Free access to USA and Canadian records on MyHeritage

From MyHeritage (www.myheritage.com):

Discover more about the lives of your ancestors this Labor Day with FREE access to all US and Canadian census records from 1790 to 1940. Search through this treasure trove of 740 million census records for free from August 30 through September 2, 2019.

For further details visit http://blog.myheritage.com/2019/08/740-million-free-census-records-for-labor-day/

Chris

Order Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-Family-History-on-the-Internet-Paperback/p/16483. My next Scottish Research Online course starts 2 September 2019 - see https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. Further news published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Free access to Ancestry's UK and Irish records

This one almost passed me by - as it is a bank holiday in England tomorrow, Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) is offering free access to its UK and Irish collections until midnight Monday night.

FREE ACCESS*

Only this Bank Holiday weekend, find your family’s past, FREE.
Curious about your family’s past? Free access to our records ends tomorrow.
Search a name to find your family in military, court and parish records, plus many more.

*Access to the records in the featured collections will be free until 26 Aug 2019 at 23:59 GMT. To view these records you will need to register for free with Ancestry.co.uk with your name and email address. After the free access period ends, you will only be able to view the records in the featured collections using an Ancestry.co.uk paid membership.

To see a full list of the records in the featured collections visit https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/categories/uk_irish_records/.

Have fun!

Chris

Order Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-Family-History-on-the-Internet-Paperback/p/16483. My next Scottish Research Online course starts 2 September 2019 - see https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. Further news published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Free access to UK Military records this weekend

From Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk):

Discover the untold military chapter in your backstory

So many people have played a part in Britain’s military story. Their everyday acts of bravery are waiting to be discovered. See what part your family played with three days’ FREE access to all UK military records.

FREE access until Sunday 7 July 2019 at 23:59 GMT. Registration required. Terms apply.

Further details at https://www.ancestry.co.uk/cs/free-access?o_xid=100211&o_lid=100211&o_sch=Email+Campaigns

Chris

Pre-order Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) for just £11.99 at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-Family-History-on-the-Internet-Paperback/p/16483. Details of my genealogical research service are available at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further news published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Free access to Fold3 military records until May 28th

From Ancestry's military records site, Fold3.com:

Free Access. All Records.

To honor Memorial Day, we're proud to offer free access* to everything on Fold3 — now through Tuesday.

Explore more than 530 million records. See how your family served our country and uncover unique personal details you won’t find anywhere else.


*Access to all records on Fold3 will be free until May 28, 2019 at 11:59 p.m. ET. After the free access period ends, you will only be able to view the records in the featured collections using a paid Fold3 membership.

Visit https://go.fold3.com/freeaccess to see the records.

NB: Access includes British records and those for Commonwealth countries.

Chris

Pre-order Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) for just £11.99 at https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Tracing-Your-Irish-Family-History-on-the-Internet-Paperback/p/16483. Details of my genealogical research service are available at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further news published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Free Easter access to Ancestry

From Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk):

BIGGEST EVER FREE ACCESS
Discover a new branch of your family tree this Easter

Looking forward to some quality time with the family this Easter? Now you can find out together how far your family roots spread, with access to a billion UK, Irish and Commonwealth historical records from Good Friday to Easter Monday.

*Access to the records in the featured collections will be free until 22 Apr 2019 23:59 GMT. To view these records you will need to register for free with Ancestry.co.uk with your name and email address. We will then send you a user name and password to access the records. After the free access period ends, you will only be able to view the records in the featured collections using an Ancestry.co.uk paid membership. To see a full list of the records in the featured collections please click here.

Chris

My next Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the OPRs course starts May 13th 2019 - see https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=302. 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.

Free access to Irish and UK records on Ancestry

Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) is offering free access to its Irish and UK collections until Monday:

 *Access to the records in the featured collections will be free until 23:59 GMT on 18 February 2019. To view these records you will need to register for free with Ancestry.co.uk with your name and email address. After the free access period ends, you will only be able to view the records in the featured collections using an Ancestry.co.uk paid membership. To see a full list of the records in the featured collections please click here.

Have fun!

NB: Ancestry is one of the websites I'll be discussing in my next Scottish Research Online course on March 11th - see https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102 for details!

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.

Free access to FindmyPast this weekend - and new RAF records added

From FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk):

FindmyPast records and newspapers are completely free to view this Remembrance weekend. Discover your family and unravel your history for free.

