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Messages - Peter L. Mitchell

Pages: [1] 2 3 4 ... 41
1
Europe / Mussolini’s Blackshirts: records of soldiers.
« on: Wednesday 19 February 25 09:35 GMT (UK)  »
Hi everyone.

I am trying to help a friend to find out more about his grandfather, who was born and died in Italy. According to my friend, his grandfather served in Mussolini's Blackshirts and was briefly at Gallipoli and fought in Africa during World War Two. I have no other information and no name to work on, but I'm looking for any guidance in finding records. Any help gratefully received.

Thanks,
            Peter

2
Family History Beginners Board / Re: Defining BIGAMY in 1920 Australia re Lunatic asylum resident spouse
« on: Saturday 21 December 24 22:23 GMT (UK)  »
You might find more information if you search the Public Records Office records for your state. The PROV (Victoria) has a large collection of documents, and you can go in and see and photograph them. I'd imagine that access to other states' records would be the same. Worth a try. Good luck with your search.

3
Family History Beginners Board / Re: How far back is realistic?
« on: Saturday 03 August 24 10:14 BST (UK)  »
I guess it depends upon what you are looking for.

Many of the queries in this site come from people who are looking for missing ancestors, unexplained anomalies in their family history, or information that will explain why things happened in their families. For many of us, it's just totally absorbing to find out more about the past.

4
Family History Beginners Board / Re: Depositions to the Japan War Crimes Tribunal
« on: Saturday 03 August 24 00:45 BST (UK)  »
I would imagine that a 100 year embargo was probably implemented because of the deals that both the Americans and Russians did with certain accused Japanese scientists, especially those who worked at Unit 731 in Harbin during the war. Immunity from prosecution was given to some in exchange for their records.

5
Family History Beginners Board / Re: How far back is realistic?
« on: Saturday 03 August 24 00:37 BST (UK)  »
I believe that the Jewish community has fairly extensive records going back many decades, if not centuries, before the 1600s. There was an article I read many years ago that claimed that there was a woman who was living in Israel who could trace her family back 2,300 years because the rabbinical records were so good.

It's known that the people in many European Jewish communities were almost 100% literate (women included) throughout the Middle Ages, so this is possible. Perhaps if you have Jewish ancestry you might contact the local synagogue or Jewish Museum for some guidance.

6
Family History Beginners Board / Re: Help needed for beginner please
« on: Tuesday 09 July 24 02:38 BST (UK)  »
Hi Wendy.

Welcome to RootsChat. In order to give yourself the best chance of getting help, you need to provide more details: family name, where they lived; occupations; births, marriage and deaths you know about; any migration you know about; years covered; etc. There are many brilliant people who can help on this site and it makes it so much easier if you can provide this kind of information.

Good luck with your search.

Peter

7
Family History Beginners Board / Re: howarth family orange nsw australia
« on: Sunday 16 June 24 11:51 BST (UK)  »
Hi Gregory.

Have you tried Trove? Here's a link that shows several reports about members of the Howarth family in N.S.W. The site is searchable, and it allows access to scanned copies of newspaper reports.

https://trove.nla.gov.au/search/category/newspapers?keyword=Reginald%20Howarth&l-state=New%20South%20Wales

I imagine that you might find some answers here?

Good luck with your search.

Peter

8
Family History Beginners Board / Re: continuity 1760-1840
« on: Monday 29 January 24 23:22 GMT (UK)  »
Hi Wulfsige.

My research into both my wife's and my ancestors has shown a strong pattern of successive generations being involved in the same work. From the early 18th Century until they migrated to Australia in 1861 my ancestors were all pitmen in Northumberland and Durham. They lived near the pits and some died in the pits. In over 100 years only one ancestor to my knowledge was not a pitman (he became a publican).

My wife's family were agricultural labourers in Huntingdonshire from at least 1724 until her grandfather (who was recorded on the 1909 census as being an agricultural labourer at 11 years of age) emigrated to Australia in 1911.

It seems to have been a long-established tradition for the male family members to follow their fathers in the same work. There was little chance to change because education was limited and social climbing was hindered by class prejudice. My great-grandfather came to Australia in 1861 aged 11, and he had worked in the mines in Durham before embarking. Compulsory education in Australia allowed him to study to become a teacher - a commitment that took him almost 10 years because in the first four years he had to work hard to achieve an acceptable educational standard just to be able to start the teaching course.

Incidentally, if you have any ancestors who migrated to Victoria and became teachers, you can find their full teaching records (free and downloadable) on the Public Records Office of Victoria (PROV) site:
https://prov.vic.gov.au/search_journey/select?keywords=Arabia#search-top
All you need to do is search the name of the person and add (teacher) after it (eg. Joe Blow (teacher).

I hope this helps. Good luck with your search.

Peter

9
Family History Beginners Board / Re: Ancestry incorrect images - do they get corrected?
« on: Monday 22 January 24 19:26 GMT (UK)  »
I've not had many good outcomes in dealings with Ancestry or its users. As JAKnighton says, they make no money from corrections so they don't seem to bother. I've frequently found errors in entries, including one classic in which an ancestor was recorded as still working as a lorry driver at 124 years of age! The author had merged two sets of different family records to come up with this gem.

As a general rule, I suggest that a useful guideline is to look at the number of supporting documents and actually check that they match the records shown. If there are any errors, it's probably more helpful to contact the author of the information (although you can sometimes get a frosty reply).

Good luck!
                Peter

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