Same Name, Different Person?

In my post, Not Trusting Trees -or- Make Sure You Read the Records!, I focused on the parents of Louisa Coulston/Colston Golding and the challenge with figuring out the maiden surname of her mother, Susanna. In this post I will look at the husband of Louisa, one Reuben Charles Short of England later of London, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada.

According to the chart found in the family bible Reuben Charles Short was born 31 Mar 1807 and died 17 Mar 1880. As I had mentioned in the research concerning the mother of Louisa, charts found in family bibles always need to be taken with a grain of salt and backed up with other documents such as ecclesiastical and government created records. So far the information recorded in this specific family chart actually matches with the other records I've uncovered. So I trust it...as much as I trust any other record.

In the parish register for St. Michael Bassishaw in London, England we find a marriage recorded in Ancestry's "London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1932" collection between Reuben Short and Louisa Coulston Golding taking place on 24 Mar 1829. 

"London, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1932," database and images, Ancestry Operations, Inc., Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 7 Sep 2020), Reuben Short and Louisa Coulston Golding, married 24 Mar 1829; citing London Metropolitan Archives; London, England; Reference Number: P69/MIC1/A/01/Ms 6990/1; Marriage register for St Michael Bassishaw, 1813-1835, p 63.

To add a little bit to the confusion to Louisa's middle name she writes it as "Coston". Why do I think it is her handwriting and not that of the priest or clerk? This is where we have to look at the page as a whole. If she didn't know how to write her name the signature would have been like that of the witness to the following recorded marriage, "Ann Pyatt her Mark X". Also the letters, especially the 'd' in Golding, look different when compared to the rest of the record and page.

Unfortunately, unlike in the civil marriage registrations that started 1 Jul 1837 in England and Wales, the names of any parents are generally not recorded in parish marriage registers. This leaves us with a challenge, who are Reuben Charles Short's parents and where in England was Reuben born?

Once again I turned to the family trees on Ancestry that have been created by users of that site for potential clues. And much like the challenges with figuring out the maiden surname of Louisa's mother, Susanna, we face some in interesting challenges. Here an example of one profile hint from Ancestry:

Screen capture of an Ancestry profile hint for Reuben Edward Short Sr.

A few things I need to address or point out.

• For the profile picture they are using the image of the family tree from the Short bible. That is the same family tree chart that I've also been using as a relatively trusted source. That document has recorded within the names of the children along with dates of significant events for that family.
• Reuben's full name, according to that family chart is recorded not just once but twice as "Reuben Charles Short". The use of the "Sr" (senior) may have been used to distinguish him from his son, Reuben Edward Short especially if only the first name is used in business or in the family. Even his grave marker, as you will read a little further on, records his name as Reubⁿ C Short.
• Reuben was born in London, Middlesex, England. However, some have him also baptized on 5 Apr 1807 in Swanage, Dorset, England.
  
• Reuben's father's name is Thomas Short and mother's name is Sarah Martin.
• Six children are listed: Matilda Susannah (1829-1885), Louisa Susannah (1832-1903), Reuben Edward (1935-1928), Sarah Ann (1838-1913), Eliza Jane (1938-1902), and Fanny Charlotte (1842-1918). However, in the family chart found in the bible there is one other daughter, Elizabeth (1841-?). She is listed under the deaths on the chart but without a date recorded. Possibly the creator of the family chart didn't know when she died.
  

Knowing the dates of when the children were born is another little tidbit that may help us out in locating or even dismissing records in England: Reuben Charles' son Reuben Edward was born in England on 18 Mar 1835 and the next child, Sarah Ann, was born in Canada in 14 Oct 1837 with the remaining children also born in Canada. Reuben is also found in the 1871 census of Canada in the Township of London, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada with wife Louisa and daughter Eliza Jane. His entry in that census is sandwiched between the family of his daughter Matilda, now married to William McKnight, and the household of his son Reuben. I've not yet found him in the earlier decennial censuses of Canada West.

So why do some have Reuben Charles Short born in London, Middlesex, England while also having him baptized some distance away in Swanage, Dorset, England. It comes down to two different sets of records. The first is a baptism record for a Reuben, child of Thomas and Sarah Short in 1807.

