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The History & Genealogy of the Second World War Civil Defence

26/9/2015

Introduction

I am delighted to feature this great article on an often overlooked part of the British Army which comes from our youngest followers of #AncestryHour. Daniel Wood of FamilyHistory4Beginners, is just about to begin a degree in History at Newcastle University, while Peter Smith, who is just about to start his final year at High School, is manning the fort on the admin front. What these boys lack in age they more than make up for in ability and enthusiasm! I hope you will give them the support and encouragement they thoroughly deserve.

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When we think of either the ARP or the Home Guard, our first thought is generally the popular British sitcom "Dad's Army", made famous by Captain Mainwaring's snobbery, Lance Corporal Jones exclaiming "Don't panic, Mr Mainwaring!" and ARP Warden Hodges' now infamous protestations for people to put their lights out! But there was more to these 'forgotten souls' than a television programme.

Churchill Inspects Palace of Westminster Home Guard. Photo 'Forces War Records – Historic Archives’. https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/records.asp

The Home Guard were originally named the Local Defence Volunteers (LDV) when they were formed in May 1940 after Anthony Eden's stirring 'call to arms' announcement:

We want large numbers of men in Great Britain who are British subjects between the ages of 17 and 65 to come forward now and offer their service in order to make assurance doubly sure. The name of the new force which is now to be raised will be the Local Defence Volunteers.

Eden would later note in his memoirs that the first recruit to volunteer arrived, at the police station, within four minutes of the broadcast ending; however, we don't know who this person is or where they were from. The LDV was brought about by a need to protect Britain from a potential German invasion. The vast majority of those who volunteered were ex-servicemen who had fought in the First World War. These men had been calling for a 'civilian' army and the government knew that these brave souls could be entrusted with the protection of the country as they were not only patriotic but were extremely willing to protect their country. Though the government were very careful as to not allow, a bunch of people being able to roam freely shooting people at free will! Unfortunately, cases did arise where their actions resulted in a loss of life for quite mundane 'offences' such as not showing identity papers when asked.

Home Guard Surround a German Bomber Forced Down in Southern England. Photo 'Forces War Records – Historic Archives’. https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/records.asp

This patriotism was carried through when Churchill decided to re-name the Local Defence Volunteers to the Home Guard, wishing not only for the name to be more closely associated with himself and thus the Home Guard were now seen as a vital, patriotic part of the war effort on the Home Front. Unfortunately, in some cases, Home Guard personnel were ridiculed by children for not being 'proper soldiers' such as those serving in the army and other armed forces. Unfortunately, the fact that they did not carry 'proper' weapons didn't help this either, leading to some inventive ideas, my personal favourite being a "paper bag filled with pepper".

Mrs Mary Couchman a Warden in a small Kent village protecting a child from falling bombs. Photo 'Forces War Records – Historic Archives’. https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/records.asp

You may note however that some women did join the Home Guard, though this appears to be very few and far between. Predominantly women served in what were called 'auxiliary positions' such as becoming cooks, runners and telephone operators. However, many also fired weapons and wore the uniform that men in local units wore. Edith Summerskill MP relentlessly campaigned for women to have these rights. Women would also receive a certificate of gratitude for their duties from 1945 onwards, which read:

I have received The King's command to express His Majesty's appreciation of the loyal service given voluntarily to her country in a time of grievous danger by [name] as a Woman Home Guard Auxiliary. P.J. Grigg, Secretary of State for War, The War Office, London.

Genealogy is thus an important part of the Second World War and some records of those who served in the Home Guard can be viewed online at the National Archives, where you can also find a handy guide as to find a relative who may have served in the Home Guard. Looking through the records, you'll find variances in age and background throughout Home Guard units - a common thread throughout the units.

You can find more information here:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your-research/research-guides/home-guard-personnel/

The Queen Inspects London ARP Unit. Photo 'Forces War Records – Historic Archives’. https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/records.asp

The Air Raid Precautions (ARP) service was also an important part of the war effort. The service was formed in April 1937, under then Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin. Their primary function - to protect the British people during air raids by sounding the air raid siren and dealing with 'the unknown'. As previously mentioned, the service is now more closely associated with ARP Warden Hodges' protests at people breaking the blackout regulations from "Dad's Army" and there is some truth to this opinion as well. During the so-called 'Phoney War' period, during which between September 1939 and April 1940 nothing appeared to happen in the war, they were seen as "busybodies" more than anything else, mainly because all they appeared to do was 'whinge' about chinks of light emanating from households.