Latest additions:

Royal Air Force Lists 1919-1945
Search the Royal Air Force Lists from 1919-1922 and 1938-1945. The Lists contain over 62,000 names and include the women's branches of the military including the WRENs, WAAF, and Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service. The records are presented as digitised copies of the original publications. You can search by your ancestor's name and a keyword.


Queensland, Windsor Town Council Honour Roll 1914-1925
Explore this list of civilians who served in the First World War as recorded in the Windsor Town Council Honour Roll for the period 1914 to 1925.


Billion Graves Cemetery Indexes
Over 2 million records have been added to our collection of Billion Graves Cemetery Indexes. Covering a variety of countries, the Billion Greaves Indexes allow you to pinpoint your ancestor's final resting place via GPS-tagged headstone records.
This latest update includes:

Over 1.5 million new additions to the United States Billion Graves Cemetery Index
Over 68,000 new additions to the Canada Billion Graves Cemetery Index
Over 61,000 new additions to the England Billion Graves Cemetery Index
Over 4,000 new additions to the Ireland Billion Graves Cemetery Index
Over 19,000 new additions to the Scotland Billion Graves Cemetery Index
Over 5,000 new additions to the Wales Billion Graves Cemetery Index
Over 296,000 new additions to the Australia Graves Cemetery Index
Over 28,000 new additions to the New Zealand Billion Graves Cemetery Index


Middlesex Monumental Inscriptions 1485-2014

Over 1,300 additional records covering burial sites in Cowley have been added to our collection of Middlesex Monumental Inscriptions. This collection of monumental inscriptions, provided by West Middlesex Family History Society, covers the years from 1485 to 2014 and includes transcripts for each entry.

Further details at https://blog.findmypast.co.uk/findmypast-friday-2618732034.html

Chris

For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.

Free access to Ancestry's UK military records

From Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk):

Get free access to more than 30 million military records

Find out where your family fought, the experiences they had and the places they had them.
Start your family’s WWI story today with free access to service records, medal cards, casualty lists and much more – free until 9 August.

* Access to the records in the featured collections will be free from 00:01 BST 6 August - 23:59 9 August 2018. To view these records you will need to register for free with Ancestry.co.uk with your name and email address. We will then send you a username and password to access the records. After the free access period ends, you will only be able to view the records in the featured collections using an Ancestry.co.uk paid membership.

The collections featured can be found listed at https://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/group/uk_military_records

Chris

For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.

American Revolutionary War records available for free until July 15th

If any of your ancestors made their way from Britain and Ireland to the American colonies and got involved in the Revolutionary War, Fold 3 (www.fold3.com) has free access to some records until July 15th which might be of interest:


Access Revolutionary War Records for Free*

Revolutionary War Signing for Payment Vouchers To commemorate Independence Day, Fold3 is providing free access* to our Revolutionary War Collection July 1–15.

We continue to offer everyday free access to our Constitutional Convention Records, Continental Congress Papers, George Washington Correspondence, and other archives from the founding of our nation! See the original manuscripts written with quill and ink by our founding fathers.

Our Revolutionary War collection contains 22 collections with almost 5 million records! Here’s just a few of the titles:

Revolutionary War Rolls: The Continental Army was made up of troops provided by each colony. They formed battalions, regiments, companies or militias. There is an introduction to this collection from the National Archives, and then you can search by state and narrow down to a specific fighting group.

Navy Casualty Reports, 1776 – 1941: This collection records both wartime and peacetime deaths of navy soldiers in the Revolutionary War and later conflicts including the War of 1812, Civil War, WWI and others.

Revolutionary War Service Records: These are service records for soldiers who fought for the Continental Army. They are arranged under state, fighting company and then alphabetically by soldier’s name.

Revolutionary War Prize Cases – Captured Vessels: After the US declared independence from the British, colonists were no match for the powerful British Navy. In an effort to disrupt British commerce, colonists captured British vessels. The vessels were known as prizes. These records, which are copies of the original manuscripts, are cases heard on appeal by courts from 1776-1886. You can browse them by state, case name, or by vessel name.

Final Payment Vouchers Index for Military Pensions, 1818-1864: This is a collection of records of final pension payments made to military veterans or his widow. They shed light on where a family may have moved after the war, death dates of veterans, widows, or dependent children, and sometimes the maiden name of a widow.

Get started searching our Revolutionary War Collection today! Access via https://go.fold3.com/revolutionary-war

*Access to the records in the featured collections will be free until July 15, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. MT. Free access requires registration for a free Fold3 account. After the free access period ends, you will only be able to view the records in the featured collections using a paid Fold3 membership.

