Friday 27 May 2016

FindMyPast releases Jutland and Loan Fund records

This week's FindMyPast Friday sees the database enhanced with the following records of interest to Irish family historians.

Ireland, Poverty Relief Loans 1821-1874: This important collection was launched early last year (see blogpost for more detail) with nearly 700,000 records, mostly originating along the western seaboard of Ireland. It's now been updated with an additional 5,000 records, apparently, but no information has been provided about where or what the additions relate to.

British Royal Navy & Royal Marines, Battle Of Jutland 1916 Servicemen: This collection totals more than 38,000 records of Royal Navy/Marine servicemen who took part in the Battle of Jutland (31 May to 1 June 1916), the largest naval battle of WW1. Some 1600 men born in Ireland are included in the collection, nearly a third of them recorded with a birthplace in County Cork.

The collection – created from various records held by the National Archives in Kew, London, and Naval and Military Press, and held in FindMyPast's Britain and World packages – typically hold name, birthplace, date of birth, physical description, original occupation, details of the ships on which they served (and dates), and conduct reports. Some also have photographs; I don't know if it's just the Irish records, but in a random search of around 25 records, I haven't found any with photos.