Findmypast releases Wiltshire records
Family history website Findmypast ( findmypast.co.uk) has added three record collections from Wiltshire.
The first new collection is ‘Wiltshire Tithe Award Register 1813–1882’, consisting of more than 257,000 records.
Originally, tithes were paid by parishioners as a tax in kind to their local church, traditionally in the form of one tenth of all agricultural produce. However, in 1836 tithes were commuted into a monetary charge. The tithe surveys identified owners and occupiers of land, and who should pay what and to whom. The records list each individual’s name, place of residence, details of their plot of land, and whether they were an owner or an occupier.
The second record set consists of lunatic asylum registers, dating from 1789–1921 and covering six asylums. There are nearly 28,000 records altogether. They often reveal when individuals were admitted, when they were released, and additional details of their care.
The third set contains just over 6,000 records from First World War hospitals. They cover admissions to the Old Sarum Isolation Hospital, Salisbury, the Harnham Red Cross Hospital at East Harnham and the Salisbury Infirmary on Fisherton Street. Many of the patients came from camps on Salisbury Plain as they waited to be deployed, rather than from the Western Front.
The records include soldiers from around the Commonwealth, particularly Australia and New Zealand. They include year of birth; year of admission; rank; service number; company, regiment or unit; hospital; cause of illness or injury; and date of discharge.
The website has also added nearly 70,000 records to its Wiltshire baptisms collection, which now exceeds 2,900,000.
All of the records consist of transcriptions created by Wiltshire Family History Society.