However, with the onset of the Blitz, where Coventry, Newcastle upon Tyne and Swansea were just some of the cities bombed (the most notable being London), these perceptions would soon change and as historian Peter Doyle notes, these once "busybodies" would now appear to have a more "calming" effect on the British people. Quite a turn around, it would appear then! Now their duties now not only included blackout duty, but also assessing bomb damage and co-ordinating rescue operations - many will agree, quite an arduous task indeed.

Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be a comprehensive record of all ARP wardens, however one website I've found appears to be more helpful in that department:
http://www.wartimememories.co.uk/arpwardens.html

ARP Control Room at Fulham. Photo 'Forces War Records – Historic Archives’. https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/records.asp

Further from this, family stories appear to be the only option as to finding out whether a relative of yours was in the ARP service or not.

Civil defence then was one of the most important, if not the most important, aspects of the Second World War on the Home Front. These brave souls put their very lives on the line to protect the country they loved so much. Genealogy can help us trace these seemingly 'forgotten people' and make the world remember the sacrifices they made. Were the later perceptions seen in "Dad's Army" true though? Perhaps the words of George MacDonald Fraser, an infantryman in Burma during the war, sums it up best by saying:

anyone who supposes that Captain Mainwaring of Dad’s Army is a
latter-day caricature can rest assured that Mainwaring was there.

Home Guard (LDV) Volunteers in Rifle Training. Photo 'Forces War Records – Historic Archives’. https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/records.asp

Further reading
Doyle, Peter. ARP and Civil Defence in the Second World War. Shire, 2010.
Eden, Anthony. The Eden Memoirs: The Reckoning. Houghton Mifflin Co., 1965.
Marr, Andrew. The Making of Modern Britain. Pan Books, 2010.
MacDonald Fraser, George. The Hollywood History of the World. Harvill Press, 1996.
Seaton, Andrew. 2011. 'A Forgotten Contribution: Women And The Home Guard'. Blue-Stocking. http://blue-stocking.org.uk/2011/10/20/a-forgotten-contribution-women-and-the-home-guard/.
Summerfield, Penny and Corinna Peniston-Bird. Contesting Home Defence: Men, Women and the Home Guard in the Second World War. Manchester University Press, 2007.

Written by Daniel Wood, Historical Consultant of Family History 4 Beginners
24 September 2015

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Website: http://familyhistory4beginners.com/
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Black Book: the Nazis’ most wanted

19/9/2015

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Introduction

Following the release of another fascinating set of records this week, I am delighted to bring the followers of Ancestry Hour this fabulous historic feature from the team at Forces War Records, which, as we commemorate the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain in 1940, explains just how crucial this victory was to the allies, and the events that may have unfolded had Hitler's plans been realised!

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As the summer of 1940 approached, Britain was preparing to fight for its freedom. Less than a year after all pretence that Hitler’s actions in moving into the Rhineland, joining with Austria and occupying the Sudetanland were efforts to reunite the German people had been dropped following his invasions of Czechoslovakia, then Poland, the Fuhrer turned his eyes towards our tiny island. If he had achieved his aim of subjugating the British people, some more than others would have had a great deal to fear. They were the 2,820 people mentioned on the ‘Sonderfahndungsliste GB’, or ‘Especially Wanted List Great Britain’.

The Black Book front cover (translation: ‘Top Secret!’) Photo credit: ©IWM (041820) Die Sonderfahndungsliste

The people of the list were a mixture of leading politicians, entertainers, writers, academics, heads of religion, European exiles and racial minorities, such as Romany gypsies. Some 400 organisations, including trade unions, political parties and groups such as the Freemasons, the Boy Scouts and the Rotary Club of Great Britain, were also mentioned. That the Jewish people on the list would have been in real, mortal danger is evidenced by the fact that Professor Franz Six was set to become the Chief of the Gestapo, Hitler’s much-feared police force, in Britain. As Leo McKinstry explains in his ‘Operation Sealion’, this fanatic Nazi, who was instead made an S.S. Commander on the Eastern Front, was later found to have been responsible for the liquidation of potentially thousands of ‘enemies of the state’, including 38 Jewish intellectuals. It was Professor Six who would have been responsible for rounding up all persons on the list immediately after the invasion.

