For ease of viewing the websites mentioned in “Web Watch”, a regular feature of our quarterly journal, the whole article is reproduced below.
Since websites, their content and their links are prone to frequent change, or even removal, we will only display the articles from the previous four issues of the journal.
Find My Past - http://www.findmypast.co.uk
We have started adding our own data to FMP.
FMP have added 881,000 Clandestine Marriages with images from TNA RG7 for
1667 – 1775. 329,000 deaths and burials for Fife and Lanarkshire 1549 – 1877
have been indexed. Images of 147 Royal Navy Lists from 1824 to 1945 have been
added. Parish register additions include 2.5 million records and images for
Lancashire (excluding Liverpool and Manchester), 109,000 more Middlesex
burials, and 264,000 for Wiltshire Quakers. Social and institutional records
for Wiltshire number 422,000. 691,000 records and images have been added to
the WW1 Soldiers' Medical records from TNA MH106. The Suffragette Collection
has 22,000 more records and images from various TNA series.
Ancestry - http://www.ancestry.co.uk
Ancestry have added 4.2 million Electoral Roll records for Aberdeenshire and
Fife. Also 1.7 million Electoral Rolls, Poll Books and Juror Books for
Cambridgeshire.
The Genealogist - http://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/
They have added 160,000 records and images of Criminal records from TNA
CRIM9. Schedules and maps for the 1910 Lloyd George survey have been loaded
for north Middlesex. Colour Tithe maps for East and North Ridings of
Yorkshire have been added. The Index to Changes of Names 1760 to 1901
published by Phillimore and Fry in 1905 has been digitised with 12,000 names.
Deceased Online - www.deceasedonline.com
They have added 57,000 records and images of burials in 3 Oxford cemeteries.
Family Search - https://www.familysearch.org
The LDS have added 928,000 parish register records for Northumberland and 2.8
million for Warwickshire.
https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/
2,400 historic maps, plans and drawings from National Records of Scotland
(NRS) collections have been added.
http://www.cassinimaps.co.uk/
In the Lost Cousins newsletter Peter Calver mentioned that 1871 maps showing
Registration Sub-Districts (excluding London) from TNA RG18 are available
free.
https://www.history.co.uk/
Information about 43,000 casualties and 50,000 tons of high-explosive bombs
that fell on London.
http://www.locatemyname.com
Distribution of names across countries and regions.
https://www.gedcompublisher.com/
Software you can purchase for converting your Gedcom into an e-book.
https://blog.national
Information and advice on TNA's Discovery catalogue.
How To Tell If a Virus Is Actually a False Positive
https://www.howtogeek.com/
And check the file with 59 antivirus checkers at https://www.virustotal.com/
Photo of work on the 1939 Register at Smedley Hydro in 1940 -
https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/
And finally, a tree house!
https://mymodernmet.com/
The image shows the oldest couple standing at the top of the “tree house”
with their six children and spouses standing on the level below them. The
third generation are at the bottom, five of which have the fourth generation
babies in their arms. Each family is represented by colour-coordinated
T-shirts, and arranged in order of oldest to youngest (from left to right).
Find My Past - http://www.findmypast.co.uk
FMP have added a Map Search feature to the 1939 Register. They have added 2.5
million transcripts of UK deaths from 2007 to 2016. Transcripts of 476,000
Baptisms and 20,000 Feet of Fines for Surrey have been uploaded. British Army
Officers’ Widows’ Pension Forms for 1755 to 1908 from TNA WO42 has over
13,000 transcripts and images of certificates etc. Over 6.7 million records
from 1920 England & Wales electoral records have been added with images.
88,000 transcripts and images of Index slips for Prerogative Court of
Canterbury administrations from 1660 to 1700 from TNA PROB 6 and 15/72 – many
mariners.
Ancestry - http://www.ancestry.co.uk
Ancestry have now obtained the 1939 Register, giving another search option,
but note that their index was created from redacted images from some months
ago. They have added Norfolk BTs of parish registers and transcripts for
Cheshire. They have uploaded more than 23,000 photographs, pen and ink
illustrations and sketches from the Fox and Hulton Collections from 1704 to
1989 for UK.
The Genealogist - http://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/index.php
From TNA they have added MEPO 6 Criminal Record Office: Habitual Criminals
& Habitual Drunkards. Also 1,270,000 records with images of Parish
Records for Warwickshire, 29,000 individuals who were decorated with the
Meritorious Service Medal and Air Force Lists from 1921 to 1944.
