What's New on Ancestry.co.uk
This Month's Feature
Nov 2009
Great news for those looking for family members who fought in WWI!
We’ve just finished indexing all the surviving British Army WWI Service Records. Previously records were only available online up to the letter N – but now you can find records all the way to Z.
Although 60% of the records were destroyed in a German bombing raid on the War Office repository, about 2.8m records survived or were carefully reconstructed from pensions records. Finally, after two years of painstaking work, these detailed records are ready for you to search online.
The information available varies by soldier but includes basic details such as name, address, date of birth and next of kin. There are also medical records, discharge papers and Army Form B 103 that provides information on a soldier’s promotions, reductions, transfers, casualties, etc., during active service.
This series is only available with us and is the definitive UK WWI collection - if you can’t find the records here you won’t find them anywhere else.
In addition to the WWI Service Records we have two other new collections; Ireland, Casualties of WWI, 1914-1918 and De Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour, 1914 - 1924.
Historical Records
Oct 2009
Help us to help preserve history
The Ancestry World Archives Project gives everyone the opportunity to help preserve history that might otherwise be lost. We are now looking for people to take an active part helping to make the British Postal Service Appointment books available to the public.
The Post Office has been a huge employer in the UK for well over two hundred years, and the British Postal Service Appointment books are a fascinating register of everyone employed between 1831 to the 1960’s.
Not only names, but also an entire employment record of each employee’s place of work, their grade and promotions and any transfer details. Dismissals and resignations are also recorded, and so too are retirements and deaths.
As a contributor you’ll have free access to the incredibly interesting original images and you’ll also be able to vote for the records you want to see indexed next.
Ancestry.co.uk Enhancements
Jul 2009
Introducing Member Connect
Ever wonder who might be researching the same ancestors as you? Now with Member Connect you can stay in touch with other Ancestry members so you can see when others add new information about your ancestors, and easily get in touch with members who are doing similar research as you.
You can see and save new additions, corrections and comments that members have made about your ancestor. But you choose which items to add to your tree and you choose how much to share with other members. A Recent activity box on your homepage tells you what's been going on since you last logged in so you're immediately up to date.
Learn more about Member Connect
Jul 2009
Introducing the new enhanced image page
Our enhanced image page lets you see both the historical document and the transcribed information on the same page. You'll also be able to see which members have saved this record to their trees and if they've made any comments on the information. You can add your own comments, like alternative names, years and places, making it easier for other members to find their ancestors too. We hope that you'll find this new view a great way to connect and collaborate with other Ancestry members.
To start with, we'll have the census records of 1861 and 1871 for England, Wales, Channel Islands and Isle of Man, but more and more records will be added in time. We'll keep you up to date when new collections are available with the enhanced image.