Chris

For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.

Ancestry offers free access to Ireland, UK and Commonwealth records

From Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk):

What better way to bring your family closer together than our Easter Free Access weekend?

From 30 March to 2 April, you’ll be able to search millions of UK, Ireland and Commonwealth records – all completely free*. Start in Britain then head off to Australia, Canada, or wherever, and spend four full days finding long-lost family all over the Commonwealth.

Enjoy FREE Access to millions more records including these highlights:

NEW Historical Photographs and Prints
Explore more than 40,000 images, capturing defining moments in history and displays of everyday life.

Birth, marriage and death indexes
Find family among the vital indexes covering England and Wales as far back as 1837.

Commonwealth records
Get access to everything from Australian Electoral Rolls to Canadian Census records.

Plus much more

* Access to the records in the featured collections will start on 30 March and will be free until 2 April 2018 at 23:59 BST. After the free access period ends, you will only be able to view the records in the featured collections using a paid Ancestry.co.uk membership

(Note that you will need to register for a free account if you do not have one)

Chris

For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.

Free access to Ancestry's UK and Irish records

From Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk), a free weekend's access to UK and Irish records:

FREE ACCESS 23-25 FEBRUARY*
Banish those winter blues – make the most of free access to Ancestry

Starting this Friday, we're giving you free access* to all our UK and Irish records for three whole days.*

*Access to the records in the featured collections will start on 23 February 2018 and will be free until 25 February 2018 at 23:59 GMT. To view these records you will need to register for free with Ancestry.co.uk with your name and email address. We will then send you a username and password to access the records. After the free access period ends, you will only be able to view the records in the featured collections using an Ancestry.co.uk paid membership.

To see a full list of the records in the featured collections please visit https://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/group/uk_irish_records.

Chris

For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.

RootsTech 2018 Announces Free Online Broadcast Schedule

From FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org):

Popular RootsTech 2018 Announces Free Online Broadcast Schedule

Mark your calendars! RootsTech, the world’s largest family history and technology conference, happening February 28 to March 3, 2018, announced its free live online streaming schedule. It will broadcast 19 of its popular sessions, including former Olympic gold-medalist Scott Hamilton; Brandon Stanton, founder of the Humans of New York photo blog; host of the popular PBS show Finding Your Roots, Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.; Natalia Lafourcade, internationally recognized singer songwriter; and Steve Rockwood, CEO of FamilySearch International. The live broadcasts give those unable to attend in-person a sampling of the show's marquee content. Interested viewers can watch the select broadcasts live at RootsTech.org. No registration is required to view the live streams.

"RootsTech 2018 offers over 300 sessions for those able to attend in-person," said Tyler Stahle, RootsTech marketing manager. "However, the 19 sessions we will live stream for free will expand the show's reach and give more people the opportunity to participate remotely in this world class conference." In 2017, streaming sessions garnered more than 50,000 views, and that number continues to grow each year.

The streamed sessions will include the popular general sessions and a sampling of technology and family history presentations appealing to varied interests.

RootsTech Live Streaming Schedule

Watch at www.RootsTech.org. No registration is required to view the live streams. All times are in Mountain Standard Time (MST).

For the full schedule of talks, please visit https://media.familysearch.org/popular-rootstech-2018-announces-free-online-broadcast-schedule/

Chris

For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.

Further free records added to Irish Genealogy

Thanks to Claire Santry for announcing that the Irish Government's free records site Irish Genealogy (www.irishgenealogy.ie) has been adding more records. Claire's announcement is at http://www.irishgenealogynews.com/2017/11/irishgenealogyie-adds-more-free.html.

I've had a play, and whilst it is welcome that records have been added (mostly earlier marriage records from what I can see), I have also noticed something odd which I hope is a temporary glitch - namely that the registration district names appear to have disappeared from the indexes to many of the earlier marriage and death records.

To give an example... I know that my three times great grandfather Jackson Curry died in 1867 and that his death was registered in the district of Magherafelt, in Derry, in the 4th quarter of that year. When I do a search for Jackson using Magherafelt as the registration district, no results appear. When I do a search for him just by name, I then get the following:

This is the right entry - but the registration district is not noted.

I'm also getting duplication of indexes. For example, another Jackson Corry (Curry) married Eliza Jane Armstrong on 20 DEC 1878 in Newry. The record is found on Irish Genealogy, but in two different index entries, one of which has the image attached, and the other again noted without the Registration District (though the year, quarter, volume number and page number are correct):

Hopefully someone will sort it soon enough!

