War Memorial Added - Cornhill on Tweed

Another war memorial postcard purchased on Ebay. This time however there is no doubt to its location as it is entitled War Memorial Cornhill. It can be found on the main website here.

Cornhill is on the A697 in Northumberland and the last village in England before you cross the Tweed at Coldstream. On the postcard the river can be seen in the background and is only a 150 yards or so from the memorial. Its so close to the Scottish border that it might claim the title "The last war memorial in England" or some such.

Instead it stands quietly as it has since the early 1920s commemorating the fallen of Cornhill Parish. A separate panel was added after the Second World War to commemorate those who gave their lives in that conflict.

An index to all the war memorials transcribed so far can be found on this page.

Another mystery War Memorial solved

The unknown postcard of a war memorial mentioned in my last post turned out to be another simple one to identify from entries on CWGC. A number of these pointed to Stalybridge in Cheshire and a quick Google turned up photos of the same memorial today, substantially the same, but with the names of those who fell in the Second World War added.

Its wonderful to be able to solve these riddles so easily and from the comfort of one's own home. The downside is that it can remove a little of the fun. Hopefully the next one I find on Ebay will prove more of a challenge.

The postcard and a transcription of the war memorial in St Paul's church Stalybridge can be found here.

Weekly update - 04/09/2009

Enquiries have been received this week from various parts of the world. Amongst those getting in touch have been a chap in Australia and a lady in the USA who both hope to learn more about their ancestors. It so happens that 100 years ago both families lived within a mile or so of each other close to where I live here in London.

Work at the National Archives has been interesting and varied as ever; this week has seen me looking at RFC Service Records, WW1 and WW2 war diaries, 19th Century discharge papers and muster rolls.

I have also registered with Ancestry's Expert-Connect. Its only currently available to American customers but allows them to find and hire researchers with either specialist experience or access to particular archives. So far I have had a couple of enquiries and will be interested to see how it pans out. Watch this space!

I have purchased another mystery war memorial postcard on Ebay. More to follow...

War Memorial added - Peabody Estate, Pimlico

A week or so ago I came across a postcard on Ebay with the title 'Unknown War Memorial'. Intrigued as to where it might be I bought the postcard thinking that it might prove an interesting little research project.

On studying the postcard it quickly became apparent that a common thread for these soldiers was their place of residence; in a large number of cases CWGC showed them to have lived on the Peabody Estate in Pimlico.

Last week I was able to visit this estate after a trip with a pal to the nearby National Army Museum. We were delighted that the memorial was on the first block we came across. The postcard, a photograph and a transcription of the war memorial are now online here.

Current Work Projects as of 30/08/2009

Its been a busy week. Professional research projects have included a WW1 officer of the Queen's Regiment, a soldier who served in the Boer War and ongoing research in to 45 men recorded on a Scottish war memorial. I have been tracking the career of a soldier of the 99th Foot via the Muster Rolls and searching the Crimea Medal Roll for an artilleryman who served there.

My personal projects have included an ongoing one to create an index of Army Orders and the transcription of a couple of war memorials which will be added to the main website in the next day or two. The website is itself an ongoing project and will shortly get a makeover.