FindmyPast's latest vague Scottish records additions

Some very vague Scottish additions this week to FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk): 

Scotland, People of the Black Isle, Ross and Cromarty

FindmyPast states this to be a new set comprised of 7,239 records, covering 1338 to 1850. They also note the areas covered include the parishes of Avoch, Cromarty, Killearnan, Knockbain, Rosemarkie, Urquhart & Wester Logie. What they don't do is tell you what the source for the records are, other than the note at the bottom of each entry stating them to be copyright Bruce Bishop. As the following summary shows, FindmyPast's entries alone are not enough to look for additional information on a particular event without further details:

Bruce is a well respected Scottish genealogist who has spent many years working through kirk session records, parish registers, estate papers, and other sources, to identify named indviduals, and has produced many books detailing his findings. In this collection, it looks like the source is kirk session records - these are freely savailable on ScotlandsPeople (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk), but are not keyword searchable, so you will need to browse through to try to find any relevant entries. 


Scotland, Poor Law & Poor Lists

"We added 739 records to this existing collection, covering over 100 years of Scottish history." Unfortunately there are no further details about what has actually been added.

Come on FindmyPast, you need to up your game.

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 new Irish based paupers database

Ancestry has added the following dataset:

Ireland, Paupers in Workhouses Who Were Born in England, Wales, or Scotland, 1863
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62994/
Source: Paupers (Ireland). Return of Names and Ages of Paupers in Workhouses in Ireland, on the 25th day of March 1863, who were born in England, Wales or Scotland. Dublin, Ireland: Poor Law Commission Office, 1863.

General collection information

This collection is an index of information from a book titled: Return of Names and Ages of all Paupers in the Workhouses in Ireland, on the 25th day of March 1863, who were born in England, Wales or Scotland.

Records in this collection may include the following information:

• Name
• Age
• Birthplace
• Name of poor law union

The information in this collection can be used to learn more about your ancestor and their life in a pauper workhouse. Knowing your ancestor's birthplace and the union where they lived in a workhouse may lead to other documents from that geographic area, such as church records of births, marriages, and deaths. Although the index may feature multiple people with the same last name in a particular section, the records do not say whether they are related. Ireland parish records, birth and death certificates, and census records can help you determine relations.

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 Aberdeenshire poor law records 1818-1923

A new Aberdeenshire collection has been recently added to Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk):

Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Poor Law Applications and Registers, 1818-1923
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62686/
Source: Poor Law Applications, 1834-1943 and Poor Law Relief General Registers, 1812-1959. Aberdeenshire, Scotland: Aberdeen City Council.

About the Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Poor Law Applications and Registers, 1818-1923

This collection contains records relating to the relief of people living in poverty in the historic counties of Aberdeenshire, Banffshire, and Kincardineshire, Scotland. Most of the documents were created by the parochial boards and parish councils that were responsible for providing relief to impoverished people in their parish. Before 1921, only persons with disabilities and people of old age were entitled to relief.

The records precede 1929 when the responsibility to administer "poor relief" became a government function.

Records in this collection may include the following information:

• Name
• Birthplace
• Date of birth
• Names of parents or other relatives
• Occupation
• Marital status
• Place of death
• Date of death

Records may show the basis of the disability, which could include children, or pregnancy in cases where widows claimed relief.  

For further details visit https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62686/

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.

Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the Old Parish Registers Course starts April 8th

The next 5 week long Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the Old Parish Registers family history course from Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd (www.pharostutors.com) commences in just two weeks time on April 8th 2024.

The following short video introduces the course:

 

(Also available at https://youtu.be/1aGSA-mEiQY)

And the following is the course description, and how to sign up if interested!

Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the Old Parish Registers

This is an intermediate level course in Scottish family history for those who are going back beyond 1850. You should have some experience with research in the Old Parish Registers (OPRs) of the Church of Scotland and in using major websites for Scottish research.

This course discusses sources that fill the gap when the OPRs are uninformative or missing, such as the kirk session and presbytery courts records generated by the Kirk (Church of Scotland), as well as the records of dissenting and seceding Presbyterian congregations. From the forerunners of Scotlands modern towns and cities are the administrative records of the burghs, and the trades incorporations and merchant guilds, as well as other professions, which can enhance our understanding of our ancestors lives. And in the final two lessons the course turns up a notch and tackles two areas where the Scottish records, as generated through the feudal system, are truly unique, namely the various registers of land records known as sasines, and the separate legal processes in Scotland for the inheritance of both moveable and heritable estate.

Whilst some of the records discussed in the course are available online, many are available only in the archives, or in private hands, and a strong focus of this course will be in how to successfully employ the relevant catalogues and finding aids to locate such treasures.

