Findmypast additions feature Scotland, British Army and US Servicemen in North Devon

Scotland, Criminal Database 1801-1917
Search this database of 132,018 records of Crown Office Precognitions and High Court Trial Papers to find those in trouble with the law or victim of a crime. Each record includes a transcript of the original document that, depending on its age and nature, may reveal a wide variety of facts. Records may include biographical details such as birth, address, descriptions and occupation as well as details of the trial. This may include the date, location and nature of the offence, the names of victims, previous convictions, the date and location of the trial and the sentence received.


Crown Office Precognitions are factual statements that have been given by witnesses to both the prosecution and defence before the case goes to trial. Precognitions differ from a witness statement, a witness statement is an account of what the witness has said or seen whereas a precognition is an account of the witness's evidence.

The information is sourced from scottishindexes.com.

Scotland, Midlothian, 1834 Dalkeith Census
This collection of 5,508 transcripts reveals a combination of address, age, occupation, place of worship and corresponding details for fellow household members. For a child at the time, the records will also reveal the names of both their weekday and Sunday schools.

Located on the River Esk, Dalkeith is a former market town in Midlothian, Scotland. In 1831 the opening of the Edinburgh and Dalkeith Railway was a significant development as it enabled the transportation of farm produce and minerals from the local area and, allowed producers to take advantage of larger and more distant markets. At its peak, Dalkeith was the most important grain market town in Scotland.

Those with ancestry in Dalkeith are fortunate to have even earlier census material in a book Scottish population listings prior to the 1841 census. The parish of Dalkeith, Midlothian : 1811 census, 1821 census, 1831 communion roll of the Established Church. ISBN 0-9542161-4-5.

British Army Records & Regimental Histories
Discover British military personnel with these regimental histories. Through regimental histories, you can discover where the regiment was stationed, read dispatches from the First World War and records of the deeds and achievements of the British Army. This collection has more than a thousand PDF images from three publications;

• The 1st Battalion Royal Scots in South Africa, 1899-1902 – edited by Captain J H Cuthbert. It is an illustrated record of the 1st Battalion Scots Guards during the South African War. So many of the officers carried cameras that it was decided that on the return of the battalion a collection of the photographs take should be made, and a selection from them should be brought out in book form.
• The Green Howards in The Great War - written by Colonel H C Wylly, CB and published in 1926. The publication includes the history of the Green Howards in the First World War, where they fought on almost every front, and the Third Afghan War of 1919.
• The History of the Lincolnshire Regiment 1914-1918 – edited by Major-General C R Simpson, CB. Colonel of the Regiment with a forward by The Earl of Yarborough, O.C. The work is compiled from war diaries, despatches, officers' notes and other sources

US Servicemen in North Devon, England 1943-1945
Explore lists of 5,196 US servicemen who were stationed in North Devon during WW2. The records consist of original visitor books kept by the local servicemen's club. The servicemen served at the Assault Training Centre in North Devon, which was set up in 1942. It was established during the Second World War as a centre to develop and practice amphibious assault exercises to prepare for the Normandy landing on D-Day. They practiced on the beaches at Woolacombe and Saunton Sands.

A service club was set up by the Red Cross in October 1943 at Bungalow Café, North Devon. It is now known as the Red Barn. The service club had a visitor's book which recorded the servicemen's name, date of signing, service number, location details, hometowns, and states. Not all servicemen who were based at the Training Centre signed in. A few have left a comment, although the layout of the pages did not encourage this. Some pages are neat and tidy, with names arranged in an orderly fashion. Other pages have names written sideways, diagonally, across one another and on top of each other. Sadly, for those young men who did not return home, this may have been the last time they signed their names.