"Dorset, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812," database and images, Ancestry Operations, Inc., Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Sep 2020), Reuben, of Thomas and Sarah Short, baptized 5 Apr 1807; citing Dorset History Centre; Dorchester, England; Dorset Parish Registers; Reference: PE/SW:RE6; Parish of Swanage.

The other is the entry for Find A Grave for Reuben Edward Short Sr. in Mount Pleasant Cemetery and Crematorium in London, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada¹ where someone has written:

REUBEN EDWARD SHORT was born and lived near St. Paul's Cathedral, London, England. He, his wife, two daughters and his son-age one left England in 1836 in a sailing vessel that took 7 weeks to reach America. He settled in Toronto, Canada for four years then went to London, Ontario, where he lived the balance of his life. He was in the shoe making business with his brother and built a log cabin. [Source unknown]

What would have been really nice to read in that Find A Grave memorial page was the source of that information. Also, the memorial page for Reuben on Find A Grave is without an image so how do we know that it is Reuben Edward Short written on the marker? Well, it isn't. The CanadaGenWeb's Cemetery Project has taken photographs of many of the markers on the grounds of Mount Pleasant Cemetery and Crematorium and Reuben's is one of them. The name engraved on the marker appears to my eyes to be "Reubⁿ C Short"²

If that wasn't confusing enough, some people have linked a 1841 census of England to Reuben in their trees. Yet based on the places of birth for his children, he was residing in Canada by that time. That 1841 census of the Parish of Wimborne Minster, Dorset records a Reuben Short, age 35 years, born in Dorset County. Keeping in mind that in the 1841 census of England the ages were rounded down to the nearest multiple of five for those over 15 years of age, could that entry actually be referring to the the Reuben, child of Thomas and Sarah Short?

Curiously, on FamilySearch there is an indexed entry from the "England, Dorset, Parish Registers, 1538-2001" collection for a baptism of an Ellen Short, daughter of Reuben and Catherine Short taking place on 12 Jul 1840 in Wimborne Minster. In the "England and Wales Marriage Registration Index, 1837-2005" collection on FamilySearch we find a Reuben Short listed in the index along with a Catherine Mary Ann Primmer with their marriage registered in the 4th quarter of 1839 in the Southampton registration district.

The tricky part in using church records is that not all the parish registers have survived and not all have been digitized or even indexed. So where else can we turn to in these COVID-19 times when archives and libraries are effectively out of bounds for us? How about online newspaper collections. For this I looked to the British newspapers collection on Findmypast.

In the 19 Nov 1840 edition of the Dorset County Chronicle there is a servant, Reuben Short, recorded as a hedger³ with a master named Mr. Harry Small. He performed his hedging task in 2 hours 33 minutes. This was an actual event offered by the Blandford Agricultural Society in a Ploughing and Hedging competition on 11 Nov 1840. There are also mentions of Reuben Short in Lincolnshire and Wiltshire having to do with various criminal activities...all after when Reuben Charles Short was supposedly in Canada.

Could there be at least two Reuben Shorts born around the same time period in England? One that left England for Upper Canada and others that remained behind? The more I look at the records and explore other resources the more I have come to the option that there are indeed at least two people named Reuben Short.

What have we learned from this little exercise?

1. Family trees may not always be correct. It doesn't matter if they are online trees or books compiled a century ago. The information found within need to be looked at with a critical eye and, where ever possible, verified against surviving records.
   
2. Find A Grave entries or those found on any other grave marker site, unless accompanied by the image of the marker, should be treated as suspect.
3. Newspapers can help when looking for a person. Of course, they may just highlight the issue of "same name, different person" like in this case.
4. Family bibles and family charts can be invaluable but, like online family trees, the events recorded need to be corroborated.
   

So, at least for now, the names of the parents of Reuben Charles Short will have to remain a mystery.

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1.  Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 22 September 2020), memorial page for Reuben Edward Short Sr. (1807–17 Mar 1880), Find a Grave Memorial no. 33292270, citing Mount Pleasant Cemetery and Crematorium, London, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada ; Maintained by Find a Grave (contributor 8). 

