Book Reviews – European Research & Ancestry British

European Research & Ancestry

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British

Air Force Records: A Guide for Family Historians

Air Force Records: A Guide for Family Historians, Second Edition is part of a series of books covering military records available at the British National Archives. From the Boer War, through two World Wars, Korea, Kenya, Suez, and other interwar actions, this book provides the necessary information for genealogists to trace ancestors who served in any of the many British air forces. The earliest service records predate mechanical flight with the Royal Engineers Balloon Section. Other forces include the Royal Flying Corps, the Royal Air Force (RAF), the Women’s Royal Air Force (WRAF), Glider Pilot Regiment, Fleet Air Arm, and the Royal Naval Air Services.

Tracing Your Naval Ancestors

We have previously reviewed two military service records books from the British National Archives: Air Force Records: A Guide for Family Historians and First World War Army Service Records: A Guide for Family Historians. Tracing Your Naval Ancestorsadds to the collection. This book explains a diverse range of records and additional sources useful in finding typical genealogical, as well as career or service, information for men and women who have served in the Royal Navy. Records date back as far as 1660 and on through more recent times.

WWI British Army Service Records

First World War Army Service Records: A Guide for Family Historians is a British National Archives publication written by William Spencer. At the time he wrote this book, Spencer was the principal military specialist at the National Archives and was an adviser on family history. This book covers what any researcher needs to know about searching WWI military records held by the Archives. The additional background information provides an added bonus.

 

Eastern European

Finding Your Slovak Ancestors

There are few enough books on researching Slovak Ancestry. For this reason alone, Finding Your Slovak Ancestors…, by Lisa A. Alzo is valuable to many researchers. Approximately 650,000 Slovaks emigrated to North America between 1875 and 1914. That mean millions of descendents living in Canada and the United States today. Utilizing over 15 years experience, Alzo presents her techniques, along with resources and key methodologies to tracing one’s Slovak roots.

Genealogical Gazetteer of the Kingdom of Hungary

Like so much of Europe, the Hungarian political and geographical boundaries have shifted over the centuries. In 1877 Janos Dvorzsak published an Hungarian locality dictionary, similar to a Gazatteer. The work included the 63 counties of the Kingdom of Hungary with a political and religious classification of the population in each. Genealogical Gazetteer of the Kingdom of Hungary, compiled by Jordan Auslander, was created to outline and compare the 1877 publication with Hungary today.

 

German

German Churches in New York Help Descendents Find Links to the Old Country

During the mid-1800s, many cities saw growth amongst their German immigrant populations, and no city grew as quickly as New York. In fact, by the late 1800s,  Berlin and Vienna were the only cities in the world with larger populations of Germans than New York. With its large German population and strong Christian heritage, German churches popped up all over the city. The German Churches of Metropolitan New York: A Research Guide, by Richard Haberstroh, was written to help researchers make the connection between their immigrant ancestors and the cities from wince they came. Where traditional vital records fail to identify the immigrants point of origin, many church records provide the desired information.

German Map Guide Volume 1 – Hessen

The series began back in 2004 with Map Guide to German Parish Registers (Volume I): Grandduchy of Hessen. Like all books in the series, Hessen was put together and written by Kevan M. Hansen. The volume was created to help genealogist find the churches their ancestors attended and ultimately the vital records left behind in these parishes. Every effort was made to include even the smallest places — some with as little population as one person! Places are from about 1870 back. If the place existed prior to that date, it will most likely be listed. If the place was named after that date, the chances drop. The volume covers 1,582 places (usually towns).

German Name-Change Gazetteer

Reviewing the German Name-Change Gazetteer is not without difficulty, as the book is written in German. Despite two years of German in high school, which needless to say was some years ago, I don’t profess to speaking German. Despite my inability to read the full details of the book, I can say its value, even to non-German readers, is potentially very high for those with German ancestors. Beyond the forward, the book is mostly a list of names anyway. Written by Otto Kredel and Franz Thierfelder, the actual title is Deutsch-fremdsprachiges (fremdsprachiges-deutsch) Ortsnamenverzeichnis, and comes as a two volume set.

Index to German Marriages and Death in New York

Since 1834, the New-Yorker Staats-Zeitung has serviced the German community in New York City. Index to Marriage and Death Notices in the New-Yorker Staats-Zeitung 1836-1870; by Frank A. Biebel, is a name index to marriage, birth, and death notices in the Staats-Zeitung as well as three other papers. Birth entries come entirely from the other papers, the Allgemeine Zeitund, Deutsche Schnellpost, and New-Yorker Deutsche Zeitung. The three papers contributed all the birth entries in this book, which only total about 50. The papers also contributed about 200 marriages.

