Departmental bunfight in Ireland over 1864-1870 death records?

I commented the following on the Irish Government's Department of Culture, Communications and Sport's Facebook page yesterday (https://www.facebook.com/DeptCultureCommsSport):

"What about the 1864-1870 death records? Sporadic death indexes, absolutely no images. Come on lads, it can't be that difficult to put them online!"

And I received a response:

"This week’s release includes the annual update of records, adding an additional year of civil records to the website. The Irish Genealogy website now provides access to Civil birth records from 1864–1925, marriage records from 1845–1950, and death records from 1864–1975.

 

"Please note that while death records from 1864–1970 are indexed on the website, the associated images are not yet available. These images remain with the General Register Office (GRO). The Department has informed the GRO that we will prioritise uploading these records to the Irish Genealogy website as soon as they are provided."

 

First of all, the indexes are absolutely not complete for death records from 1864-1870. But secondly, have we been unable to see this small group of records for all this time because one Irish governmental department is simply not collaborating with another? 

 

I'll repeat the last line again: 

 

"Come on lads, it can't be that difficult to put them online!" 

 

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.

Irish GRO search room to move in Dublin

From the Irish General Register Office, news about the forthcoming move of its search room in Dublin:

The office on Werburgh Street will close on Tuesday 30 September at 4.30pm. The office will relocate to the General Registrars Office (GRO) Research Rooms, Guild Building, Cork Street, Dublin 8 and will re-open on Tuesday 21 October at 9.30am.

The Research Rooms offer an email service Monday – Friday where you can request searches or photocopies, emails will be monitored during the move.

Our searches access all civil registration records up to present day.

Please email your request to GROResearchRoom@welfare.ie and a member of staff will reply as soon as possible.

For further details on the GRO service visit https://www.gov.ie/en/department-of-social-protection/organisation-information/search-room-at-the-general-register-office-gro/.

(With thanks to Claire Bradley via BlueSky) 

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 tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.

FindmyPast updates British Armed Forces and Overseas BMD records

FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) has added about 100,000 new birth, marriage and death records last week to two overseas British collections from the 19th and 20th centuries. 

British Armed Forces and Overseas Deaths and Burials
5,827 searchable records are from a non-Catholic cemetery in Rome.

British Armed Forces and Overseas Browse
95,472 images added to this browse-only set of birth, marriage and death records. 

I assume the "non-Catholic cemetery" is Testaccio Cemetery, Rome, Italy, also known as the "Protestant Cemetery". The source list on FMP's page at https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search-world-records/british-armed-forces-and-overseas-deaths-and-burials notes two Rome collections as sources from TNA (England), which I assume are for the same facility: FO 170/1222 - Testaccio Cemetery, Rome, Italy, and FO 45/731 - Protestant Cemetery at Rome, Italy. 

Further recent releases are noted at https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new, although there is very little for Scotland and Ireland released recently, beyond newspaper additions carried over from the British Newspaper Archive.

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 tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page.

Queensland BMD records platform updated

If you have Australian connections, you may be interested to know that the Queensland Births, Deaths, and Marriages platform has been updated, to reflect the closure periods of 100 years for births, 75 for marriages, and 30 years for deaths:

Births: 1829–1925
Marriages: 1829–1950
Deaths: 1829–1995

You can access the records at https://www.familyhistory.bdm.qld.gov.au. 

There are two possible ways to do so for historical research :

Historical registration - AUD $24.70 (online PDF)

Historical registration images are scanned copies of the life event records held in our registers. These images are not certified by the Registrar-General and cannot be used for official purposes.

We have made sure you get the best quality image of each record—age will affect the condition and how easy some records are to read.

We do not provide prints of images. The historical image you buy will be available for you to download and print from your own computer after you pay (from the receipt page) and in your QGov account.

Scans of church birth, death and marriage records up to 1856 may have 20 records on a page. Records after 1856 will usually have 1 image on a page.


Historical source images - AUD $24.70 (online PDF)

Historical source images are scanned copies of the records which are from the informant to the event. These images include scans of original registration forms collected from the informant of a marriage or death or the parents of a child in the case of a birth.

Not all events will have source images.

We have made sure you get the best quality image of each record—age will affect the condition and how easy some records are to read.

We do not provide prints of images. The historical image you buy will be available for you to download and print from your own computer after you pay (from the receipt page) and in your QGov account.

 

You can also buy certified copies, details via the site.

One great function on the site is that you search for people's deaths by their parents' names, if you are unsure which members of your family may have emigrated to Queensland. And the detail in the records is even better than Scottish records!

(With thanks to Queensland Family History Society via Facebook)

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 updates overseas British Consulates BMD records collection

Just updated by Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk):

UK, Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths From British Consulates, 1810-1968
https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/60911/
Source: UK, Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths From British Consulates, 1810-1968 [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2016.
Original data: Various Registers of the Foreign Office. FO 114, 149, 155, 161, 170, 173, 207, 208, 211, 214, 218, 220, 221, 267, 322, 331, 339, 345, 359, 387, 397, 398, 399, 441, 445, 446, 451, 510, 516, 521, 526, 529, 581, 586, 601, 609, 634, 653, 664-666, 675, 681, 683, 687, 700, 706, 707, 714, 715, 717-722, 724-734, 744, 753-756, 769, 778, 783, 786, 797, 799, 803, 870-875, 878, 885, 907, 911, 920. The National Archives of the UK, Kew, Surrey, England.

