This week's genealogy updates for England, Scotland and Wales

Below is a summary of new and updated family history record collections for England, Scotland and Wales released by the major genealogy databases over the last week (for the previous summary, see 6 April blogpost).

This regular summary of releases and updates relating to British collections is designed to help family historians whose Irish ancestors migrated, temporarily or permanently, to England, Scotland or Wales.

By default, it will also be useful to anyone carrying out research in those three nations, regardless of the origin of their ancestors.

The figures in parenthesis in the New Collections section are the numbers of records/images in the new record set.

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. In some instances, the supplier has not made this figure available. Where two figures are given, the first is the number of additions, the second is the new total.

Please note that I don't usually include updates of fewer than 1,000 records.

NEW COLLECTIONS

Ancestry

• Cardiff, Wales, Index to Police Constabulary Registers, 1904-1920 (6,327)
• Glamorganshire, Wales, Glamorgan County Ayslum Records, 1845-1920 (26,387)

BritishNewspaperArchive (and shared with some FindMyPast subscriptions)

• Llanelly and County Guardian and South Wales Advertiser
• Coalville Times
• Teignmouth Post and Gazette
• Kilmarnock Standard
• Flintshire Observer
• Birmingham Suburban Times
• Illustrated Sporting News and Theatrical and Musical Review
• North West Evening Mail
• Tamworth Miners Examiner and Working Mens Journal
• Midland Examiner and Wolverhampton Times
• Shropshire Examiner
• Gravesend & Northfleet Standard

National Library of Scotland - Maps

• Ordnance Survey Half-Inch and Quarter-Inch Indexes, Scotland, 1890s-1960s

UPDATED COLLECTIONS

FamilySearch 

• England, Herefordshire Bishop's Transcripts, 1583-1898
• England, Northumberland Non-Conformist Church Records, 1613-1920
• England, Middlesex Parish Registers, 1539-1988
• England, Gloucestershire Non-Conformist Church Records, 1642-1996
• England, Lincolnshire, Marriage Bonds/Allegations, 1574-1885 (1,120 added)

FindMyPast

• UK Electoral Registers & Companies House Directors (2.9million additions)
• Cambridgeshire Licensed Victuallers (Newmarket, Ely, Whittelsey & Thorney)
• Kent Baptisms    |     Kent Burials     |     Kent Marriages and Banns, all from the parishes of:
  Halling, St John the Baptist; Hoo St Werburgh; Horton Kirby, St Mary; Luddesdown, Leywood School; Luddesdown, SS Peter & Paul; and Milton-next-Gravesend, Christchurch

National Library of Scotland - Maps

• OS One-Inch Seventh Series, Great Britain, 1952-1970 (all NLS's out-of-copyright editions now available)

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MilitaryArchives launches enhanced search facility to MSPC

The MilitaryArchives has enhanced its search facility to the Military Service Pensions Collection (MSPC)

From today, researchers can broaden their search with combinations including address, date of death, occupation, Easter Rising Service (yes or no), and relevant 1924 and 1934 Military Service Pensions Acts.

To go direct to the advanced search page, click the image, right.

Ireland's Land Commission records are back in the news

The preposterous lack of access to the Republic's collection of Land Commission records relating to the transfer of estate land from the gentry to their tenants has received another airing in the press. On this occasion it is Professor Terence Dooley of Maynooth University, one of Ireland's most highly regarded historians, who is rattling the cage via the Independent newspaper.

The Department of Agriculture is the custodian of
the Republic's Land Commission records

These records – about eight million of them – are under the strictest lock and key in a Department of Agriculture facility in Portlaoise. They have neither been conserved nor digitised, and the public is not allowed to access them. Their warders insist they are working papers and do not come under Freedom of Information legislation, a banal response wheeled out many times since the collection was closed.

The Department of Agriculture's other knee-jerk excuse for not allowing access is that the papers are fragile. Surely that's a very good reason for getting them into the hands of archivists without delay!

While Professor Dooley is primarily concerned that scrutiny of this collection could help to better understand Ireland's revolutionary era, genealogists continue to lament the lack of access to its documents such as wills, family tree records, lease books, rentals of tenants, maps, title deeds and correspondence dating back to the 1880s.

For some reason, even material pre-dating 1921 – which would normally see historical records released from data protection considerations under the 100-year-rule – is deemed too 'sensitive'.

Northern Ireland doesn't feel this sensitivity; Land Commission records for the counties of Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, LondonDerry and Tryone can be viewed by researchers in the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland's Search Room. (See PRONI's Land Registry leaflet.) They are not digitised, but neither are they locked and hidden away, wrapped up in excuses.

Dedicated Co Cavan website launches with historical records & data

A freshly re-designed website has launched to provide a 'gateway to the history of each of Cavan's 2,000 townlands'. It's called CavanTownlands.com, and brings together historical data and sources for each individual townland.

