Genealogy Chat

I am tring to trace my grandad who served in the forces i cant find anything his name is leonard arthur horton from bedfordshire,

It can be a bit daunting when you get to kew but all the leaflets are really helpful. Just take your time reading the instructions carefully. Don't forget you need a readers ticket so take some ID with you like a passport or driving licence.

Cripes it is complicated but I managed to get my relly's Marine record of service plus his attestation and discharge papers after 2 visits. There is a leaflet about findinmg your Royal Marine. You do need to know eventually which division he is in - Portsmouth, Chatham etc and you need the rough time of enlistnment and discharge to discover the actual service papers. So you need to start in the main reading room with the ADM name indexes to get the service number of your marine. Then you go onto micro film to find his service record - this you can then photocopy. From this you will get his base - mine was Portsmouth and you will be able to work out when he enlisted and more importantly when he was discharged. Then you go onto their computer to get PROCAT - their records and find the ref number for your marines papers - it is alphabetical and grouped for years of discharge. You then ordre the documents and go through the big box with a beating heart - they are sometimes out of order so stay calm and there he will be. You then take the complete box into their copy room and a very kind person will copy them for you - easy peasy!! It took me 2 visits - one to find his service record and then a second visit after I had spent ages on PRO CAT at home to find the ref for his complete set of papers - but it was worth it! Good luck!! Jan

Thanks for the interest Sheila. Oliver is my married name and to be honest I dont think there is anyone who served from that family. Im after Mathew Pepper- Royal Navy, Edward knott - Marine service, I assume Royal Marines and Richard Unsted Royal Marines covering 1830's to 1900's.

Amanda Visit their website http://www.pro.)gov.uk/ Remove ) first. You can see what records they hold as they have an online catalogue. However, I understand it is rather complex as of course the original records weren't made or kept with genealogy in mind. Lovely quote from someone who works there, Amanda Bevan, whose written a book about it "Tracing your Ancestors in the Public Record Office" - she said the difference between a library and an archive is that libraries are organised for the benefit of their users. There's another book called "New to Kew?" by (I think) Jane Cox, which also has diagrams of the layout etc. Both these books should be available through your public library. I think Kew is a place you need to do your homework with, and I wish you good luck. Helen PS Let us know how you get on. I'm saving my trip there for when I feel braver.

Visiting the P.R.O. this summer for the first time for service records. I have no idea what info. I need to make it worth while. I have dates and places of birth, sometimes what ships they were serving on with date from the 1881 census. Is there an idiots guide to ADM records? Will I be able to research two or three service records in one day? Do I need to phone ahead to request the records? Can you photocopy records there? These are the kind of questions I hope someone can help with.