From TheGenealogist (www.thegenealogist.co.uk), a new obituaries collection which includes entries from Scotland and Ireland, as well as the rest of Britain:
Obituaries from the 1600s to the 1800s are now searchable online
Find the vital details of your ancestors from the Stuart Era to the Victorian Era, recorded at the time of their deaths
TheGenealogist has added obituary records from the Index Society, Musgrave’s Obituaries and the Society of Friends to its record collection, with obituaries dating back to the 1600s.
Family Historians can now access a set of intriguing records covering three important publications from the 17th to 19th centuries.
Firstly, the Index Society’s Obituary Notices for 1880, 1881, and 1882 include obituaries for many industry journals and periodicals, such as The Lancet and The Law Journal, along with local and national newspapers like The Hertfordshire Mercury, The Guardian, and The Times.
Also included in this release is Musgrave’s Obituaries, with records as early as the 1400s but mainly covering 1600 to the 1800s. This publication is named after Sir William Musgrave who had originally assembled the slips or extracts taken from various works, such as The London Magazine and The Gentleman’s Magazine. These had been neatly written up before being pasted into books in alphabetical order. These manuscripts were then published by The Harleian Society and it is these printed versions that are now digitised on TheGenealogist.
Additionally, several Society of Friends records from the 1880s are included. These Quaker records, known as the Annual Monitor or Obituary of the Members of the Society of Friends, are for the years 1880, 1882 and 1885. Apart from many names and dates, these book records also include some expanded “memoirs” recounting anecdotes about various members and their families.
The value of these newly released obituaries to researchers lies in the information they provide. The entries give the dates not only of the individuals' deaths but also their birth dates or ages and often other useful observations such as occupation details and other family members.
Obituaries often cite their sources, for example providing a newspaper page, edition, etc., which can be very helpful for the family historian in conducting further research into ancestors.
TheGenealogist has added over 20,000 individuals to its record collection with these newly released obituaries dating back to the 1600s.
Read TheGenealogist’s feature article: Dead but not Forgotten
https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2024/dead-but-not-forgotten-7506/
COMMENT: You will find the Obituaries section under the Births, Marriages and Deaths category.
(With thanks to Nick Thorne)
Chris
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