Caroline Gurney wrote: "Thirty odd years ago, when I first joined SoG, one of the lessons that Anthony Camp and others drummed into our newbie heads was "Always look at the original record". That remains equally true today but it appears that TNA and some Record Offices have forgotten it." I totally agree always look at the original record - and if we cannot see the original (for which there could be many reasons) do cite the source of the "copy" And if we can see the original record - if possible, look at other original records from the same collection - for by comparing records made at the same time we can get insights into what might be missing which could be as interesting as what has survived I had a useful reminder "about reliability, authenticity, chain of custody, gaps, absences and silences" from the presentation by Maureen Callahan (link below) "The Value of Archival Description Considered" http://icantiemyownshoes.wordpress.com/2014/04/04/the-value-of-archival-description-considered/ Even in the area of newspapers and other printed sources it is good to keep an eye out for different digital versions ideally from different collections - they may be identical - but they may not (again for quite a number of reasons). Very Best Regards Richard Heaton

Hugh Ainsley wrote: > Would that the problem was confined to the TNA - but its undoubtedly becoming a trend. And a very worrying trend from the point of view of accurate and thorough research. Those filming records to supply digital images for websites can and do make mistakes. It is yet another way for errors to creep in - just like with indexes and transcripts. I have come across this problem with the Masters' and Mates' Certificates on Ancestry, the originals of which are in the National Maritime Museum. When I was working on the BBC's recent "Clydebuilt" documentary about Cutty Sark I asked to see the original files of several crew members. An NMM staff member told me that was not necessary because they were all filmed and on Ancestry. I insisted on seeing the original records and discovered that not all the documents had been filmed. Replacement certificates were issued when one had been lost - for example in a shipwreck. So it is not uncommon to find more than one Master's or Mate's certificate for an individual in a file, together with two application forms - often dated some years apart and containing details of different ships and voyages. In some cases Ancestry don't seem to have realised this and have only filmed one certificate and its supporting documents. Important information is thus lost to researchers who think they have seen everything on Ancestry. Thirty odd years ago, when I first joined SoG, one of the lessons that Anthony Camp and others drummed into our newbie heads was "Always look at the original record". That remains equally true today but it appears that TNA and some Record Offices have forgotten it. Caroline Gurney

Would that the problem was confined to the TNA - but its undoubtedly becoming a trend. I recently visited the LMA after years of not needing anything there, only to find that parish records are now "on ancestry" (which I already knew of course) and its relatively hard to get the films to view - though one can at least still do so with a bit of effort. My main reason for going was, among other things, needing to scan some parish records for an elusive ancestor with only a fairly wide date bracket and uncertainty over which parish anyway. I'd already experienced at home the absolutely dire slowness with which on can scan page after page on line - only to be met with this as a "satisfactory" solution in the Record Office itself. Roughly speaking I can scan through pages on a film at least 3 or 4 times as fast as i can online (and my home download speed is faster than the LMA for a start!) - and indeed the staff there told me they didn't know how to access a recordset to scan anyway rather than looking it up in a (probably faulty) index! As retrograde steps go this is yet another example. Its not that I don't welcome home access to records i would previously have travelled to see - it would be daft if I did - but online access is simply slower and less efficient for particular types of recordset searches and the archivists (if they still exist!) need to be aware of this - a Record Office needs to be rather more than a down-market internet cafe. Hugh Ainsley - the AINSLEY one name study