The Making of Germany, Maps and History

The Lands of the German Empire and Before examines the history and maps of the ever changing lands which comprise, for the most part, today’s Germany. Author Wendy K. Uncapher has take the map of the German Empire and broken it down by individual states. She then examines each state in detail, providing maps and key historical facts for each. Uncapher also takes a detailed look at Prussia, describing exactly what and where it was in its own chapter. Chapter 3 of the books takes a quick look at the overall map of the German area through major historical periods.

Map Guide to German Parish Registers: Rhineland III and Palatinate (Pfalz)

Map Guide to German Parish Registers: Kingdom of Prussia, Province of  Rhineland III and Kingdom of Bavaria, Palatinate (Pfalz) is the third volume covering Rhineland. This map guide provides an historical background to the region, including a complete list of rulers and political leaders for the Rhineland from 1143 until 1945 and for Palatinate from 1799 to 1918. There are also listings of genealogical resources covering civil registration, emigration, lineage books, periodicals and genealogical collections, plus archives and repositories. Archive include both state, church, and district or city archives.

Map Guide to German Parish Registers: Thuringia — Taking Another Look

Map guides help make finding German Parishes easier. Map Guide to German Parish Registers: Thuringia maps and lists parishes in the area of Thuringia in the mid to late 1800s. These maps serve as a “snapshot” to the parish districts as they existed at that time. Parishes were defined by the town to which they were assigned, and vice versa.

The Grand Duchy of Baden

Baden: Atlantic Bridge to Germany by Linda M. Herrick and Wendy K. Uncapher provides an excellent look into the history and the maps of this key Duchy of the German Empire. Baden is Germany’s tie to the Atlantic Ocean. Its people, religion, language, and even its borders have shifted over the centuries, but it has always played a vital role in Germany’s growth, development, and position in Europe. The overall shape and size of Baden was last changed in 1952. Before that, Baden had maintained it primary borders from 1810 to 1945.

 

Irish

Truth Teller Ads Used to Find Irish Immigrants

The introduction of Voices of the Irish Immigrant: Information Wanted Ads In Truth Teller New York City 1825-1844 provides an excellent synopsis of Irish immigration to the United States. The earlier immigrants tended to be middle and upper class families, looking to maintain their standard of living. Later immigrants, especially after 1820, tended to come more from the working class. Often these immigrants could not afford to travel as a family. Instead, individuals often came alone to seek work and help raise the monies necessary for the remaining family members to immigrate.

 

Polish

Guide to Polish Sources for Jewish People

The Central Archives for the History of the Jewish People (CAHJP) holds the collected resources from the archives of hundreds of Jewish communities, as well as of local, national and international Jewish organizations, and the private collections of many Jewish personalities. The Archives has an extensive collection of documents, registers, and other records of Jewish history from the Middle Ages to the present day. Polish Sources at the Central Archives for the History of Jewish People is, as the name suggests, a guide to Polish specific resources held at the Central Archives.

Sto Lat: A Modern Guide to Polish Research

Author Cecile Wendt Jensen introduces her book, Sto Lat: A Modern Guide to Polish Research, with a quote from a Polish celebration song: “Sto Lat! Sto Lat! Niech zyje, zyje nam” (May you live a hundred years). Jensen offers the hope that through her 30+ years of expertise, genealogist of Polish descent may find at least 100 years worth of family history using the techniques taught in this book.

 

Scottish

17th Century Scots in the West Indies

“The Scottish connection with the Caribbean started in 1611 with the voyage to the West Indies of the Janet of Leith. It was not until after 1626, however, that Scots actually settled in the Caribbean. In 1627 King Charles I appointed James Hay, Earl of Carlisle, a Scot, as Governor of the Caribbees, and this led to a steady trickle of Scots to Barbados and other islands…During the 1660s the Glasgow-based organization called the Company Trading to Virginia, the Caribbee Islands, Barbados, New England, St. Kitts, Montserrat, and Other Colonies in America established economic links with the West Indies. By the latter part of the seventeenth century, Scots merchants, planters, seafarers, and transportees were to be found throughout the English and Dutch colonies of the Caribbean.” The Original Scots Colonists of Early America: Caribbean Supplement 1611-1707, by David Dobson, lists hundreds of colonists who settled in the West Indies. The book is an extract of names and information regarding migrations, such as ship names, dates, and any other relevant information the author was able to pull from existing information.

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