Tuesday, 2 November 2021

Four-week summary of new and updated US genealogy collections

Below is a summary of US family history collections that have been released or updated by the major genealogy databases in the last fortnight. (The previous summary list was published on 4 October see blogpost).

My regular summaries are designed to help family historians whose Irish ancestors emigrated, temporarily or permanently, to the United States.

By default, they should also be useful to anyone carrying out research in the US, regardless of the origin of their ancestors.

The figures in parenthesis in the New Collections section are the numbers of records/images in each new record set, if provided by the database.

Unless otherwise stated, the figures in parenthesis in the Updated Collections section reflect the number of records added to the collection in the recent update, if a number has been clearly noted by the supplier. I do not include updates of fewer than 1,000 records.


NEW COLLECTIONS


Ancestry

FamilySearch


UPDATED COLLECTIONS


AmericanAncestors
  • Massachusetts: (Image-Only) RC Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1920 (browse)
    Parishes: St Peter, Cambridge; St James, Salem; St John the Baptist, Peabody; St John the Baptist, Salem; St Joseph, Pepperell; St Mary, Waltham; Sacred Heart, Watertown; Immaculate Conception, Weymouth; St Joseph, Ipswich; Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, Lawrence; St William, Tewksbury; St Francis Xavier, Weymouth; St Thomas of Villanova, Wilmington: Blessed Sacrament, Cambridge; Our Lady of Lourdes, Jamaica Plain; St Charles Borromeo, Woburn; St Jean Baptiste, Lowell; St Mary of the Angels, Roxbury; and St Mary, Winchester.

Ancestry

FamilySearch

Some of the above content contains affiliate links. This means I may earn a small commission if you buy via these links. This does not affect the price you pay as a consumer, but it does contribute to keeping Irish Genealogy News online. See Advertising Disclosure tab above.
Posted by

Files from 5 counties added to Ireland Genealogy Projects Archive

During October, the volunteers at Ireland Genealogy Projects Archive uploaded a good mix of files – Headstones (pix and transcriptions) from five burial grounds, marriages from two Church of Ireland parishes, and details of outrages committed in 1857 in County Donegal.

Stone in Donoughmore Church of Ireland Graveyard,
Castleruddery, Co Wicklow, to the Jones family of
Kilbruffey. Click for enlarged image. Photo courtesy
of the photographer, Maura Gibson, and IGPArchives.

The files are available for all Irish family historians to view, free of charge, via the links below:

CAVAN Genealogy Archives - Church Records
Dowra (CoI) Marriages 1867-1921

DONEGAL Genealogy Archives - Headstones
St John the Baptist Graveyard, Carrigart
Drumholm Old Church of Ireland Graveyard (updated)

DONEGAL Genealogy Archives - Miscellaneous
Outrages committed in Alton, Kildrum, Meenderrygamph & Tor, 1857

DUBLIN Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Deansgrange, St. Kevins Part 2
Kilbarrack Graveyard, Sutton Section 2

FERMANAGH Genealogy Archives - Church Records
Kildeas (CoI) Marriages 1883-1935

WICKLOW Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Donoughmore CoI Graveyard (Part)

Posted by

Monday, 1 November 2021

25% off AncestryDNA test kits and launch of DNA+Traits for Irish and UK researchers

AncestryDNA is discounting its test kits for researchers based in Ireland and the UK. This offer will run until 11:59pm on Sunday 21 November and you have a choice of receiving the test in either the regular box or a cheery festive version.

In addition, the company is launching its AncestryDNA+Traits package to the two islands.

With this package you receive not only your dna results, ethnicity analaysis and access to Ancestry's matching service, but also details of how your dna influences 35 various fitness, sensory, nutrient and appearance traits. An introductory offer will run until near the end of the year, and adds just €10 or £10 to the cost of the basic test.

Here are the details:

Choose your flag below. You'll then be able to select your preferred packaging and place your order.



AncestryDNA test kit €69, reduced from €95. Shipping extra.
AncestryDNA test kit +35 traits, €79*. Shipping extra.

UK: AncestryDNA test kit £59, reduced from £79. Shipping extra.
AncestryDNA test kit +35 traits, £69**. Shipping extra.

* Will cost €112 after Xmas
**Will cost £94 after Xmas

Some of the above content contains affiliate links. This means I may earn a small commission if you buy via these links. This does not affect the price you pay as a consumer, but it does contribute to keeping Irish Genealogy News online. See Advertising Disclosure tab above.