The site is hosted by husband and wife team Michael McShane, an enthusiastic family historian, and Catherine Kerr, a data scientist who has used her skills to compile and present the data they have gathered into an easily accessible layout.

"The emphasis of the site has been refocused on each of the 2000 townlands of County Cavan, says Michael. "Every townland is unique and we have created an individual page for each one. The new format is designed to bring together the historical data which we have uniquely researched along with the more generally available data which we have edited and improved on in terms of access and quality."

Data sources include location map and basic townland information along with relevant articles, where available, the 1609 Bodley Plantation Map, the 1652 Commonwealthy Survey; Tithe Applotment Books; the 1836 Name Book for townlands in nine parishes; the 1841 Census of Killeshandra; Griffith's Valuation records, and Logainm, the official database of Irish placenames. Most of these come with supporting articles which provide further background and tips on searching.

In addition, the site offers full access to an extensive (and growing) library of maps and books and articles.

Further development of the site will see more unique sources and articles added, as time allows. Michael says he is constantly seeking further historical information and any contributions including articles, books, photographs, maps etc will be greatly appreciated and all contributors fully credited.

If you have ancestral connections to County Cavan, be sure to check out the site by clicking the image above.

Four-week summary of new and updated USA 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 four weeks. (The previous summary list was published on 8 March, 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

AmericanAncestors

• Newton, MA: St. Mary Episcopal Church Cemetery, 1815-1999 (3,700 names)

Ancestry

• Massachusetts, Delayed and Corrected Vital Records, 1753-1900 (108,758)
• Delaware Baptisms, 1697-1886
• New Jersey, Calvary United Methodist Church Records, 1821-2003 (2631)
• Oregon, State Divorces, 1925-1968 (524,280)
• Wyoming, U.S., Star Valley Independent Obituaries, 1901-2015 (55,929)
• Nebraska, U.S., Index to Deaths, 1904-1955
• Box Butte County, Nebraska, U.S., Funeral Home Records, 1919-1976
• Nebraska, U.S., Index to Marriages, 1909-1955
• U.S., Confederate Officers Card Index, 1861-1865
• Iowa, Grand Army of the Republic Membership Records, 1861-1949
• North Carolina Revolutionary Pay Vouchers, 1779-1782
• Arkansas Confederate Soldier Home, 1890-1963
• Arkansas Ex-Confederate Pension Records, 1891-1939

FamilySearch

• Alaska, WWII Statement of Service Records, 1948-1949 (8,524)
• Hawaii State Archives, Probate Packet Records, 1814-1917 (1,910)
• Idaho, Military Discharge Records, ca.1917 – ca.1960 (1,258)
• Iowa, Iowa City, Voter Registers, 1897-1904 (16,199)

UPDATED COLLECTIONS

AmericanAncestors

• Massachusetts: Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston Records, 1789-1920
  More than 400,00 names added for these parishes:
St. John the Evangelist of Newton
Our Lady of Victories/Notre Dame des Victoires
St. Angela’s Mattapan
Blessed Sacrament, St. Thomas Aquinas and All Saints, all in Roxbury
St. Adalbert Hyde Park
Our Lady of the Holy Rosary and St. Vincent de Paul, both in South Boston
St. Lazarus, East Boston
Sacred Heart and St Joseph, both in Amesbury
St. Agnes, and St James, both in Arlington
St. Mary, Ayer
Blessed Sacrament, and St. Thomas Aquinas, both in Jamaica Plain.

• Massachusetts: Catholic Cemetery Association Records, 1833-1940
  Some 213,000 records added for these cemeteries:
Calvary, Winchester
Catholic Mount Auburn, Watertown
St. Patrick, Stoneham
St. Paul, Arlington
Holy Cross, Malden 1868-1885 + Lot Sales and Burials, 1868-1870 (Book 1)

Ancestry

• Oregon, State Marriages, 1906-1968 (2,254,852)
• Oregon, State Births, 1842-1917 (884,417)
• Iowa, Delayed Birth Records, 1856-1944
• USA Find a Grave Index, 1600s-Current (161,058,083)
• South Carolina, Death Records, 1821-1969
• U.S., Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current (834,426,322)
• Missouri, U.S., Death Certificates, 1910-1962
• 1870 United States Federal Census
• Nebraska, U.S., Select County Marriage Records, 1855-1908
• 1910 United States Federal Census

FamilySearch

Some 67 US collections have been updated in the last month. Rather than create an excrutiatingly long blogpost, I'll simply direct you to the FamilySearch.org update page. On the right hand side of the landing page, beneath 'Historical Record Collections', click the blue 'Last Updated' column title twice. You'll now see the most recently updated collection at the top of the list. (You need to be signed in to reach this page.)

FindMyPast

• Philadelphia Roman Catholic Baptisms (46,000 records from 1921)
• Philadelphia Roman Catholic Parish Marriages (34,000 records from 1921)
• Cincinnati Roman Catholic Parish Baptisms (22,000 additions to 1924)
• Cincinnati Roman Catholic Parish Marriages (28,000 additions to 1924)
• Cincinnati Roman Catholic parish burials (19,000 additions to 1953)

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.

