From the cover of the December 2015 magazine, you might think that the whole issue is devoted to Richard III. The feature article appearing in the centre pages and embellished with many photographs, is indeed a personal account of the Reinterment of Richard III in March 2015. AIGS’ own Rosemary ALLEN, a native of Yorkshire, takes readers on a journey from the Memorial Service at Bosworth Field and the lighting of the Battlefield Beacon, to the glorious service at York Minster. Read on to discover details of the beautiful crown created by George EASTON, the casket made in English oak by Michael IBSEN, a distant relative of the King himself, the Swaledale and granite tomb, the embroidered silk which dressed Richard’s remains.

The winners of both AIGS Awards, the Alexander Henderson Award for family history, and the Don Grant Award for a biography, have written accounts of their work in preparing research for publication. Craig FULLERTON, winner of the 2014 Alexander Henderson Award, traced his JONES family and has this advice in part “Getting names, dates and places as right as you can is important, of course, but stories add so much life to the narrative. This is not my personal forte and I had to work hard to inject the colour and life into the narrative which would (hopefully) make it an enjoyable read, and not just a reference for other family history researchers.” His article provides readers with many of the sources he consulted, and something of the challenges he faced. His comment on user-submitted family trees to Ancestry.com will ring true for many. A copy of his winning book “In the Shadow of Feathertop” is in the Library. Ric BARTON & John TIDEY were joint winners of the Don Grant Award for the biography of their great-grandfather, Charles Hastings BARTON. Their work “draws principally on letters, journals, published records and research from the mid 19th century to the current era”. The value of family papers cannot be overstated and the authors were delighted to discover diaries and letters, and even a copy of an earlier family pedigree. Read more about their family in “One of a kind – the life of Charles Hastings Barton” which can be found in the Library.

Have you used the “Lost Cousins” website? Read Cynthia NEALE’s latest guide and see what you can find. Perhaps an English family member had a brush with the law around the turn of the 19th century? The Hue & Cry Index (1797-1810) appears on findmypast and has been created by AIGS volunteers. It deals with “the Substance of all Information received in Cases of Felonies, and Misdemeanors of an aggrevated nature, and against Receivers of Stolen Goods, reputed Thieves and Offenders escaped from Custody….” and much more. Look there next time you’re online.