Family history resources

I thought it might be handy to bring together links and knowledge for those looking for information on their family or other people from Coventry. This is not my usual area of interest but I'll put some of the resource sites that I know of. Coventry Collections - Large collection of information and images. Search results give some summaries of the assets but they need to be viewed in person at the Herbert Art Gallery for full appreciation. Many of the images are or will be digitised at Coventry Digital. Free to view. British Newspapers Online Subscription. The Monumental Inscriptions in the Parish Church of S. Michael, Coventry Free to read. I know that there are a lot more but this is a start.

For those of you who have done family history research, can you tell me if there are records of where people were born or living between 1740 and 1770? Not just 'Coventry' but the actual ward/street? I know that there were no censuses before 1800 and no birth certificates before 1837 but I'm trying to find out where the Wheler family was living before they moved to Whitley. I've got the birth and death dates. I've got where they were buried in St Michael's but not where they resided. I'm not asking for people to do the work for me but if you know what resources there are out there it would be great.

Helen, if you search on Google books, advanced search and search for Wheler Coventry it comes up with a book called The Herald & Genealogist. There is a bit about a Wheler family in Coventry and it does mention Whitley. It is very difficult to find addresses that far back unless they are mentioned perhaps on Coventry Collections where I found my Yardleys at the Bastille Mill and gate and Google books if perhaps they were landed people. I will have a look on my IGI microfiche when I have a minute. PS There are mentions on Coventry Collections Good luck

Super set of links there, Helen. I've now added those, plus the highly useful maps link that you added, Anne, to the newly reconfigured Useful links page, accessible from the blue button on the left. to you both!

A new one for me is PA1072/4 specifically Lists of suitors and inhabitants, arranged by ward. Goes back as far as 1752!!!!! Essentially they're directories that need some interpretation but woohoo! Microfilm here.

Thanks, Helen for the tip about resources, especially British Newspapers Online. I have been trying to find details on the wartime death, 1943, of my late Aunt's first husband Joseph Webb and, following your tip, found an article in the Coventry Standard, repeated verbatim in the Coventry Telegraph. Sometimes though a story becomes less clear the more one hears. I already knew Stoker Joseph Webb of Capmartin Road, Radford, was killed, with 12 others, on 12th May 1943 when a raid of 25 aircraft bombed Lowestoft. Joe was in the Jubilee Stores pub when it was demolished by a direct hit. My Aunt was expecting their son, also Joseph, who never knew his father. Joe's remains were buried in London Road cemetery. All this is a matter of record however there was always a family story about how Joe died saving a Wren's life but no independent way to verify what I've always considered to be something of a way for the family to put some meaning to a tragic waste of a life. Today I accessed the newspaper account which quotes the London Gazette announcing a posthumous commendation of Joseph for throwing his own body across a Wren, saving her life but losing his own. No mention of a pub or other casualties. While it would be of some comfort to know Uncle Joe died a hero, the varying accounts raise more questions than answers. I can't find any record in the London Gazette and the story seems implausible given that newspapers have never let the truth spoil a story.

Walrus if you go to Thegazette.co.uk, search for Joseph Thomas Webb and put the date to 19th October 1943 this is at the bottom of the page. Sorry I have tried to copy the page, I will have another go ! For bravery and presence of mind by which he saved a Wren from severe injury during an air-raid: Posthumous Commendation. Stoker Joseph Thomas Webb, LT/LX.154051 (Coventry).

Thank you Anne. It's really useful to have some documentation to verify the newspaper account.