I think I will be taking this up at my next meeting of the TNA User Advisory Group, although unfortunately it is not until June. I represent independent researchers on this Group and if anyone would like to email me privately about online access to the TNA records, or any other TNA matter, please feel free to do so, at londonrootsresearch@gmail.com. Rosemary Morgan Professional Genealogist London Roots Research www.londonrootsresearch.blogspot.com londonrootsresearch@gmail.com records to a monopoly . If anyone wants to email me On 08/04/2014 17:18, "J K gen" <gen2mail@gmail.com> wrote: >All the more reason, also, for pressure to be put on all such >repositories as TNA Kew to refuse to allow any and all monopoly >access. > >The beauty of the E&W census is its being available through several >different commercial providers. Would this were the case with all >records. > >Judy Kay > >On 8 April 2014 14:20, Judy Lester <jlester@btinternet.com> wrote: >> In the case of WO 97 there *is* no alternative. As a professional >>genealogist in London, I can assure you there is no physical access to >>WO 97 records at Kew. The documents have long since been archived, the >>films withdrawn from access, and everyone is forced to use FMP, whether >>professional, amateur or staff. As Caroline has said, the client will >>have to pay for the extra time taken to find the records. All the more >>reason for pressure to be put on FMP to get it right. >> >> >> Judy >> London, UK > > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >SOG-UK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Like Caroline I have to continually review my overheads and I also believe that as professionals we need to ensure that our suppliers are keeping their service up to scratch. This is not just a question of "personal opinions" but making our professional lives more efficient. FMP has just made our professional lives considerably LESS efficient! If I end up leaving FMP and need to access their records for my professional research (I.e. The few datasets such as the Westminster Collection which I cannot access elsewhere online), I will either use my surplus FMP credits, pay with new credits, or if the client project justifies it, take out a monthly subscription. I intend to return to FMP on an annual basis when they have a decent website which I feel is both useful and beneficial. I I also have regular access to archives and libraries where FMP is freely available and I do not charge clients for my travel time or costs. Rosemary Morgan On 08/04/2014 11:59, "Caroline Gurney" <caroline.gurney@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote: >On 8 April 2014 10:48, Adrian Bruce <abruce@madasafish.com> wrote: > >> I can't resist saying that if I were paying a professional genealogist >> to search out data, I'd expect them to get it from the optimum source >>and >> leave their (probably justifiable) personal opinions out of it. And if >>the >> required data includes information from Cheshire Parish Registers or >>19th >> century Army documents, say, then unless said genealogist lives in >>Cheshire >> or London respectively, then there's not a lot of alternative to FMP. > >I agree that there is no online alternative to FMP for some of the >records I use in my work as a professional genealogist and I shall >certainly continue to use them. > >However, it now takes longer to find and load records on the site, >which is bad news for clients who pay me by the hour. So where I do >have a choice I am using alternatives. If that has not changed by the >time my FMP worldwide subscription is due for renewal in July, I shall >probably switch to buying credits as and when required, which will >mean less revenue for FMP. Subscriptions to online databases are a >large overhead in my work - factored into my hourly rate since they >cannot be passed on to my clients directly - and I have to keep the >costs of them under constant review. > >In the meantime my aim is to provide constructive feedback to FMP on >specific issues, using the lightbulb icon on the relevant page. Full >credit to FMP that they have responded rapidly and positively to such >feedback. But the time spent on this - and on compiling a toolbox of >links to the search forms for the record sets I use most often - is >another addition to my overheads. > >Caroline Gurney > >http://www.carolinegurney.com > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >SOG-UK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >quotes in the subject and the body of the message

All the more reason, also, for pressure to be put on all such repositories as TNA Kew to refuse to allow any and all monopoly access. The beauty of the E&W census is its being available through several different commercial providers. Would this were the case with all records. Judy Kay On 8 April 2014 14:20, Judy Lester <jlester@btinternet.com> wrote: > In the case of WO 97 there *is* no alternative. As a professional genealogist in London, I can assure you there is no physical access to WO 97 records at Kew. The documents have long since been archived, the films withdrawn from access, and everyone is forced to use FMP, whether professional, amateur or staff. As Caroline has said, the client will have to pay for the extra time taken to find the records. All the more reason for pressure to be put on FMP to get it right. > > > Judy > London, UK

