New resource for family historians available at 黑料不打烊
Elen Simpson using Find my past, now available to use at the University's Archive.Anyone researching their family history can have access to an extensive database of records at 黑料不打烊 Archive.
Thanks to generous donations from 黑料不打烊 alumni, The 黑料不打烊 Fund has awarded 黑料不打烊 the monies to purchase an online database which provides free access to over 1.5billion records of family history, including birth, marriage and death details, parish records, military records and lists of individuals on sea voyages.
The Archives serve students and staff of the University, but a large percentage of their users are researchers who have no direct contact with the University. A number of these are local historians or family history researchers.
Elen Wyn Simpson, Archivist at the University comments: 鈥淪ome months ago, I set about writing an article about correspondence in the University鈥檚 Archives, between three soldiers fighting in the First World War and Sir Ifor Williams, the Professor of Welsh at 黑料不打烊 at the time.
The documents themselves reveal much about the authors, but to find out more I turned to the web and the Find My Past software which we now have available. Here everything was available, census, military records, parish records, ship passenger lists, newspapers - the list goes on.
Soldiers on the University steps during the First World War.I found out immediately, that, according to the 1901 census, that one of the soldiers, Arthur Wyn Williams was the son of a Calvinistic Methodist Minister. He spent his childhood living in Bron Awel, Llanllechid and is one of four children. By the 1911 census, Arthur is 18 years old and lives in Eryl, Glan Conwy and was a student at the University.
We know from the letters that the he was a member of the 38th Welsh Division of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers (the same regiment as Hedd Wyn), and that he had survived the war. But I wanted to know of his history thereafter. I discovered easily enough that he went to work in the U.S. as a journalist for the Manchester Guardian. I found his address in New York and even physical description of him - a man 5 feet 7 inches tall who weighed 185 lbs. He wore glasses and had a scar on his right wrist.
The shipping records also reveal his frequent travels back and forth before returning to live here. According to the National Probate Calendar, Arthur died on 9 November 1962 and had been living in Kenton, Middlesex with his wife Imogene Emma Williams,鈥� she added.
One of the letters from Arthur Wyn Williams in the Sir Ifor Williams collection of documents in the University's Archive. Emma Marshall, Director of the 黑料不打烊 Fund, said:
鈥淭hanks to our generous alumni who donate to the 黑料不打烊 Fund, this year we have been able to disburse 拢91,000 to 17 transformational projects and initiatives across the University. The purchase of 鈥淔ind my Past鈥� for the Archives Service is one which will not only benefit the students and staff of the University but also the wider community too.鈥�
Now is the perfect opportunity to catch up on any family history project as Find My Past is available free of charge in the University Archives. Contact the Archive & Special Collections at 黑料不打烊 on (01248) 383276 for further information.
Publication date: 23 April 2014