FindmyPast adds Dublin Port employment records but fails to name archival source

FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) has added a new Irish collection, but has provided no information on where the records have been obtained from.

Ireland, Dublin Port Employment Records, 1862-1925
https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-records/ireland-dublin-port-employment-records-1862-1925

This new set consists of 1,636 employment records from the 19th and 20th centuries. 

Comment: Dublin Port employment records from 1906-1925, as sourced from the Dublin Port Name Book, are available at https://www.dublinportarchive.com/searchable-archives/. It is unclear if this is the source for some of the records. 

It is regrettable that FindmyPast portrays itself to be the bona fide source here, when it is simply a publisher of material derived from another archival source. 

Chris

Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. To purchase in the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.

FindmyPast adds Merchant Seamen's Campaign Medal Records 1939-1945

FindmyPast (www.fundmypast.co.uk) has added a new merchant seamen wartime collection:

Merchant Seamen's Campaign Medal Records 1939-1945

Discover the campaign medals awarded to Britain’s Merchant Navy during the Second World War. These records list the men and women who kept Britain supplied across dangerous wartime seas, detailing their name, birth information, rank, and medal entitlement. Use this set to trace your ancestor’s wartime service and recognise the vital role merchant seafarers played in the Allied victory.

For a link to the record set, and for other news from the company, visit https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-records/merchant-seamens-campaign-medal-records-1939-1945

Chris 

Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. To purchase in the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.

Second World War Merchant Seamen Registry added to FindmyPast

The latest FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) additions this week include the following:

Britain, Merchant Seamen Registry 1939-1945
These 24,406 new records will help you to understand your maritime ancestors' Second World War experiences in more detail than ever.

British Rolls of Honour and Nominal Rolls
But that's not all - we've also updated our existing collection of British military rolls, with 293 records covering the Second World War.

For further details visit https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/barry-railway-nominal-rolls

Chris 

Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. To purchase in the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.

FindmyPast updates Naval and Marines pension records collections

FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) has updated one of its Royal Navy collections:

British Royal Navy & Royal Marines Service and Pension Records, 1704-1939
We added 1,385 records from 1842 to this existing collection

For further details, and the link, visit https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-records/british-royal-navy-and-royal-marines-service-and-pension-records-1704-1939.

Chris 

Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.

Ancestry adds RNLI and heraldry records

Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has made a couple of new records collections available:

UK and Ireland, The Royal National Lifeboat Institution Records, 1824-1989
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62701/
Source: RNLI Records. Poole, Dorset, England: Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).

Institution Records, 1824-1989

This collection covers the records between 1824 and 1989 for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), a charity to save lives at sea on the coasts of the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man. Record types in this collection include pension lists, honorary presentation books, legacy books, medal books, lifeboat donation records, crew lists, and applications.

Using this collection

Records in this collection may include the following information:

• Name
• Residence
• Occupation and rank
• Name of assigned lifeboat and station
• Employment or volunteer start/end date
• Date of gallantry medal(s)
• Date of pension
• Date of injury or death
• Information about spouse (name, death date)

The pensions and crew lists within this collection can provide a detailed timeline of your family member's service and valuable information about their life. The mApplications for Gallantry Medals books, also in this collection, may reveal specific instances of your family member's bravery. The RNLI records also include widow's pensions, which name relatives of RNLI members who died in the line of duty. If your family member served on a lifeboat, you may find documentation of rescues the lifeboat engaged in, including shipwrecks and events from the First and Second World Wars. You may also find records for your ancestor who funded lifeboats.


UK, Heraldic Card Index, 1150-1850
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62736/
Source: Heraldic Card Index. London, England: Society of Antiquaries of London.

About the UK, Heraldic Card Index, 1150-1850

This collection captures hundreds of thousands of index cards created by the Society of Antiquaries for the purpose of connecting coats of arms to family names between 1150 and 1850. The Society of Antiquaries not only recorded descriptions of the coat of arms, but also brief genealogical information for the individual the coat of arms was assigned to.