Whilst not compulsory, it is strongly recommended that you complete the Pharos course Scottish Research Online before studying Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the Old Parish Registers, as it will be assumed that you are already familiar with the more basic resources available online for Scottish ancestral research.

Lesson Headings:

    * Kirk Sessions records and parish poor
    * Burgh records and town poor
    * Occupations, taxation and early lists
    * Land transfer and the value of sasines
    * Land, inheritance and estates
 

Each lesson includes exercises and activities; a minimum of 1 one-hour chat session per week. (See How the Courses Work at https://www.pharostutors.com/howcourseswork.php.)

Relevant Countries: Scotland
Course Length: 5 Weeks
Start Date: 8 April 2024
Cost: £58

Student feedback:

"The exercises helped you to explore new lesson concepts right away. Especially by directing students to apply new research aids to their own work."

"Very clear explanations of terminology and legal processes Really helpful exercises and comprenesive list of useful catalogues and other references Chat sessions very helpful and engaging."

"This being the second genealogy course I have taken, and the second with Pharos, I found these were detailed foundation courses which will permit me to search better and with less effort in my future research work."

"Great subject-matter and excellent tutor/written materials. It could not have been better."

For further details, and to sign up, please visit https://www.pharostutors.com/scotland-1750-1850-beyond-the-old-parish-registers.

I'll hopefully see you online there!

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.

FindmyPast adds new Scottish records

Added to FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) this week, sourced mainly from Scottish Indexes (www.scottishindexes.com):

Scotland, Mental Health Institutions Registers & Admissions

A new set of 220,7317 Scottish mental health institutional records, spanning 1858 to 1921.

Scotland, Court & Criminal Database

A million Scottish court database transcriptions added to this existing collection, from the Court of Session, Crown Counsel Procedure Books, and the Scottish Prison Records Index.

Scotland, Poor Law & Poor Lists

Registers have been added from Wigtownshire and the Scottish Borders, 7906 new records.

For further details visit https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/scottish-poor-law-mental-health-institution

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.

Inverness and Fermanagh records added to FindmyPast

FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) has added two collections very relevant to my own personal research this week - parish records for Magheraculmoney in Fermanagh, Ireland, and poor law records indexes from Inverness:

Fermanagh Parish Records

This week, we added 15,629 parish register records from the parish of Magheraculmoney in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. Fermanagh is a Northern Irish county located within the province of Ulster - it borders Tyrone, Monaghan, Cavan, Leitrim, and Donegal.

These records are updates to existing baptism, marriage, and burial sets, and the addition of an entirely new set of congregational records from Fermanagh.


Scotland, Poor Law & Poor Lists, Inverness

We've added 2,554 records from Inverness to the Scotland, Poor Law & Poor Lists collection this week.

These records are incredibly detailed, with all sorts of information about your ancestors included.

Alongside the usual name and birth year, you may be lucky enough to find details on their religious denomination, the names and ages of any spouses or children, their mother's maiden name, a brief history of the previous assistance they've received, and more.

COMMENT: I have ancestors both from Magheraculmoney (Morrow, Mitchell) and Inverness (Fraser, MacGillivray, MacFarlane), so look forward to exploring these later.

Further details, and links, at https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/fermanagh-parish-poor-law-inverness.

Incidentally, in the Inverness record set, there's a note in FMP's description stating "They take the form of minutes taken by Guardians during poor law and relief hearings.". No, they don't. Scotland didn't have Boards of Guardians...! (We had parochial boards answerable to a Board of Supervision in Edinburgh, with Inspectors of the Poor doing the localised investigations in each parish or combination parish). I've raised this with FindmyPast and they are going to update it.

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.

Chris Paton online talks in May 2023

Talks I will be giving online in May 2023, on behalf of thr Guild of One-Name Stidies and the Society of Genealogists in London:

The Mount Stewart Murder of 1866, Scotland’s oldest official cold case with Chris Paton
10 May 2023 at 7.30pm BST
https://one-name.org/mtstewart1866/
FREE, although registration is required

  

In March 1866, a Perthshire farmer returned to his farmhouse from a weekly market to discover that his sister had been brutally murdered whilst he was away. An investigation over the following year eventually led to a suspect charged and tried, only for the case against him found to be non-proven in Scots Law. The case is Scotland’s longest official cold case by a modern police force, with the victim being Chris’s three times great grandmother. He will discuss the many resources available to help his research, and the surprise discovery of a second victim, over twenty years after the original event.

Chris will discuss how he researched this Scottish murder investigation in the Victorian era, navigating his way through the investigation as carried out under Scots law, with its various processes, terminologies and sources which may be unfamiliar to those living outwith Scotland.


Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors, with Chris Paton
13 May 2023 at 2.00pm BST
https://members.sog.org.uk/events/640a1c61a8ecf00007ea6041/description?ticket=640a1c61a8ecf00007ea6043
£10 / £6.50 for SoG members

Straddling parts of Counties Antrim and Down, the city of Belfast has seen its fair share of history across the centuries. From its humble beginnings as a ford-based settlement between two tributaries of the River Lagan, it grew following its grant of a charter in 1613 to become a corporation town, and expanded dramatically when later made a city in 1888. Along the way it has experienced the darkest of times, including the Belfast Blitz and the recent Troubles, to some of the most enlightened developments across Ireland and the UK. In Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors, genealogist and best-selling author Chris Paton provides an overview of resources for those wishing to trace their ancestors from the Northern Irish capital, both through online resources and within the city of Belfast itself – and with a wee bit of craic along the way!   

I am also delighted to be chairing the following session for the UK's Family Tree magazine:

How to use parish poor law records, with Gill Blanchard
3 May 2023, at 6.30pm BST
https://www.family-tree.co.uk/how-to-guides/webinars/how-to-use-parish-poor-law-records-3-may/
£10 (free to Family Tree Plus members)

Discover what local parish records can tell us about provision for the poor and those who maintained them.

Learn how to use parish poor law records for family history, local history, and house history research, as well as where to find them locally, nationally and online.

Gill Blanchard is a professional genealogist, writer and tutor based in Norwich, as well as the author of three genealogical guides: Tracing Your East Anglian Ancestors, Tracing Your House History and Writing Your Family History. She is a full member of AGRA and teaches and gives talks locally, nationally and online.

This 45-minute talk by Gill Blanchard, hosted by Chris Paton, will be followed by a 30-minute Q&A. Starts 6.30pm UK time - for time in your time zone, visit TimeAndDate.

Registration fee £10 (free to Family Tree Plus members). Booking includes access to the event recording for 7 days after broadcast. This webinar is FREE to Family Tree Plus members.

 

I hope you can join us!

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.

Kensington and Chelsea, London, Poor Law Records, 1695-1921

There were a few English releases on Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) in the last month, but one that may be of interest to those with Scots and Irish connections down south is the following poor law records from Kensington and Chelsea:

Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, Poor Law Records, 1695-1921
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/62488/
Source: The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: Local studies and archives.

About Kensington and Chelsea, London, England, Poor Law Records, 1695-1921

General collection information

This collection includes a variety of records from the Poor Law Unions in Kensington and Chelsea, England between the years of 1695 and 1921. Types of records available may include:

• Pension records
• Account books
• Paternity affidavits
• Creed registers
• Applications for aid
• Lists detailing contributions from donors
• Correspondence from parishes

While all records are in English, record formats will vary greatly. Many are handwritten, but newer records may be printed.

Using this collection

Records in this collection may include the following information:

• Name
• Age
• Birth date
• Birthplace
• Names and birthplaces of parents
• Date and place of parents' marriage
• Marital status
• Marriage date and place
• Spouse's name and birthplace
• Date of event
• Date of arrival
• Date of departure
• Names and relationships to next of kin
• Information about types of aid received

For further details, click on the above link.

Chris 

Pre-order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors 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. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

FindmyPast adds Scottish poor law and occupational records

Just added to FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk):

Scotland, Poor Law & Poor Lists

16,820 records added to this collection, spanning 1816-1901. Including:

• Dreghorn Poor Relief, 1872-1901
• Inverness Poor Relief, 1846-1894
• Wick Poor Relief, 1870-1887
• Stirling & Perthshire Poor Relief, 1816-1899

Dreghorn takes the majority of the records, and with the most detail.


Scotland, Occupations & Professions

16,000 records added to this collection from various sources. Including:

• Merchants Matriculat in the Company of Merchants of Edinburgh, 1687
• Scotland, Fellows of the Royal College of Surgeons 1581-1873
• A history of the Society of Writers to Her Majesty's Signet, 1890
• Scottish Seafarers Index
• Fife Shopkeepers and Traders

For further details and links, visit https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/scotland-poor-occupations

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - 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. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

FindmyPast adds records from Dungarvan and Kilmacthomas

FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) has added the following collections from Co. Waterford, Ireland:

Dungarvan Town Commissioners Records

The Town Commission was established in 1854, and was responsible for government activity such as the maintenance of roads and waterworks, sanitation, providing housing, and regulating the markets. These records cover the years 1851-1922, and document everything from staff and suppliers, assistance requests, fee payments, or deserted and orphaned children. 

Waterford Poor Law Union Board Of Guardians Minute Books

Unearth your ancestor's connection to 19th and 20th century workhouses with 38,500 new records. These records are from the Kilmacthomas Union.

