The Cook Challenge
Time yourself, and see how long – if at all – it takes you to find the following soldier via Ancestry’s search engines, as approved by TNA. Website www.ancestry.co.uk
* George Charles Cook
* Number 62476
* 6th London Regiment, Rifle Brigade
* Next Of Kin = Mrs E Cook, Mother
* Residence = 23 Albany Place, Holloway
* Place Of Birth = Islington
* Date Of Birth = 1900
If you’ve managed to find him, please email with how long it took. We’d also like to hear from you if you didn’t!
Bear in mind that this is more information than most searchers have when starting a search for military ancestors in the First World War.
Good luck!
We will shortly be posting a series of alternative suggestions to TNA’s proposals to cut expenditure by 10%. Once they are up, please post your comments to us or directly to TNA.
This has only been possible since we have managed to finally obtain some of the detailed financial data we originally requested prior to the closure of the public consultation.
I tried for 30 minutes for medal records but to no avail
I then tried the two service records again to no avail. I gave up after an hour.
His number is clearly not recorded correctly and his name if it is there is deep in a long list of Georges George C’s etc that it is too time consuming.
I did find a George COAKER with the same number and a first glance his name looked like COOKE but it was not him!!!
The management of the Nationals Archives has been financially incompetent and self-serving (to the highly paid Management Board and senior staff) and the Board’s activities and self-proclaimed aims totally disregard what the National Archives is all about to us – members of the public, tax-payers. In my view, the Management Board is putting this nation’s heritage in danger.
The members of the Board must be made accountable. They must also listen to other views, even when those views conflict with their own (that is not a suggestion, it is part of the Civil Service Code of Practice which this Board seems so arrogantly to disregard). Until that happens they will manage our National Heritage to suit themselves and their (flawed) view of the future, and they will continue with their unnerving incompetence. Having been shown to be deceitful and incompetent to such a degree, why should they retain their jobs while those who directly assist the public are at risk of redundancy as a direct result of management’s incompetence?
Closing the Archives on a Monday thus significantly shortening the hours when the public can visit, reducing the staff who directly help us when we are researching while increasing the number of highly paid management members, and making it more difficult to peruse documents, cannot possibly be in the public interest.
I tried the general military search: too many results and not just for George Charles, but also for Charles George and others. Then I tried the three WWI search engines separately. When I used exact searches there were no results. When I unclicked the ‘exact’ box I had too many results form all over the country. I gave up in frustration after 20 minutes.
I agree with all of these comments and especially those given by Barry Fleming. As a historian who has used the National Archives for research in the past, I am very concerned about the changes their management is making. I complained to TNA directly some weeks ago and did not have a convincing reply. Far too many of the managers of these organisations have very little interest in their collections and treat badly their specialist staff, such as their curators. They should not be permitted only to offer contracts and especially short-term ones to newly employed curators and they themselves should be removed from their posts, to which they should not have been appointed.. TNA should not accept the changes they are proposing.
I have writtent to my MP recently on another subject and will now contact him on this issue.
I agree with Barry. Some of the managers are bullying and targeting specialist staff to reduce staff . Imcompetant thiefs have taken over the National Archives.