Posted by

Sunday, 31 October 2021

No tricks, just money-saving treats, from Irish Newspaper Archives

The Dublin-based IrishNewsArchive.com (INA) has gone Halloween crazy, which is absolutely acceptable in Ireland because the island is the original home of Halloween*.

It's a dual celebration, though, because the family-owned archive has also added The Fingal Independent to its holdings this weekend.

In total, the archive now consists of more than 9 million pages of newspaper content published since 1738. The Gold Subscription additionally offers access to 115 Radical Newspapers.

Here are the discount codes:

Gold Subscription: Save 35% on your purchase. Use code TREAT35.
Silver Subscription: Save 30% on your purchase. Use code TREAT30.

To take advantage of INA's Halloween offer, you just need to visit the subscription page for further details of the membership options. When you've decided which suits your research needs best, type the relevant promo code into the box. You'll find the discounted membership prices applied and can then place your order.

The offer will expire on Monday 8 November.


* See The origin of Halloween on my Toolkit website.

Posted by

Saturday, 30 October 2021

Dublin's GRO Research Room to allow walk-ins on 2 days a week

Good news from the General Register Office of Ireland: its Public Search Room in Werburgh Street, Dublin will no longer require researchers to book an appointment for visits on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

On these two days only, those wanting to search the civil registration indexes or obtain 'research copy' versions of birth, marriage and death entries from the registers, will be able to walk-in without any prior arrangement during normal hours, subject to capacity.

'Walk-in' opening hours are:
Tuesdays and Wednesdays
10am – 12:30pm
2pm – 4:30pm
Closed for lunch from 12:30pm – 2pm

Government COVID-19 regulations apply for all visitors at the Research Room.

You'll find additional information about this welcome development at www.gov.ie/gro. This is also the page you should check before setting off to visit, as the new arrangements may be changed at short notice.

(Many thanks to genealogist Claire Bradley for spotting the GRO's update.)

Posted by

Save at least $40 on Ancestry DNA offers (US researchers only)

Some special offers on AncestryDNA test kits are now available. They'll run until 11:59pm ET on Wednesday 24 November.

Scroll down to view the offers for US-based researchers.

They include a straightforward S40 discount on a single test kit, which comes with an ethnicity analysis and the full matching process allowing you to discover close and distant relationships with other researchers.

Spend just $1 more and you'll receive not only your test kit, ethnicity analysis and the full DNA matching system, but also free World Explorer Membership to the Ancestry database for three months, helping you to build your family tree.

If you choose the more expensive but great value DNA+Traits+AllAccess Membership package, you'll receive your DNA test kit, ethnicity analysis and the full matching feature, plus 36 Personal Traits, and access not only to the entire Ancestry global database of 30billion records, but also to Newspapers.com (basic level) and the military collection of Fold3. On this package you save $50 on regular prices.

Shipping is extra.

Package offers are for new and returning subscribers only and not for renewal of current subscriptions. See the terms and conditions before placing your order.



Some of the above content contains affiliate links. This means I may earn a small commission if you buy via these links. This does not affect the price you pay as a consumer, but it does contribute to keeping Irish Genealogy News online. See Advertising Disclosure tab above.

Posted by

Friday, 29 October 2021

5,300 Irish among the dead in transit through Manhattan, 1859-1894

Whether this is intended as a Halloween release, I don't know, but one of Ancestry's recent releases is an unusual collection containing an index of permits for the carriage of dead bodies through Manhattan between 1859 and 1894.

It's called New York, U.S., Bodies in Transit, 1859-1894 and it's sourced from the New York City Department of Records & Information Services. The index holds some 60,000 entries.

Surprisingly, perhaps, a sizeable chunk of the records – 5,292 – relate to Irish-born individuals. While most of these were passing through New York from one part of the United States to another, many others were making their final journey from Ireland to the USA. Only a small number were travelling in the opposite direction, possibly to fulfil the deceased's final wishes to be buried in the auld sod.

The example I've chosen, above right, is one of the more straightforward index entries. (Incidentally, I couldn't find an Irish death certificate for Mr Conway, but I did for other travellers who had died in Ireland).