There is, of course, no evidence that any harm was intended to the non-Jewish people included on the list; indeed, the many mistakes (the list named some people like Sigmund Freud who were dead, others who had already left the country, and even one or two who were known to have pro-Nazi leanings) seem to indicate that the ‘Black List’ was compiled of every person whose name had in any way come to the attention of the Nazis, making it more a list of prominent citizens who had influence, and who the Germans thought it might be worth taking in for questioning to see where their loyalties lay and if they might be of use to the occupation forces, than a hit list. However, if other countries in Europe that were invaded are anything to go by, the people on the list would have done well to expect the worst.

German Troops enter Poland, September 1939. Photo from Forces War Records Archive

Take Poland, for example. According to Norman Ferguson’s ‘The Second World War: a Miscellany’, the war crimes began as soon as the Nazis seized the country. A shocking 531 towns and villages were burned, many women were raped, and Jewish members of the population were mocked and tormented before being sent to Jewish ghettos, then concentration camps. There were incidences of random groups of citizens being rounded up and shot, just to put the fear in the rest of the population, and over 16,000 prominent citizens, including not only Jewish notables but union officials, aristocrats and religious leaders, were also executed. These were the equivalents of those of the Great Britain wanted list.

Of course, Hitler regarded Eastern Europeans as animals (the viciousness of his army’s behaviour generally on the Eastern Front testifies to this fact), and he actually liked and respected Britain and its people. By Hitler’s standards, he actually showed great restraint in his dealings with the UK. He first waited for what he considered the ‘inevitable’ surrender, and, according to ‘Invasion’ by Kenneth Macksey, refused to respond when Admiral Raeder prompted him to name a date for invasion back in May 1940. He even told the Reichstag on 19th July that, “It was never my intention to destroy or even harm (Britain)… I can see no reason why this war must go on… I appeal once more to reason and common sense in Britain as much as elsewhere.” Perhaps he had in mind something akin to the Anschluss, if only the British would cooperate.

Marshal Petain, PM of Vichy France meets Adolf Hitler. Photo: Forces War Records Archives

For a more reliable comparison of how things might have been on invasion, therefore, we must look to Vichy France and the Channel Islands. Vichy France, unlike occupied France, was allowed its own government. Marshal Philippe Petain, a war hero from the Great War, took charge of the region, and most people found themselves relatively well-off under this system… provided that they made no trouble. Every Jewish person in the region was arrested, deported and sent to concentration camps. Collaborators were rewarded, but every opponent or troublemaker could count on being arrested, and often executed. As soon as Vichy France was seen to have collaborated with the Allies in North Africa in 1942, the rest of France was invaded. So, the region was basically at the mercy of a dictator who could be violent when crossed, and was held in obedience by the fear of extreme retribution.

The Channel Islands were occupied in June 1940, and again, the axe fell firmly on the necks of the Jewish citizens. In Norman Longmate’s ‘If Britain had Fallen: the Real Nazi Occupation Plans’, the author quotes Lord Coutanche, the Governor of Jersey, as saying: “The Jews were, I think, called upon to declare themselves. Some did, some didn’t… Those that didn’t weren’t discovered, I’ve never heard they suffered in any way.” He added that, looking back, he felt the orders about Jews were “one of many hundreds of things that happened”, and that their significance could not have been known. However, the fact remains that Jews were arrested, synagogues shut, and then the people of that faith disappeared from the islands, presumably to concentration camps, never to be seen again. That the German occupiers and camp guards would carry out their orders with regards to the ‘final solution’, no matter what, is confirmed by comments made by Generalmajor Westhoff, a central figure in Germany’s POW administration who disapproved of treatment of prisoners that defied the Geneva Convention. According to David Rolf’s ‘Prisoners of the Reich’, he told Allied officers after his capture, “They (the Gestapo) could do as they pleased. None of us had any say in matters, and fear of the concentration camp was always at the back of our minds, as they’d put us in their black books.”

