marriage before these dates you will need to consult the relevant church registers - where they exist!

Keith

With the ever rapidly approach of 2014 and the start of the WWI commemoration events it is perhaps timely that a book recently received in Auckland should be about New Zealand’s hospital ships.  It is titled The White Ships: New Zealand’s First World War Hospital Ships by Gavin McLean.  There is a reference copy in the Central Auckland Research Centre but there are borrowable copies throughout Auckland Libraries.

This book is very well presented with many photos of ships, crew and some records.  There is a list of their movements 1915-19 as well as what happened to them after the war.

Image from color plate, page c.4.

While I have not read this yet myself, I think that anyone with a connection with these ships will find it invaluable as a matter of interest or to add to their research.

Marie Hickey