2. CanadaGenWeb, CanadaGenWeb's Cemetery Project, digital images (http://cemetery.canadagenweb.org/  : accessed 4 Sep 2020), memorial page for Reuben C Short (1807-1880), citing Mount Pleasant Cemetery, Middlesex County, Ontario, Canada; photographed by Margaret Yasui.

3. Hedger? What's a hedger? Someone who makes and trims hedges of course! It was considered a skilled art.

New CEF Collection on Fold3 - An Overview

Just over a month ago Fold3 added a new collection to their site, the "Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1915-1919" collection. When this collection was first released I found that there was a bit of confusion in several Facebook groups I frequent and in some blogs as to what it held.

Like any collection that is new to me on the various genealogy sites I try to find a collection overview or description. On Fold3 they make it easy:

Screen capture from Fold3 for the Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1915-1919 collection.

Note that it doesn't say personnel records or service files. For those records you can search the "Canada, World War I CEF Personnel Files, 1914-1918" collection on Ancestry or the Personnel Records of the First World War database on Library and Archives Canada (LAC). I will often use the Ancestry collection as my initial starting place just because the Ancestry search engine is more flexible when it comes to name searches than the system on Library and Archives Canada. However, once I have the regiment number I will go the LAC database to download the available service file as a PDF instead of the individual images of the pages as found on Ancestry.

You might also see that the overview page on Fold3 provides a starting template for your source citation (always a nice thing to do), and the "Content Source". It was the content source that got my attention. The documents came from the Internet Archive, one of the favourite places on the Internet for free, generally out of copyright or public domain, material. A search on "Subject:(Canadian Expeditionary Force)" on the Internet Archive returns 151 results.

Yet if all this stuff is free on the Internet Archive why should I use a pay site like Fold3 to look at the same material?

For me, it is a trade off between time and money.

Let's look at an example. In this case, I'm interested in learning more about my McKinlay relatives that served in the First World War for Canada. I know of the following, all sons of Samuel McKinlay and Elizabeth Murdoch residing in Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, that joined the CEF:

• Samuel McKinlay, 7656
• William Hamilton McKinlay, 111575
• Francis Murdoch McKinlay, 195145
  

I had already retrieved their service files from Library and Archives Canada so I knew when and where they enlisted, their service details, and in the case of Samuel, when and where he died. However, I'm always interested to see what else I can learn about their service.

When I searched the Fold3 "Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1915-1919" collection I used "McKinl?y" as the name since I know that it is often written as "McKinley".

I found "Samuel McKinley" recorded in the "1st Canadian Contingent of British Expeditionary Force" unit as being in the 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Brigade, "A" Company. Using the virtual filmstrip icon at the bottom of the image I quickly moved to the start of the book where I found that the title is "List of Officers and Men Serving in the First Canadian Contingent of the British Expeditionary Force, 1914". Yes, that book is on the Internet Archive, but to find Samuel McKinlay on the Internet Archive I would have had to have known to look in that one book and to read possibly the 364 page (includes the cover) to locate his entry. Fold3 took a few seconds to bring up the page.

For Francis, AKA Frank, his entry was found in the "Canadian Expeditionary Force 93rd Battalion Nominal Roll of Officers, Non-Commissioned Officers and Men". Unlike Samuel's entry which only had his regimental number, if I didn't have Franks details I would have learned that he was formerly with the 57th Regiment, his next of kind was Mrs. Catherine Wallace McKinlay and her address was 310 Margaret Ave., Peterboro', Ont. He was born in Scotland and taken on strength with the 93rd on 31 Aug 1915. Oh, and his all important regimental number was 195145.

Could I have found Francis in that book on the Internet Archives? Sure. But his name is 11 pages in (at least it is alphabetical) and I would have to know that he was in the 93th Battalion.

You might also come across some war diaries. I stumbled up on the transcriptions of the war diaries of the 7th Canadian Infantry Brigade. Yes, there are digitized originals available from Library and Archives Canada with search instructions on their "War Diaries of the First World War" page but you have to manually find the applicable diary via the Collection Search and then read each page i nthe hopes of finding a name of interest to you. Having some of the transcribed war diaries available and searchable might help you learn if a relative was mentioned.

