Further US marriage records on Ancestry

Some more American marriages collections are now available on Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk):

Illinois, County Marriages, 1800-1940
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=61370

Alabama, County Marriages, 1805-1967
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=61365

Kansas, County Marriages, 1811-1911
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=61371

Ohio, County Marriages, 1774-1993
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=61378

For further details on the sources, please click on the links.

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.

Proposed 2018 Unlock the Past cruise to Alaska

Calling all genealogy cruisers - it looks like I might be heading back out with Unlock the Past again!

Unlock the Past is hoping to run a genealogy cruise of Alaska in the third quarter of 2018, and I've provisionally agreed to take part as one of the speakers, which I am very much looking forward to (subject to the final cruise date being acceptable, which will be confirmed early next year, and my own personal circumstances in 2018 permitting).

This will be my fourth cruise with Unlock the Past, having previously spoken on cruises from New Zealand to Australia, around Australia again, and a third voyage around the Baltic last year, all of which were great experiences. Genealogy cruises are exceptional fun - you get the holiday experience of a cruise combined with the benefits of a genealogy conference whilst at sea. On top of that, you get some experienced genealogists, trapped on a boat, with nowehere to run or hide - the chances of breaking down your research brick walls don't get much better...!

Here is the proposed provisional itinerary for how it is hoped the Alaskan cruise might work:

• Fri – Seattle, USA depart 4pm
• Sat – at sea
• Sun – Inside Passage, Canada (cruising) – see the rugged beauty of the islands and mainland coast of southern Alaska. The views include glaciers, fjords, soaring cliffs and misty northern rainforest.
• MGSun – Juneau, USA 12noon to 9pm – surrounded by fjords, forest and snow-capped mountains, Juneau is one gorgeous state capital. Its historic city centre harkens back to its gold-rush origins and you can still pan for gold. But nature is the priceless treasure.
• Mon – Skagway, USA 7am to 8:30pm – the great Klondike Rush lives on in Skagway’s charming city centre of restored 19th-century buildings and its historic railway. From the vintage train, admire the mountains and see the 1898 trail that fortune seekers travelled on foot.
• Tue – Tracy Arm, USA 7am to 12noon – just south of Juneau lies the magnificent Tracy Arm Fjord, carved by glacier activity. Among the sights to admire from the icy waters are waterfalls cascading down 900-m (3,000-ft)-high granite walls.
• Wed – at sea
• Thu – Victoria, Canada 9am to 6pm – the capital of British Columbia is filled with blooming gardens, heritage architecture and historic charm. The heart of Victoria is its scenic harbour and Old Town, compact areas that are made for strolling and easily explored on foot.
• Fri – Seattle, USA arrive 6am

For further details, and/or to register interest, please visit the Unlock the Past Cruises page at http://www.unlockthepastcruises.com/provisional-2018-cruise-alaska/#

I wonder if I should also mention that I might be heading down under again to New Zealand and Australia before this?! Perhaps I might just hold onto that thought for a while longer...! :)

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.

My 200th article for Your Family History magazine

I've reached a bit of a milestone today in my genealogy career, in that I have just sent through my 200th article for Your Family History magazine (previously known as Your Family Tree)! The article will be published in the Feb 2017 edition.

My first ever article for the magazine was a case study for issue 40 (August 2006, see pics) about my grandfather's plight being trapped as a child in occupied Brussels throughout the First World War, where his father died whilst hiding from the Germans to prevent internment.

Although this was not my first ever published article, it was certainly my first ever published family history themed article, and led me to subsequently write for other titles, and to set up this blog.

When I started Garrick Webster was the editor in charge, and since then I have worked for various other editors, including Russell James, Tom Watson, and now Nell Darby and Andrew Chapman, as well as various sub-editors and designers. I have been delighted to see the magazine continue to go from strength to strength - I still can't believe I have been writing for it for ten years now!

For details of the current issue, please visit http://subscribe.yourfamilyhistorymag.co.uk/latest-issue/ - don't forget that you will find various freebies with each edition that can be downloaded from th website, so well worth bookmarking!

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.

Robert the Bruce's face reconstructed

Facial reconstruction experts at Liverpool John Moores University, partnership with Glasgow University, have reconstructed what Robert the Bruce's face would have looked like in his later years, both with and without the affects of leprosy from which he was believed to suffer. The reconstructions were visualised from a cast of the king's skull held at the Hunterian museum. The skull was located in 1818-19 from Dunfermline Abbey and then reinterred.

For more on the story, please visit https://www.ljmu.ac.uk/about-us/news/robert-the-bruce, and the Guardian's story at https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/dec/08/sprucing-up-robert-the-bruce-scottish-kings-face-gets-3d-treatment?CMP=share_btn_tw.

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.

British Newspaper Archive passes 17 million pages

The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) has now passed 17 million pages, with the count currently at 17,176,948 pages.

