Belfast City Council's burials database updated

I mentioned in my recent news update from PRONI (see https://britishgenes.blogspot.com/2019/03/utv-archive-at-proni-and-other-proni.html) that there was some discussion about Belfast City Council potentially updating the features of its Burials Records database at http://www.belfastcity.gov.uk/community/burialrecords/burialrecords.aspx.

I was using the site last night and have noticed that there are now additional search fields.

Where before you had the options of only searching by Forename, Surname and Year, there are now further options to search by Address and/or Postcode, as well as the option to order results by Surname, Address or Year. You cannot unfortunately search by address only, but one handy tip is to type in a surname and street address (no numbers) for a known relative, as other family members may well be on the same street but not within the same household. I managed to make progress on one of my lines last night, my Montgomery family, by doing so.

A lot of information is free on the database, and for records older than 75 years you can also purchase a copy of the original burial record, which in some cases has as much, and sometimes more, information than the equivalent death certificate.

Happy hunting!

Chris

My next Scottish Research Online course starts March 11th 2019 - see www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. Details of my genealogical research service are available at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. For my Scottish and Irish themed books, visit https://britishgenes.blogspot.com/p/my-books.html. Further news published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.