I would agree with Caroline regarding differences between original records and those the public are allowed to see. I have done a fair amount of research on the records of Shortwood Baptist Church, Horsley, Gloucestershire. Many of the records had been deposited by a local historian, who had found them in her attic. She had transcribed one set of records, which are available on the shelves in Glouucester Archives. I asked to see the original but was told to use the transcription. I then copied the transcription to computer. Another researcher, well known at the Archive, was also interested to see the records. She was far more persuasive and the originals were produced. We checked them against my copy and the book on the shelves. We were able to add names and make corrections to what was available to the public. One affected my family, where a name had been transcribed as Mary, but on looking more closely was an abbreviated form of Margaret, who is my direct ancestor. So, how do we proceed? By producing academic qualifications to back up our credibility as researchers? Or, maybe, by finding someone to vouch for us.... Janet Heskins In a message dated 08/04/2014 20:30:52 GMT Daylight Time, caroline.gurney@blueyonder.co.uk writes: Hugh Ainsley wrote: > Would that the problem was confined to the TNA - but its undoubtedly becoming a trend. And a very worrying trend from the point of view of accurate and thorough research. Those filming records to supply digital images for websites can and do make mistakes. It is yet another way for errors to creep in - just like with indexes and transcripts. I have come across this problem with the Masters' and Mates' Certificates on Ancestry, the originals of which are in the National Maritime Museum. When I was working on the BBC's recent "Clydebuilt" documentary about Cutty Sark I asked to see the original files of several crew members. An NMM staff member told me that was not necessary because they were all filmed and on Ancestry. I insisted on seeing the original records and discovered that not all the documents had been filmed. Replacement certificates were issued when one had been lost - for example in a shipwreck. So it is not uncommon to find more than one Master's or Mate's certificate for an individual in a file, together with two application forms - often dated some years apart and containing details of different ships and voyages. In some cases Ancestry don't seem to have realised this and have only filmed one certificate and its supporting documents. Important information is thus lost to researchers who think they have seen everything on Ancestry. Thirty odd years ago, when I first joined SoG, one of the lessons that Anthony Camp and others drummed into our newbie heads was "Always look at the original record". That remains equally true today but it appears that TNA and some Record Offices have forgotten it. Caroline Gurney ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to SOG-UK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

In the case of WO 97 there *is* no alternative. As a professional genealogist in London, I can assure you there is no physical access to WO 97 records at Kew. The documents have long since been archived, the films withdrawn from access, and everyone is forced to use FMP, whether professional, amateur or staff. As Caroline has said, the client will have to pay for the extra time taken to find the records. All the more reason for pressure to be put on FMP to get it right. Judy London, UK ________________________________ On 8 April 2014 10:48, Adrian Bruce <abruce@madasafish.com> wrote: > And if the > required data includes information from Cheshire Parish Registers or 19th > century Army documents, say, then unless said genealogist lives in Cheshire > or London respectively, then there's not a lot of alternative to FMP.

For those of you who do not already know, this on line source has now lapsed. It used to be accessible at www.memorialinscriptions.org.uk, hosted by the de Montford University and directed by a Dr Richard Smart. I thought the university would have retained the valuable database but apparently not! I have just been told by their archivist that the data base is defunct and they do not even have hard copies. Incredible for a learned institution? However, all is not lost. With the help of the Wayback Machine I found this statement from the website in January 2011. As from the end of January 2011 this site will be closed. If you are interested in memorial inscriptions from Norfolk, please go to the website of Norfolk Family History Society http://www.norfolkfhs.org.uk/ If you are interested in memorial from Bedfordshire, please go to the website of Bedfordshire Family History Society http://www.bfhs.org.uk/ We have enjoyed helping family historians from all over the world and hope that they have found NAOMI a useful source over the last five years. To put this into perspective, a snapshot of the site front page in December 2010 claimed to have 193,286 names from 657 burial grounds in Norfolk and Bedfordshire Barry Hepburn

