Two-week listing of English, Scottish & Welsh genealogy releases

Below is an overview of newly-released and updated genealogy collections for England, Scotland and Wales from the major family history database providers. (For previous list, see 14 November blogpost.)

My regular summary of releases and updates relating to British collections is designed to help researchers 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 parentheses in the New Collections section are the numbers of records (or images, if browse-only) in the new record set.

Unless otherwise stated, the figures in parentheses 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 so the figure is the new total. 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

• Norfolk, Indexes to Wills, Probate, Administrations, Marriage Licence Bonds, 1371-1858 (323,144)

BritishNewspaperArchive and some FindMyPast subscriptions

• Ascot Times
• Crowthorne Times
• Kidderminster Shuttle
• Scotland on Sunday

FamilySearch

• United Kingdom Funeral Notices 1914-2023 (4,987,937)
• England, Cornwall Parish Registers, 1538-2010 (840,334)

General Register Office (GRO) UK

• England and Wales Civil Death records, 1837–1957 Digital images now available

MyHeritage

• England, Cumberland and Lancashire Burials 1728 onwards (99,526)
• Scotland, Court of Session Processes, Acts and Decrees, 1560-1930 (584,355)

UPDATED COLLECTIONS

Ancestry

• UK, Portraits and Photographs, 1547-2018 (156,917)
• UK & Ireland, Newspapers.com Obituary Index, 1800s-current (1,329,046 / 30,053,253)

FindMyPast

• National Burial Index, 1539–1840 (122,691 records for Herefordshire)
• Kent Burials (14,506 records for Medway, 1981–2020)
• Kent Burials: Dunns Funeral Directors Registers Bromley, 1803–1839 (1,478)

FreeBMD

• England & Wales Civil Registration Index of BMDs (189,769 / 292,905,363 distinct records; 391,107,619 total records)

ScottishIndexes

• Prison Register Index (180,000 / 800,000+)

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New edition (Q4) of Irish Roots magazine published

The final 2023 edition of Irish Roots, Ireland's only independent genealogy magazine, has been published. As always it includes helpful guidance and tips on researching Irish family connections by both traditional means and dna testing, details of specialist archives and localised resources in the island of Ireland and beyond, articles focussing on historical events and times our ancestors may have lived through, news of recent record releases and genealogy society activities, as well as comment, observations, answers to research queries, and a whole lot more.

Here are some of this issue's main features:

• Researching Catholic Convent Archives
• Using Autosomal DNA to break through brick walls
• Co. Louth@ local family history resources
• Remembering Sean Foster; the first child fatality of the 1916 Easter Rising
• Adopt A Monument
• In search of my Irish ancestor
• Genealogy Tips from the IGRS
• What’s New? The latest record releases
• Surnames of County Louth
• Tracing my Coffey Ancestors from Wisconsin to Westmeath
• Irish Australian threads among the gold

Irish Roots is published quarterly and is available in digital format as single edition downloads or via one- or two-year subscriptions, and in printed format by annual subscription only. Click this edition's cover image above to find out more and get reading and learning more about Irish genealogy, history and heritage.

FindMyPast adds three Church of Ireland parish register collections

FindMyPast added three Church of Ireland record-sets to its database a few weeks ago. For some reason, I missed them at the time. Apologies. Here are the details.

Each of the trio include transcriptions from the registers of six churches (see below), all in Dublin City, and were originally published by the Parish Register Society. They are:

Church of Ireland Baptisms, Dublin City. This record set consists of 23,914 images and transcriptions spanning 1619–1865. The entries provide the child's gender, the parents' names and the father's address.

Sample from a 1789-1790 marriage register

Church of Ireland Marriages, Dublin City. Details from the 23,101 images and transcriptions within this collection include the names and occupations of both spouses, their marriage date, the groom's residence, and the parish in which they were married. They span 1619–1800.

Church of Ireland Burials, Dublin City These 44,175 images and transcriptions span 1618–1800. Because the CoI was responsible for all of the City's official graveyards at the time, these registers record those of all denominations who were buried in the city in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

The records were transcribed from registers of the following churches:

• St. Catherine, Dublin, 1636-1715
• St. John the Evangelist Dublin, 1619-1699
• St. Michan, Dublin, 1636 – 1700
• St. Nicholas Without, Dublin, 1694-1739
• St. Patrick, Dublin, 1677-1800
• Saint Peter and Saint Kevin, Dublin, 1669-1791

While up to 80% of the city's residents would have been Church of Ireland in the late 17th century, by the 1760s that number had fallen to 40% following a huge influx of Catholics in search of work.