If you find your ancestor in this collection, it's possible that they owed money, asked for emigration assistance, or got married within the workhouse. These records also detail the staff and suppliers of the workhouses across the area, as well as noting fee payments, maintenance work, and general minutes on the day-to-day running of the institutions. 

For further details and links visit https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/waterford-queensland.

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - 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. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Catalogue codes for Belfast workhouse register indexes 1892-1921

I blogged yesterday that the Belfast workhouse register indexes are now available online through the catalogue of the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (see http://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2022/01/belfast-workhouse-indexes-1892-1921-now.html).

To perform searches in a register for a particular period of time, you need to know which catalogue number it has been recorded under - the following are those catalogue numbers, which I hope will help!

Available online:
BG/7/GK/1 July 1892-October 1892
BG/7/GK/2  December 1893-March 1894
BG/7/GK/3 April 1894-July 1894
BG/7/GK/4 July 1894-October 1894
BG/7/GK/5 October 1894-January 1895
BG/7/GK/6 February 1895-May 1895
BG/7/GK/7 May 1895-August 1895
BG/7/GK/8 August 1895-November 1895
BG/7/GK/9 February 1896-May 1896
BG/7/GK/10 May 1896-August 1896
BG/7/GK/11 August 1896-November 1896
BG/7/GK/12 December 1896-March 1897
BG/7/GK/13 March 1897-June 1897
BG/7/GK/14 June 1897-August 1897
BG/7/GK/15 August 1897-November 1897
BG/7/GK/16 February 1898-April 1898
BG/7/GK/17 April 1898-July 1898
BG/7/GK/18 July 1898-September 1898
BG/7/GK/19 September 1898-December 1898
BG/7/GK/20 March 1898 - December 1898
BG/7/GK/21 March 1899-June 1899
BG/7/GK/22 June 1899-September 1899
BG/7/GK/23 September 1899-November 1899
BG/7/GK/24 December 1899-March 1900
BG/7/GK/25 March 1900-June 1900
BG/7/GK/26 June 1900-September 1900
BG/7/GK/27 September 1900-December 1900
BG/7/GK/28 December 1900-March 1901
BG/7/GK/29 April 1901-July 1901
BG/7/GK/30 July 1901-November 1901
BG/7/GK/31 March 1901 - March 1902
BG/7/GK/32 March 1902-July 1902
BG/7/GK/33 July 1902-November 1902
BG/7/GK/34 November 1902-February 1903
BG/7/GK/35 March 1903-June 1903
BG/7/GK/36 June 1903-October 1903
BG/7/GK/37 October 1903-January 1904
BG/7/GK/38 January 1904-May 1904
BG/7/GK/39 May 1904-August 1904
BG/7/GK/40 August 1904-December 1904
BG/7/GK/41 December 1904-March 1905
BG/7/GK/42 March 1905-June 1905
BG/7/GK/43 June 1905-September 1905
BG/7/GK/44 September 1905-December 1905
BG/7/GK/45 December 1905-February 1906
BG/7/GK/46 February 1906-May 1906
BG/7/GK/47 May 1906-August 1906
BG/7/GK/48 August 1906-November 1906
BG/7/GK/49 November 1906-February 1907
BG/7/GK/50 February 1907-May 1907
BG/7/GK/51 May 1907-August 1907
BG/7/GK/52 August 1907-November 1907
BG/7/GK/53 November 1907-January 1908
BG/7/GK/54 February 1908-April 1908
BG/7/GK/55 April 1908-July 1908
BG/7/GK/56 July 1908-September 1908
BG/7/GK/57 September 1908-December 1908
BG/7/GK/58 December 1908-February 1909
BG/7/GK/59 February 1909-May 1909
BG/7/GK/60 May 1909-July 1909
BG/7/GK/61 July 1909-October 1909
BG/7/GK/62 October 1909-January 1910
BG/7/GK/63 January 1910-March 1910
BG/7/GK/64 March 1910-June 1910
BG/7/GK/65 June 1910-September 1910
BG/7/GK/66 September 1910-December 1910
BG/7/GK/67 December 1910-March 1911
BG/7/GK/68 March 1911-May 1911
BG/7/GK/69 May 1911-August 1911
BG/7/GK/70 August 1911-November 1911
BG/7/GK/71 November 1911-January 1912
BG/7/GK/72 February 1912-April 1912
BG/7/GK/73 April 1912-July 1912
BG/7/GK/74 July 1912-October 1912
BG/7/GK/75 October 1912-December 1912
BG/7/GK/76 December 1912-February 1913
BG/7/GK/77 February 1913-April 1913
BG/7/GK/78 April 1913-June 1913
BG/7/GK/79 June 1913-September 1913
BG/7/GK/80 September 1913-December 1913
BG/7/GK/81 December 1913-February 1914
BG/7/GK/82 February 1914-April 1914
BG/7/GK/83 April 1914-July 1914
BG/7/GK/84 July 1914-September 1914
BG/7/GK/85 September 1914-December 1914
BG/7/GK/86 December 1914-March 1915
BG/7/GK/87 March 1915-June 1915
BG/7/GK/88 June 1915-September 1915  
BG/7/GK/89 September 1915-January 1916
BG/7/GK/90 January 1916-May 1916
BG/7/GK/91 May 1916-September 1916
BG/7/GK/92 September 1916-January 1917
BG/7/GK/93 January 1917-April 1917
BG/7/GK/94 April 1917-August 1917
BG/7/GK/95 August 1917-January 1918
BG/7/GK/96 January 1918-May 1918
BG/7/GK/97 May 1918-October 1918
BG/7/GK/98 October 1918-January 1919
BG/7/GK/99 January 1919-June 1919
BG/7/GK/100 June 1919-October 1919
BG/7/GK/101 October 1919-January 1920
BG/7/GK/102 January 1920-March 1920
BG/7/GK/103 March 1920-June 1920
BG/7/GK/104 June 1920-October 1920
BG/7/GK/105 October 1920-January 1921
BG/7/GK/106 January 1921-May 1921
BG/7/GK/107 May 1921-September 1921