But how did the others placed on the ‘Black List’ fare? The Black Book directed Professor Six to “Combat, with the requisite means, all anti-German organisations, instructions and opposition groups which can be seized.” The ‘suspect’ organisation of the Boy Scouts was to be targeted and dissolved, as Hitler believed the movement “represent(ed) a camouflaged but powerful instrument of British cultural propaganda and an excellent source of information for the British intelligence service”; similarly, the Freemasons were to be crushed and the Public School system vilified as being set up to breed men that would “know human nature and how to dominate other men in the most unscrupulous fashion”. The Salvation Army was objected to on grounds of suspect international connections, as was the Rotary Club, it being felt that a ‘secret society’ might help people to unite with other countries against the occupation forces. However, although the ordinary Channel Islander faced years of fear, hunger and hardship, the occupiers were actually under orders to be ‘model soldiers’ on the islands, to put the minds of the rest of Britain at rest as to how they would be treated when Germany invaded.

Union flag marched through Guernsey, Channel Islands at liberation 9th May 1945. Photo: Forces War Records Archives

That the invasion never came is thanks to a mixture of Hitler’s own poor judgement, the omnipotence of the Royal Navy, and the great and heroic deeds of our airmen in both Fighter Command and Bomber Command. Norman Longmate explains in his ‘If Britain had Fallen’ that Hitler only began to seriously plan his invasion 2 days before his speech to the Reichstag in mid-July. This demonstrates not only his emotional attachment to Britain, but also his arrogance. Britain’s best generals spent 2 years planning their amphibious invasion plan for D-Day, crafting and perfecting the arrangements. Having swept through Europe more rapidly than he could ever have imagined, Hitler plainly expected to be able to mount a similar invasion quickly, since bad weather would make it unfeasible to invade from mid-September onwards. His speech to the Reichstag confirms that he was sure of his own superiority, as he added to his talk about surrender the assertion that “I consider myself in a position to make this appeal since I am not the vanquished begging favours, but the victor speaking in the name of reason.” His assurance that Britain must realise that resistance was futile made him delay the invasion again and again.

His respect for the awesome powers of the Royal Navy is evidenced by the fact that he insisted on gaining complete control of the skies before making his advance, as he knew, without this extra advantage, his own navy would struggle to fight its way across the Channel. Therefore, winning the Battle of Britain became absolutely critical for both sides. The success or failure of Operation Sealion lay on the airmen’s shoulders. Luckily, all of Hitler’s dawdling had given the RAF time to recover, recruit and reorganise after the crushing defeat at Dunkirk, so that by the time he was ready to move, so were they.

RAF Fighter Pilots scramble to Spitfires - Battle of Britain 1940. Photo: Forces War Records Archives

Britain was able to win the famous aerial battle for several reasons. First, thanks to the efforts of Lord Beaverbrook and the aircraft designers and factories of Britain, our output of planes far outstripped that of Germany. Norman Ferguson attests in his ‘The Second World War: a Miscellany’ that in June 1940 we produced 446 new aircraft to Germany’s 220. Second, Britain had by far the better early warning and control system, the brand new RADAR (RAdio Detection And Ranging), invented by Robert Watson-Watt. The chain of RADAR stations along the coastline gave Fighter Command early warning of oncoming invaders from the moment they left France, so that the pilots could not only be sure that their aircraft were in the air when the Luftwaffe arrived, preventing them from being caught and destroyed on the ground the way Poland’s had been, but have a much better chance of finding and challenging the invaders. Because of this improved hit rate, Air Chief Marshal Sir Hugh Dowding, naturally a better tactician than Hermann Goering, was able to preserve aircraft and save lives while the RAF was on its back foot by sending the minimum possible number of planes out during each raid.

As for the ground crew and pilots, their dedication and courage counted for a lot. The British airmen, having seen the rest of Europe fall before the might of Germany like Dominos, firmly believed that the liberty and welfare of the nation depended on them; the Czechoslovakian and Polish airmen, meanwhile, knew it for sure. Again and again the airmen responded to calls to action, despite being hungry and often beyond exhaustion. Since they had lost so many experienced pilots and aircraft at Dunkirk, and by August 1940 (despite the impressive rate of production) still had just 715 aircraft to the Luftwaffe’s 1,198, their backs were against the wall and they knew it.