On 8 April 2014 10:48, Adrian Bruce <abruce@madasafish.com> wrote: > I can't resist saying that if I were paying a professional genealogist > to search out data, I'd expect them to get it from the optimum source and > leave their (probably justifiable) personal opinions out of it. And if the > required data includes information from Cheshire Parish Registers or 19th > century Army documents, say, then unless said genealogist lives in Cheshire > or London respectively, then there's not a lot of alternative to FMP. I agree that there is no online alternative to FMP for some of the records I use in my work as a professional genealogist and I shall certainly continue to use them. However, it now takes longer to find and load records on the site, which is bad news for clients who pay me by the hour. So where I do have a choice I am using alternatives. If that has not changed by the time my FMP worldwide subscription is due for renewal in July, I shall probably switch to buying credits as and when required, which will mean less revenue for FMP. Subscriptions to online databases are a large overhead in my work - factored into my hourly rate since they cannot be passed on to my clients directly - and I have to keep the costs of them under constant review. In the meantime my aim is to provide constructive feedback to FMP on specific issues, using the lightbulb icon on the relevant page. Full credit to FMP that they have responded rapidly and positively to such feedback. But the time spent on this - and on compiling a toolbox of links to the search forms for the record sets I use most often - is another addition to my overheads. Caroline Gurney http://www.carolinegurney.com

<<snipped>> ... Indeed the majority of posters I have read are thinking of "unsubscribing" to FindMyPast. There are negative opinions on a variety of different forums including a private group of professional genealogists which I belong to. ... <<snipped>> Um. I can't resist saying that if I were paying a professional genealogist to search out data, I'd expect them to get it from the optimum source and leave their (probably justifiable) personal opinions out of it. And if the required data includes information from Cheshire Parish Registers or 19th century Army documents, say, then unless said genealogist lives in Cheshire or London respectively, then there's not a lot of alternative to FMP. In other words, it's not like going to a different supermarket. Adrian B

David, I have just had a look at the canal web site. It has thrown up lots of ideas, along with the Shropshire possibilities, which I will now need to follow up. Many thanks. Gerry gerrynuk@gmail.com On 6 Apr 2014, at 21:10, David Beakhust <dave@beakhust.com> wrote: > There is a very useful and readable source online, that includes a footnote: > " 5. It is often believed that the workforce was mainly Irish navvies. > This is not so. At this time the workforce was mainly local agricultural > workers, the traditional navvy being a product of the railway-building era." > > I think this is logical, for a number of reasons, not least the greater > scale of railway projects, but also that the potato famine in Ireland > 1845-52 that drove many to emigrate to the usa also probably drove many to > England just at a time when railway building was underway and could use > exploitable cheap labour. The alternative being starvation. > > The canal source is at http://gerald-massey.org.uk/Canal/c_chapter_07.htm > > The tring summit cutting was a deep and troublesome job, lasting years, as > it was started almost as soon as the canal construction started in the > early 1790s, but Landslips, flooding, and the like, saw to it that work > continued through the 1790s. They had found that the cut went through an > aquifer. By 1801 attention had shifted to the Blisworth tunnel (while loads > continued to be carried by horse drawn railway over the hill at blisworth). > Your ancestor might well have been at tring at the right time, before his > marriage. > Depending on where in shropshire he was, it might have been the shrewsbury > canal that he worked on initially, rather than the later shropshire union > canal (SU), although what are now parts of the SU were built earlier. > Google for "shrewsbury and newport canal". This had an inclined plane, > lifting boats up a hill in tanks using engine power, that operated well > into the 20th century - one of the wonders of the waterways. > > > Dave Beakhust > > > > > On 6 April 2014 16:57:18 Vivien Emons <emofenn@yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > >> Thanks to response to my canal query. My ancester I belive, was born 1775 > Shropshire and turned up in Tring, where he married 1801 and had his > family. This was as the Shropshire and then Grand Union canals were being > constructed. >> Vivien >> >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > SOG-UK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to SOG-UK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