Not yet available online:
BG/7/GK/108 September 1921-January 1922
continuing to
BG/7/GK/249 December 1948 

For a walkthough on how to search the indexes, visit my previous post at  http://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2022/01/belfast-workhouse-indexes-1892-1921-now.html

UPDATE: A useful tip from reader John Bayliss, who notes that if you input BG/7/GK/* against the PRONI Ref., and select 50 results per page, you'll get a lists as follows:

(With thanks to John)

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - 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. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Belfast workhouse indexes 1892-1921 now available online

As mentioned in my summary of the recent PRONI stakeholder forum (see http://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2021/12/proni-to-release-belfast-poor-relief.html), PRONI has now made available online the indexes to the indoor poor relief records for the city of Belfast from 1892-1921, as catalogued from BG/7/GK/1 to BG/7/GK/107. These are the records of workhouse admissions only, not for outdoor relief. The records continue beyond 1921, but only those up to 1921 are available here, presumably for privacy purposes.

The records are the indexes, not the full entries themselves, but knowing when an application was made is half the battle. As with the tithe applotment records added some months back, access is granted via the online catalogue, as follows:

i) On the catalogue page at https://apps.proni.gov.uk/eCatNI_IE/SearchPage.aspx, type in the relevant code at the PRONI Ref: box for a period of interest - e.g. BG/7/GK/1, which calls up entries for the first register, covering July-October 1892.

ii) After you click Search, one entry appears in the search results. In the final box is the word View with a blue hyperlink - click on this and you will be asked to agree to a copyright declaration - click on I Agree. You will then be asked if you wish to save the file or open it with a PDF viewer. 

The registers list applicants in alphabetical order of surname (although not in strict order under each individual letter) for the period in question. The information provided is the individual's number in the workhouse register, the pauper's name, and their age. Once an entry is found, you will then be able to look for the original record at PRONI itself.

Have fun hunting down those elusive Belfast ancestors! For more on PRONI's workhouse registers, visit https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/publications/poor-law-records.

(NB: Some of the register index files are quite large, so they may take a few moments to open or download) 

UPDATE: For a breakdown of the various catalogue codes, and the periods that they cover, visit https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2022/01/catalogue-codes-for-belfast-workhouse.html.

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - 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. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

PRONI to release Belfast poor relief application indexes online

I've just attended the final PRONI stakeholder forum this year, and there is some great news for family historians - PRONI's Christmas gift to us all is going to be the online release of the digitised indexes to Belfast's poor law applications from 1892-1921! 

The index books, which cover periods of 3 months at a time, are for applications made for indoor relief, i.e. into the workhouse, and are catalogued under BG/7/GK/1-107. Whilst the admission registers themselves are not going online, being able to research the indexes through the online catalogue is still going to be a massive game changer for poor law research in the city. The first tranche will be out towards the end of this month (expect the update around 29 DEC 2021), and there are plans to extend the coverage further in due course. Wonderful!