Deceased Online - www.deceasedonline.com
A collection of over 10,000 photographs of 90 Norfolk cemeteries has been
added.
Family Search - https://www.familysearch.org
They had added indexes to 4.4 million British Newspaper Archive Family
Notices and Obituaries.
Birmingham City Council - www.birminghamburialrecords.co.uk
Their Bereavement Services has launched an online database of over 1.5
million burial and cremation records.
Army Ancestors – BritishArmyAncestors.co.uk
Created by Paul Nixon, this site aims to obtain photographs of soldiers with
names between 1850 and 1920 and make them available free.
50 Recommended websites - https://www.family-tree.co.uk/how-to-guides/family-history-week/doing-your-family-history-online-50-best-websites-for-family-history
Property Deeds – ancestorhomes.com
A private collection of digitised property deeds and associated documents for
properties throughout England & Wales dating back to the 1660s.
Finding a Grave - https://findthatmi.
Hints on finding where somebody is buried plus a list of websites covering a
single church.
The National
Archives - http://blog.
OCR does not work on handwritten documents but this new technology might
learn to transcribe PCC wills.
https://blog.
Will updating obsolescent digital records to current technology alter their
content?
Population
changes -
https://www.populationspast.org/
A map and analysis of Victorian and Edwardian population during a period of
major change in the dynamics of the British population.
Law Society
- http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/
Information on tracing past solicitors and law firms.
And finally, want to know the weather on the day and at the place where you were born or another combination? Go to http://www.wolframalpha.com and enter Weather followed by a date and a location; for example July 1 1976 Folkestone.
Find My Past - http://www.findmypast.co.uk
FMP are adding Mother's Maiden Name to their England & Wales Birth
indexes prior to 1911 Q3 from the new GRO online indexes, but this is
probably not yet complete. Using the Civil Birth search form, you can search
using only Mother's Maiden Name [which you can't do on the GRO site]. Unlike
the GRO site, you are not restricted to one gender and 5 years.
FMP have added 49,000 Kent probate records. 94,000 marriages in London from
the College of Arms are an unusual dataset. They have added 400,000 Parish
records for Derbyshire, 160,000 more for Yorkshire, 140,000 more for Devon,
210,000 more for Hertfordshire, 400,000 for Jersey, 2.6 million for
Manchester area, and transcriptions of 613,000 more Wiltshire baptisms. They
have also added 56,000 records for the East India Company. Another addition
is 127,000 more overseas and forces births, baptisms and marriages. There is
a special collection on Suffragettes. FMP have added 645,000 records for
Brompton Cemetery in London; this includes grave purchase records and thus is
more comprehensive than the dataset on Deceased Online. 423,000 records for
Cheshire schools have been added. Also 243,000 records for Red Cross
volunteers in WW1. And finally they have added an Address search on all the
censuses.
Ancestry - http://www.ancestry.co.uk
Ancestry have released over 500,000 images of Wiltshire probate records. They
have added 600,000 records for the East India Company and India Office 1746 -
1939. Electoral Registers for Liverpool 1832 – 1970 add 8 million entries and
those for Edinburgh1832 – 1966 5 million. They have also added indexes for
parish registers for Buckinghamshire and Worcestershire. Images of London
street directories have been indexed by OCR.
The Genealogist - http://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/index.php
The Genealogist have added colour tithe maps for Buckinghamshire. New parish
records provide 366,000 for Warwickshire with images and 1.9 million more
transcriptions for Sussex. They have added 650,000 records from TNA HO8
quarterly returns of convicts.
Scotland's People - https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/
They have released images for 1917 births, 1942 marriages and 1967 deaths.
They have also improved their matching of abbreviated and variant forenames.
Family Search - https://www.familysearch.org
Family Search have increased their parish registers for Cornwall to 840,000
and to 1.3 million for Lincolnshire.
Genealogy In
Time - http://www.genealogyintime.com
They have upgraded their search engines for records and trees.
Railway Work, Life and Death
Project - http://www.railwayaccidents.port.ac.uk/
A database of railway worker accidents in Britain between 1911 and 1915 with
4000 names, ages and roles in a spreadsheet that you can download.
National Fairground and Circus Archive - http://cdm15847.