Using this collection

In these index cards you may find the following information:

• Name (including suffixes and aliases)
• Age
• Birth year
• Occupation
• Residence
• Date and place of death
• Names of relatives
• Artifact date

This collection can help you determine if your family had a coat of arms, or to which family a coat of arms belonged to. Each index card describes a coat of arms and the objects on which it appears (seals, plateware, monuments, etc.). Sometimes the index card even includes a photograph or drawing. Keep in mind that the amount of information on each card varies greatly and may be printed or handwritten.


And two new third party indexes:

Web: United Kingdom, Corps of Military Police Index, 1800-2022
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/63108/

Web: Isle Of Man, Wills Index, 1600-1864
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/63077/

For further details on all, please consult the links given.

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

TheGenealogist adds 1.6 million records to commemorate Remembrance

From TheGenealogist (www.thegenealogist.co.uk):

Remembering the fallen with more than 1.6 million newly released records

Ahead of Remembrance Sunday in the UK, when we remember the two world wars and later conflicts, TheGenealogist is marking Armistice Day by adding to its collection of Military records.

This release of over 40,000 Rolls of Honour, over 65,000 Medal awards and over 1.5 Million War Memorial Records significantly adds to the suite of fully searchable Military records on this family history website.

The new War Memorials can be searched from the TheGenealogist’s Master Search or by locating the memorial on the georeferenced maps displayed on their Map Explorer, which also lets you search the area around where your ancestor lived.

For those with ancestors who were mariners and served in the Merchant Navy or Fishing Fleets, the Rolls of Honour and Medal Awards from The National Archives Series BT 339 will be especially poignant.

The Rolls of Honour name the deceased and missing-presumed-dead from the ranks of the merchant marine fleets and fishing trawler crews who were employed on minesweeping and patrol duties during World War II (1939-1945) and further years up to 1953.

The list of Medal Awards from 1866 to 1970 includes Mercantile Mariners recognised for gallantry and service. Among these honours is the Albert Medal, initially awarded for saving lives at sea.

Additionally, the Mercantile Marine Officers Nominal List 1916-1920 records recipients of the Order of the British Empire, Distinguished Service Cross, Distinguished Service Order and Distinguished Service Medal, along with issues of the London Gazette listing many other medals (such as the Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal and Commendations) citing the deeds of gallantry these Mercantile Marines performed. The images of these records include the details of these deeds, some of which reveal intriguing stories of shipwrecks, shark attacks and gallant heroes.

Read TheGenealogist’s feature article: Rolls of Honour for Unsung Heroes of the Rolling Sea
https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2023/rolls-of-honour-reveal-unsung-heroes-of-the-rolling-sea-6860/

* SCOTTISH GENES READER OFFER 

TheGenealogist is also offering Scottish GENES readers a Diamond Subscription for the price of a Gold plus a free gift! For just £98.95 this Diamond Annual Subscription will renew at the same discount price every year that you stay with them! To sign up visit https://thegenealogist.co.uk/MGBMR1123 

Offer expires 10/12/2023.

(With thanks to Nick Thorne)

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

Ancestry adds UK Passengers and Seamen BMDs 1891-1922

Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has added the following collection:

UK, Registers and Indexes of Births, Marriages and Deaths of Passengers and Seamen at Sea, 1891-1922
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62598/
Source: BT 334: Registry of Shipping and Seamen: Registers and Indexes of Births, Marriages and Deaths of Passengers and Seamen at Sea. Kew, Surrey, England: The National Archives.

About UK, Registers and Indexes of Births, Marriages and Deaths of Passengers and Seamen at Sea, 1891-1922

General collection information

This collection comprises records of births, marriages, and deaths of passengers and seamen while they were at sea. The records are dated between 1891 and 1972 and include information for British citizens and foreign-born passengers aboard British ships. Some records contain information about sailors who died while ashore. Entries in the registers are handwritten in English.

Using this collection

Records in this collection may include the following information:

• Name
• Birth date and place
• Gender
• Occupation
• Marriage date, place, and age
• Marital status
• Death date, place, and age
• Spouse's name and maiden name
• Spouse's marriage age and occupation
• Parents' names, nationalities, and birthplaces
• Father's occupation
• Mother's maiden name
• Spouse's parents names
• Spouse's father's occupation
• Spouse's mother's maiden name
• Registration month and year

The records in this collection may allow you to verify that your ancestor was born, married, or died while aboard a British ship. Similar to vital records produced by churches and local governments, these records contain many family names to help you expand your family research. You may discover what your ancestors did for a living and where their family roots lay.