(With thanks to Claire)

Chris

My next 5 week long Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the OPRs course commences Nov 6th 2017 - details at https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=302. For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.

Free access to Fold3 British Commonwealth military records

Fold3 (www.fold3.com) is providing free access to its British and Commonwealth collections this weekend:

The British Commonwealth Military Collection
Explore military records outside the U.S.

A unique collection of military records

Free access until November 13th*

Australia WWI Service Records
British Army Lists
British Army WWI Service Records
Distinguished Conduct Medal Citations
Military Books
U.K. Navy Lists
British Army WWI Medal Rolls Index Cards
Royal Hospital Chelsea Pensioner Admission & Discharge Records
Royal Hospital Chelsea Pensioner Soldier Service Record
Royal Hospital Kilmainham Pensioner Records (Ireland)
U.K. WWI War Diaries (France, Belgium, and Germany)
U.K. WWI War Diaries (Gallipoli-Dardanelles)

*Access to the records in the featured collections will start on 10 November and be free until 13 November, 2017 at 23:59 BST. To view these records you will need to register for free with Fold3.com with your email address. We will then send you a username and password to access the records. After the free access period ends, you will only be able to view the records in the featured collections using an Ancestry.co.uk paid All Access membership.

Chris

My next 5 week long Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the OPRs course commences Nov 6th 2017 - details at https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=302. For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.

Free access to Ancestry and FindmyPast military records

Both Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) and Findmypast (www.findmypast.co.uk) are offering free access to military records for the remembrance period.

From Ancestry:

FREE ACCESS STARTS FRIDAY*

Get answers to your questions about the soldiers in your family
Which of your family members served in WWI? To what regiments were they attached? Were they following in the footsteps of other military ancestors?

Answer these questions and any others you have about the soldiers in your family with four days of free access to all our UK military records starting this Friday.

* Access to the records in the featured collections will start on 10 November and be free until 13 November, 2017 at 23:59 BST. After the free access period ends, you will only be able to view the records in the featured collections using an Ancestry.co.uk paid membership. To see a full list of the records in the featured collections please click here (https://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/group/uk_military_collections?o_xid=82516&o_lid=82516&o_sch=Email+Campaigns).

From FindmyPast:

Your family were heroes.
Don’t let them be forgotten.
Unearth their remarkable stories in simple-to-search, original documents from the Army, Navy and RAF.
Together, we’ll keep their legacies alive.

FREE MILITARY ACCESS 8-12 NOVEMBER

Chris

My next 5 week long Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the OPRs course commences Nov 6th 2017 - details at https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=302. For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.

Forthcoming FamilySearch webinars and classes

The following classes and webinars will be hosted online by FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org) in November:

Thursday, November 2, 11:00 a.m., Exploring Death Notices in Norway (Beginner)
Saturday, November 4 , 1:00 p.m., Árbol Familiar para principiantes (Beginner)
Monday, November 6, 10:00 a.m., Using the FamilySearch Catalog Effectively (Beginner)
Monday, November 6, 11:00 a.m., Exploring Emigration Records in Norway—Finding Place of Origin (Beginner)
Monday, November 6, 1:00 p.m., Beginning Swiss Research (Beginner)
Tuesday, November 7, 10:00 a.m., Overview of FamilySearch (Beginner)
Thursday November 9, 9:00 a.m., Immigration and Canadian Border Crossing (Beginner)
Thursday, November 9, 11:00 a.m., Swiss Census Records (Beginner)
Thursday, November 9, 12:30 p.m., French Language Indexing (1½ hours) (Beginner)
Thursday, November 9, 12:30 p.m., Italian Language Indexing (1½ hours) (Beginner)
Thursday, November 9, 1:00 p.m., Reivers and Relatives: Ancestors Along the Anglo-Scottish Border (Intermediate)
Thursday, November 9, 2:30 p.m., Portuguese Language Indexing (1½ hours) (Beginner)
Thursday, November 9, 2:30 p.m., Spanish Language Indexing (1½ hours) (Beginner)
Thursday, November 9, 4:30 p.m.,Web Indexing Training (1½ hours) (Beginner)
Thursday, November 9, 6:30 p.m., Leadership Indexing Training (1½ hours) (Beginner)
Monday, November 13, 10:00 a.m.,Using the FamilySearch Catalog Effectively (Beginner)
Tuesday, November 14, 10:00 a.m., Starting FamilyTree: Navigating, Adding, Standardizing and Printing (Beginner)
Tuesday, November 14, 1:00 p.m., England Case Study and Research Strategy (Intermediate)
Wednesday, November 15, 10:00 a.m., Dutch Language Indexing (1½ hours) (Beginner)
Thursday, November 16, 11:00 a.m.,United States Census Records (Beginner)
Thursday, November 16, 1:00 p.m., Lost in London! Tracing Elusive Ancestry in London and Other Big Cities (Intermediate)
Saturday, November 18, 1:00 p.m., Getting Started in Mexico? Why You Should Try Ancestry.com (Beginner)
Monday, November 20, 10:00 a.m., Using the FamilySearch Catalog Effectively (Beginner)
Tuesday, November 21, 10:00 a.m., Staring Family Tree: Preserving Memories Using Photos and Documents (Beginner)
Wednesday, November 29, 10:00 a.m., Web Indexing Training (1½ hours) (Beginner)

