Local History Services

The Weald of Kent, Surrey & Sussex

I came across this site while carrying out research for another project and was thrilled with the amount of information it provides on family history. The following images show some of the material available on this website.

Historical directories

Another way of finding out about the social history of the place your ancestors resided is via a website called Historical Directories.

You can search by keyword, such as a family name, decade or location.

If you search by keywords you will be given a choice of default key names to choose from that relate to the publisher, owner or printer at the time the directory was originally compiled. You might be looking for a specific directory, such as Kelly for instance. If none of these defaults relate to you, leave them as ‘all’ and choose your own keyword as I did. I typed in the surname Marelli and was given a variety of directories which housed that name and provided both business and private addresses at the time of publication.

Gravestone Inscription & cemeteries

Graveyards are often a neglected source by family historians but there are many volunteer projects running on the Internet. By keying ‘cemeteries’ into a search engine, a variety of sites was resourced including the following two:

In the menu to the left of the image is a category called ‘graveyard projects’ and clicking on this page produced a list of graveyard projects outside of Scotland and beyond the UK. When you are having problems locating information about an ancestor or their extended family via the Census or Civil Registration, a cemetery might provide you with some clues. My brother, Kevin, went hunting for the grave of our grandparents believed to be in a cemetery in Liverpool. He phoned the Liverpool Cemeteries Office and was given a plot number, but when he got there a family by another name was buried in the plot. He called me to say it was a wild goose chase but I recognised the name and it turned out to be the married sister of our dad. The information on the grave produced the name of her husband, ages at death and date of death of both relatives, enabling us to source birth and death certificates. Sometimes visiting cemeteries in towns, villages or cities where your ancestor lived is a worthwhile trip.

Genealogical informational websites & links

GENUKI

This is a must-view site aimed at everyone. The information it provides to the family historian is invaluable.

I clicked on ‘Enter this large collection …’ and selected England, then narrowed my search to the county of Devon.

The collection of resources for Devon is exhaustive and I’m sure you won’t be disappointed if you visit this wonderful site yourself.

Cyndi‘s List

As with Genuki, Cyndi’s List is another fabulous general information site for the family historian.

Maps

My little collection of old maps also gave me additional information about the localities in which my ancestors lived, and details of who owned local businesses. I purchased The Godfrey Edition maps at the FRC but you can buy them online via their online shop, http://www.alangodfreymaps.co.uk/

Another great Internet resource is http://www.old-maps.co.uk.

I searched for the address that Martino Marelli was living at during the 1890s. After selecting the third option for London, I was taken to an old map of the area. Although the example below is small, on the site you can enlarge the image for a clearer view. The site has an exhaustive selection of maps available.

From this page I was able to click the icon to find a modern-day map, coutesy of Mapquest, Inc., of the same district, meaning that part, if not all, of Lower Marsh still exists. The site showed that Lower Marsh Road is next to what is now Waterloo Station.

Unfortunately, the map from this site did not reproduce well but I purchased a copy of a map for the same area from Alan Godfrey Maps, The Off Quay Building, Foundry Lane, Newcastle NE6 1LH, see top map above. The map is an Old Ordnance Survey Map of Waterloo and Southward dated 1872. I was delighted to find four addresses on this map where ancestors lived.

Mapquest

To look for modern-day maps of locations in which your ancestors lived, Mapquest is also a great favourite of mine.

One day we will take our camera and visit the various locations where our ancestors lived and take pictures for posterity.

Family history magazines and internet guide

A lifeline during my research has been family history magazines and Internet guidebooks for genealogists. All of the magazines provide an unbelievable array of information relating to family history, plus masses of tips, including using the Internet, and informing you of new sites coming online. Articles about the workhouses, Victorian occupations, the military, Victorian travel, industry, history of surnames, court assizes and poorhouses have helped me to understand my ancestors in a way that names and dates alone could not do.

Here are my favourite magazines which are all also available at most newsagents:

Among other interesting pieces of information, this website has it’s own forum http://www.forum.yourfamilytreemag.co.uk/

Ancestors Magazine is the monthly family history magazine of the National Archives. It contains 64 pages of news and expert advice. This magazine can also be found online at http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/shop/ancestors.htm.

While browsing through the index of articles on Ancestors Magazine’s website, I noticed that Peter Christian has an Internet column.

Peter Christian has written a series of must-have books relating to genealogy and the Internet.

• The Genealogist’s Internet, Third Edition (PRO Publications, 2003)
• Web Publishing for Genealogy (Genealogical Pub. Co., 2000)
• Finding Genealogy on the Internet (D. Hawgood, 2002)

I hope this chapter has opened your mind about how to research about the lives of your ancestors and get to know them a little better than you do now.