RAF Bomber Command, Boston 111 bomber pilots briefed before a daylight raid. Photo: Forces War Records Archives

This is where the heroics of Bomber Command came in; after the bombing of central London on August 24th, now thought to have been an accident, the work of a sole pilot jettisoning his load of bombs in an effort to get home speedily, Bomber Command began targeting Berlin on the 25th. In a rage, incensed that anyone would dare to target his capital city, Hitler ordered the Luftwaffe to stop bombing airfields and RADAR stations and start bombing London in return. The Blitz, while deeply unpleasant for the citizens of the capital, may well have saved the beleaguered RAF, which had been harried to near breaking point. The sacrifice of Bomber Command, knowingly flying into danger, saved Fighter Command.

So, Hitler’s efforts to crush the RAF ultimately failed, and after a series of increasingly ferocious aerial battles, culminating in a fight on 15th September 1940 that saw 60 German aeroplanes shot out of the sky, so did his hopes of invading Britain that year. Winning the Battle of Britain saved many lives… including, most likely, those of many of the individuals on the ‘Black List’. Leo McKinsty asserts in his book that the British publisher and humanitarian Sir Victor Gollancz and the National Labour MP and writer Harold Wilson, to name just two, fully intended to commit suicide immediately if Germany landed in Britain, to preserve themselves from a humiliating death and ensure that they could not betray the United Kingdom by giving away sensitive information during torture. Every Jewish name on the list would have been snuffed out, and the rest would have either disappeared or faced head-on the chance of extermination. The whole of Europe rejoiced when the invasion failed, but none more fervently than those on the ‘Sonderfahndungsliste GB’ and the families of those who, thanks to being included on the ‘Black Lists’ for other nations, did not live to see Hitler’s first failure.

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Many thanks to Nicki Giles and the team at Forces War Records for this spine tingling and thought provoking account. Please remember that as followers of AncestryHour you can try Forces War Records for yourself with a generous discount of 40% off your first month's subscription when you sign up using the code AH40. In addition to their huge database you will also receive a monthly newsletter packed with interesting articles and tips for your research.

Find out who WAS on Hitler's "Hit-list" for free at:
https://www.forces-war-records.co.uk/hitlers-black-book
In addition you can follow the Forces War Records team on Facebook at:
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How to find your Norwegian relatives.

12/9/2015

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Geirangerfjord - Norway

The Kingdom of Norway is small. A narrow strip of land in the cold North with just 5 million inhabitants. But despite our county’s small size, we have spread across the globe.

– so if you, like Richard Ayoade, Sophie Dahl, and the British Royal Family, have Norwegian relatives: Here are some tips to how you can find them!

Norwegian emigration in a nutshell

Over the centuries, Norwegians have settled all over the world. It all started with the Vikings, who settled mainly in the UK, Ireland and France, but also populated areas as far as Sicily, Turkey, Russia and the USA.

In the 1500s and 1600s, the timber trade with the Netherlands lead a second wave of Norwegian emigrants. And in the 19h century, over 800 000 Norwegians – meaning almost 25% of the population at the time - emigrated to the USA. With the exception of Ireland, no other country sent a larger percentage of its people to the US than Norway.

Are you a Viking?

In the UK, the Norwegian Viking heritage is visible in buildings words that are still used in the English language today. And you will also find that many Brits, especially in Shetland, Orkney, South of Scotland Yorkshire and the North of England, have Norwegian ancestry.

But as all genealogists know, when tracing back relatives as far back as to the Vikings, we are more or less all related. And documents and sources back then were sketchy at the best. Luckily, the Norwegian archive methods have improved since then.

Discover your Norwegian relatives

MyHeritage is Norway’s most popular platform for building family trees online. The site currently has over 500 000 registered Norwegian users, which means that 1 in 10 Norwegians have an account or a family tree on the site.

This again means that if you are of Norwegian descent, and you know the name of your ancestors, you are very likely to be able to find clues – and maybe even be able to connect to an existing family tree – on MyHeritage. If you haven’t tried it already - Go to www.myheritage.com to register.

