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Links to external web sites

These are some sites others have suggested or I have come across. Some are specific to Brentford and area (under the heading 'Brentford' below, others cover a wider range of locations: these are under the heading 'Brentford Plus' below. When using these links you will be leaving this website, to return to it try using your browser 'Back' button.

Most recently added links are at the top of each section.

Brentford

Brentford Plus

  • The Register of the Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902>: "for everyone interested in the participants of the Anglo-Boer War"; also Anglo-Boer Wars blog The Register is the premier research resource for everyone interested in the participants of the Anglo-Boer War.
  • A link from Sally Douglas, of particular interest if you have a bell ringer (or change ringer) in your family; the ancient Society of College Youths is the premier change ringing society in the City of London, with a national and international membership; their website includes membership lists dating from 1637 to the present day; the first Brentford member was John Deane, 1763; 6 other Brentford members are recorded between 1763 and 1799: the home page has more information and a link to membership lists
  • Thanks to Peter Calver (LostCousins) for a great free online newspaper archive at Welsh Newspapers Online: a search for 'Brentford' found over 200 matches as many English news items were re-published in the Welsh press; the period covered is from 1804 to 1919
  • Thanks to Mary Marshall for pointing out a new resource: The National Archives Middlesex military service appeal tribunal 1916-1918; downloads are free until 2024
  • Francis Frith's site includes postcards and memories, thanks to Roger Davis for the link
  • BT’s archive collection, a searchable digital resource of almost half a million photographs, reports and items of correspondence preserved by BT since 1846; thanks to Val Bott for forwarding details
  • The Workhouse is a great website to find out more about many aspects of workhouses
  • Edith's Streets: a blog about London (and Greater London) streets - what the buildings are, what the background is.
  • Forebears surname distribution (and more**) website; offers surname distribution by town, county and country; ** "Forebears is a reference aid that helps researchers find historical and genealogical records naming their ancestors"; thanks to David Hopkins for suggesting ** New
  • 'Britain From Above' website features Aerofilms Ltd aerial photos from 1919 - 2006 searchable by placename; thanks to Trevor Mitchell for sending details
  • Vicki Powys sent links she used to identify a military uniform: Achtung Blitzkrieg includes a clear, colour photo of WW1 British officers Tunic, the site also includes German, USA and other uniforms from WW2; the Old Magazine Articles site was interesting for insignia and stripes; finally The Great War Forum includes a thread about WWI British Army sleeve rank insignia (unsourced so recommend check other sites to verify)
  • Angie Beck sent a link to 'Victorian Crime and Punishment' searchable by personal or place name; includes photos of criminals
  • The British Newspaper Archive plans to offer up to 40 million newspaper pages from the British Library's collection on-line over the next 10 years; free searches are available, as at August 2015 over 11 million pages are available; I have prepared a page with more details including a link to the BNA website
  • Jackie Day has discovered another great on-line resource: the Getty Images website; can be searched by place name
  • Howard Webb's postcards then and now blog focusing on West London, Middlesex, Surrey, Berks and Bucks is highly recommended. Each postcard image is accompanied by the modern day view
  • Maps of London including one for Brentford and surrounding area ca 1940
  • The British History Online web site describes itself as a 'digital library containing some of the core printed primary and secondary sources for the medieval and modern history of the British Isles'. There is no charge to use this site, which includes text search facilities.
  • You may find your ancestor appeared as a witness or defendant at the Old Bailey Proceedings from 1674 - 1913 web site, searchable by name
  • The National Archives website has online records that can be downloaded; for example wills, Royal Navy service records, Royal Marines' service records, Prisoner of war interview reports 1914-1918 and many others
  • London Metropolitan Archives holds wills proved at the Diocese of London Consistory Court, 1514 - 1858; 8 indexes (surnames A-B, C-D etc) for the 31,000 wills can be searched by surname or place; the LMA web site notes these testators had '... lands in more than one Archdeaconry within the Diocese, and (this) is the middle tier of the hierarchy of courts ... wills of those people with more wealth were generally proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC)... and those with less wealth in local Archdeaconry courts ...'; over 150 wills of Brentford people were proved at this court (as at August 2015 I was unable to find the link to the 8 indexes, please email me if you have a simple look-up)
  • Historical directories site from Leicester University, it is possible to search by county, decade or use the keyword search for a person's name
  • FreeBMD, a free index of births, marriages and deaths nearing completion for the period 1837 to late 1950s/early 1960s (as at April 2013); it is possible to limit searches to Brentford Registration District (choose 'Brentford' in the list of registration districts, or set 'volume' to '3a' to see a wider area including Brentford)
  • West Middlesex Family History Society for anyone with family interests in the Brenford area: their home page shows the parishes covered
  • Culture 24 National virtual museum: browse on 'Brentford'
  • Great Britain Family Names: search on your surname to find out where it is most prevalent; I have tried this on Dear, Narroway, Napper (which appear in Brentford prior to 1850) with interesting results
  • If you are struggling to date an old photo try Roger Vaughan's Victorian and Edwardian photographs site
  • Phillimore's Middlesex parish register transcripts: marriages, searchable by surname; includes New Brentford, Ealing (which covered Old Brentford) & Hanworth, generally predates 1837
  • Discovery: TNA's online document collections
  • Internet Library of Early Journals website - ILEJ - at http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/ilej/ is a digital library of 18th and 19th Century journals, searchable on terms such as Brentford
  • London Gazette web site, searchable by name back to the 1660s, images can be downloaded / text copied, all for free; it includes honours, medals, bankruptcy notices etc (thanks to Carole from Alberta for this link)
  • The West Middlesex FHS site includes a map showing the New and Old Brentford parishes, and surrounding parishes, late 1830s
  • I can highly recommend Peter Calver's LostCousins web site, worth registering for the excellent regular newsletter full of useful tips; I have started to add some Brentford entries to the site, hope others will join in; thank you to Muriel Wallington for pointing me to this site
  • You can order birth, marriage and death certificates for your Brentford ancestors online from the London Borough of Hounslow at http://www.hounslow.gov.uk/index/online_forms.htm ? Certificates cost £10 each; thanks to Janet McNamara for passing on the details
  • Jackie Day recommends British Pathe News website to local and family historians; on the home page search for any placename or topic
  • Thames Discovery Programme 'Explore the archaeology and history of the Thames foreshore, London’s biggest archaeological site, with our exciting Heritage Lottery funded project': thanks to Jackie Day for this link
  • English Heritage Images of England site contains photos of the listed properties in Brentford, also descriptions of their interiors; another of their sites offers searches of National Monument Record images, recommended by Jackie Day
  • London Lives is a free, searchable database of records from eight archives; material featured is mainly for the period 1690 - 1800, recommended by Selby Whittingham; a keyword search shows 230 matches on 'Brentford' in the 1800-1820 period
  • Historic Hospital Admission Records Project (HHARP) is a free, searchable database of 120,000 admission records to four children’s hospitals: three in London, the Great Ormond Street Hospital, the Evelina and the Alexandra Hip Hospital for Children, and one from Glasgow, the Royal Hospital for Sick Children; between them the databases cover a period from 1852 to 1913; includes 100 Brentford children admissions; recommended by Lost Cousins

Updated January 2021; links last checked August 2015