Borders FHS to re-open Research Room by appointment

From Borders Family History Society on Twitter (@BordersFHS):

We are reopening our Research Room to welcome visitors on Tuesdays & Thursdays. Visit us at 52 Overhaugh Street, #Galashiels to build your #familyhistory. Book ahead by using the Archive Appointment Request option on the Contacts page on our website.

For further details on how to book please visit http://www.bordersfhs.org.uk

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.

Sharing Your Family History Online update

I've just learned from Pen and Sword that my last book, Sharing Your Family History Online, which was published at the start of this year, has already sold over 800 copies! A quick thank you to all who have bought the book - I've spoken on the topic this year to several societies, and it seems to have really resonated with many folk in a way that I wasn't quite expecting, so it is truly appreciated!

 

Last week, in one of my Pharos course lessons, I set an exercise for students which involved looking for the children of a couple of ancestors of mine, to make a point about dealing with how names are registered. One of the students (thank you David!) went a little further, and on FamilySearch identified that a photo of a brother of my great grandfather had been uploaded in July this year, to its online tree hosting facility. This is someone I have been trying to locate an image of for many years, because the London based brother, James, helped to look after my civilian family in Brussels during the First World War after the death of my civilian great grandfather David. 

 

By contacting the person who uploaded the image, I have since received several additional images, including an image of a clock that David is believed to have given James on a visit to Belgium, prior to his death in 1916. I had contacted a second cousin of my father about ten years ago to enquire about his line, and although he gave me some great stories, no images had been forthcoming - well it transpires that those images did in fact exist, as it was his son-in-law who uploaded them a few months ago!

We're used to going to archives and websites to look for documents about our family, but not all useful records are in archives, and we can actually use what we find to generate further leads for our research if we only put it back out there. So put some cousin bait on your line, and go fishing!

The book is available to buy in both print and e-editions at https://pen-and-sword.co.uk/Sharing-Your-Family-History-Online-Paperback/p/18718 #genealogy #familyhistory - and once again, thank you!

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.

Registry of Deeds Indexing Project Ireland update

From the Registry of Deeds Index Project Ireland (https://irishdeedsindex.net) is fast approaching the half million entries mark:

Update of 26 September 2021 - 445,105 index records from 46,707 memorials of deeds.

Thanks to the continuing wonderful work of our volunteers we now have 445,105 index records from 46,707 memorials of deeds.

We continue to link more index entries to the associated images on FamilySearch and we now have almost two thirds linked. Moreover, all index entries for memorials in books 85 and below are linked. This means it is very quick to access the transcription book check the indexing and get more details form the memorail.

Of course all these index entries together with transcription of grantors and townland indexes are fully searchable for free at: https://irishdeedsindex.net/search/search.php

 

The Registry of Deeds, as well as the Land Registry and Land Commission records, are just some of those discussed in my newly released book, Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records. A very useful record set indeed!

 

(With thanks to the project via its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/RegistryofDeedsIndexProjectIreland)

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.

British Newspaper Archive passes 45 million pages

The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) has passed 45 million pages of digitised content, with the county currently at 45,132.896 pages.

The following cntent has been added in the last 30 days:

Bury Free Press
1988, 1993-1994

New Milton Advertiser
1928-1931, 1989

Diss Express
1986, 1988-1990

Deal, Walmer & Sandwich Mercury
1989

Spalding Guardian
1993-1994

Fenland Citizen
1986, 1989

Saffron Walden Weekly News
1993-1995

Newark Advertiser
1910, 1912, 1987-1990

Newmarket Journal
1987, 1993

Faversham News
1895-1896, 1898, 1900-1906, 1908-1911, 1913-1919, 1936-1949, 1951-1980

Suffolk and Essex Free Press
1987, 1993

Grantham Journal
1986, 1993

Cornish Post and Mining News
1889-1895, 1898-1899, 1919-1944

Haverhill Echo
1888, 1986, 1993

Croydon Times
1861-1870, 1875-1878, 1880-1884, 1891-1899, 1901-1909, 1912-1918, 1920-1950, 1952-1961

Daily News (London)
1922-1938, 1940-1949, 1951-1954, 1957-1960

West Londoner and Select Advertiser for the Borough of Marylebone
1870-1872

North Londoner
1869-1875

Liverpool Chronicle 1767
1767-1768

Surrey & Middlesex Standard
1835-1840

Paddington Advertiser
1862-1866

North-West London Times
1861-1866

British Banner 1856
1856-1858

British Banner 1848
1848-1856

Liverpool Telegraph
1836-1838

Palladium 1825
1825-1826

Age
1852-1853

Fleming's British Farmers' Chronicle
1827

British Mercury or Wednesday Evening Post
1822

Metropolitan
1856-1857

Australian and New Zealand Gazette
1850-1882

Lynn News & County Press
1871-1873, 1875-1889, 1891-1892, 1913, 1915, 1918, 1924, 1938-1939, 1942

