Genealogy
Eneclann is an award winning history and heritage company, based in the Trinity Technology and Enterprise Centre, Dublin, Ireland. Eneclann says: “In August 2012, the National Library of Ireland hosted the ’20×20′ lunchtime series of talks on Irish family history. Organised by Eneclann and Ancestor Network, the assembled experts included genealogists and broadcasters, librarians and [...]
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Some say that genealogy is America’s second-most popular hobby and some say it’s the first. And, as stated by University of Michigan anthropologist Beverly Strassmann, it’s a hobby that started with the hunter-gathers of the Neolithic Period about 11,500 years ago around the same time that the transition to the agriculture society was taking place. [...]
Origins.net offers access to exclusive British and Irish record collections dating back to the 13th century . As stated in their most recent newsletter, Origins has some of the most complete and accurate data on the Internet. The latest addition to the National Wills Index is the Lancashire Wills Index (1457-1748 & 1793-1812) and Surrey [...]
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Magherafelt District Council has launched a new interactive website which includes a new online genealogy resource to provide accurate historical information both textual and photographic. The council opened a Tourist Information office 15 years ago and receives daily genealogy inquiries from all over the world so the goal is to have uploaded photographs and maps [...]
I recently read an article in the Green Valley News online, written by genealogist Betty Lou Malesky. The article is different and sometimes amusing, with a dash of reality, as compared to the many articles written on the subject of ancestral search and why we do it. People do have different reasons for taking up [...]
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The following is a news release from Ancestry.com: “Research Connects First African-American President to First African Slave in the American Colonies PROVO, UTAH – July 30, 2012 – A research team from Ancestry.com (NASDAQ:ACOM), the world’s largest online family history resource, has concluded that President Barack Obama is the 11thgreat-grandson of John Punch, the first [...]
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Findmypast is offering a better deal for pay as you go credits as follows: “We’ve listened to your feedback and have changed the way our PayAsYouGo credits work to give you a better, fairer deal. Now, when you buy new credits on findmypast.co.uk, we’ll give your expired credits back to you, up to a maximum [...]
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According to the Indiana Covered Bridge Society, between 1820 and 1922, six hundred covered bridges were built in Indiana. Covered bridges were originally built that way to protect the bridges’ wooden floors from rotting. Unfortunately, less than one hundred are still standing. Amateur photographer, the late Sydney B. Pepe, of Fort Wayne, Indiana, who died [...]
Findmypast, a subscription service site, is significantly increasing its database with two fresh sets of Yorkshire records as follows: “North Yorkshire records Type of records Number of records Date range Coverage Baptisms 22,343 1600-1869 Danby (Glaisdale), Egton, Gilling (Forcett), Guisborough, Kirby Fleetham, Manfield, Ormesby (Eston), Richmond, Sessay, Stanwick St John, Ugglebarnby, Whitby (Sleights) The Cleveland Family [...]
Don’t forget you can research online free of charge on FamilySearch.org. The latest additions to their 1940 Census Index Project is as follows: “FamilySearch is excited to announce the addition of Minnesota and Rhode Island to the list of completed and searchable states in the 1940 US Census Index Project. To date we have indexed 84.35% of the entire [...]
Origins.net is offering free access to the Prerogative Court of York Wills and Administration as follows: “Prior to the establishment of a government run system for probate in 1858, there existed over 300 church courts where wills could be proved. One of the most important of these was the Prerogative Court of the Archbishop of York, [...]
The National Genealogical Society (NGS) is in celebration of the July 4 weekend with an announcement of attractive member benefit. Fold3 is offering NGS members a great price-break when they purchase a Fold3 Annual Membership: “The National Genealogical Society is proud to announce a partnership with Fold3, the premier military history website. NGS has worked [...]
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During the last ice age, the sea level of our planet dropped and uncovered a vast land bridge between Asia and America This likely permitted the first bands of people to migrate from the Russian far east into what is now Alaska. When the glaciers receded, the new arrivals drove south to the Great Plains [...]