Sometimes, if you are really lucky, the regimental books and histories might have a picture of your ancestor like that of the Photographic Record and Souvenir of the Canadian Grenadier Guards Overseas Battalion "Eighty Seventh" from 1916.

Fold3, Canadian Expeditionary Force, 1915-1919 (/title/1094/canadian-expeditionary-force-1915-1919 :accessed September 23, 2020), database and images, https://www.fold3.com/title/1094/canadian-expeditionary-force-1915-1919; Photographic Record and Souvenir of the Canadian Grenadier Guards Overseas Battalion "Eighty Seventh", p 35

This collection of Fold3 doesn't give the sort of details found in the service file but you may uncover additional information about your relative that served in the First World War for Canada. It is one more collection in your Canadian genealogy research toolkit.

Not Trusting Trees -or- Make Sure You Read the Records!

When I'm stuck researching a family line using Ancestry I will often turn to the family trees created by others. Before you get in an uproar over how suspect they may be, take a moment to hear me out. I'm generally not looking at those user contributed trees for answers but instead I'm mining them for possible clues. I approach everything in those trees using my genealogy research mantra of "Trust no one, verify everything, and even if it is written in stone it might be wrong."

So let's take a look at the marriage of Charles Golding and Susanna. This is from a branch of a tree that I'm exploring for a friend and sort of a dead end on this branch for me. I wanted to learn what the maiden surname is for Susanna.

First I need to take a step back and start with their daughter. Initially all I had was the name Louisa Colston/Coulston Golding. According to the family chart of the Reuben Charles Short found in the family bible she was born 25 Aug 1802 and died 4 Sep 1873. Now blindly trusting family bibles can be fraught with challenges. However, I've been able to corroborate the information recorded on that family chart with parish and civil records so I'm trusting that document as much as I would any ecclesiastical or government generated record.

Here is her 1802 baptism record from Upper Maudlin Street church in Bristol, England, a Moravian church which means this is a nonconformist church, a non-Church of England church.

"England & Wales Non-Conformist Births And Baptisms," database and images, Findmypast, Findmypast (www.findmypast.com : accessed 7 Sep 2020), Louisa Colston Golding, born 25 Aug 1802, baptized 12 Sep 1802; citing The National Archives (Kew, Surrey), RG/3/1361B; Upper Maudlin Street (Moravian): Births, Baptisms and Burials.

In the baptism record the minister was kind enough to state where and when Louisa was born. It is really nice that the date of her birth matches what is recorded in the family chart. in the baptism record Louisa is recorded as the daughter of Charles and Susanna Golding. Unfortunately they don't state her mother's maiden surname.

As an aside, the place of her birth, Kingswood led me down some interesting paths as I tried to place it into a county. Some sites had it in Gloucestershire, others in Wiltshire, and one in both. That had me scratching my head. So I turned to GENUKI to see what it stated. The reference on that site for Kingswood in Wiltshire stated, "... Previous to 1844 it formed part of the county of Wilts, but is now annexed to Gloucester."¹ Prior to 1844 Kingswood, Wiltshire was an enclave completely surrounded by Gloucestershire. This means that when Louisa was baptized she was born in Kingswood, Wiltshire, England and not Kingswood, Gloucestershire, England. It is a minor but important distinction when one strives to record where an event took place at the time.

I now know the names of her parents, Charles and Susanna, along with the general location where she resided and the religious following of her parents. This helps quite a bit when it comes to researching in parish records. Of course, this led me down another path where I needed to learn more about the Moravian church in England and how it affected finding records. The one important item to note is that between 1754 and 1837 only Church of England marriages had been legal (Quakers were exempt from this law)². This means that I should probably not limit myself to Nonconformist records when looking for a marriage between the parents of Louisa.

This is where the various user contributed family trees on Ancestry come into play. Practically all of the trees have her parents as Charles Golding and Susanna Coulston or Colston Here is an example of one of the family tree profile hints for Louisa.

Screen capture of an Ancestry family tree profile hint for Louisa Coulston Golding (1802-1873).