Content added over the last 7 days:

Sheffield Daily Telegraph
1858

Globe
1863-1868, 1876-1878, 1887-1892, 1898-1902

Kerry Evening Post.
1829-1887

Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News
1874-1970

Britannia and Eve
1926, 1928-1929, 1931-1957

The Sketch
1893-1934, 1937-1958

The Graphic
1910-1911, 1914-1932

The Sphere
1900-1964

Mayo Constitution
1828-1851

Belfast News-Letter
1902-1904, 1914-1915

Brighton Guardian
1860-1865

Barnsley Chronicle, etc.
1858-1865


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.

American marriage records join Ancestry

Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has released marriages indexes for four states in the USA:

Weber and Piute Counties, Utah, County Marriages, 1887-1940
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=61382

Oregon, County Marriages, 1851-1975
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=61380

Maine, Marriage Index, 1670-1921
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=61373

Colorado, County Marriages and State Indexes, 1862-2006
http://search.ancestry.co.uk/search/db.aspx?dbid=61366

For further details on the sources and composition of the collections, please check out the above links.

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.

PRONI launches Historical Maps viewer

It's here folks - PRONI's new Historical maps platform! Here's the blurb:

PRONI Historical Maps viewer

PRONI and Land and Property Services (Ordnance Survey and Spatial NI) have worked together to digitise and make available a range of historical Ordnance Survey maps.

The historical maps available on this application are from the 6 inch County Series mapping; and latterly the Irish Grid. Maps available cover the six counties of present-day Northern Ireland: counties Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone.

Historical Ordnance Survey Maps

The historical maps available on this application are from the 6 inch County Series mapping; and latterly the Irish Grid. Maps available cover the six counties of present-day Northern Ireland: counties Antrim, Armagh, Down, Fermanagh, Londonderry and Tyrone. The following map editions are available on the application:

Edition 1 (1832 – 1846)
Edition 2 (1846 – 1862)
Edition 3 (1900 - 1907)
Edition 4 (1905 - 1957)
Edition 5 (1919 – 1963)
6” Irish Grid (1952-1969)
1:10,000 metric Irish Grid (1957-1986)

To access the platform visit https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/services/search-proni-historical-maps-viewer

COMMENT: You can view maps from the above eras, and also add historical overlays, such as counties, townlands, points of interest, etc.

Have fun!

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.

Latest PRONI stakeholder forum update

Last Friday saw the latest stakeholder forum of the Public Record Office for Northern Ireland (https://www.nidirect.gov.uk) in Belfast. I was unfortunately not able to attend, as I developed a nasty bout of Black Death towards the end of the week (some folk call it a 'cold'!), but I am grateful to Richard Lecky for forwarding the minutes to me. The following are some of the key developments that will be of interest to regular PRONI users:


1) The annual release of official files under the 20 Year Rule (the ‘Annual Sensitivity Review’) will officially take place on December 30th. There will be a ‘Secrets Behind the Files’ event at 1pm on January 11th 2017, led by Dr Eamon Phoenix (political historian) and Sam McBride (political editor, the Newsletter) discussing some of the key finds from the release. The talk is an open event, with the public able to register to attend via the PRONI website.

2) The Conflict Archive on the Intenet project (CAIN) has now added files from 1987, with work currently progressing to capture 1988.

3) With regards to new accessions of private records, a large collection of papers relating to the Christian Endeavour society has been acquired, catalogued under D4628. This organisation originated in America in 1881, with societies opening in Belfast soon after. By 1899 there were 10,000 members and one hundred societies throughout Ireland (as a wee boy growing up in Carrickfergus in the 1980s the society was certainly still going strong then in my church). The collection contains correspondence, minutes and reports and printed material and dates from 1900.

The Papers of Fred Heatley, founding member of NICRA and People’s Democracy, have been added D4629. Amongst the political scrapbooks in this collection are a range of political posters.

Eight pre-1871 registers from the Methodist Historical Society have been transferred to PRONI for digitisation - the registeres are from the following Belfast Churches: Ligoniel, Frecerick Street, Salem New Connection, and Ballymacarett (Newtownards Road).

4) Cataloguing continues at PRONI, as follows:
Records of the Irish Council of Churches have almost been completely catalogued, and are found under D4602/1. The collection includes minutes, reports and correspondence and dates from its foundation to recent years.

Family papers relating to the Johnston family of Slaghtbogie, Maghera, Co. Londonderry (from 1766-1943), are being catalogued under D4618. The papers give an insight into the family’s relationship with their tenants and neighbours and into the experiences of some family members who emigrated to America and Canada.

Cataloguing has been completed on the papers of Kevin Boyle (D3297). The collection vividly captures the early years of the civil rights movement in Belfast.

A land valuation volume and watercolour maps of the estate of Thomas Brooke at Lough Eske, Co. Donegal, and watercolour maps of the lands of the Marquis of Conyngham (dating from the 1890s), Glenties, Co. Donegal (dating from 1839), have been catalogued under D4493.