Popular family history and genealogy research website MyHeritage has a new search engine called SuperSearch, now in Beta, specifically to help researchers locate historical records. SuperSearch has been in development since early 2011 and MyHeritage says that it’s one of the most comprehensive products they’ve ever developed. It’s being touted as an exciting moment for [...]
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Ancestry.com says: “Recent research from Oxford University shows a wide range of genetic influences throughout the British Isles, hinting at a long history of invasions and settlement by groups from across the European continent throughout history. Now where have we heard that before? Oh, that’s right! AncestryDNA™ has seen similar results in the data from our [...]
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Findmypast.co.uk has just published about 70,000 new parish records for Sheffield, England, as follows: “We’ve just published almost 70,000 new parish records for Sheffield on findmypast.co.uk The records span the vast period 1767 to 1986 and will be essential to anyone with ancestors from Sheffield. The Sheffield & District Family History Society provided findmypast.co.uk with these records, [...]
Continue reading about 70,000 newly Sheffield parish records added to Brightsolid’s Findmypast
Here’s a timely reminder from Ancestry about free access to War of 1812 records at Fold3: “On June 18, 1812, the United States declared war on Great Britain officially launching the War of 1812. In the 200 years since, it has become a forgotten war, perhaps best remembered by school children as when The Star-Spangled Bannerwas written. [...]
Prisoner of War records for WWI and WWII are now available for research at Findmypast as follows: “Search for your ancestors in new WWI and WWII Prisoner of War records published today on findmypast.co.uk These records hold vital information about men taken prisoner of war during both World Wars. Naval and Military Press provided findmypast.co.uk [...]
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FamilySearch.org says: “One of the most often used and impressive features ofFamilySearch.org is the massive collection of genealogy records. FamilySearch has the largest collection of genealogical collections in the world with billions of records available to the public free of charge. FamilySearch has recently released two new videos that discuss this massive collection of genealogical records. The [...]
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A lot of us miss seeing and listening to brutally frank comments from Simon Cowell on American Idol. Let’s face it, the show hasn’t been quite the same since he picked up his marbles and moved on. Simon Cowell, one of the richest individuals in the world of entertainment, is the fourth post in Roy [...]
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More than 7,500 new parish records for North West Kent are available at findmypast.co.uk as follows: “Anyone with Kent ancestors will be keen to search the records for new details to add to their family tree. The North West Kent Family History Society provided findmypast.co.uk with these records, in association with the Federation of Family [...]
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It’s amazing to know that 13.5 million people lived in New York in 1940. It was the country’s biggest state at that time and the census pages are chock full of fascinating folks. Ancestry.com has now just launched the 1940 U.S. Federal Census Index for the Empire State, which now joins the District of Columbia, [...]
The Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree has gained in popularity during the past four years. This year the conference is scheduled to take place in Burbank, from Friday, June 8th through Sunday, June 10th. There are two Pre-events scheduled on Thursday June 7, one Family History Writers Conference and two, the Tech-Track. They look like terrific events [...]
Continue reading about Free SCGS Jamboree sessions streamed free of charge June 9 and 10
FamilySearch.org has reached a milestone with their 1940 Census project. To date 51.88% of the census has been indexed. It doesn’t mean that 50% of the census has a searchable index. Unfortunately end users won’t see that for a while. It has taken 2 months to reach the current status thanks to the legion of [...]
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Fold3 is a subscription website that provides convenient access to US military records, including the stories, photos, and personal documents of the men and women who served. It’s a very useful site for Historians, Family Historians, Researchers, Teachers and much more. For my readers who live outside the U.S. the Fold3 names is derived from [...]
Continue reading about Fold3 opens War of 1812 records for free until June 30th
The Scots have a rare humor when it comes to death and if you’ve heard some to the irreverent Scottish jokes about the subject you’d understand. Don’t get wrong my generation also had a healthy respect for the dead. We always enjoyed those visits to the cemetery on Sunday’s, which usually included a walk around [...]
