update

So, bit of an update while the kids are sleeping - I've been given a lead on James Tonkies by the wonderful forum members at rootschat.com and have plenty of internet fodder to trawl through about the SS BURUTU. I'm not sure whether he'll be eligible for a place in the Hall of Remembrance based on what I know so far but I'll give it a go.

I'm trying to spread my (scarce) spare time between this blog and the writing, but the blog and research keeps taking over!  The book is sort of planned at the moment but only about 5% written, I don't want to share too much here as I'm sure it'll change a million times before it's done.

I'm also a bit frustrated that this is a blog rather than a website, I'm aware that posts can disappear on these thing so I'm trying hard to organise it in a way that makes sense and of course use the tags to make sure posts are grouped together... the blog is searchable too so by the time I've got everything on here it should be pretty good. If anyone does visit I hope that they'll be able to see what it's all about.

Liverpool Hall of Remembrance

For those of  you that don't know, Liverpool Town Hall has a Hall of Remembrance where the names of Liverpool men who lost their lives in WW1 are inscribed on plaques on the walls.

The inscriptions were transcribed into a database that is searchable online here. There seem to be a few doubled up entries and possibly some errors but it's very useful. It is not a complete list by any means - apparently it was the responsibility of the families to ensure their loved-ones names were on there. I can imagine any number of reasons they didn't do it at the time. Still, I feel that everyone who lost their lives should be commemorated so I aim to get as many of the missing names from St James on to the Hall of Remembrance as I can. I am also tring to find relatives to get their approval and to let them know - assuming I can get the proof I need!

And, just as an aside, if you ever get the chance to visit the Town Hall you really should, it is a beautiful building with an amazing collection of art, objects and architecture inside.

The Anglican Cathedral also has a Book of Remembrance which apparently has 35000 names in it and is an amazing example of illuminated text. I aim to find out whether there is an index for it or something so you can find out if your relative is in there. More on that when I get any info. Maybe William is in there? Still, he'll have his name up in the Town Hall soon (fingers crossed!)

Liverpool Hall of Remembrance

An exciting development today... even though I am about a million miles from getting all this research completed and posted I thought I'd take the huge step of contacting Liverpool Council about getting the names on the Roll of Honour. I've got 25 men who are not on the list for whom I can prove their scouseness! I was surprised that the dates for living in Liverpool are confined to the war period though and that does make it a bit harder to prove but fortunately Ancestry have the Soldiers Died in the Great War entries and they usually have place of birth and/or place of residence.

So, I'm waiting to hear back about what they need from me. It's quite exciting. When I get a definite yes for whether there is a ceremony etc I will try and contact a few of the families that I've been researching.

There is also apparently a family history of the KLR type thingy on at the museum this weekend - I would love to go but if Chloe and Amy are sick I don't really see how it could work.  Will have to scratch my head over that one a bit, maybe I would actually be better going on a weekday when there are less visitors... or could I benefit from the expertise of people from the forums etc in person????