Also from PRONI, on cataloguing there has been a recent effort to re-catalogue some materials previously recorded at series level only concerning the papers of Sir Wilfred Spender, the first secretary of the Northern Irish government post-Partition, and some items from Sir James Craig, the first Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. These include a mixture of offical papers and private papers, and will be available at D/12/95. The papers of Sir Wilfred Spender will be available to search now at item level. There will also be some official records catalogued under PM8/1 including correspondence from Sir Wilfred Spender covering the period 1921-1923, with letters concerning ex-servicemen seeking positions in the new state, the death of Michael Collins, the opening of the Northern Irish parliament, and more. Also tying in with the centenary of Northern Ireland will be the release of a hundred government files from the 1920s, including topics such as raids by the B-Specials, and some more recent records from 1997-98, which will include discussiuons leading up to the Belfast Agreement.

On site, PRONI will be shifting to a six weeks in advance booking system, to help better cater for those travelling from afar, and in the public search room they have also now taken out a subscription to the Library Edition of Ancestry, which will be accessible on two separate terminals (FindmyPast is already available on site). Further good news is that PRONI successfully made it through its summer mid-point review this year with regards to its accredited archive status. 

Coming up in the near future, PRONI will be celebrating its 100th anniversary in both 2023 and 2024 - PRONI was created in June 1923 (after provision was initially made in the Government of Ireland Act, 1920), but did not actually open its doors to the public until March 1924, so there are two pegs well worth commemorating! Stephen Scarth has been tasked with writing an offical history of the institution, which he promises will be 'myth busting'. 

Various projects will be created to help celebrate the anniversary, including a 100 PRONI documents project flagging up some extraordinary stories from the archive's history. One interesting fact mentioned by Stephen was that PRONI's first offical acquisition was two 18th century maps depicting Cookstown in County Tyrone, as sourced from a holder in Dublin. Since then PRONI has become a world class archive, with some particularly brilliant collections on areas such as emigrants letters, and the linen industry of the north.

For forthcoming PRONI events, visit https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/talks-and-events-proni.

Thanks again to the PRONI team for a great service provision in a challenging year, and a Happy Christmas to all in Belfast! (And I'm looking forward to the day when we can have on-site meetings again, once Covid diminishes - I miss my annual trip to the Christmas market after the December meetings!)

Chris

My new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records is now available to buy at https://bit.ly/IrishLandRecords. Also available - 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. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

FindmyPast adds Clare and Waterford poor law union Board of Guardians minute books

FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) has added two more Irish poor law union Board of Guardians minute book collections:

Waterford Poor Law Unions Board of Guardians Minute Books
Spanning from 1845-1921, we’ve added over 158,000 records from Kilmacthomas and Dungarvan on Ireland’s southeast coast. Board of Guardians minute books chronicle the day-to-day running of a workhouse. In them, you'll uncover the names and details of workhouse inmates, staff, suppliers and more.

Clare Poor Law Union Board of Guardians Minute Books
We’ve also released over 21,000 new records from Kilrush Union, County Clare. The new additions cover meeting minutes dated between 1848 and 1870.

For the relevant links, and news of newspaper additions, please visit https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/clare-waterford-records.

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.

Ancestry adds index to Dundee poor law records

Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has added the following third party index to an existing poor law records collection from the Friends of Dundee City Archives (http://fdca.org.uk):

Web: Dundee, Scotland, Poor Law Indexes, 1854-1878
Ancestry.com. Web: Dundee, Scotland, Poor Law Indexes, 1854-1878 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2021.
Original data: Dundee, Scotland: Friends of Dundee City Archives. http://fdca.org.uk/Index_PoorRegisters.html.

About Web: Dundee, Scotland, Poor Law Indexes, 1854-1878
All data in this third-party database was obtained from the source’s website. Ancestry.com does not support or make corrections or changes to the original database. To learn more about these records, please refer to the source’s website.

Ancestry's description states next to nothing, so here are the collection descriptions from the Friends page itself:

The Data

The data in this database are extracted from two volumes concerning poor relief in Dundee:

    Liff and Benvie Register of Poor, 1854 to 1865 (Dundee Archives - Ref : SC45/48/1)
    Dundee East Poorhouse Register, 1856 to 1878 (Dundee City Archives reference: CP/DE6/1)

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.

Scottish Indexes adds Poor Relief Records indexes

From Scottish Indexes (www.scottishindexes.com): 

Scottish Poor Relief Records

Delighted to announce a new addition to our website today - Scottish Poor Relief Records

When our ancestors fell on hard times they relied on family and friends to help them. When they couldn’t be cared for by those they knew they turned to the parish, or in later years the parochial board.

The records created are full of fascinating details and genealogy gems, telling us not just names, dates and places, but the stories of some of the most challenging days in the lives of our ancestors.

Today we have added selected records from Wigtownshire, Roxburghshire and Peeblesshire and as always these are free to search.

