Hertfordshire Military Records on the British Newspaper Archive

The Army & Navy Gazette is currently being loaded onto the British Newspaper Archive and so far they have loaded the years 1860-66 and 1869-71 and I expect more years will soon appear online. I did a quick check and found many such as the following which relates to the formation of the 1st Hertfordshire Battalion.

Army & Navy Gazette, 4th August, 1860

Unfortunately the machine transcription left a lot to be desired - and errors in the above example meant that it would not have been found in searches for the place names Ashridge, Hemel, Hempstead, Tring and Watford or for the surnames Dorrien, Cust, and Pearce. Unfortunately such errors occur in all automatically scanned newspaper archives and you have to use your imagination when searching and try alternative search names.

However the accuracy of the surnames and places in the following item relating to the double marriage of the daughters of the late Mr John Beale, of Cheshunt, was satisfactory.

Army & Navy Gazette, 4th November 1869

Searching for the Parents of Henry Beale (born Royston 1811)

Help Desk

Last year I advised James Beale of Perth about some possibilities relating to Henry Beale of Royston. Now Hilary Mostyn (nee Beale)) writes: Like James Beale (Perth) I am stuck trying to researchHenry Beale's father. I am the great grand-daughter of GEORGE BEALE (born 1845) brother to EDWARD BEALE(born 1850). Any leads from anyone would be most welcome.

Can you help??? 

Full details see: The Parents of Henry BEALE born Royston circa 1811

Which John is which - and the original records can cause problems

Royston

Help Desk

James had hit a brick wall because it was not immediately apparent which John Beale was Henry Beale's father - and it looked like a typical case of Right Name, Wrong Body.  Sorting out which of three Johns was the most likely one revealed a number of other actual errors or areas where there could easily be some confusion.. Our ancestors did not make it easy for us to track them down!

• A James Beale was recorded as Thomas Beale in the 1851 census possibly due to a transcription error between the household form and the enumerator summary sheet.. (Think an unreadable fancy capital letter and compare "Xames" with "Xomas")
• While there may be many reasons why Henry Beale's baptism could not be found it is clear that the vicar failed to keep the register properly, but had a note book and made errors copying it into the register at the end of the year. 
• George Beale's birth was registered and he was christened with his father's surname before his parents married, although the banns were called for the first time 2 days before the baptism.
• The Bridegroom was described as James Beale in the marriage register but signed himself John Beale which turns out to be his real name. The computer index only showed James Beale. 
• The Bride is described as Elizabeth Graves - but modern Ancestry family trees give her name as Elizabeth Cocksett with parents (?step parents?) James and Mary Graves. [Still needs checking out]

More details.