The profile has a number of sources and records attached to it. However, generally when I see a profile hint on Ancestry with one more source than the number of records that's a good indicator that other family trees many have been used as sources. That is exactly what has happened here.

Since I've not found the maiden name of Susanna recorded in the documents I had come across I wanted to find out where these Ancestry members got their information. So I looked at each tree hint for Louisa and followed their tree to her mother, Susanna. For the associated sources for Susanna's name they all came from baptism registers and only had her first name mentioned. However, there was a marriage registration between Charles and Susanna that everyone pointed to. Even better, the source had an image connected to it. That's always a win!

"Bristol, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1935," database and images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 Sep 2020), Charles Golding and Susanna Golding, married 9 Oct 1793; citing Bristol Archives; Bristol, England; Bristol Church of England Parish Registers; Reference: P/B/R/3/c; Parish of St. Mary, Bitton. 

Only one little itsy bitsy problem. That record doesn't state Coulston or Colston but Golding!

One Ancestry tree profile even commented on that recorded fact with the statement:

"Susanna's name on Marriage Record is listed as Susanna Golding. Assuming since Louisa was her only daughter and she gave her the middle name of Coulston that that [sic] could be her maiden name."

They read the evidence but just didn't believe their own eyes and came up with an explanation of their own.

It just wasn't in the recording of the names of the parties but in the place where the parties signed their name. Maybe she couldn't write so the priest made the same mistake twice. This is where looking at the whole document is important since the next marriage, that between John Bush and Ruth Gunning, for the husband the signature is "The mark of  + John Bush" and the next marriage record one after that has "The mark of X Ann Bryant". So it appears that Susanna could write her own name and knew what it was.

Since the marriage was performed after the Banns of Marriage were read I searched for the record of banns. Maybe they would clarify the matter and give a different surname for Susanna. I got lucky and found them relatively quickly in the same collection.

"Bristol, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1935," database and images, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry (www.ancestry.com : accessed 16 Sep 2020), Charles Golding and Susanna Golding, banns read 15, 22, 29 Sep 1793; citing Bristol Archives; Bristol, England; Bristol Church of England Parish Registers; Reference: P/B/R/3/c; Parish of St. Mary, Bitton.

Even that record had her surname as Golding. In both the marriage and banns records it is stated that she is a spinster. So Golding would appear to be her maiden surname.

But is this the right Charles and Susanna? I think so. Bitton is in the same neck of the woods as Kingswood, only about 3.8 miles apart so it is possible. According to Wikipedia (yes, taken with a grain of salt), until the early 19th century there was no Church of England church in Kingswood and they were served by the parish in Bitton. Also, remember that little detail about nonconformist marriages being not legal? St. Mary's in Bitton is a Church of England parish so it would make sense to get married there to be legal in the eyes of the government.

A further search of the nonconformist baptisms, using both Findmypast and Ancestry, revealed a number of children born in Kingswood to a Charles and Susan/Susanna/Susannah Golding:

1. Jeremiah, 1794-1803
2. Edward, 1796-
3. Daniel, 1797-
4. Philip, 1799-
5. Ebenezer, 1801-
6. Louisa Colston/Coulston, 1802-1873
7. Jeremiah, 1804-
8. Ephraim, 1807-1812

Yes, there are two Jeremiahs. The first was born just over a year after Charles and Susanna were married but died as a young child. I haven't gone down the branches of the various siblings of Louisa but in just glancing at the records there are some neat finds including that of Ebenezer Golding, boot and shoe maker, being admitted to the Freedom of the City of London on 8 Oct 1835 at Guildhall.

Just wait though, there is more to mess people's trees up when documenting this family group...

To add to the confusion in the records and what is recorded in various trees, I had found the baptisms recorded under "RG4: Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths ˃ Buckinghamshire ˃ Primitive Methodist ˃ Piece 1361A: Wooburn Green (Primitive Methodist), 1832-1836" in the "England & Wales, Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers, 1567-1970" collection on Ancestry. This didn't make sense to me since I expected it to be Somerset, Gloucestershire, or Wiltshire as the county. If one looks at the reference plate included with frame of the original microfilm you will see that the collection is actually RG4/1361B according to the Public Records Office reference number. To really mess things up, "RG4: Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths ˃ Somerset ˃ Moravian ˃ Piece 1361: Bristol, Upper Maudlin Street (Moravian), 1755-1837" is actually for the Primitive Methodist denomination in Wooburn Green. Big OOPS on Ancestry's part.