As a special offer, all Ancestry Hour readers will be given a 30% discount on all MyHeritage products, including annual Premium and Premium Plus subscriptions.

Enter the code AncestryHour to claim your discount. But be quick! The offer is only valid until the end of October!

Church records and census data

The first thing to look into when searching for Norwegian ancestors, is in the Kirkebøker. These parish registers were kept by parish clergymen, and provide information about, among other things, baptisms, confirmation, marriage, and burials in the parish.

As early Norwegian law made membership in the Lutheran State Church mandatory, these records cover close to 100% of the population, and are hence invaluable when searching for Norwegian relatives.

Some parish registers date from the 1600s, but most begin after 1700. – and as Kirkebøker were updated regularly, it is often easier to trace movements in these compared to census data. Just make sure you search in the correct parish – they might have merged or changed name over time!

National Censuses were conducted in Norway in 1769, 1801, and every tenth year from 1815 up to and including 1875. From 1890 (1891) a population census has been taken every tenth year. From a genealogical point of view, the best census is from 1801, because it lists the individual's name, age, occupation, and family status.

Where to find Norwegian records online

MyHeritage.com includes a lot of Norwegian first tier-records, as well as family trees created by its Norwegian users. Search for your Norwegian relatives here.

The Norwegian National Archive (link http://arkivverket.no/eng/content/view/full/629 ) is currently in the process of making all census data and Parish Registers available online.

But please note that the work is currently ongoing, and that not all records are complete or indexed yet. So it you don’t find a hit in the links below immediately, don’t despair!

In addition to these, you can also find clues in Real Estate Registers, Emigrant registers, Probate records, Property tax records, Legal Proceedings and Sanctions, as well as in Accounts and Tax lists. When searching for people in Oslo from 1903 to 1950, have a look at the Address Books for Kristiania/Oslo and Aker .

And if you’re stuck - contact the local archive where your ancestors were from. Or send MyHeritage in Norway a message on Facebook. Maybe we can find someone who can point you in the right direction!

Good Luck! Or as we say in Norway: Lykke til!

- and don't forget to claim your discount! Enter the code AncestryHour to receive a 30% discounts on all MyHeritage products!

This blog post is written by Trine Knudsen Dabbadie, who is an advisor for MyHeritage in Norway.

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A BRIEF INSIGHT INTO PROPERTY AND TRUST LAW IN THE CONTEXT OF FAMILY RESEARCH

5/9/2015

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Introduction

Uncover Your Ancestors is a genealogical research practice specialising in family research with expertise in legal and financial matters. Their chief researcher, Sara Paulley, holds a Law Degree, is a Chartered Tax Accountant and holds a Diploma in Genealogical, Palaeographic and Heraldic Studies from the University of Strathclyde.

This week Sara introduces us to some of the valuable information for family historians that may be contained within the documentation concerning property transactions in England., and explains the various legal means by which land could be held, disposed of or inherited.

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The initial research into any family can be akin to collecting stamps, sourcing the ancestor and then lovingly entering them into your family tree, but as time goes on the desire goes beyond merely collecting names to wondering who they really were. Context is what makes family research a never ending quest: are there career similarities; have your paths crossed over the divide of centuries?

Often, census returns for England will give a street name and number. A quick hunt on google maps and instantly you are walking the same street, looking at the very doorstep on which your ancestors stood. Even the street name alone or one nearly will gives you a sense of the past. This obviously works better in urban areas although this can mean the street has been demolished or bombed and the landscape no longer looks like it did in the past. Locating information on the area on the internet on websites such as http://www.british-history.ac.uk can provide maps and historical information. Websites such as http://www.francisfrith.com/uk reveal pictures from the past. This research can inform any field trip you plan to take.

Property can provide the key to understanding your ancestor’s economic context. One family recently researched lived in Hackney, London an area until recently associated with economic deprivation but in the mid nineteenth century it was a thriving middle class area of London.

What is more difficult to research is houses out of the urban area. The surrounding area may reveal agricultural roots but does not give context to families not connected to the land. The French family, a family from my own personal research, moved from urban London to the rural calm of Kent in the early nineteenth century. The house remained in the family for at least three generations which gave an indication that the family was financially well circumstanced but when did it leave the family and why? What was the history of the family and this house?

