These amazing treasurers, a set of WWI dog tags and medals together with the envelope they were delivered in, were brought into the Crewe Research Centre today by a FHSC member.  We are helping Sue to research her family history, and these belonged to an ancestor, who happily survived the war.

The dog tags, over 100 years old, astounded us all, they were very light in weight but perfectly preserved and have obviously been treasured by the family – it was a privilege to be able to hold such a tangible set of artifacts from WWI

I have mentioned the Cambridge Group for the History of Population and Social Structure previously and advertised the website in the Ancestor - reently they have launched a new interactive website which allows user to map occupational structure from 1600-1911 and 2011

Find out more and give it a try http://economiespast.org

The Addressing Health Data Mapper is a tool to present and share data generated by the Addressing Health project. The project examines the health of UK postal workers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. It uses information about sickness-related absences and retirement derived from pension records and other sources of evidence.

Find out more and access the data base at this link 👉https://data.addressinghealth.org.uk/

Members may be interested in this new little webapp -  British Placename Mapper - created by Robin Wilson, It allows you to search for place names that match various criteria (starts with 'great', ends with 'burgh' etc) and plot them on an interactive map

Link to try it out 👉https://placenames.rtwilson.com/

Image is of placename search I did for places ending in 'wich' 

1st of the month means my usual list of free to attend online events, I hope you find something to enjoy, please let me know 

Full details in link under each event

Wed, 03 Apr 2024 19:30 BST

M19: Escape and Evasion in the Second World War with Helen Fry

by National Archives [Free to attend but donation suggested]

Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mi9-escape-and-evasion-in-the-second-world-war-tickets-753934858457

Wed, 10 Apr 2024 19:30 BST

Great and Horrible News: Murder and Mayhem in Early Modern Britain with Blessin Adams

by National Archives [Free to attend but donation suggested]

Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/great-and-horrible-news-murder-and-mayhem-in-early-modern-britain-tickets-825107046387

Sat, 13 Apr 2024 14:00 BST

Manorial Records of Chadderton

by Oldham & District Branch of MLFHS

Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/manorial-records-of-chadderton-foxdenton-hall-an-illustrated-presentation-tickets-855306884917

Wed 17 Apr 2024 13:00 BST

The Norfolk Historic Environment Record

by Norfolk Record Office

Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-norfolk-historic-environment-record-nher-online-tickets-835958944707

Wed 17 Apr 2024 15:00 BST

Introduction to Family History

by National Library of Scotland

Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/introduction-to-family-history-tickets-840095888417

Thu 18 Apr 2024 13:00 BST

Re-Mapping Past Weather & Climate

by John Rylands Library  

Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/re-mapping-past-weather-and-climate-tickets-827172734917

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 14:00 BST

Captives: Prisoners of War and Internees 1939-45

by National Archives [Free to attend but donation suggested]

Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/captives-prisoners-of-war-and-internees-1939-45-tickets-754512887357

Wed 24 Apr 2024 14:00 BST

Maps for Family and Local History

by National Library of Scotland

Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/maps-for-family-and-local-history-tickets-844827811727

Wed 24 Apr 2024 17:30 BST

Livestream of ‘Treasures: Byron’s Life in Letters’

by National Library of Scotland

Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/livestream-of-treasures-byrons-life-in-letters-tickets-849314210667

Thu 25 Apr 2024 14:00 BST

Podcasting History

by Royal Historical Society

Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/podcasting-history-tickets-860800075197Thu 28 Apr 2024 13:00 BST

Thu 28 Apr 2024 13:00 BST

Fossil Histories in the Archives

by John Rylands Library  

Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/fossil-histories-in-the-archives-tickets-827180939457

Advanced notice of talks taking place early in May that may interest members:

Wed 1 May 2024 15:00 BST

Women’s Lives and Writing: Online Resources

by National Library of Scotland

Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/womens-lives-and-writings-online-resources-tickets-850674559507

