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Inside this months issue

Far from home

Soldiers of the Raj

Many families with a military connection will discover an ancestor who at some stage in their career spent time working overseas in the Commonwealth. For over two centuries, a great number of these servicemen were based in India. In this article, Simon Fowler explains the history of British India and reveals which records still exist, and where, for anyone trying to piece together their own ancestor’s career in the ‘jewel of the Empire’

Out of harm's way

Under the somewhat fitting codename of Operation Pied Piper, in September 1939 over three million people were evacuated from Britain’s towns and cities to more rural settings. The majority of these evacuees were children, encouraged to leave the threat of aerial bombings in their urban hometowns and start a new life in the countryside. Here, Colin Ellson investigates the stories behind the migration and recalls his own experience as an evacuee in Christchurch

The name’s the game

Nearly all of us in this country have a surname, but how many of us know about its origins, and understand how it can help us in our quest to unearth the history of our earliest ancestors? Dr Graeme Davis discusses the history of surnames in the British Isles and explains the relevance of one-name studies to family history research

ALSO THIS MONTH... 

All the fun of the fair

Samantha Louise Page explains how, with a little preparation, you can get the most out of family history fairs

Mustering military ancestors

Jeremy Palmer shows us how revealing muster rolls can be for finding out more about a forebear’s career in the Forces

In the picture

Jayne Shrimpton finds out how much family portraits can tell you about previous generations

Educating the ancestors

Karen Foy gives us a lesson on tracing teacher forebears

The ‘ill years’ of Edinburgh

Annie Harrower-Gray takes us on a tour round the cramped, unsanitary streets of 18th century Edinburgh

A day at the National Library of Ireland

Sarah Warwick visits a gem of a resource on the Emerald Isle

Bedfordshire FHS

Hayley Chappell visits a hard-working family history society in the East of England

Online

We put new website SaveEveryStep.com through its paces