Wills can be a good source of information relating to houses. The will of the first family member to own the house, Fleming, did not mention the house and in fact his financial affairs were not wound up, probated, for a staggering twenty years. His son John did not appear to have lived at the house but no sale notice could be found in newspaper archives. Census return searches showed occupants that were not family members but over thirty years later the 1851 census return records Fleming’s grandson living in the house.

https://www.eda.kent.ac.uk/school/news_article.aspx?aid=803

This case serves to demonstrate one of the methods by which land could be held. All land is either held freehold or by lease. The former means the land is owned outright by the person named on the title deeds; the latter means that the person holding the lease can occupy the land but has no right of sale for they do not have the freehold. Freehold land can be held in fee simple, fee tail or for life. Fee simple is the most straightforward and it is how most people in England own their houses in other words they are free to dispose of it as they wish. Freehold land for life is exactly what it states the person owns their interest for the duration of their life and can in their lifetime “dispose” of it, but the new holder only holds it for the duration of the life of the giver. Thus

A grants to B land for B’s lifetime

B grants to C the same land but this right ceases on B’s death

The land then reverts to A who during all this time is deemed to have a fee simple in reversion that is he is the ultimate holder of the freehold which he can do as he wishes with once it has reverted to him.

The final type, fee tail, is how Fleming and his successors were holding the family house. Fleming settled the land on his son, John and his heirs. This meant that whatever happened the house was protected to be passed on from generation to generation. Therefore Fleming did not need to mention it in his will as it was already settled on his son. This kind of omission from a will can be a clue that this type of settlement exists. It meant John could lease out the house which explains why occupants were not relatives but he could not dispose of the house. This turned out to be sound move on Fleming’s part as further research revealed that John was not particularly adept with money. A court case regarding his debts recording that he was “living in Bruges in embarrassed circumstances”. The settlement of the land protected the house from John’s creditors as it was legally destined for his son, William, Fleming’s grandson who was indeed living there in 1851.

Such dispositions are where the law of land and trusts in England cross over as it is the law of trusts that protects these land transactions, a trust would be created where in this case Fleming would have the right to live in the house until his death then his son John for life and then his son William who would be known as the tenant in tail. Usually what happened was that as soon as the tenant in tail became of age at twenty one his father would request that the land be resettled again ensuring that the land would be held and passed onto a great grandson of the original settlor. Thus starting the protection process all over again.

John was in financial difficulties and it would have been perfectly possible for him to apply to bar the entail himself thus placing the freehold in his hands and the disposal of the house would presumably have resolved his financial difficulties. To do this he would have needed the consent of the trustees and ideally his son, William. John’s will makes it clear in a codicil that people who are sadly unnamed had made his life difficult. It seems that someone was resistant to this course of action perhaps believing that John would only have run himself into more financial difficulties.

It is clear by William’s residence in 1851 that the entail was not barred. He did not take up occupation until nearly twenty years after his father’s death benefitting instead from the rental income. This is in part explained by a naval career and his settling in Scotland following his marriage to a girl from Glasgow. When a tenant left in the 1840s he tried to sell the house but without success. The advertisements for its sale and ones in later years found in newspaper archives. Comparison of newspaper articles and subsequent attempts to sell the house in the later 1850s reveals that he moved south to Kent with the intention of developing the land surrounding the house as the acreage diminishes overtime. As he did not either barr the entail or resettle, on his death in 1855 the house was sold bringing to a close over fifty years in the same ownership.

Sadly many land documents have been lost either binned or the bundles broken up and sold. Those that do remain can be a mine of useful information listing names, family relationships. These used alongside family wills can prove a fascinating insight and shed light on the family context.

Links

Website: http://www.uncoveryourancestors.org
Blog: http://www.uncoveryourancestors.org/blog
Twitter: @generesearcher

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The History & Genealogy of the Second World War Civil Defence

Introduction

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Links

Black Book: the Nazis’ most wanted

Introduction

Blog

Links

How to find your Norwegian relatives.

Norwegian emigration in a nutshell

Are you a Viking?

Discover your Norwegian relatives

Church records and census data

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A BRIEF INSIGHT INTO PROPERTY AND TRUST LAW IN THE CONTEXT OF FAMILY RESEARCH

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