Further details, and how to sign up, at http://media.familysearch.org/free-family-history-library-classes-and-webinars-for-november-2017/

Chris


My next 5 week long Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the OPRs course commences Nov 6th 2017 - details at https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=302. For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.

Find Naval ancestors with Forces War Records

The latest press release from Forces War Records (www.forces-war-records.co.uk):

Forces War Records, the specialist genealogy website, now holds over 10 million military individuals' records, 1000s of which are Naval. In remembrance of all Naval heroes on Merchant Navy Day, we'd like to help you to find your Naval ancestor today. We have 1000s of Naval records for you to search (including exclusive collections) which may hold the information you've been looking for. There's 1000s of original publications and articles within our online Archive, and military specialists on tap to help you overcome genealogy brick walls, and find your ancestor.

Search our complete Navy record collections and also download your free tutorial - 'How to search Navy records' - to help make sure you find your ancestor online.

Visit Forces War Records to search the full Naval collections HERE.


(With thanks to Jennifer Holmes)

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course commences Sept 11th 2017 - details at www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.

The FreeCEN website has been redeveloped

I've just participated in another enjoyable AncestryHour on Twitter (see http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/2017/05/ancestryhour-on-twitter.html). One of the posts I picked up on was that FreeCEN, the volunteer census transcription project for England, Scotland and Wales, now has a new version of the site available online - you can see it at https://freecen2.freecen.org.uk.

Have a wee look and a play, and let the organisers know what you like or don't like at https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdT2291Wot-IdsP_Y2_w82BsP9WkqXfdTnX_8V-Y7g6pClqvg/viewform! (The original site is still available at www.freecen.org.uk)

(With thanks to FreeCEN and AncestryHour)

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course commences Sept 11th 2017 - details at www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. For my genealogy guide books, visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html, whilst details of my research service are at www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk. Further content is also published daily on The GENES Blog Facebook page at www.facebook.com/BritishGENES.

Free access to FindmyPast

FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) is offering free access to most of its British and Irish records collections from June 22nd - 26th. There are some exceptions to this, including the 1939 English and Welsh National Identity Register entries, and the British Newspaper Archive holdings.

For further details visit http://www.findmypast.com/british-and-irish-family-history/.

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course commences Sept 11th 2017 - details at https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102.
For details on my Scottish & Irish genealogy guide books, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.
For my genealogy research service, please visit http://www.ScotlandsGreatestStory.co.uk.

Ancestry makes Commonwealth collections free over Easter

Free access to several collections on Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) for Easter:

ACCESS MILLIONS MORE RECORDS
Get closer to your overseas family right now
Your Free Access to millions of extra Commonwealth records starts now.

Our four-day Easter Free Access* is sure to lead to new discoveries. So don’t delay, get searching our extensive collections and reveal your relatives overseas.

*Access to the records in the featured collections will start on 14 April and be free until 17 April, 2017 at 23:59 BST. After the free access period ends, you will only be able to view the records in the featured collections using an Ancestry.co.uk Worldwide paid membership.

To see a full list of the records in the featured collections please visit http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/group/commonwealth_records.

Chris

For details on my genealogy guide books, including A Beginner's Guide to British and Irish Genealogy, A Decade of Irish Centenaries: Researching Ireland 1912-1923, Discover Scottish Church Records (2nd edition), Discover Irish Land Records and Down and Out in Scotland: Researching Ancestral Crisis, please visit http://britishgenes.blogspot.co.uk/p/my-books.html.