Further details via the link.

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.

The world's last surviving turntable ferry, which sails to Skye

There's a nice wee video on the BBC Scotland website looking at the world's last surviving turntable ferry, which sails the Kylerhea Narrows between the Scottish mainland and the Isle of Skye. Such ferries were a common feature in Scotland many years ago.

You can access the story below, and also at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-scotland-65429882.



Enjoy!

Chris

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For the USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

FamilySearch adds Irish Merchant Navy Crew List and Prison Registers collections

FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org) has added two new Irish collections this week:

Ireland, Merchant Navy Crew Lists, 1857-1922
https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/4316495

The collection was compiled from records held by the National Archives of Ireland. The crew lists provide information about of members of the Irish Merchant Navy who were from all over the world. The records may include information about births, engagements, marriages, and deaths. Index courtesy of FindMyPast.com.

Ireland, Prison Registers, 1798-1928
https://www.familysearch.org/search/collection/4279963

This is a collection of prison registers from Ireland dated between 1798 and 1928. While the information contained in each record may vary considerably depending on the prison and date, the index contains the prisoner's given name and surname, and potentially their age and birthplace. The index is provided courtesy of FindMyPast.

Whilst the collections can be searched, and some details gleaned, the images can only be viewed at a family history centre. 

For other releases from FamilySearch this week, visit https://media.familysearch.org/new-free-historical-records-on-familysearch-week-of-16-august-2021/.

(With thanks to Gail Dever)

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

The Scottish Maritime Museum in Irvine

The Scottish Maritime Museum (www.scottishmaritimemuseum.org) in Irvine is a place that I have long had on my list to visit, having first become aware of it in my TV days whilst working on a documentary about an Edinburgh hospital, with one of the people we were featuring residing close to it. Despite having been based in Ayrshire since 2002, and in Irvine itself for the last 18 months, it was today that I finally managed to step foot inside - and it was well worth the wait! 

From the museum's website:

Founded in 1983 and based in the West of Scotland with sites in Irvine and Dumbarton, the Scottish Maritime Museum holds an important nationally recognised collection, encompassing a variety of historic vessels, artefacts, art, fascinating personal items and the largest collection of shipbuilding tools and machinery in the country. The buildings and sites which the Scottish Maritime Museum occupies are themselves part of the collection.

The Scottish Maritime Museum in Irvine is housed within the vast, glass-roofed Victorian Linthouse. This A listed ‘cathedral of engineering’ was formerly the Engine Shop of Alexander Stephen and Sons shipyard in Govan before being salvaged and relocated to Irvine in 1991.

The Scottish Maritime Museum in Dumbarton is located on the former site of the influential and innovative William Denny Shipyard and features the world’s first commercial ship testing facility, the Denny Ship Model Experiment Tank.

As noted, there are two facilities, and I do intend to visit the Dumbarton based facility at some stage also, but today was about the institution on my doorstep here in Irvine. A single adult ticket is £8.50, which essentially gives you the run of the place for the day. The museum provides an overview of the practices of boat and ship building in Scotland since pre-history, from dug out Bronze Age tree trunks to the clinker built boat technology sourced from the Norse and the Vikings, to the full blown shipbuilding industry on the Clyde from the late 19th to mid 20th centuries. There was a lot to take in, with many original boats and exhibits from the industry - not least the Linthouse building itself, which was removed from a yard in Govan and rebuilt in Irvine to its original design. Just for good measure, there was also a boat built by the brother of a friend of mine!

On the main website you can access various online exhibits, but the following are some pics to give you a flavour of what is there to see.

 

One vessel sadly no longer there is the City of Adelaide, which is now based in Adelaide, South Australia, but I was lucky to be able to see this on a trip to the city a few years ago as part of an Unlock the Past event - so for those who may be interested, and who miss her presence outside the museum, this is how she looked down under in 2017...!

Scotland has one hell of a maritime legacy, so what more is there to say other than come and visit the museum in Irvine - you'll love it!

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.