KEY SOURCES

SOLDIERS’ EFFECTS REGISTER

This is a useful resource if you have an ancestor who died during the First World War, as William did. It was created by the War Office to record the money owed to soldiers who died and includes next of kin and other details. You can access the records 1901-29 on Ancestry ( ancestry.co.uk) and 1901-1960 at the National Army Museum ( www.nam.ac.uk).

ELECTORAL REGISTERS

Taken annually, these are great records for tracking down missing ancestors or following their movements between censuses as they include exact addresses. However, only individuals eligible to vote will appear. Both Ancestry and Findmypast ( findmypast.co.uk) host substantial collections of these from across the country.

WAR DIARIES

Where they still exist, these are held at The National Archives, but there is an ongoing project to digitise them. They are unlikely to mention your ancestor, unless he is an officer, but they can tell you what their battalion was doing and where on a particular date.