Search for your ancestors: https://www.scottishindexes.com/poorsearch.aspx

(With thanks to Emma Maxwell)

NB: Incidentally, thanks to Jack Davis via the Scottish Genealogy Network for advising that Glasgow City Archives, which re-opened on Tuesday, is currently permitting the use of mobile phones to photograph documents such as poor law records whilst the pandemic restrictions are in place.

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.

Ayrshire poor law records available on FamilySearch

The Poor Relief Records database for Ayrshire which was previously accessible through Ayrshire Roots (www.ayrshireroots.co.uk) appears to be disabled, whether permanently or just temporarily is not yet known. However, thanks to a couple of Scottish Genealogy Network colleagues, Graham Maxwell and Kirsty Wilkinson, I have learned today that the register records, which were previously only accessible on microfilm at the Ayrshire Archives search rooms, have in fact been digitised by FamilySearch and can be found through its catalogue.

The list of poor relief records microfilms available from Ayrshire Archives is detailed at https://www.ayrshireroots.co.uk/Genealogy/Records/Poor%20Relief/Poor%20Relief.htm. To locate the relevant rolls on FamilySearch, make sure you are signed in (registration is free), and then visit the catalogue at https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog. From here, I have found the easiest way to locate relevant records is to use the Keywords search field, and type in the name of the town of interest followed by the word poor. 

For example, if I type in Irvine poor, this is the immediate search return of likely possibilities:

 

 

 Clicking on the 2nd entry gives me this:

And by clicking on the camera icon besides the relevant collection, I can then see the digital microfilm (note that if you are not signed in you will not get access through the camera icon until you do!):

The records are not keyword searchable, so you will have to use them the auld fashioned way - have fun!

(With thanks to Graham and Kirsty)

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.

Aberdeenshire poor relief applications index online

A big thanks to genealogist Kirsty Wilkinson for flagging up a useful resources to the Scottish Genealogy Network group on Facebook (www.facebook.com/groups/ScotGenNet/) - indexes to Aberdeenshire poor relief records applications are freely accessible on the Aberdeen and North East Scotland Family History Society website at http://www.anesfhs.org.uk/databank/plindex/plindex.php.

You can also find additional poor relief resources for the north-east at www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/services/libraries-and-archives/aberdeen-city-and-aberdeenshire-archives/catalogues-and-indexes/poor-relief-records.

(Cheers Kirsty!)

NB: I'm giving a talk to the Glasgow branch of the ANESFHS this coming Saturday, at 2pm, on the topic of Sharing Your Family History Online. Further details at www.anesfhs.org.uk/meetings-events/glasgow-meetings.

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.

Free Ancestry access to North Lanarkshire Heritage records during lockdown

Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine has tweeted a link to an article I have previously written about Scottish poor law records, which can be read at www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/tutorials/what-are-scottish-poor-law-records/.

In response, North Lanarkshire Heritage has kindly tweeted the following:

During lockdown you can access North Lanarkshire's set of Poor Law records on Ancestry for free. Just click on the link on our online resources webpage: https://www.culturenl.co.uk/museums/museum-and-heritage-free-online-resources/

On this page you can sign up for a temporary free account that permits access to North Lanarkshire Archives & Local Studies records only. These collections are as follows:

• North Lanarkshire, Scotland, Poor Law Applications and Registers, 1849-1917
• North Lanarkshire, Scotland, Electoral Registers, 1847-1969 

Here is the onsite blurb for each collection:

About North Lanarkshire, Scotland, Poor Law Applications and Registers, 1849-1917

Historical Context

After the Poor Law Scotland Act of 1845, Scottish parishes were able to establish institutions called Parochial Boards to care for the poor, house them and give out relief. Whilst there was a Central Supervising body, each institution was locally run. Unlike the poor in England, those who were destitute in Scotland were able to appeal if denied relief.

This collection contains applications for relief from parish institutions in North Lanarkshire. To establish the needs of the applicant and their eligibility, Inspectors of the Poor recorded large amounts of personal data in ‘registers of applications’ or ‘general registers of poor’.

Applications and General Registers will normally include:

    Name of applicant, including maiden name of women
    Age and/or birth date
    Birthplace, including county of birth (compulsory from 1865)
    Religion (from 1865)
    Dependants, including children’s names, ages, places of birth
    Marital history
    Names of applicant’s parents and parents-in-law, confirming where born and if still alive
    Previous addresses



About North Lanarkshire, Scotland, Electoral Registers, 1847-1969

This database contains yearly registers listing names and residences of people in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, who were eligible to vote in elections. These year-by-year registers can help place your ancestors in a particular place and possibly also reveal some information about property they owned.

Coverage for the area and timeframe is not complete, so it may be helpful to check the browse menu on the right for details of which volumes are included.