Latest update from Irish Registry of Deeds Project Index

The volunteer-led Irish Registry of Deeds Index Project has received another update and now holds 411,670 entries transribed from 43,634 memorials.

In addition, both the Grantors and the Townlands Indexes have been updated.

The Indexes are all free to search and view. The site has become much easier to explore in recent years, and with images of microfilmed copies of the manuscript archive now also available to view via FamilySearch.org, this vast collection is starting to reveal many family history secrets and discoveries. If you haven't checked the site for a while, I think you'd find it worth making time to do so.

A new virtual Irish genealogy, history & DNA conference

A new Irish genealogy, DNA and history conference, featuring many well-known experts, will be held online on the weekend of 30 April to 2 May.  It's called Sleuthability.

It will be hosted by BBNY Group, who many will remember as the founder and organiser of The Genealogy Event, an annual learning experience presented in Limerick from 2014 to 2018. 

Sleuthability will present talks on a variety of Irish family history research topics, including some aimed at Irish-American researchers. You can find the programme and details of the speakers on the conference website - click the logo, right.

The three-day conference provides a number of ticket options, so that attendees can view the talks on schedule and/or on demand. Tickets prices range from US$5 for one talk to US$3 for a weekend pass. Each talk is pre-recorded and up to 30 minutes in length, with Q&A sessions that follow the scheduled broadcast through live chat and video connections. 

For more details, click the logo, above right.

England, Wales & Scotland: 2-week summary of genealogy updates

Below is a summary of new and updated family history record collections for England, Scotland and Wales released by the major genealogy databases over the last two weeks (for the previous summary, see 22 March blogpost).

This regular summary of releases and updates relating to British collections is designed to help family historians whose Irish ancestors migrated, temporarily or permanently, to England, Scotland or Wales.

By default, it will also be useful to anyone carrying out research in those three nations, regardless of the origin of their ancestors.

The figures in parenthesis in the New Collections section are the numbers of records/images in the new record set.

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. In some instances, the supplier has not made this figure available. Where two figures are given, the first is the number of additions, the second is the new total.

Please note that I don't usually include updates of fewer than 1,000 records.

NEW COLLECTIONS

BritishNewspaperArchive (and shared with some FindMyPast subscriptions)

• The News (London)
• Reading Standard
• Poole Telegram
• Bridport, Beaminster, and Lyme Regis Telegram
• Bristol Observer
• Atherstone News and Herald
• Swindon and North Wilts Chronicle
• Llanelly Mercury
• Rhos Herald
• Blandfort and Wimbourne

FindMyPast

• Royal Air Force & Commonwealth, Mentioned in Dispatches 1940-1945 (32,917)

TheGenealogist

• 1939 Register Transcripts

UPDATED COLLECTIONS

Ancestry

• 1939 Register, England and Wales

FamilySearch

• England, Cambridgeshire Bishop's Transcripts, 1538-1983

FindMyPast

• Norfolk Baptisms (9,000 additions)
• Norfolk Banns and Marriages (16,000 new records from 1921)
• Norfolk burials
• Lincolnshire Monumental Inscriptions (36,500 additions)
• Essex Monumental Inscriptions

TheGenealogist

• Military Record Collection (150,000 individuals)

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.

Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives: March additions

Headstone to James McColough, who died in 1793,
buried in Christ the Redeemer graveyard in Dromore,
Co Down. Photo courtesy of Graham McColough and
IGPArchives. Click for enlarged view.

Below, please find a summary of the new files donated, transcribed and uploaded by volunteers to the free Ireland Genealogy Projects Archives during March.

CLARE Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Inagh Old Graveyard Pt 1 (B-H)

DOWN Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Cathedral Church of Christ the Redeemer graveyard, Dromore

GALWAY Genealogy Archives - Land
Encumbered Estates: Carrowmanagh, Carrownrooaun, Cartron, Derreen, Finish Island, Garra, Kilgill, Moyne Demesne Lands 1855

SLIGO Genealogy Archives - Headstones
Easkey Abbey Graveyard (T)
St. Anne's (CoI) graveyard, Easkey (T)
St. Paul's (CoI) graveyard, Coolooney (T)

Free access to Ancestry database this Easter weekend

Ancestry UK has opened up its database of 27 billion Irish, British and international records for the Easter weekend. Access is FREE.

If you don't already have a registered account with Ancestry UK, you'll need to create one. This requires you to provide your name and an email address; you don't need to submit financial details.

Once done, you can dive in, check out the various collections and start searching for your ancestors.

The free access will end at 11:59pm on Monday 5 April.

Start your search here.

To view the entire collection catalogue, click the image, right. 

To view only the Irish and British collection catalogue, click here.

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.