Thu 2 May 2024 14:00 BST

Treasures: Life in the 20^th Century

by National Library of Scotland

Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/treasures-life-in-the-20th-century-tickets-862048419027

Fri 3 May 2024 14:00 BST

The Blazing world: A New History of Revolutionary England with Jonathan Healey

by National Archives [Free to attend but donation suggested]

Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-blazing-world-a-new-history-of-revolutionary-england-tickets-825078801907

Fri 3 May 2024 18:00 BST

Possible Maps: Ways of Knowing and Unknowing at the Edge of the Empire by Professor Julia Laite

by Royal Historical Society

Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/possible-maps-lecture-with-professor-julia-laite-online-tickets-823901400267

Wed 8 May 2024 16:00 BST

Researching Gender & Sexuality

by National Library of Scotland

Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/researching-gender-sexuality-tickets-857069466847

Fri 10 May 2024 14:00 BST

Mary I with Alison Weir

by National Archives [Free to attend but donation suggested]

Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mary-i-with-alison-weir-tickets-825122723277

Sat, 11 May 2024 14:00 BST

19^th Century Book and Bust; Exploring Business and Family Fortunes

by Oldham & District Branch of MLFHS

Link with more details and to register 👉 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/19th-century-boom-and-bust-exploring-business-and-family-fortunes-tickets-873955984877

25% off all The British Newspaper Archive subscriptions this Easter. Offer ends April 3rd.

:Link 👉https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/account/subscribe?PromotionCode=EASTER25

FHSC Trustees and Committee would like to wish all members a happy and joyful Easter, wherever and however you choose to celebrate. 

📷John Horns Easter Eggs, Date 1907  Credit: The National Archives - Ref Copy 1/263 [255]

The National Records of Scotland online Suffragettes portal contains a wealth of primary source research material, from letters and journals to criminal case papers. 

Free to access here 👉https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files/exhibitions/women-suffrage/profiles.html

Some news from the British History Online which you may like to take advantage of - 

On February 29 2024, we upgraded our website to Drupal 10, and moved server. In the process, there have been a number of problems with subscriptions, logging in, and searching the content. We are working to fix these problems, and appreciate your patience whilst this is accomplished. In the meantime, we have lowered the paywall, and are allowing access to all our material to all visitors.

Link 👉https://www.british-history.ac.uk/

 The Wirral History and Heritage Association annual Fair takes place this Saturday 23rd March at Hulme Hall, Port Sunlight between 10am - 4pm

FHSC along with other Historical Societies will be in attendance

Admission is free, as is the parking and the site is level access with a cafe - a good day out in other words! 

The venue postcode is CH62 5DH, [Bolton Road, Bebington] just off the A41, 5 minutes walk from Port Sunlight Station

Any queries to                             

The National Library of Scotland Map Collections have just added a new feature to their Map Images Website

You can now search by postcode in the Map Finder or Georeferenced Viewers.

Find out more here 👉https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/help.html#ngr

Watch out also for our May Seminar, when Chris Fleet from the National Libraries of Scotland is coming to talk to us about the map images collection, how to use it and get the best out of this wonderful free resource. Full details will be out soon but keep 15th May free! 

As part of their 40 year celebrations, Family Tree magazine (UK) are asking for your top 40 family history books - fact or fiction.

Get voting!

Link for full details 👉https://www.family-tree.co.uk/news/top-40-family-history-books/

The National Archives (TNA) has announced a contract to digitise, transcribe and publish the four million records of the Home Guard in the Second World War and 1950s.

The records are among 14 million records of personnel who served in all branches of the armed forces between 1920 and 1963 which are currently being transferred from the Ministry of Defence to TNA.

Reaad more 👉https://www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/news/the-national-archives-contract-digitise-home-guard-records

Find out more here 👉

https://thediscoverblog.com/2024/03/07/accessing-personnel-records-of-the-first-world-war-a-new-database-at-library-and-archives-canada/

Article on the BBC website makes interesting reading

Link 👉https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-68469493