5) The new GIS Application / Historical Maps viewer:
Particularly good news is the fact that PRONI’s new Historical Maps viewer is hopefully going to go live at some point this week. There will hopefully be an official launch early next year (provisionally slated for January 25th 2017 at PRONI, 9.30am – 1pm), with an accompnaying half day conference around geographical mapping. (I've seen this demonstrated at a couple of previous forum meetings, and this is definitely going to become a tool that everyone doing Northern Irish research will need to bookmark.)

6) The new Rule and Fees will come into effect on the 15th December and PRONI is on track to make all the necessary amendments. The PRONI web page has been updated with a new link so users can see the new fees and charges - see https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/are-there-any-fees-and-charges.

7) Preservation week will run from December 12th-16th. This is the week when PRONI takes time to play catch up with various internal issues, with the net result that although the building will be open as normal, there will be no document ordering available for the week, only the self-service facilities.


8) Forthcoming events and exhibitions:

Holocaust Memorial Day: The Holocaust event will be taking place on Thursday the 26th of January and Teddy Dixon, who was one of the soldiers that liberated Dachau, will be interviewed by Dermot Lavery from Doubleband.

History of Football in Ireland Conference: A History of Football conference will be held on the 17th of February and is being organised by Dr Chris Curran.

International Women’s Day: The International Women’s Day will be held on the 8th of March and feature journalist, Malachy O’Doherty

For further events see https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/talks-and-events.

(With thanks to PRONI)

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.

FindmyPast adds Irish police records and Scottish nonconformist indexes

The latest additions to FindmyPast (www.findmypast.com):

Ireland, Royal Irish Constabulary Service Records 1816-1922

Royal Irish Constabulary Service Records 1816-1922 contains over 486,000 records released in association with the National Archives. The collection will allow you to uncover intimate details of your ancestor's career with the R.I.C and includes a plethora of records related to the running and administration of the organisation including general registers, disbandment registers, nominal returns, and more. You can also find records of Royal Irish Constabulary clerical staff.

Each result includes an image of the original document and a transcript. The nature of the information recorded will vary significantly depending on the subject and type of the original document. A full list of the various record types included in the collection can be found at the bottom of the search page.


Ireland, Royal Irish Constabulary History & Directories

Over 43,000 records have been added to our Royal Irish Constabulary History & Directories collection. The collection allows you to explore a variety of publications printed between 1840 and 1921 that will provide further insight into the administration and daily operations of the police force as well as the history of the organisation.


New South Wales Passenger Lists

New South Wales Passenger Lists contains over 8.5 million records. This collection includes records of both assisted and unassisted passengers. The assisted passenger lists cover 1828 to 1896 and the unassisted passenger lists span the years 1826 to 1900. Assisted passengers refers to those who received monetary assistance from another party or agency/government for their passage. There were several assisted immigration schemes set up for this purpose in the hopes of encouraging migration and settlement in Australia.


Scotland Non-Old Parish Registers Vital Records 1647-1875

Scotland Non-Old Parish Registers Vital Records 1647-1875 is a collection of registers created by churches outside of the established church. It contains over 12,000 transcripts of births, marriages, and deaths and is a useful alternative to the Church of Scotland's old parish records.

Non-old parish registers are distinctively different from the Church of Scotland's old parish records. The original records are held by the National Records of Scotland and have been diligently transcribed by Graham and Emma Maxwell. The majority of records span from 1684 until 1861 and cover seven Scottish counties.

For further information and direct links to the collections visit https://blog.findmypast.com/findmypast-friday-december-2nd-2016-2122423265.html

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.

New book - A History of St. George’s Church Belfast

A new book from the Ulster Historical Foundation (www.ancestryireland.com):

A History of St. George’s Church Belfast
Two Centuries of Faith, Worship and Music

A History of St George's Church, Belfast is sure to be much appreciated by a wide readership, including not just parishioners but also those interested in church and architectural history and by the many who are intrigued by the story of Belfast. This book serves as a fitting testimony to a building and an institution that continues to hold a special place in the heart of Belfast.

This book is now available on www.booksireland.org.uk. For those of you who order before the 06 December 2016 the price is just £16.99 (Full RRP £19.99)

To take advantage of this offer go to: www.booksireland.org.uk/store/all-departments/history-st-georges-church-belfast-two-centuries-faith-worship-music


Also:

Church of Ireland: An illustrated history

This handsome and beautifully illustrated hardback book presents the rich heritage and history of the Church of Ireland (including a section on the early Irish church prior to the Reformation) in an attractive contemporary style that will appeal to every generation. To coincide with the release of A History of St. George’s Church Belfast: Two Centuries of Faith, Worship and Music we are offering this publication for just £5.99 (Full RRP £30.00)

To take advantage of this offer go to: www.booksireland.org.uk/store/all-departments/church-ireland-illustrated-history

(With thanks to the Ulster Historical Foundation)

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.