Military Archives releases 15th instalment from MSPC Project

The Military Archives has today published its 15th release of records from the Military Service (1916-1923) Pensions Collection (MSPC). It is the second release this year (for details of the June release, see blogpost).

The 2,200 new files relate to claims lodged by 863 individuals/veterans or their dependents. They contain new information on the War of Independence and the Civil War and provide significant insights into post-conflict lives. They include:

• 381 applications lodged under the Military Service Pensions Act, 1934.
• 257 applications for service pensions under the Military Service Pensions Act, 1924 (National Army applicants).
• 10 claims for wounds lodged by women.
• 155 claims for dependency (74 of them lodged by mothers in respect of deceased sons).
• 1 successful application lodged by a 1916 veteran.
• 570 applicants were successful in their claim for both War of Independence and Civil War service.

This release brings the number of individuals included in the MSPC online database to 18,235.

Taking into account all the MSPC file series, about 121,900 files have now been catalogued and approximately 80,200 are now fully digitised.

You can download a pdf list of the individuals (involved in this 15th release) who lodged claims.

Highlights of this latest release can be found on the Military Archives blog here.

Irish Distillers archives to be released on Digital Repository Ireland

Historical documents from the Irish Distillers Archive are to be digitised and released with free access in the Digital Repository of Ireland (DRI). This is the first such DRI partnership with an Irish commercial company.

Irish Distillers produces some of the world’s most well-known and successful Irish whiskeys. Its Archive is based in Midleton, County Cork, and is home to extensive records documenting the history and heritage of the company, including records dating back to the 18th century created by John Jameson & Son, John Power & Son and the Cork Distilleries Company before the companies merged to form Irish Distillers in 1966.

Preserved in the archive are items such as minute books documenting the workings of the historic distilleries and the companies that ran them, handwritten ledgers containing financial records, some dating from the late 1700s, as well as more modern commercial records, historic mashbills and labels from all over the world which show the global reach of Irish whiskey over 100 years ago.

Preserving these important records for the long-term will offer researchers and the public alike a unique insight into social and industrial heritage, food and drinks history, as well as design culture. I would expect that, as with the Guinness and Jameson archives (both of which have some of their archives available online), there will be a considerable amount of genealogical detail and stories to be discovered within the material.

Work has already begun on identifying suitable archives from the collection at Midleton. Once digitised, the selected materials will be uploaded to the Repository over the next 18 months.

New book examines County Fermanagh in the Revolutionary years

Four Courts Press has published its 16th title in its popular Irish Revolution series. This time it is the turn of County Fermanagh, which in 1912 had an even population split between two hostile communities, making it one of the few counties in which a true political and later military contest between unionism and nationalism took place.

Written by Dr Daniel Purcell, thi 224-page illustrated paperback is the first in-depth examination of the Irish Revolution in Fermanagh and its political, economic and social context. It reveals how political tensions initially played out on the political trail and at local government level rather than in militant action. The initial radicalization of the Ulster unionist movement in the county and the response from nationalists are assessed, as are various legal and illegal electoral strategies deployed by both sides to secure local political dominance.

The First World War saw strong recruitment in Fermanagh as both communities, particularly unionists, answered the call of their political leaders to enlist. Although the county appeared calm and seemed to have been spared the violence witnessed in other counties after 1916, in reality tensions were running high as both communities strove to avoid direct provocation of the other.

The Government of Ireland Act (1920), which divided Ireland into two jurisdictions, placed Fermanagh in the new state of Northern Ireland and ushered in a more militant phase. In the aftermath of the establishment of the border, the key events of the revolutionary period in the county included the sack of Roslea, the IRA’s ‘invasion’ of Belleek and the formation of the Ulster Special Constabulary.

During 1920–3 unionists in Fermanagh vigorously defended what they held, while nationalists proved surprisingly willing to accept their situation in the misplaced hope that the Boundary Commission would resolve the border issue.

Title: Fermanagh – The Irish Revolution 1912-23
Catalogue Price: €24.95. Currently reduced to €22.45.
ISBN: 978-1-84682-977-2
Publication date: December 2023. 224pp; ills.

RootsIreland extends its north-east County Cork RC collections

RootsIreland has made a significant update to its database of Roman Catholic baptism and marriage records for parishes in north-east County Cork. The 4,778 records have been sourced and transcribed by the Mallow Heritage Centre and added to parish collections already featuring in the database.

