Tag Archives: Young

How to use the British Newspaper Archive

Posted on June 22, 2012 | Leave a comment

I rarely buy family history magazines anymore but whilst we were on holiday last month I picked up one to read. There was an article about the British Newspaper Archive which sounded interesting so I signed up online and received 15 free credits (which equated to 3 page views).

I tried a couple of simple searches with no luck and was pretty disappointed at the results which seemed illegible. The original newspapers are scanned, converted to a JPEG2000 format for archive purposes, and then run through an optical character recognition (OCR) process which creates the electronic text. This means that the text isn’t read by a human so the words are made live on the website even if they don’t make sense, i.e. ‘MISS SELINA RANCE,n ttends bhtre Gret Lodon Serio-Comic. treet, ‘ Continued Engagement of the Universil Favourites and ge, ou Star Duettists.’ So you need to do a bit of detective work!

I then tried some searches for some of the middle and upper class members of my tree, in particular Selina Elizabeth Courtenay Mansel, as I noticed I didn’t have a date of her marriage to Alfred Young.

On the second page of results was for a notice of their marriage in the Hampshire Telegraph, dated Saturday 27 July 1850:

Young-Mansel  On the 16th inst., at the Collegiate Church of St Nicholas, Galway, by the Rev J Macready , Alfred Young Esq. Lieutenant R.N. grandson of the late Bishop of Clonfert , to Selina Elizabeth Courtenay, only child of Captain Thomas Mansel, R.N. , and grandchild of the late Sir William Mansel , Bart., of Iscoed, Wales.

I’m really glad I persevered with searching as I doubt I would ever have found a record of their marriage. I can see how easy it would be to become addicted to this site! I also found an entry for the death of Admiral Thomas Mansel in the Morning Post, 7th April 1869.

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Posted in Ireland, Mansel family, Young family

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Peninsula War Prisoner of War records

Posted on June 21, 2012 | Leave a comment

According to his entry in the British Naval Biographical Dictionary, 1849, Matthew Young

“On 20 Oct. 1807, while in charge of a prize Indiaman, … was captured by the enemy and taken to France, where he was detained a prisoner until May, 1814.”

This intriguing little nugget throws up some interesting questions.

Such as are there any records of PoWs from this time and was he entitled to a medal for his imprisonment?

His son, Alfred Young, was apparently born in 1811 in Verdun, France.

 

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Posted in France, Royal Navy, Young family

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A trip to Bridgend

Posted on June 18, 2012 | 3 comments

In 2009 we visited Wales and spent a day in Bridgend. I was hoping to discover more about my great-uncle Alfred Mansel Young who died in the First World War.

From my limited information I knew he was at 9 Graig, Newcastle Hill and his occupation was an Assistant at the Bottling Stores, Brewery at the time of the 1911 census. The Graig still exists so off we went. Unfortunately only one side of the street survives, and of course it was the wrong side!

The Graig, Newcastle Hill

The Graig, Newcastle Hill, Bridgend

However, the street was quite pretty and I presume the houses on the other side were of a similar size and age.

We then visited the local history centre to look at local newspapers. Despite reading issues from throughout the war we couldn’t find any record of my great-uncle’s death during the First World War, this was quite surprising as he has joined a local regiment and also very disappointing.

War memorial, Bridgend

War memorial, Bridgend

Our final trip of the day was to view the War Memorial in the centre of Bridgend to see his name inscribed on it. I noticed that there was also a J Underhill and R.A. Underhill listed on the  War Memorial. I wonder if these were relations of his as the family he was living with shared this surname?

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Posted in Census, Underhill family, Wales, Young family

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Pension request for Commander Matthew Young

Posted on June 12, 2012 | Leave a comment

Years ago I ordered a record from TNA regarding Commander Matthew Young. Whilst looking through it properly it helped me fill in some names on my family tree.

The record is from ADM 45/34 Navy Board, and Admiralty, Accountant General’s Department: Officers’ and Civilians’ Effects Papers and I think relates to an application for a widow’s pension. The details are as follows:

Claim received at the Admiralty: 24 September 1855

Amount reported due, and for what: Half Pay. Will dated 2 June 1854.

Officers, Pensioners’ and Civilians’ Register: Numbers 9/477 Letter Y

Name of the Deceased: Commander Matthew Young

Name and Address of the Claimant: Mrs Charlotte Young – Executress, Dunmore East, Killea, Co. Waterford

6A for a Will – 3 October 1855

8-                      9 October 1855

8B                     Audit Office 19 October 1855

 

Claim Admitted {illegible signature}

Certificate Examined 19 Oct 1855

 

I presume the application was approved but perhaps I need to look for another record which grants the pension. Interestingly the wife’s name is Mrs Charlotte Young suggesting Commander Matthew Young remarried after his first wife died in 1836.

 

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Posted in Royal Navy, Young family

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Portsmouth Dockyard employees

Posted on June 10, 2012 | 1 comment

My great-grandfather worked at Portsmouth Dockyard around 1911 according to the 1911 census. I thought it would be interesting to see if I could find out more information about his occupation.

The Portsmouth Royal Dockyard Historical Trust hold the original Dockyard Registers of Employment (Rate Books) which contain details of all employees who worked in the Dockyard itself, or in one of the other Admiralty Establishments in the Portsmouth area, during the period from the mid-19th century until the mid-20th century.

You can request a search of these records on your behalf. Here are the details I submitted:

  • Surname of Dockyard Employee that you are researching
    Young
  • First name of Employee Mansel
  • Relationship to Enquirer Great-grand father
  • Approximate year of birth 1854/1855
  • Occupation or Trade Dockyard Labourer, Naval Store
    Department
  • Approximate date or dates in Dockyard 1911 (from census
  • record)

 

Unfortunately they didn’t have a record of his service. The index is still in progress, so he may appear at some time. Currently there are about 120,000 names in this index so it is definitely worth an email.

 

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Posted in Royal Navy

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A trip to Portsmouth

Posted on June 8, 2012 | Leave a comment

A trip to Portsmouth in 2005. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to blog about these photographs. I suppose with the advent of google maps you can look up addresses in the comfort of your own home but I think it’s better to get out and about if you can.

Bath Street, Southsea

121 Bath Road, Southsea was the home of George and Eleanor Benger when they registered the birth of their daughter Viola (my paternal grandmother) in 1905.

 

St Augustine Road, SouthseaThey later moved to 98 St Augustine’s Road, Southsea according to the 1911 census.

St Mary's Church, PortseaSt Mary’s Church, Portsea – where George Caswell married Louisa Leigh on 15th December 1834.

Woodland Street, Milton, PortsmouthAddress of Mansel and Kate Young and their two children Alfred and Henry (my paternal grandfather) at the time of the 1901 census – 2 Woodland Cottage, Woodland St, Portsmouth.

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Posted in Benger family, Caswell family, Census, wedding, Young family

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