<<snipped>> If you use menu item Search Records / Census land & surveys you get a BASIC search form that doesn't include birthplace. Even if you filter it by census, the form doesn't change. (It does claim to include a search by address) If you use menu item Search Records / Search All Records, then go to the Census link, then to the link to the specific census, you get a DETAILED search form that includes birth details, census ref., etc. <<snipped>> I've just been informed on another list that the so-called Basic form has some items on that aren't on the so-called Detailed form. There's nothing like consistency - and that's nothing like.... Adrian B

Indeed the majority of posters I have read are thinking of "unsubscribing" to FindMyPast. There are negative opinions on a variety of different forums including a private group of professional genealogists which I belong to. Rosemary Morgan On 04/04/2014 16:42, "RootsWeb Only" <rootsweb.only@virgin.net> wrote: >If anyone is thinking of subscribing to FindMyPast, may I suggest >that they Google on "findmypast feedback forum" and click on "improve >features to bring in line with the old site", for some idea of how >other people find the "new" version of the FMP web site. > > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >SOG-UK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >quotes in the subject and the body of the message

The Feedback Forum for FindMyPast contains lots of requests for things like searching censuses by birthplace. In fact, this is now possible - though FMP have not updated those feedback items I was looking at to say so. The problem is - you have to be looking in the right place. So... In case you've not twigged where it is... If you use menu item Search Records / Census land & surveys you get a BASIC search form that doesn't include birthplace. Even if you filter it by census, the form doesn't change. (It does claim to include a search by address) If you use menu item Search Records / Search All Records, then go to the Census link, then to the link to the specific census, you get a DETAILED search form that includes birth details, census ref., etc. Menu item Search Records / List all UK records seems to be the same as the above menu item Search Records / Search All Records. The 1911 and 1841 census reference systems are different from the 1851 thru 1901, of course(?), so they either don't work or don't work well on the FMP forms which use the same referencing system from 1841 thru 1911. So - the Search All Records or List all UK records menu sub-options give access to detailed forms for censuses at least. I wonder how many people realise this? In fairness to FMP, the existence of this detailed census form was blogged about but as I have said, if you need a manual to use one form, it's not working. I have also suggested that FMP update the menu options to make it clear where the detailed options are and / or provide links from the basic forms to the detailed forms. Even Ancestry makes it obvious how to get the detailed form! Adrian B

There is a very useful and readable source online, that includes a footnote: " 5. It is often believed that the workforce was mainly Irish navvies. This is not so. At this time the workforce was mainly local agricultural workers, the traditional navvy being a product of the railway-building era." I think this is logical, for a number of reasons, not least the greater scale of railway projects, but also that the potato famine in Ireland 1845-52 that drove many to emigrate to the usa also probably drove many to England just at a time when railway building was underway and could use exploitable cheap labour. The alternative being starvation. The canal source is at http://gerald-massey.org.uk/Canal/c_chapter_07.htm The tring summit cutting was a deep and troublesome job, lasting years, as it was started almost as soon as the canal construction started in the early 1790s, but Landslips, flooding, and the like, saw to it that work continued through the 1790s. They had found that the cut went through an aquifer. By 1801 attention had shifted to the Blisworth tunnel (while loads continued to be carried by horse drawn railway over the hill at blisworth). Your ancestor might well have been at tring at the right time, before his marriage. Depending on where in shropshire he was, it might have been the shrewsbury canal that he worked on initially, rather than the later shropshire union canal (SU), although what are now parts of the SU were built earlier. Google for "shrewsbury and newport canal". This had an inclined plane, lifting boats up a hill in tanks using engine power, that operated well into the 20th century - one of the wonders of the waterways. Dave Beakhust On 6 April 2014 16:57:18 Vivien Emons <emofenn@yahoo.co.uk> wrote: > Thanks to response to my canal query. My ancester I belive, was born 1775 Shropshire and turned up in Tring, where he married 1801 and had his family. This was as the Shropshire and then Grand Union canals were being constructed. > Vivien > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to SOG-UK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