About UK, Registers of Births, Marriages and Deaths From British Consulates, 1810-1968

This collection consists of over 300 various registers from the UK Foreign Office, mostly of births, deaths and marriages recorded at overseas locations. The embassy and consular records of the Foreign Office contain information that was returned annually to the General Register Office. The registers reveal all kinds of clues about the lives led by those living in close-knit British communities abroad.The collection is particularly rich in marriage records, with despatches to certificates of marriages abroad providing names of the parties involved, general correspondence and circulars on consular marriages and acknowledgements of receipt of certificates by the Bishop of London's Registry. The collection also includes a few other miscellaneous registers from the Foreign Office, of passports, interments, wills, deeds, declarations, oaths, and consular notarial acts.

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.

GWSFHS uploads Glasgow High Kirk baptisms 1609-1625

From Glasgow and West of Scotland Family History Society (www.gwsfhs.org.uk), news of a new collection available in the members only area of the website:

Glasgow High Kirk baptisms - volume 1, 1609-1625 published online

Today, we published on-line, in our member only area, the first volume of an indexed full transcription of the Glasgow High Church Baptism registers for the period 1609 to 1777.  The transcription includes Godparents/Witnesses, and their Occupations where they occur.  It includes whether the child was ‘lawful’ or ‘natural’ born.

The dataset was captured and indexed from typescript transcripts of Glasgow High Church Baptism registers created by Dr Arthur Jamieson, founding Chairman of GWSFHS, in the 1960's and 70s.

See https://www.gwsfhs.org.uk/data-sets/glasgow-high-kirk-baptisms/

(Dr Jamieson prepared his transcription independently of the LDS index and so it is valuable as another interpretation of the manuscript documents. Previously, Jamieson’s transcription was available only as typescript volumes held in the GWSFHS library and the Mitchell Library. There are 29 volumes, with more to follow in due course.)

(With thanks to Murray Archer)

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.

ScotlandsPeople annual update of birth, marriage and death records

The ScotlandsPeople site has updated its civil registration records to include births from 1921, marriages from 1946, and deaths from 1971. From the site:

61,614 deaths were registered in Scotland in 1971; 31,585 men and 30,029 women, totalling 2,026 fewer deaths than the preceding year. The entries of the people who died in Scotland that year are now available to search and save on the ScotlandsPeople website. They are part of over 138,500 images released in January 2022 comprising 62,746 death entries in 1971, 145,602 birth entries in 1921 and 54,630 marriage entries in 1946.

For further details visit the site's post at https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/article/our-records-ibrox-disaster-1971, which also discusses the Ibrox Disaster of 1971.

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 Edinburgh apprentice records and military vital records

The following have been added to FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk):

Scotland, Edinburgh Apprentices 1583-1800
This useful collection is now fully searchable and includes details on Edinburgh’s apprentices, their fathers and masters, as far back as the 1500s.

British Armed Forces and Overseas Births and Deaths
We’ve added thousands of new records from The National Archives and the General Register Office. Discover amazing stories of births at sea, fallen seamen and more.

For further information and links, visit https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/birth-death-apprentice-records

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 updates Scottish deaths and burials database

FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) has updated the following collection:

Scotland, Modern and Civil Deaths & Burials 1855-2021
Do you have relatives that died in Scotland? Search over 62,000 new additions to discover the details of their death, burial, residence, occupation and next of kin in this growing national collection.

The Newark Herald (1873-1949) has also been added to its newspaper collection, with updates also for several other titles from Scotland and in the UK.

NB: There is an event next week previewing a big new Scottish release on the FindmyPast site - more soon!

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.

GRO Ireland raises cost of research copies

The General Register Office in Ireland (www.gov.ie/en/organisation-information/55ccbe-general-register-office-gro-research-facility/) has raised the cost of some services, including research copies for birth, marriage and death records from €4 to €5 each. These research copies, available via email, are particularly useful for more recent records for the Republic of Ireland not available on the free to access Irish Genealogy platform at www.irishgenealogy.ie.

For further details on the changes, visit Claire Santry's blog at https://www.irishgenealogynews.com/2020/12/general-register-office-of-ireland.html.

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.

ScotlandsPeople resumes certificate ordering service

Although the National Records of Scotland (www.nrscotland.gov.uk) and the ScotlandsPeople Centre (https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/visit-us/scotlandspeople-centre) remain closed to public access, they are now taking birth, marriage and death certificate orders online once again.

From the NRS website:

We have opened our online certificate ordering service on ScotlandsPeople and further information can be found below. Due to increased demand and restricted working arrangements our normal 15 working day target may not always be met. We will endeavour to process applications and issue certificates as soon as we can.

Ordering a Certificate

Customers can order a certificate using Certificates and Copies on our ScotlandsPeople website.

Certificate ordering will be available online Monday to Friday between 9 am and 4.30 pm.

We have removed our priority ordering channel and we will do our best to complete orders as soon as we can however this may not be within our usual timescales.

We can only process online orders and will not be able to process those received by any other contact channel.

For further details, including information on priority orders, visit https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/about-us/service-status.

Historic births, marriage and death records are available on the ScotlandsPeople website (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk), with images for births available if over 100 years old, marriages over 75 years old and deaths over 50. For more recent records you will need to use the certificate ordering service, until such times as the ScotlandsPeople centres re-open, where £15 for a day pass will secure unlimited access to the records to (almost) the present day.

(With thnaks to @mishjholman via Twitter)

Chris

My next 5 week Scottish Research Online course starts August 31st - see https://www.pharostutors.com/details.php?coursenumber=102. My book Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is now out, also available 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.