Established in 1994, this is a unique collection of photographic, printed,
manuscript and audiovisual material covering all aspects of the culture of
travelling showpeople, their organisation as a community, their social
history and everyday life; and the artefacts and machinery of fairgrounds.
SS Great
Britain - https://www.bristol247.com/
Volunteers at the SS Great Britain have created a database with the names and
details of every single person that ever travelled on the ship – both crew
and passengers.
Getting It
Right: Data Entry Standards for Genealogists by Judith Schaefer Phelps - http://www.columbinegenealogy.com/
And finally the talk by Audrey
Collins at RootsTech on Civil Registration indexes -
https://www.rootstech.org/
The National Archives - http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
TNA have re-catalogued the PIN26 army pensions with much fuller detail.
Ancestry - http://www.ancestry.co.uk
Ancestry have extended their records from LMA to include London and Middlesex
baptisms 1907-1916 and marriages 1922-1930 plus other updates. They have
added indexes of Derbyshire parish registers with images, and Nottinghamshire
and Suffolk parish registers but no images. With the National Maritime Museum
they have added the patient records for 1826 to 1930 of the Dreadnought
Seamen’s Hospital at Greenwich. Military Discharge Indexes, 1920 to 1971,
have 300,000 soldiers who were born before 1901 and discharged after 1920.
Absent voters 1918-1925 and 1939 have been added. Also University of London
Student Records 1836 to1945.
Find My Past
- http://www.findmypast.co.uk
FMP have added over 229,000 records for Lancashire Wills & Probate 1457
to 1858.
They have uploaded more parish records, not all with images :- 0.3m for
Bristol, 2.7m for Warwickshire, 0.3m for Herefordshire, and 1.2m for
Portsmouth, plus additions to Berkshire, Leicestershire and Thames parish
records, Westminster Roman Catholic records, and London and Yorkshire
burials. Kent parish records for Chilham, Stalisfield and Staple have been
added with images. 49,000 probate records for Herefordshire. Roman Catholic
church registers for the armed forces has 17,000 records from 1836 to 1975.
WW1 army medical records from TNA MH106 has 212,000 names. Also various
miscellaneous army records.
FMP have
changed some of their search options. Peter Calver of Lost Cousins shows how
to supercharge your searches for baptisms, 1911 and other censuses -
https://www.lostcousins.com/
Another
masterclass by Peter Calver on tracking down pre-1837 baptisms and marriages
- https://www.lostcousins.com/
The
Genealogist - http://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/index.php
TheGenealogist has added over 1.1 million transcriptions to its parish record
collection for Sussex in association with The Parish Record Transcription
Society.
They have also added over 140,000 parish records for Worcestershire and
Warwickshire and 2.2m for Somerset and Dorset. They have used TNA WO10-12 Pay
Lists to create worldwide army indexes for 1851, 1861 and 1871; many records
have extra information such as place of birth.
An initial release of the 1910 Lloyd George Domesday Survey for Paddington
and the City of London includes the schedules linked to the maps at 5 feet to
the mile.
Deceased Online – https://www.deceasedonline.com/
Deceased Online has added over 90,000 records from West Norwood and
Lambeth Crematoria for 1915 to 2012.
Irish Genealogy - https://civilrecords.
Family
Search - https://www.familysearch.org
The LDS have added parish records with images for Warwickshire, Manchester,
Dorset and Derbyshire, plus BTs for Cambridgeshire and Hampshire. Indexes for
Essex parish records do not have images.
The Family Search Wiki has a wealth of information including -
https://www.familysearch.org/
Details of 20,000 railwaymen
killed in WW1 from the National Rail Museum -
http://firstworldwar.
52 years of
the Local Historian magazine free to download -
http://www.balh.org.uk/
Dorset
County Hospital Staff from 1841 to 1948 -
https://historydch.com/
Tracing London Convicts in
Britain & Australia, 1780 to 1925
https://www.digitalpanopticon.org/
This website allows you to search millions of records from around fifty
datasets, relating to the lives of 90,000 convicts from the Old Bailey.
Norfolk Record Office has
catalogued 20,250 Norwich Archdeaconry Marriage Licence Bonds - http://nrocat.
Norwich
Freemen - http://nfro.
Abbreviations of forenames -
http://www.genealogyintime.com/
Visiting the Institute of
Heraldic and Genealogical Studies in Canterbury? Try the virtual tour - http://www.ihgs.ac.uk/
And finally, if you have
regretted laminating something - http://blog.