David, Thank you very much for your very informative reply. I think it very possible that Stephen WALKER was working on the Grand Surrey Canal. He is just shown as tenant in the Taxation Schedule but interestingly, when he died in 1833, the person taking over the letting was a John WALKER. He may, of course, have been unrelated but I suspect he was Stephen's oldest son although he is not one of the 6 children baptised in Deptford. I've not found John Walker in the 1841 Census yet, nor his mother Elizabeth, although I have managed to trace most of the children baptised in Deptford. Unfortunately that hasn't been much help to tracking down Stephen, his wife, Elizabeth or his possible first son, John. Vivien, Thank you for your information. This has given me a possible clue to where John WALKER may have been born and perhaps where his parents married. Does anyone have information about any canals or sections of canals that were finished in or around 1805? Regards, Gerry gerrynuk@gmail.com On 4 Apr 2014, at 18:39, David Beakhust <dave@beakhust.com> wrote: > I think this coincides in date with the beginning of the grand surrey > canal, authorised by parliament in 1803 according to wikipedia. Like a lot > of canal schemes, this one petered out after a few years and never made > money. Later railway schemes put the last nail in the coffin. > Not sure about posting links on here so i have stripped off the hotel tango > tango papa prefix! > en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Surrey_Canal > You will note there is a little map there, showing the canal heading from a > dock at rotherhithe towards and through deptford then turning sharp right > to head west. > The canal did not come to much, and the dock was more lucrative. The dock > was modified in 1804, affecting one of the locks, so i guess work would > have started in 1803 and continued through 1804 and on until at least 1807. > Your man may well have been involved in digging or extending the dock, > though it is a fair walk from deptford! If you google "canal deptford" you > will find another link where traces of the canal can be followed on the > ground, including a bollard on top of a road cutting! > If he was in a taxation register, is he shown as a proprietor/property > owner, or just as someone elses tenant? It suggests either way that he was > resident, rather than living in a camp. Indeed in that area there may have > been enough local manpower not to import many (although i think it was > primarily market gardening that side of the thames). > If born in 1771, did he live long enough to appear in the 41 census? He > would be 70, so not very likely. Also post 37 death registers did not > initially put age in the index. Grrr! Can you follow the child(ren) in the > census, esp in the 51 census, where place of birth should be given? Maybe > that is how you got to him.... > As a general rule no canal building took place after 1830, the croydon > canal being one of the very last, but that was swiftly taken over by a > railway (west croydon station is more or less in a canal basin and some > walls are original!) Canals started after 1800 or so were not generally > profitable, never finished, or were closed and their routes taken by > railways from Victoria's accession onwards. > > Not sure about the navvies religious practices. > I think in some areas missions went out to navvy camps, but this may have > been where they were seen as heathens in need of saving, and a bad > influence on the area, best kept in the camps and out of town. In the > deptford area they would have been right on top of the town (unlike the > situation in some northern and midland areas where the canal went through > open country,and tiny villages grew to towns on the back of the > canal).Catholic worship was lawful then, and if they had time, maybe Irish > navvies would have attended now and again, but nobody had much time off, so > this would be confined to major events (i would think) rather than weekly > worship. > Look up the books listed in the bibliography. I am slightly familiar with > the hadfield book but not the other. If in the south east, your library may > have it, or you should be able to get titles on inter library loan. > This kind of research is likely to involve a degree of legwork! > Generally, googling "canal" with a place name usually reveals links to > canal(s) to or through or near those places, including the many canal > schemes that never (or hardly) got out of the ground. > Happy navigating! > > Dave Beakhust > > > > > On 4 April 2014 16:35:33 Gerry <gerrynuk@gmail.com> wrote: > >> David, >> >> I also have an interest in Canal Workers, in particular Stephen WALKER, > who was born about 1771. I have no history for him before 1805 when he > appears in the Baptism Register for St Nicholas, Deptford baptising a > child. In the same year he also first appears in the Taxation Schedule for > Deptford. >> >> In the Baptism Register he is shown as a Navigator and therefore my line > of enquiry would be to investigate where he might have worked on canal > construction prior to 1805. Would you be able to give me any leads? >> >> I know that many of the construction camps would have been in quite > remote areas. Would they have been expected to go to the local church for > baptisms, weddings and funerals or would the local clergy have come out to > the camps? Would such workers have been the focus of attention of > non-conformist clergy or did they confine their activities to middle class > families? >> >> Would you have any ideas about what he might have been working on in > Deptford in 1805? I was wondering if the Dockyard was being extended to > cope with the demands of the Napoleonic War. >> >> Many thanks, >> >> Gerry >> >> Sent from my iPad >> >>> On 4 Apr 2014, at 15:35, David Beakhust <dave@beakhust.com> wrote: >>> >>> A difficult area to research, as the gangs were mobile, progressing along >>> ..... >> >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > SOG-UK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to SOG-UK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Thanks to response to my canal query. My ancester I belive, was born 1775 Shropshire and turned up in Tring, where he married 1801 and had his family. This was as the Shropshire and then Grand Union canals were being constructed. Vivien