The only real issue I found with this collection is that the spelling of placenames is often pretty dire. Harts Island, Rikers Island and even Staten Island have become Harts Ireland, Rikers Ireland, and Staten Ireland, giving a load of false results if you aren't careful with where you place the word 'Ireland' in the search fields while Duenstown and Lenstown are Queenstown, etc, and Doblin is Dublin. The spelling of names leaves something to be desired, too. You'll just have to be inventive!

Posted by

Thursday, 28 October 2021

Ten weeks to release of the 1921 census of England and Wales

The National Archives (TNA) at Kew, London and FindMyPast have announced that the 1921 Census of England and Wales will be released to the public on 6 January 1922. Visitors to TNA will be able to view digital images free of charge. Researchers viewing the online collection – exclusively at FindMyPast – will have to pay £2.50 to view a transcription and £3.50 to view an image of the census return; search results, showing name, age, birthplace, and one or two other names in the same census return, will be free.

Click to view the census enumerators' full instruction sheet
This census was taken on Sunday 19 June 1921, having been postponed from 29 April 121 due to the arrival of economic depression following WW1 and Spanish Flu, and a threat of imminent strike action from miners, transport and railway workers, and dockers.

It gathered information on more than 38million individuals, resulting in 18,235,242 census return images. Most of the data requested was similar to that required in previous censuses but there are some changes and additions. Not only was a person's occupation noted, as before, now the person's employer's name and address was recorded.

Take a look at the examples shown in the Instructions provided for enumerators (click image, right) and you'll soon spot the differences, most of which are positive. I just wish that, instead of having to note any and all household guests who normally lived elsewhere as 'visitor', some provision had been made to record their kinship, if there was any relationship.

Please note this census relates only to England and Wales. Scotland's 1921 Census will be published in the second half of 2022 on ScotlandsPeople. No censuses were taken in Ireland that year due to the War of Independence. The 1921 Censuses of Ireland and Northern Ireland were not taken due to the War of Independence.

As such, the 1921 English and Wales census, and that for Scotland when it is published, will be of interest not only to British researchers but also to those with Irish ancestors. By 1921, and especially due to the unsettled political scene on the island, many Irish researchers will find forbears working or living, temporarily or permanently, in Great Britain.

Unfortunately, the 1931 census for England and Wales was destroyed by fire in 1942. The 1931 census of Scotland survives. No census was taken in the UK in 1941 because of the Second World War.

Posted by

MyHeritage opens its death records to free access for Halloween

MyHeritage is offering free access to its death records over the coming weekend.

The company has taken a generous description of death records, so the free access will allow you to search death, burial and cemetery records as well as obituaries, all crucial sources of genealogical information.

From last Halloween until the beginning of October, MyHeritage has added more than 37 million records to its worldwide collection of these records – a collection of nearly 587 million records. 

There don't appear to be any records related to deaths in Ireland itself. However, the collection is impressivey global and among the most recent addtions were collections from Brazil, New Zealand, the United States, Poland and France, so no matter where your Irish ancestor headed, you have some chance of finding them here.

Free access will be available until Tuesday 2 November, and, if you're not already a member, you'll need to sign up as one (a quick and painless process) to take advantage of the offer.

Posted by

Wednesday, 27 October 2021

More new Irish records join The Genealogist

The Genealogist database, owned and managed by S&N Genealogy and based on the Channel Island of Jersey, has been turning its attention to Ireland over the last year or so, and has uploaded two more collections in the past week. They are:

Wexford Roman Catholic registers of baptisms, marriages and burials

Nearly one million Wexford Parish records have been newly transcribed by the Genealogist. The collection benefits from SmartSearch, a techie-solution to, potentially, finding records for the the groom's and bride's parents and siblings. Each marriage transcription links to an image of the register record on the National Library of Ireland's website.

Dublin Will and Grant Books

This resource – The Deputy Keeper Of Ireland's Index To The Act or Grant Books, and To Original Wills, of The Diocese Of Dublin 1272-1858 (26th, 30th, and 31st Report), is already available to search on major commercial databases, but this is a new transcription. The records cover an area that is bigger than the current County of Dublin as the diocese included a sizeable part of County Wicklow, some substantial parts of southern and eastern County Kildare, as well as smaller portions of Counties Carlow, Laois (Queen's County) and Wexford.

You can find out more about these collections on the website, and discover George Harrison's Wexford ancestors, in The Genealogist's featured article here.

Posted by
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)