The following press release from Ancestry.com gives details of U.S. Marine Corps activities during World War II and the Korean War. Many iconic celebrities are part of the collection, including: Ted Williams, Bea Arthur, accused JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald, Steve McQueen, F. Lee Bailey, Gene Hackman, Dan Rather, Jim Lehrer, Harvey Keitel, Ed McMahon [...]
Continue reading about Military history of Ted Williams, Lee Harvey Oswald, Bea Arthur and more…
If you’ve ever wondered if any family member worked in the Royal Household or, you’ve heard someone in the know talk about it, Findmypast.co has added royal staff records to their ever growing database. The following news release includes a link where you search free of charge, but transcripts and scanned images of the original [...]
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I’ve found the International Genealogical Index (IGI) available at FamilysSearch.org very useful in the past. It has been a mix of community indexed sources and community contributed records. Apparently this mix meant that the records weren’t equally reliable. The problem is in the process of being resolved with the creation of two separate collections searchable [...]
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It would be hard to miss the promotion by FamilySearch.org of BillionGraves.com which is owned and operated by AppTime. Family Historians and Genealogists will love the constantly expanding database of records and images from cemeteries around the world. Digitized images of each gravestone will be tagged with GPS coordinates to make finding your ancestors an [...]
The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (UMD) has announced the addition of 14 Portuguese-language newspapers published in California from 1855–1940 to its Portuguese-American Digital Newspaper Collection. As part of a collaborative project with the special collections J.A. Freitas Library, which is a special collections library owned and operated by the Supreme Council of P.F.S.A. in California [...]
The 1940 census has caused quite a stir in the genealogy and family history community. I’ve written about it several times with progress updates and I thought it has just about been covered by everyone.Wait up! there’s more. The fact that 1940 census has had amazing coverage in national publications is truly impressive. The best [...]
Continue reading about The pre-war 1940 U.S. census is a factual gold mine for family historians
If you’re ancestors hailed from the counties of Suffolk and Kent in England you’ll be interested to know that Findmypast.co.uk has published more than 180,000 new parish records for Suffolk and North West Kent as follows: “The Suffolk Family History Society and North West Kent Family History Society provided findmypast.co.uk with these records, in association with the [...]
I’ve just read an interesting article posted online by the Irish Times regarding Y-DNA with which I agree. There’s a lot of sales patter and technical jargon out there, but the principle behind genealogical Y-DNA testing is simple and logical. The Y-DNA chromosome is passed along intact from father to son. A random mutation is [...]
The following news release from Ancestry.com and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum World Memory Project marks the first anniversary of their partnership. There are three new collections including information on Poles, Jews, and other victims with more than 1.3 million records indexed from the museum’s archives: “WASHINGTON, DC/PROVO, UTAH, May 10, 2012 — Records [...]
Dr. Paul R. Billings, renowned genomics expert has been added to the Board of Directors at Ancestry.com. The press release is as follows: “PROVO, Utah, May 16, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Ancestry.com Inc. (Nasdaq:ACOM), the world’s largest online family history resource, today announced that renowned genomics expert Dr. Paul R. Billings has been appointed [...]
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Devonshire, England, is a beautiful place, if you have ancestors who hailed from Devon the following 3.5 million records from Findmypast.co.uk will help you find them. For a small area 3.5 million is a lot of records: “Search new Plymouth and Devon parish records covering 3.5 million people and five centuries on findmypast.co.uk These records [...]
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It’s that time already! The next Roots Tech conference is scheduled to take place in Salt Lake City, Utah, from March 21-23, 2013. Even if you’re not planning to present the schedule the ideas for sessions in the following call for presentations appearing on the Upfront with NGS blog will be of interest: “The world [...]
If you’d like to learn what records are available and where to look at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), there’s a series of presentations available from archivists, volunteers and other experts who share their knowledge of the NARA records with you. To learn more about the program click on Know Your Records.