Keith I can cast a bit of light on China Bay. China Bay is at Trincomalee on the north-east coast of Sri Lanka. In WW2 the British RAF established an airfield there, which was known as RAF China Bay, and there was also support for British fleets who were based in the area, due to the fact that the harbour of Trincomalee is one of the best protected deep water anchorages. During and after WW2, the area (and the old accommodation blocks etc) became the Sea Anglers Club. I lived in Trincomalee from 1979-1983 and visited Sea Anglers many times, but I did not hear any mention of HMS Anderson. However, there were extensive naval facilities in the old harbour, including a WW2 Floating Dock (remains of), so it is possible it was located nearby. Andrea Cordani MA, MBCS On 5 April 2014 03:36, Keith Wood <genealogy@the-wood-family.org.uk> wrote: > My father was stationed at HMS Anderson, Ceylon, during WW2. > > I am trying (unsuccessfully) to locate exactly where this was. > > I have been told it was located in a jungle clearing not too far from > China Bay (East coast). But I have also been told it was at the Anderson > Golf Links, Columbo (West coast). This latter shows up with google > searches, but I can't find any reference back to any formal source. > > I do wonder if both might be true (the golf club first, where it > acquired the name, then on to a more suitable location once they got > themselves organised). > > My father's photographs of the place are certainly more consistent with > the second suggested location (he arrived turn of the year 1943/4, and > remained until the end of 1945). > > The trouble is, I can't get a better location than "near China Bay". > > Any suggestions as to how to better identify its location? > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > SOG-UK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message >

I see that you posted about this place in January, 1999. Still hunting? Tom On Sat, 05 Apr 2014 02:36:32 +0000, Keith Wood wrote: >My father was stationed at HMS Anderson, Ceylon, during WW2. > >I am trying (unsuccessfully) to locate exactly where this was. > >I have been told it was located in a jungle clearing not too far from >China Bay (East coast). But I have also been told it was at the Anderson >Golf Links, Columbo (West coast). This latter shows up with google >searches, but I can't find any reference back to any formal source. > >I do wonder if both might be true (the golf club first, where it >acquired the name, then on to a more suitable location once they got >themselves organised). > >My father's photographs of the place are certainly more consistent with >the second suggested location (he arrived turn of the year 1943/4, and >remained until the end of 1945). > >The trouble is, I can't get a better location than "near China Bay". > >Any suggestions as to how to better identify its location? > > > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to SOG-UK-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message Cheers, Tom <tomp@st.net.au> Tom Perrett