Here is the breakdown, with the years added for each parish:

Parish	Baptisms	Marriages
Ballyclough	1923	1948
Ballyhea	1923	1948
Banteer	1923	1948
Blarney	1923	1948
Buttevant	1905
Carrigtwohill	1923	1948
Castlemanger	1923	1948
Conna		1948
Castletownroche	1923	1937
Charleville	1907	1948
Doneraile		1948
Fermoy		1948
Kildorrery		1948
Killavullen		1948
Mallow	1923	1948
Meelin	1923	1948
Milford	1923	1948
Newmarket	1923

To access these records, click the Mallow Heritage Centre logo above and login or subscribe as required. Or view the full north-east Cork menu of records held on RootsIreland.

Mallow Heritage Centre holds the records for the Diocese of Cloyne. These include 46 of the 120 parishes in County Cork. Mallow Heritage Centre provides a genealogy Research Service as well as the online service.

PRONI celebrates centenary on library tour of Northern Ireland

As part of its centenary celebrations, the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) is making a tour of libraries across Northern Ireland.

The idea is to display and discuss historical documents specific to the region at each stop and help locals delve into the history of their area, uncover details of their family tree, and answer questions about records held in PRONI's vast archive.

The first event took place yesterday at Derry Central Library and there was a wide range of material for visitors to explore. The documents included:

• A letter from Seamus Heaney to fellow renowned poet John Hewitt in September 1966 following the publication of Heaney’s poem Death of a Naturalist.
• A passenger book of shipping agent J & J Cooke listing the names of those leaving Foyle Port for Philadelphia, Québec and St. John, New Brunswick between March 1858 and July 1867.
• A register from Coleraine National School dating back to the late-1800s, noting the names of the male and female pupils who attended between 1872 and 1899.
• A register from St Eugene’s Convent (formerly St Columb’s Convent) National School, noting the names of the girls who attended the school between 1892 and 1903.
• A highly decorated map depicting the siege of Londonderry in 1689 (digital viewing only).
• Footage from the UTV Archive depicting the North West, including 1960s footage of Foyle Street, a 1965 news clip on a four mile long motorcade in support of a university in the city and a piece on Derry’s selection as City of Culture in 2013.

The second tour event will be on Thursday 14 December (10am–4pm) at Enniskillen Library, with further visits, including to Lurgan Library, planned for the New Year. Keep an eye on PRONI's website or check dates on LibrariesNI

Half price subscriptions on offer from IrishNewspaperArchive.com

The Dublin-based Irish Newspaper Archive has a whopping Black Friday discount on offer. All subscriptions, monthly and annual, Gold and Silver, they're all eligible for a 50% saving if you order before the expiry date: Monday 27 November.

Even Gift subscriptions attract the same level of discount. As well as making a great Christmas Gift for the researcher in your life, existing subscribers can also take advantage of this Gift Voucher arrangement; they can redeem their voucher code when their existing sub ends.

Just click the image right, decide whether you need a Silver or Gold membership, and then choose the period you want your membership to run. You don't need any discount codes.

IrishNewspaperArchive.com now hosts more than 12million pages from 252 Irish publications. 

Newly added content includes the Connaught Journal 1793 - 1828; Celtic Times, 1887; Rights of the Irishmen, 1792; The Press 1797 - 1798; Sligo Weekender 2005 - 2008; Belfast Newsletter 2006; Andersonstown News, 1972 - 2000; Post, 1955 and 1958-1959; Evening Echo, 2001-2002; Evening Telegraph, 1916 - 1919; and digitisation work will be starting soon on the Irish News from 1891 to current.

Latest update from the Irish Registry of Deeds Index Project

The volunteer-led Irish Registry of Deeds Index has been updated. The main Index now stands at 571,225 entries from 58,984 memorials of deeds, while both the Townland and Grantee indexes have also seen worthwhile additions.

The volunteer team is always looking for new contributors. Transcribing the material can now be done online (unlike the 'old days' when you had to attend the Registry of Deeds in Dublin). Images of the Memorial Books and the Townland and Grantee Books are online at the free FamilySearch website and the submission of material to the Index project is made online. Of the memorials already indexed, more than 87% are now linked to the FamilySearch images.

Nick Reddan, the founder and manager of the Project, has recently published a new page (here) showing the proportion of index entries with direct links by volume and cumulatively.

One-off donations of entries to the index are always welcome, but if you want to become a regular submitter, you'll be joining a really worthwhile project that is providing genealogical information that is unlikely to be released in a searchable manner any time soon. The Project is completely free to users.

Find out more at irishdeedsindex.net/.