To wrap things up, and assuming that I have found the correct records, it would seem to me that the various trees on Ancestry are incorrect and Susanna's maiden surname is the same as her husband, that is, Golding.

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1. The National Gazetteer : a Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands Compiled from the Latest and Best Sources and Illustrated with a Complete County Atlas and Numerous Maps, vol. 2 (London, England : Virtue & Co, 1868), p. 477, entry for Kingswood; digital images, Internet Archive (https://archive.org : accessed 21 Sep 2020). 

2. The National Archives research guide on Nonconformists.

Second World War RCAF Operations Record Books

In my post "Researching Canadian Soldiers Who Died in the Second World War" I discussed how we can use the various online resources to learn more about those that made the ultimate sacrifice for Canada. However, I really only talked about the War Diaries of the Canadian Army to learn more about what was happening in the unit that the individual was in. In this post I'm going to look at the Second World War Operations Record Books for the Royal Canadian Air Force.

As with any research into the Canadian military I always head over to the Library and Archives Canada Military Heritage landing page. Since I'm looking for information about the Second World War I click on "Second World War: 1939-1945" to bring up the topic page. Reading through that page we see that there is a Research Guide for "War Diaries, Ship Logs and Operations Record Books "

However, the research guidance there is a little sparse:

Second World War (1939-1945) and Korean Conflict (1950-1953)

References to the Operations Record Books (RG24-E-7) can be identified by using the Advanced Archives Search.

• In the pull down menu, select Finding Aid Number, and enter: 24-104a
• Enter a keyword, for example, the unit name or number or date: "Royal Air Force Bomber"
• Some volumes are available on microfilm.
• Some of the microfilm reels have been digitized on our partner site Héritage.

Since I find learning is often best done by doing, let's look at an example. I'm going to look for the Operations Records Books for No. 426 Squadron. Why that unit? It was the squadron that my 1st cousin twice removed, David Douglas Dakin (J86386), served in when he was posted there in March 1944.

You might be wondering how I know that little tidbit. It might have come from his service file but he passed away in 2012 and his file is now embargoed for 20 years with limited information available to immediate family members only¹. So that option was not available for me. However, I was lucky enough to come across his name when I searched the RCAF Association "Search Awards". There I found a very lengthy write up of his service in the RCAF including being awarded with the Distinguished Flying Cross. The other place I found him was in the Last Post database of the Legion Magazine.

But back to searching for the RCAF Operations Records Books.

The first step is to go to the Library and Archives Canada Collection Search page. That is not the search box on the right side of the Library and Archives Canada home page but it is found under the "Search the Collection" tab. Going there will bring up a page similar to this:

Screen capture of Library and Archives Canada Collection Search page looking for "24-104a 426 squadron"

Here I've already filled in the key details that the Research Guide told me to use:

• Finding Aid Number: 24-104a
• Squadron: 426 

I also added the word "squadron" to my search otherwise over 9,000 results were returned and the vast majority had nothing to do with the unit I was looking for. That search returned only 19 results:

Screen capture of Library and Archives Canada Collection Search results page looking for "24-104a 426 squadron"

The first result was actually the one I was looking for so I clicked on the link to display the following page:

Screen capture of Library and Archives Canada page concerning No. 426 (B) Squadron for Oct 42-Feb 45.

However, what is initially shown doesn't help me find the Operations Record Books. That is hidden under the Record Information - Details bar. If that is clicked we now see this extra information.

Screen capture of Library and Archives Canada page concerning No. 426 (B) Squadron for Oct 42-Feb 45, Record Information Details.

We learn that the Operations Record Book for No. 426 (B) Squadron is available on microfilm reel C-12298. Remember that in the Research Guide that some of the microfilms have been digitized and put on the Héritage site. So how about popping over there in the hopes that the microfilm we want has been digitized.

