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Posts by Caroline James

I work as a Marketing Coordinator at The National Archives and have a passion for 20th century social history.

30
Thu May
2013
4

My Tommy’s War: Youth Mourning

Posted by Caroline James in Records and research

This month’s ‘My Tommy’s War’ blog post features the fascinating story of the grief of a young woman on hearing of the death of her fiancé in the First World War. This grief was captured in a stunning oil painting by her father, Sir George Clausen RA.

Sir George Clausen was the great-grandfather of Bruno Derrick, who worked in the Advice and Records Knowledge (ARK) department at The National Archives. Sadly, Bruno passed away last year before he could see his blog posted. As a tribute to Bruno and with the agreement of his family, we have decided to post the story he was keen to share.

As with all of our ‘My Tommy’s War’ posts, it is full of details of research, which we hope will help you in researching your own First World War ancestor.

The blog is all in Bruno’s words. 

Youth Mourning by Sir George Clausen RA © IWM (Art.IWM ART 4655)

Youth Mourning by Sir George Clausen RA © IWM (Art.IWM ART 4655)

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9
Fri Nov
2012
45

My Tommy’s War: An Eastender in the Lancers

Posted by Caroline James in Records and research
12th Lancers Corporals

12th (Prince of Wales's) Lancers Group - Photograph from private collection

At The National Archives we are busy planning our programme of activities to commemorate the centenary of the First World War in 2014.

With our unique and extensive collection of First World War records, from the official unit war diaries to medal cards and records of the men and women who served, we hold an invaluable resource for genealogists, historians, scholars and anyone interested in researching the history of this conflict or the people involved.

In this blog series, we will follow a group of volunteers from our staff as they embark on a voyage of discovery to trace their First World War ancestors using records held by The National Archives. At regular intervals over the next two years, each will write a blog to explain what records they have consulted, what they found about their ancestor and how they intend to continue their research in this and other archives. They will also share hints and tips to help others conduct their own research.

We hope you will come with us on the journey to discover our ancestors. With the approaching centenary, at no time has it been more fitting to discover the people behind those old photographs and medals.

As the person overseeing this series, I thought it only fair to be the first to post. Read on to see what I found out about my Tommy…

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