After a run of three years NBC has decided not to renew the Ancestry.com genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are? The news release from the Ancestry Investor Relations is as follows: “PROVO, Utah, May 13, 2012 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) — Ancestry.com Inc. ACOM -11.97% , the world’s largest online family history resource, today commented on NBC’s [...]
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GenDetective is a genealogy software from RumbleSoft that’s different from most commercial databases on the market today. It has been described as “a tool that analyzes your genealogical data to produce research recommendations based on missing or incomplete data”. The software is planned to enable the genealogist to hone his/her research and actually points out additional [...]
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The following is some welcome news from FamilySearch.org about their 1940 indexing project, as they prepare to upload the latest data on the 1940 census. This is a great reminder that the organization has so much to offer free of charge: “We did it. We passed the 100,000 mark. Today’s report shows that we have [...]
Continue reading about 1940 US Census Indexing Progress Report from Family Search
Ancestry.com has released a database containing membership cards with details on women who joined the Cadet Nurse Corps created during WWII as follows: “Historical Background After the United States entered World War II, the military’s needs quickly brought on a nursing shortage. To address the need, federal funding, administered by the Public Health Service, began [...]
Continue reading about World War II Cadet Nursing Corps Card Files, 1942-1948 online at Ancestry.com
It’s well-known that Irish genealogy research is difficult and often impossible because of the loss of many important records. I’ve touched on this problem before in my blog post The Lack of Irish Genealogical Records and a look at PRONI. On June 30, 1922 the records of the Irish Chancery were destroyed in an explosion [...]
Continue reading about CIRCLE a new major internet resource for Irish Chancery Letters 1244-1509
The following is an announcement from the National Archives and Records Administration regarding a new Microfilm Research Room: “A new Microfilm Research Room is scheduled to open on Monday, May 21, 2012, in the Robert M. Warner Research Center in the National Archives Building, Washington, DC. It will house 27 researcher carrels, 5 public use [...]
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The following is the latest news release from Ancestry.com: “PROVO, Utah, April 25, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Ancestry.com Inc. (Nasdaq:ACOM) announced today it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Archives.com, a family history website, for approximately $100 million in cash and assumed liabilities. This transaction will enable Ancestry.com to add a differentiated service [...]
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New York is an amazing city (an understatement). The newly released collection of 870 archived images actually includes a rare crime scene photographs courtesy of the city Department of Records. Reality at its worst but, you’ll also view spectacular photographs of stately bridges and street scenes that truly capture the essence of New York. The [...]
The subscription or pay-per-view website Findmypast.co.uk has recently published Boer War records as follows: “We have updated our Boer War collection with almost 10,000 new records. The major inclusions in this update are: The complete Queen’s South Africa medal roll for the Coldstream Guards, Irish Guards, 1st battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers and Rundles Scouts The [...]
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Here’s a reminder from Family Tree Magazine about the very popular annual Southern California Genealogy Jamboree: “If you live on the West Coast, you may already be familiar with the Southern California Genealogy Jamboree. You may have already registered for this year’s event. If not, you’re probably thinking, “Why am I getting this mailing for [...]
Continue reading about Southern California Genealogy Jamboree early discount ends April 30
Wills are a wonderful source of information for family historians and genealogy researchers. They provide an amazing peep into your ancestor’s world. The information found in wills usually includes details, such as, where the person who died lived and the name of the executor who is the person responsible for carrying out the wishes of [...]
If you’re researching your family history, or just an enthusiastic NASCAR racing (especially a Jr. Nation) fan, you’ll be more than interested to know that Dale Earnhardt Jr. has discovered an interest in his own genealogy. I couldn’t help smiling when I read the article written by Jim Utter of the Charlotte Observer, because Dale [...]
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There’s an entry dated April 19 on the Ancestry.com blog about the indexing of the 1940 census. The purpose of the article is to answer the question many have been asking as to why their state is not listed yet. I did mention in a previous blog post that I didn’t expect to see the [...]
