United Kingdom, World War 1 Service Records, 1914-1920

As this year marks the 100 year anniversary of the beginning of World War 1, a lot of well deserved attention is being given to those who served. This has also led to more and more records becoming available. As part of this, FamilySearch has just added a wonderful new collection, United Kingdom, World War 1 Service Records, 1914-1920.
This collection is a little unique in that even though it has been added to FamilySearch, the custodian of the record, The National Archives in London, has restricted the use of the images to only include the Family History Centers and the main Family History Library in Salt lake City. To locate the closest Family History Center to where you live, visit the link below;

Find a Family History Center 

This collection, which contains the records of W.O.  363 and W.O. 364 contains over 43.5 million images. However, its very important to remember that many of the soldiers had multiple records so the number of people covered is far smaller. The collection is not name search able however it is alphabetical by surname.

The records do provide some very good information on the soldiers. In the case of Jack Gluckstein, there are about 20 pages of documents. Some examples of the type of information in those is shown below.

 

 From his records we now know where he was born, the name of his father, his current address, and his age at enlistment, which when subtracted from the date of enlistment will give us his birth date.

If your ancestry is from the British Isles, this is a very important database for you. If you are attending the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies (IAJGS) conference later this month in Salt lake City, who will be able to visit the library and review these documents.

IAJGS 2014 - Salt Lake City Utah 1 Month Away

The 2014 International Association of Jewish Genealogy Societies (IAJGS) is only a month away. The time to register is now. The conference is July 27th-August 1. Come learn about researching your own Jewish families from some of the best researchers from all over the world. Follow the link below to access the registration form.

Registration Form

I look forward to seeing you there.

Croatia, Church Books, 1516-1949

A very interesting new database has been added to the Historical Records section at FamilySearch. The database,  Croatia, Church Books, 1516-1949, not only includes the records from various religions but also has the records of the Jews from 16 different cities.

The religions included are listed below:

By clicking on the Jewish title above the cities with Jewish records are listed (below):

Clicking on any of the locations will take you to the records for that community. The records for Zagreb, include the following records;

The records are very high quality and easy to read, even for those who do not read the language. From the collection for Zagreb comes the following entry.

In record #10 we have Rudolf Bernstein, born on 1 November 1858 to Marcus Bernstein and his wife Pauline Hertman. Also included is the date of his Bris, which was 8 November.

As of today, the collection has not been indexed, so it is not name search able. However, with over 1.4 million images it is well worth the time to browse through the records.

Solomon and Associated Families Reunion 2015

In the many years I have been doing family history work, I have been very blessed to travel to many beautiful places and meet some incredible people. One such time was in 2012, when I was able to speak at The Great Solomon Reunion in Melbourne, Australia. The organizers were wonderful people and I made many new friends. It was one of the best organized events I have ever had the pleasure of attending.

Well, now the time has come for the Solomon family to get together again. Word is out that on the 7th and 8th days of June 2015, the Solomon and Associated Families will gather at Wesley College in Melbourne. A new website is now available to fill in all the details. It can be found at solomonfamilyreunion2015.weebly.com

If you are a Solomon or had family that married into the Solomon's, or just want to meet some great people, make your plans now to attend. It will be a wonderful weekend.