Screen capture of Canadian Héritage search screen looking for C-12298.

You can see that I've already typed in the microfilm number and I've used quotes around the microfilm number. The quotes are important since without them you will often get all kinds of extraneous results.

Screen capture of Canadian Héritage search results screen when looking for microfilm C-12298.

As you can see the first result is the one we are looking for. So I clicked on the link.

This is where it gets a bit challenging. There may be multiple Operations Record Books for different squadrons on the microfilm. In the case of C-12298, No. 425 Squadron was at the start and it wasn't until I got to image 1453 where No. 426 (Bomber) Squadron's book began.

Screen capture of Canadian Héritage page for No. 426 (Bomber) Squadron Operations Record Book.

So what will you find in these books?

Just like the War Diaries for the Canadian Army there are the standard entries of what was happening in the unit.

Canada, "Royal Canadian Air Force Operations Record Books, 1936-1965," No. 426 (Bomber) Squadron, image 1877; digital images, Canadian Research Knowledge Network,  Héritage (https://heritage.canadiana.ca/ : accessed 15 Sep 2020); citing Library and Archives Canada, RG24-E-7. Volume/box number: 22686, Reel C-12298.

This is the first page for March 1944 for No. 426 Squadron. Here we learn of a crew reassignment, that on the 2nd the weather was a "beautiful clear day", and on the 5th an air accident occurred with details of what happened and who was in the aircraft.

Canada, "Royal Canadian Air Force Operations Record Books, 1936-1965," No. 426 (Bomber) Squadron, image 1879; digital images, Canadian Research Knowledge Network,  Héritage (https://heritage.canadiana.ca/ : accessed 15 Sep 2020); citing Library and Archives Canada, RG24-E-7. Volume/box number: 22686, Reel C-12298.

Here we learn that on the 15th of March, 1944 air operations took place with 16 aircraft involved. Regrettably two aircraft never made it back home so the names of the crew are listed along with their service numbers and function in the airplane.

Canada, "Royal Canadian Air Force Operations Record Books, 1936-1965," No. 426 (Bomber) Squadron, image 1883; digital images, Canadian Research Knowledge Network,  Héritage (https://heritage.canadiana.ca/ : accessed 15 Sep 2020); citing Library and Archives Canada, RG24-E-7. Volume/box number: 22686, Reel C-12298.

You might also come across a page, like above, where it details who is coming into or leaving the squadron. This is where Flight Sergeant D. D. Dakin first appears with the squadron as a pilot. 

Sometimes the records continue onto the next microfilm. That was the case with No. 426 Squadron, the Operations Record Book continued on microfilm C-12298. There I found F/S Dakin in a Lancaster bombing Frankfurt on 18 Mar 1944 leaving at 19h01 and arriving back to the airbase at 00h59.

Canada, "Royal Canadian Air Force Operations Record Books, 1936-1965," No. 426 (Bomber) Squadron, image 10; digital images, Canadian Research Knowledge Network,  Héritage (https://heritage.canadiana.ca/ : accessed 15 Sep 2020); citing Library and Archives Canada, RG24-E-7. Volume/box number: 22686, Reel C-12299.

You might even come across an incident report describing an unusual event like the "collision with friendly aircraft over target area" below.

Canada, "Royal Canadian Air Force Operations Record Books, 1936-1965," No. 426 (Bomber) Squadron, image 54; digital images, Canadian Research Knowledge Network,  Héritage (https://heritage.canadiana.ca/ : accessed 15 Sep 2020); citing Library and Archives Canada, RG24-E-7. Volume/box number: 22686, Reel C-12299.

Through these records you can often follow the career of a crew member. Events such as when they promoted or commissioned can be discovered along with the details about the various sorties they flew. When the squadron was moved to another base you might even come across entries where the non-flying personnel are mentioned and how they were to get to the new location.

Keep in mind that these are the Operation Record Books for Canadian squadrons. For the Royal Air Force Operations Record Books you need to go to TheGenealogist or pay an in person visit to The National Archives in England. In doing so you just might find a Canadian who enlisted with the RCAF serving with the RAF.

