EXPLORING DIGITAL MICROFILMS ONLINE

It’s worth the extra effort to search these valuable collections, including officers’ documents that were held by the War Office

As well as all the records available that can be searched via TNA’s website, there are also a large number of microfilmed records that have now been digitised. Many of these collections are just as fascinating and name-rich; they’re just harder to search. From the homepage, select ‘Find online collections’ and scroll down to ‘Free online records: digital microfilm’. The range is impressive, from naval and shipping records to cabinet reports and apprenticeship tax records. If you find a set you are interested in, you can usually go down into subsets, but even then the downloads are quite big.

One of the gems that you will find is a collection of birth, baptism, marriage and death certificates and wills supplied by the dependants of officers who had died in duty who were claiming financial support (WO42). Although the collection is described as covering 1755–1908, most of the records date from 1776–1881. Luckily the collection is mostly arranged alphabetically, so you may not have

to do too much downloading and scrolling before you find a relevant entry. The Metropolitan Police records (MEPO4) are also very interesting, from lists of people sworn in as constables (1839–1876) to pension recipients (1840–1858). Although they have not been transcribed, some of these records come with their own indexes or are in alphabetical order, making searching easier.