Historical Background

Electoral registers are lists of individuals who are eligible to vote during the time the register is in force (usually one year). Registration for voters in Scotland has been required since 1832, and registers were typically published annually. Restrictive property requirements denied the vote to much of the population for years, though these were eased somewhat in 1867 and 1884 through the Second and Third Reform Acts. There were also requirements when it came to local elections that varied from borough to borough (e.g. residence), and voters had to petition to be added to the electoral registers.

Property restrictions were finally removed for men in 1918, when most males age 21 and older were allowed to vote. The franchise was extended to some women over age 30 in 1918, but it was not until 1928 that the voting age was made 21 for both men and women. Thus, the number of names listed in the registers increases with the expansion of suffrage.

Searching the Registers

Electoral registers typically provide a name and place of abode, and older registers may include a description of property and qualifications to vote. Registers were compiled at a local level, with names appearing alphabetically within wards/districts. Many of the registers in this database have been indexed electronically, which allows you to search them by name, but if you’re searching for a somewhat common name it will be helpful to know the area in which your ancestor lived to narrow your results. The street address can be searched in the Location field.

Please find below a guide to the codes used in the registers:

    R Residence qualification
    BP Business premises qualification
    O Occupational qualification (occupation in this case is occupation of a property, not employment)
    HO Qualification through husband's occupation
    NM Naval or military voter

From 1928, with the advent of women's suffrage, the following codes can be found:

    R Residence qualification (man)
    Rw Residence qualification (woman)
    B Business premises qualification (man)
    Bw Business premises qualification (woman)
    O Occupational qualification (man)
    Ow Occupational qualification (woman)
    D Qualification through wife's occupation
    Dw Qualification through husband's occupation
    NM Naval or military voter

The following extra codes can also sometimes be seen

    J Eligible to serve as juror
    SJ Eligible to serve as special juror
    a Absent voter
    BP Business premises register
    CI Civilian residence register
    SE Service register
    RR Ratepayers register

Please note that no registers were produced during the war years 1916, 1917 and 1940, 1941, 1942, 1943 and 1944.

Note: This index was created using text recognition software, records were not transcribed. We have created indexes of the electoral registers for every fifth year.

Have fun!

(With thanks to North Lanarkshire Heritage)

Chris

Pre-order my next book, Sharing Your Family History Online, at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. My book 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.

FindmyPast adds Galways and Waterford records

The latest additions to FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk):

Waterford Poor Law Union Board Of Guardians Minute Books
Over 163,000 records from the Dungarvan and Lismore Unions have been added to this exclusive collection. If your family came from County Waterford, use the records to discover how local workhouses or poor relief efforts played a part in their lives.

With records from the Waterford Union already online, these latest additions from Dungarvan and Lismore Unions bring the collection to almost 400,000 entries. You can also explore exclusive resources from Dublin, Clare, Donegal and Sligo.

Galway Poor Law Union Records
In partnership with Galway County Council, we've published a range of fascinating records from the Irish county online for the first time, only at Findmypast. Included are board of guardian minute books and poor rate collection lists dating from 1849 to 1921.

The records cover seven of Galway's ten poor law unions;

Ballinasloe
Clifden
Glenamaddy
Gort
Mountbellew
Portumna
Tuam

Galway County Burials
Burial plot books and registers of internments make up this useful resource for tracing family members from Galway. Specifically, the records cover burials in the area of Tuam between 1882 and 1920. They include transcripts with the most vital genealogy details and copies of the original documents that provide even more insight.

Galway, St George Mansergh Estate Records
Richard St George was an Irish landlord with estates in counties Galway and Clare. These records are from his St George Mansergh Estate in Headford, County Galway and date from 1832 all the way back to 1775.

Newspapers
New this week in our newspaper archive, six papers from England and Wales, as well updates to existing publications. The brand new titles are;

Welshman covering the years 1832-1835, 1840, 1842-1843, 1845-1846, 1854, 1859, 1877, 1879, 1889-1890, 1895 and 1912
Nuneaton Observer covering the years 1904-1912
Batley Reporter and Guardian covering the years 1869-1897 and 1899-1907
Batley News covering the years 1883-1907
Call (London) covering the years 1916 and 1918-1920
Barnsley Independent covering the years 1855-1871, 1873-1875, 1877, 1882, 1888, 1897, 1912, 1916, 1918-1919, 1921, 1926 and 1928

We've also extended the coverage of the following newspapers;

Western Evening Herald and Surrey Advertiser have both been updated with editions from 1898
Aberdeen Press and Journal has been updated with editions from 1972-1974

For further details and links visit https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/exclusive-irish-records

Chris

You can pre-order my new book, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 (out April). Also available, 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.