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1. If you have a living family member that served Canada in the Second World War then I strongly recommend that they order a copy of their service file. Instructions for doing so can be found at Restricted records held by Library and Archives Canada (service files after 1919).

Mayflower Passenger List - A Challenge with Findmypast

One of the various challenges we sometimes face in our genealogy research is determining the source of the records we come across on the various genealogy sites. Some sites make it almost easy to learn where the records came from. In Ancestry's case, one will often find at the bottom of a record a Source Citation and a Source Information block of text. For FamilySearch it may be included in their ready built citation or on the description page for the collection in question. 

Unfortunately, Findmypast can sometimes make it a bit of a challenge to uncover the source of their transcription or images.

In the above case, the source is from the Manchester Archives. However, there are film numbers provided and a quick check on FamilySearch shows that they reference the "Rusholme Road Cemetery register of interments, 1821-1933". How did I know to check FamilySearch? No great trick just a number of years of experience.

Another example is this text some times found at the bottom of the transcription page of a record on Findmypast:

This indicates to me that I should be able to find the information also on FamilySearch. On FamilySearch I will usually then search for the names recorded in the transcription on Findmypast and will frequently come across the same record on FamilySearch. There might even be an image available for me to view if Findmypast doesn't have it associated with the record .

You might also find the source information in the transcription itself like below:

Here we learn that the information came from the Liverpool Record Office and the reference in that archive is 283-WAL-6-1-2.

This brings us to my challenge this week.

Recently Findmypast released their "Massachusetts, Mayflower Passengers 1620" record set. According to their description of this set "These records provide the names and details of all known 132 passengers and crew of the Mayflower." As a descendant of John Howland and Elizabeth Tillie this was of particular interest to me. Here you can see John Howland included in the household of John Carver as one of his man servants.

Household of John Carver

Keep in mind that this record set is not to be confused with Findmypast's already existing "Massachusetts, Mayflower Passengers 1620 (Published 1920)" record set which is from the book "A Record of the Names of the Passengers on the Good Ship "Mayflower" in December 1620: From Whom Descent May Now Be Proved, Together With the Names of Some of the Husbands of Their Married Daughers, Granddaughers and Great-Granddaughters" by Herbert Folger published in 1920.

However, Findmypast didn't specify the source of the images for this new record set. In our research it is often important to know where the documents may be originally found since that may point us to further material that can assist us in documenting our family line.

So off I went to discover the source of this old document.

The first place I went to was Wikipedia. Before you get up in arms in shock with my use of Wikipedia, it can be a very good resource for finding sources of information so follow those references at the bottom of the pages. Findmypast referenced the Mayflower Compact in their description so I checked out that page on Wikipedia. That's where I came across the statement that "The original document has been lost, but three versions exist from the 17th century..." Three sources are mentioned: Mourt's Relation (1622), William Bradford's Of Plimoth Plantation (1646), and Nathaniel Morton's New-Englands Memorial (1669). However, in the Wikipedia article they included a page from Bradford's transcription of the Compact and it looked very similar to the pages hosted by Findmypast.

That's when I decided to see if I could find a complete copy of Bradford's Of Plimoth Plantation in the hopes of locating the source of the Findmypast images. Turning to Google I used the search 'bradford "of plimoth plantation"'. The double quotes are important here since I'm looking for that specific book. In the first page of the search results I found a transcription of that work at The Project Gutenburg and in the Smithsonian Library. However, a little further down in the Google results I came across the page from the Massachusetts government on Bradford's Manuscript "Of Plimoth Plantation". On that page I found the image of the first page of the passengers and it was identical to what was provided by Findmypast.

With only a few minutes of effort I think I found my source of the "Massachusetts, Mayflower Passengers 1620" record set on Findmypast. I even found additional information to help me learn more about my Mayflower ancestors and their adventures in settling in their new world for that page from the Massachusetts State site provided links to not only the list of passengers created by Bradford but also the complete "Of Plimoth Plantation" that one can download in PDF format. Now I can read what was written in William Bradford's own handwriting his accounts of the colony.

So take the time to find those source records. You never know what else you will discovery!