Find out about maps at the ERO

The Essex Record Office ‘ERO’ at Chelmsford is the county archive for Essex. During the course of the year it hosts events and many useful introductory talks for the history researcher. These are the forthcoming events at the Essex Record Office for the rest of 2010.

Handwriting is always a problem for the family history researcher. On Tuesday 12 October there is a introduction into basics of reading historical handwriting.

If you found our page on finding out the history of your house of interest, but you are unsure as to how to start, then this introductory talk on house history will help you – 3 November.

Maps are a useful resource for the researcher. This short introduction to maps in the collection will certainly help you – 5 October.

There are also introductory talks on parish registers, poorhouse records and family history resources.

On 4 December try A Taste of Christmas. Monica Askay, a food historian, cooks some traditional Christmas treats and some recipe books from the archives can be viewed.

The Essex History Group meets at the Record Office and have regular talks by visiting speakers. The talks for the remainder of 2010 are: 5 October The History of Essex Maltings; 2 November The Mystery of Bourne Mill. Colchester; 7 December The History of smuggling in Essex.

On 28 October away from the archive, for the energetic there is a walk around Manningtree learning about Manningtree in the time of Matthew Hopkins, the infamous Witchfinder General.

Detailed information can be found on this Essex Record Office programme of events.

The latest podcasts from The National Archives include two relating to alcohol. The pub and the people explores how pubs have changed since the 1930s. While Alcohol Consumption in Historical Perspective, is a look at how alcohol was consumed in the past in the UK and how a study of it can help with modern day approaches to alcohol problems.

Reforming Central Government: The case of science and technology considers Churchill’s and his attitude to science and technology during the Second World War. The latest release of UFO files is looked at by Dr David Clarke, author of The UFO files and senior lecturer in Journalism at Sheffield Hallam University.

If you have an ancestor who worked for Thomas Cook, the travel agents, then Tourists and booking clerks – information for family historians in the Thomas Cook Archives will certainly be of interest.

Thousands of new records are now available at the National Archives relating to 19th Century Poor Law Union and Workhouse Records. Volunteers have been cataloguing these records relating to the administration of the Poor Law Amendment Act from 1834.

The records are correspondence between the Poor Law Unions and central authority, and they include reports, memos and accounts. Many detail the names of individuals and their cases, and provides a vast array of information for those historians studying the poor of Victorian England. There is also a possibility that it may help in researching family history as well.

The records of over 20 Poor Law Unions are available to search, with one in Essex: Bishop’s Stortford Poor Law Union in Hertfordshire and Essex for the period 1834-1852.

More information this National Archives page.

There is a chance now that you can now find out how much your Essex ancestors were worth, and, perhaps, find out more background information on their lives.

Ancestry.co.uk has just made available online the England and Wales National Probate Calendar for the period 1861-1941. Previously you could only see these by a personal visit to a probate registry and search through the yearly Calendars.

The entries in the Calendars only give brief information, but they will give an indication of the person’s wealth and social standing, and how much they left in their Will.

The Calendar will provide sufficient information for you to apply for a copy of their Will from the Principal Probate Registry. This is a link to their application form.
http://www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/courtfinder/forms/pa1s_0405.pdf

You can search by name, and the Calendar provides their date and place of death, the executor of their will, and the value of their estate.

Not everyone made a Will, and some years are missing or incomplete.

If you find that a number of your Essex ancestors were either transported as convicts or emigrated to Australia, then you may find the new records available on Ancestry.co.uk of interest.

These records are to be found in their Australian Birth, Marriage, Cemetery and Death indexes. The collection brings together records from all the Australian states. Depending on when the State was founded, some records start from 1788 and some finish in 1985. However, be warned that there is not complete and equal coverage. For instance, Tasmania registration started in 1838 and Northern Territory not until in 1870.

Amongst the records can be found be found the ancestors of some well known people: marriage of the parents of Rolf Harris, Nicole Kidman’s grandfather, and Rupert Murdock’s grandfather.

The full database includes the following indexes: NSW Births (1788 to 1909), NSW Deaths (1788 to 1945), NSW Marriages (1788 to 1945), NT Births (1870 to 1909), NT Deaths (1870 to 1913), NT Marriages (1870 to 1913), QLD Births (1829 to 1909), QLD Deaths (1929 to 1959), QLD Marriages (1829 to 1934), SA Births (1907 to 1922), SA Deaths (1916 to 1970), SA Marriages (1917 to 1937), TAS Births (1803 to 1909), TAS Deaths (1803 to 1919), TAS Marriages (1803 to 1919), VIC Births (1836 to 1909), VIC Deaths (1836 to 1985), VIC Marriages (1836 to 1920), WA Deaths (1906 to 1980), WA Marriages (1906 to 1949).

Also already available on Ancestry are convict records.

The latest podcasts from The National Archives include a discussion that shows identity theft is not a new problem. In 17th century England, parishes struggled with poor relief and tried to control vagrants and beggars claiming off the parish by issuing various documents. The podcast reveals how there was a black market in forged licences and settlement certificates.

Other podcasts trace the history of cinema in Britain through the collections of The National Archives; Lost London Pubs; and, Women, darts and the pub in the interwar period.