Two years ago, also in October and close to the anniversary, I wrote about the Battle of Trafalgar. The celebrations were in the planning stage and resources online were not extensive. Looking around the Internet again recently I found quite a contrast; Nelson and Trafalgar have a significant presence. This is my first reason for returning to the subject--much more to find and learn. The other is a more direct genealogical lesson, let two years go by and something new and valuable is likely to appear. It is a good idea to keep this in mind whenever you return to a research topic after a long absence.

Two Major Sites
The websites for BBC history (www.bbc.co.uk/history/war/trafalgar_waterloo/) and the National Archives (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nelson/) devote a lot of space to Nelson and the Battle of Trafalgar. Not surprisingly, the approaches taken by broadcasters and archivists are different.

At the BBC site there are several excellent articles and interactive items. There is an animated explanation of tactics, including the "Nelson touch," and the progress of the battle. If you prefer, try fighting the battle over again, pitted against the wits of the BBC naval strategy computer.

The National Archives draws on its resources to tell the story of Nelson and the battle through documents. As the account progresses there are numerous opportunities to enlarge images of supporting material including Nelson's family tree, his name in a muster book, when a young midshipman, and his will. This is a good lesson for us because it is what genealogists do, relate lives through documentary evidence.

New Database
As part of the Trafalgar celebrations the National Archives earlier this year launched a database of all those on board the ships of Lord Nelson's fleet at Trafalgar, 21 October 1805. There is an informative account about the data and the related records. I found several facts interesting: there definitely was one woman at Trafalgar; one in six of the officers and men of the Royal Navy of 1805 were there; not everyone on board ships was in the navy, some were Royal Marines. Also, it was an international collection of people from most continents.

Look for your surnames by all means, and then take time to experiment. The advanced search tool is flexible and allows you to find many things: only those serving in one ship, only those with an unusual given name (e.g., three named Tobias), or only those born in a particular place. By the way, birthplaces are not consistently given. The search advice gives you a tip about this, suggesting the wild card asterisk symbol be used before and after a place name. Doing so with *America* garners 361 results. If you want only those born in a particular English county enter, for example, *Cumberland* because many will have a town name first and England after. The wild card symbol works with names too; so, Green* produced quite a variety including Greenup and *owl* results in Bowler, Cowley and many more.

Two More Genealogical Lessons
This article began with one lesson--after a lapse of time refresh your knowledge. My experience with the database at the National Archives produced two more.

The flexibility of the advanced search is wonderful; rarely do you find it possible to use a wildcard symbol for the first letter of a name, or to experiment with beginning and end at the same time. Without reading search tips you might miss such valuable advice and, as a result, miss the entry you are looking for. The lesson is stay informed about database search options--read all instructions and take time to practice.

The second lesson is to know from what record or records a database has been constructed. The National Archives provides summaries of the record classes used to create the Trafalgar database and links to searching further in the online catalog.

Conclusion
Heed the lessons of this story and give a thought to occasionally switching your tactics from looking for names to investigating the events and surroundings of your ancestors. You gain a different perspective and you might discover a new database in the process.

Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA Scot is an author, teacher, and lecturer specializing in English, Scottish, and Irish family history. She is the author of Your English Ancestry (2d ed., 1998) and Researching Scottish Ancestry (2003), and she is a contributor to several publications. Since 1996, she has been a study tour leader, course coordinator, and instructor for the Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research at Samford University. She teaches online at MyFamily.com. Recently she served a two-year term as president of the Association of Professional Genealogists.

Upcoming Events

English Research Class online at MyFamily.com ($29.95)
27 October 2005 with Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA(Scot)
(Includes 30-days access to Ancestry.com's U.K. & Ireland Collection and the U.S. Immigration Collection.)

Also in October Sherry will be presenting one-day programs for the Arkansas Genealogy Society (ASKAGS@agsgenealogy.org) and the St. Louis Genealogical Society (October 29).

Copyright 2005, MyFamily.com.