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3/22961 Pte Edgar Wilkes Thorpe, 9th Sherwood Foresters

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  When Edgar Wilkes Thorpe sailed for Gallipoli on the 28th August 1915, the youngest of his eight children was just over a month old. There is no date on this postcard/photograph, but the general happy demeanour of the children and Mrs Ann Thorpe suggest that this was taken before Edgar was killed in action on the 15th October 1915, barely six weeks after he had arrived. There is no surviving service record for Edgar but a pension card on the Fold3 website enables us to name the children, from left to right, with their birth date in brackets. They are, Edgar Thorpe (13 Feb 1905), Elizabeth Ann Thorpe (2 Mar 1906), Phyllis Thorpe (2 Jan 1908), Marion Thorpe (31 Dec 1908), John Joseph Thorpe (18 Jan 1910), Gladys Thorpe (8 Feb 1912), Lavinia May Thorpe (9 May 1913) and Leslie Thorpe (25 Jul 1915). Mrs Ann Thorpe was born on the 25th March 1878 and would have been 37 years old when this photograph was taken.  This postcard is one of many which you'll soon be able to search for i...
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VE Day flypast - 5th May 2025

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  Pure coincidence of course that the RAF's 80th Anniversary VE Day flightpath came across Chelmsford - they always do - and very close to the Historic Records office. It was a beautiful, if somewhat cold day, as we stood in the park and took a few shots as the planes came over. It was a shame there were no Spitfires but we are guessing that they were held back after one crashed recently. A Lancaster bomber, not pictured here, led the flypast.
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Americans in France directories

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The Americans in France directories were first published in 1924 by the American Chamber of Commerce, and ran until at least 1940 and possibly after the war as well, although we've not come across any editions later than 1940. They provide a great snapshot of American citizentry in France during these years, not to mention the style and essence of Parisian Art Deco in the late 1920s and 1930s.  The image above is a compilation of some of the many adverts published in these directories. Warning to sensitive souls and the easily offended, one of these images contains items associated with smoking.
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Happy Easter 2025

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It's hard to believe that this is only the company's second Easter. This time last year we had two employees. Fast forward twelve months and we have seven full time staff operating in three counties, in addition to dozens of dedicated part-time photographers and researchers up and down the country who continue to help us document and preserve records which family historians find useful when connecting with their ancestors. As most of us in the UK take a well-earned break for four days, we reflect on the 60 million records that Historic Records Limited has licensed since July 2023, and the many millions more which we are working on and which will see the light of day over the coming weeks and months. Happy Easter everyone.
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Meet the Historic Records' team

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Take a bow Steve, Paul, Alex, Kit, Niharika and Mengzhao. Between us we look after strategic direction, acquisition, digitisation, transcription, IT and infrastructure, research and field work. We don't always look this serious, but we are passionate about what we do. We are headquartered in Chelmsford, Essex in a grade-two listed building close to the city centre.
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Men of 1914

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We've added a Men of 1914 page to the website to remember some of the men who disembarked overseas in 1914. Early arrivals, before the 23rd November 1914, would later be known as 'Old Contemptibles' and would be entitled to wear a clasp on their 1914 Star. Men arriving from the 23rd November 1914 and up to and including 31st December 1915, were entitled to wear the 1914-1915 Star. Essentially a blog, we'll add to this over the coming days, weeks, months and years. Every man has a story to be told, and every man deserves to be remembered. Pictured above, the incomplete medal group to Sapper William H Butt of the Royal Engineers who arrived overseas on the 9th August and was later awarded the French Medaille Militaire whilst serving with L Signal Company. William also served during the Second World War.
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How Art Deco is this?

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From a recently acquired collection of directories of Americans in France, this particular advert from the 1932 volume. We commenced digitisation yesterday and will complete within a couple of weeks. The volumes cover the period 1927 to 1940 and will be an essential resource for anyone with American ancestors who were resident in France during this time  
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