Wednesday 11 September 2013

Lewisham Remembers - on Pinterest

We are now using Pinterest to collect and curate online images connected with Lewisham and the First World War. Pinterest enables you to 'pin' images from anywhere on the web onto a themed board. We have pinned images from the Imperial War Museum, Wikipedia, BBC, Great War London blog, and many more. You can add your own comments and share any information you may have about the photos of people, memorials and places.

You can see what we've collected and comment on any of the images on the Lewisham Remembers board at Lewisham Heritage on Pinterest

Tuesday 3 September 2013

First World War soldiers wills digitised and online

HMCTS is releasing the Probate Office’s huge archive of 280,000 soldiers’ wills ahead of next year’s First World War centenary.  "Every soldier had to complete a will before they headed to the front line so that their estate could be dealt with if they lost their life. They carried a copy with them and many used the will to write letters to their loved ones, expressing their feelings. Many of the historic documents show the physical damage suffered in the war..."

Members of the public can now search an online database for a will left by a relative who died in battle, or any other soldier they are interested in learning about, and request copies of any available documents. You need the surname of the soldier you are looking for and the year of death. A fee of £6.00 is payable to access a will.

Find a soldier's will