Genealogy Chat

Hi SHRat,

Re your points on the army's systems - I have seen my grandfather's discharge certificate, and although I cannot remember the date (newbie at that point), I remember I was astonished that he had spent at least one year in a Lincolnshire field awaiting discharge - what on earth was the Army's thinking on this?

All the best

Hi Karen,

I'm not doing very well finding references for you. This seems to be the most detailed references I can get from A2A:

Court 1: Part 1 registers 1905-1968 PS/OLD/A01/001-245

Court 1: Part 2 registers 1905-1968 PS/OLD/A02/001-179

Having read parts of the LMA website - all the addresses are very long, since they all now start:

http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/leisure_heritage/libraries_archives_museums_galleries/

and in particluar the following pages (end of the website ref only)

lma/visitor_information/lma_enquiry_team.htm
lma/visitor_information/before_you_visit.htm
lma/aims_policies/access_enquiries_interpretation.htm
lma/visitor_information/visitor_information.htm#opening

It looks as if the main genealogical type holdings of the LMA are listed on another website, informally called "London Generations".

See the website:

http://www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/corporation/family-research/registerSearchForm.asp

Bethnal Green is now under the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Searching from 1909 to 1917 brings up 116 hits, of the type:

ALL SAINTS, MILE END NEW TOWN, BUXTON STREET, TOWER HAMLETS
Baptisms 1885 to 1932
Order ref :X081/039

(It seems this type of register has been microfilmed, and can either be viewed on a visit there, or you can have a page printed/photocopied for a few pence on a visit there, or at a cost of having a member of staff spend half-an-hour searching out details for you, at a cost of £17.50).

By the looks of it, the court records are not listed on London Generations, but instead the A2A reference is all that is available online. That may mean that you either need to visit LMA or to contact the staff to locate the records and send you copies. Having never been there, though, it would be better if someone could confirm that. Their contact details are:

London Metropolitan Archives
40 Northampton Road
London EC1R 0HB
Tel 020 7332 3820
Fax 020 7833 9136

They are shut until Jan 21st for refurb., but the enquiry service is still open.

All the best

Hi Karen,

I've had a quick look for threads on here for LMA (there are hundreds!) One caught my eye, about coroner's records. This said that they understood that detailed records were destroyed after 25 years, with a summary index kept with bare details only, plus a random 10% or so kept for general illustrative purposes only. So it may be that the refs above to PS/Old give no more than the info you already hold. I hope you do find more info, though.

All the best

The only thing I can offer in the Army's deffence (and it goes against the grain to do so), is that processing several million men for discharge does take a bit of time. Also the army was still engaged in Afghanistan well into 1919. But many POWs were not even repatriated back here until mid 1919, and it all took manpower.

But it is true that there was little thought given to discharging men early if their circumstaces were somewhat difficult, men from the ranks that is, officers fared much better!

Thank you both so much, you've been a great help. I will give London Met Archives a call when they reopen and will post on here what I find. Thanks again for your help!

Karen x