Continue reading about Why it’s taking so long for Ancestry.com to index the 1940 Census
The following is an announcement from The Foundation for the National Archives: “WASHINGTON, April 18, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ – The Foundation for the National Archives announces the publication of the Genealogy Tool Kit: Getting Started on Your Family History at the National Archives, written by National Archives genealogy archives specialist John P. Deeben. This 160-page step-by-step guide [...]
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Ancestry.com has posted the following information from its DNA testing group: “Ancestry.com DNA has recently updated a Y-chromosome DNA test marker name and its allele value to comply with a recently released industry-wide recommendation by the International Society of Genetic Genealogy (ISOGG). One of the markers in our Y-chromosome DNA test has changed names from “Y-GATA [...]
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Grow Your Own Family Tree has published an interesting article that I’ve published in it’s entirety. In doing so I’d like to give a heads-up to Alan Stewart’s factual website: “The Irish Family History Foundation (IFHF) has introduced a charge for viewing search results as well as details of records. Up to now, searching databases and [...]
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The following information regarding the indexing of 1940 census was posted by Ancestry.coma: “What a difference a week makes. Since the National Archives released the 1940 Census to us last Monday, we’ve been hard at work to get every one of the 3.8 million 1940 Census images online. And while we were at it, we [...]
Continue reading about 1940 Census: Ancestry.com has Nevada and Delaware indexed and online
The British National Archives is planning the launch of their new website Discovery at the end of June 2012. Having found that searching the site and finding cogent information has been a challenge with the old system, this is music to my ‘eyes’. Discovery will replace the current Catalogue site and offers additional features, which [...]
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I mentioned in my blog post a few days ago that I had serious doubts that the launch of the 1940 census would run smoothly because of a high volume of users trying to access the website at the same time. Unfortunately, I was correct—in the world of Internet Technology there is never enough band [...]
Continue reading about 1940 Census: They expected a flood and got a Tsunami!
FamilySearch.org has, only a few days ago, added just over 34 million new records online for the following countries: Brazil Canada Chile Columbia Czech Republic England France Germany Ireland Mexico Norway Peru Portugal Puerto Rico Scotland United States Wales. You can search this amazing newly digitized collection as well as a startling 2.5 billion other records [...]
Continue reading about Over 25 million World War One Draft Registration Cards added at FamilySearch
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has announced that the 1940 census will be available on April 2, 2012 and will be online at 9:00 a.m. (Eastern). This is an official website of NARA in partnership with Archives.com. There are 3.8 images available from door-to-door record taking of 132.2 million Americans. They hand-written images [...]
Continue reading about Today’s the day for the 1940 Census release
Document preservation is serious business whether it be your own personal records or our National Archives. You might know, in comparison to most of our efforts, the national archives wins hands-down. The following press release from the National Archives takes viewers inside their state-of-the-art preservation lab where you’ll see a series of videos which demonstrates [...]
Continue reading about New National Archives Video provides a look inside their Preservation Lab
From crofts to castles you’ll find a fascinating snapshot of Scotland during the First World War and a major new family history resource as the Valuation Rolls of Scotland go online for the first time. The news release is as follows: “A detailed picture of wartime Scotland is revealed today with the release of details from [...]
Continue reading about Scottish Valuation Rolls go online at Scotlands People
The following is an interesting and useful press release I received from Ancestry.com: “Families Can Connect to the Bay State’s Historical Past Through Centuries of Birth, Marriage and Death Records Which Are Now Available Online For the First Time PROVO, UT, March 20, 2012 — Ancestry.com, the world’s largest online family history resource, today announced that [...]
You may have read my recent post on this blog MyHeritage the world’s largest family genealogy network now offers DNA testing regarding the business move at MyHeritage to integrate their DNA database with the Family Tree DNA and a customer base of 62 million users. This means an expansion into new markets for the benefit of [...]
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