Sheerness Times Guardian
1878-1882

Islington Times
1857, 1859-1862, 1864-1865, 1871-1874

Borough of Greenwich Free Press
1855-1856, 1858-1865

South London Times and Lambeth Observer
1856-1865

Lynn Advertiser
1990

Eastern Counties' Times
1913

Brockley News, New Cross and Hatcham Review
1891

Southwark Mercury
1879-1881

Hammersmith Advertiser
1861-1866

Clerkenwell Dial and Finsbury Advertiser
1862, 1864-1865

Westminster Times
1863-1866

West London Times
1860-1867

Kingsland Times and General Advertiser
1860-1863

Chelsea & Pimlico Advertiser
1860-1866

Liverpool Daily Post
1858-1859, 1865, 1872

East London Advertiser
1862-1866

Morning Herald (London)
1808

Daily Director and Entr'acte
1859-1860

Birkenhead News
1897, 1899, 1912, 1914

Albion
1852-1853

Sheffield Independent
1929

Limerick Reporter
1849

Bright's Intelligencer and Arrival List
1860

Carlisle Patriot
1856

Daily Record
1917

Cambridge Daily News
1900

Dundalk Democrat, and People's Journal
1872

Stonehaven Journal
1847

Gloucestershire Echo
1924

Tipperary Free Press
1832

Galway Mercury, and Connaught Weekly Advertiser
1856

Cumberland Pacquet, and Ware's Whitehaven Advertiser
1857-1858, 1874

Peterhead Sentinel and General Advertiser for Buchan District
1898

Dublin Evening Post
1818

Barnoldswick & Earby Times
1954

St James's Gazette
1894

Faversham Gazette, and Whitstable, Sittingbourne, & Milton Journal
1855-1856

Clerkenwell News
1864

Dublin Medical Press
1868

Leicester Evening Mail
1913-1914, 1919, 1928, 1944

True Briton
1801-1804

North London Record
1858-1869

Agricultural Advertiser and Tenant-Farmers' Advocate
1846

World and Fashionable Sunday Chronicle
1818

Constitution
1831-1832

Richmond & Ripon Chronicle
1877

Sunday News
1823

Tower Hamlets Mail
1857-1858

Duckett's Dispatch
1818

Pen and Pencil
1855

New Globe
1823

Representative
1822-1823

National Protector
1847

Morning Gazette
1837

Vindicator (London)
1859

London Daily Guide and Stranger's Companion
1859-1860

Sunday Evening Globe
1836-1837

National
1835

Picture Times
1855-1856

The Palladium.
1829

West End News
1859-1860

London Chronicle and Country Record
1853-1854

Illustrated London Life
1843

Political Observer
1819-1820

Railway Bell and London Advertiser
1844-1846

Illustrated Weekly Times
1843

Watchman
1827-1828

Francis's Metropolitan News
1859

London Railway Newspaper
1845

Golden Times
1852

Union
1857-1862

London Journal and General Advertiser for Town and Country
1836-1837

Common Sense
1824-1826

Weekly Globe
1824-1825

Sunday Morning Herald
1824

Colonist and Commercial Weekly Advertiser
1824-1825

Thacker's Overland News for India and the Colonies
1858, 1864

Crown
1838-1839

Charles Knight's Town & Country Newspaper
1855-1856

Bell's Family Newspaper
1858

English Chronicle and Whitehall Evening Post
1802

Weekly Times (London)
1826-1829

Weymouth Telegram
1865

Cambria Daily Leader
1897, 1907, 1910-1911

Liverpool Evening Express
1906

Hull Daily News
1896, 1898-1899

Derby Daily Telegraph
1983

Nantwich Chronicle
1959

York Herald
1876

Birmingham Mail
1912

Kentish Gazette
1880

Liverpool Journal of Commerce
1882

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 monumental inscriptions and English/Welsh electoral records

FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) has updated the Scottish memorial inscriptions collection and added further records to its English and Welsh electoral registers collection, now spanning 1910-1932. 

For further details and links visit www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/electoral-registers.

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.

Dumfries and Galloway FHS book sales

From Dumfries and Galloway FHS (https://dgfhs.org.uk/):

Printed Book Sales

We are pleased to announce that in addition to our E-Books that are available in our Online Shop at https://dgfhs.org.uk/shop-online/ we are able to supply printed versions of our own books. These can also be ordered in our Online Shop and paid for by Credit/Debit Card or with a PayPal account

Alternatively you can complete our Mail Order Form and post it to us with your remittance. The Order Form and full Publication List are available in the Downloads section of our website at https://dgfhs.org.uk/downloads/ or email mail-order@dgfhs.org.uk and they will be emailed to you

What is meant by “Our Own Books”? Generally this refers to 1841 Census, Memorial Inscriptions, Old Parish Registers, Newsletters and Publications with extensive name indexes. These we can supply as E-Books or as Printed books.

Third Party books are generally those where we do not have permission to supply as E-Books and are only available as Printed versions. These are Through the Lens series, and Local History Publications except for Agricultural Glossary, Dalbeattie Granite and D&G Placenames. Currently to obtain printed versions of Third Party books you need to order via our mail order system. We will be working to make these available in our Online Shop and as they become available they will be added to the Online Shop as Printed only versions.

Thank you for your support and should you have any questions regarding our Online Shop please email onlineshop@dgfhs.org.uk. 

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.

A video introduction to my new Irish land records book

Hi folks, 

Now that my new book Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records has been released - and with copies having arrived at my door! - I have recorded a short video introduction to explain what the purpose of the book is, and how I hope it might help. 

You can view it embedded below, or via YouTube at https://youtu.be/BdAM54kgGY0:

I hope it helps!

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.

ScottishIndexes adds Crown Counsel Procedure Books index

Scottish Indexes (www.scottishindexes) has added 22.391 indexed entries from the Crown Counsel Procedure Books to its Scotland's Criminal Database. The indexes added cover the period from 28 November 1863 to 21 September 1871, with more to be added soon.

Emma Maxwell from Scottish Indexes has blogged an introduction to the new records at www.linkedin.com/pulse/new-records-added-scotlands-criminal-database-emma-maxwell/, including a short introductory video explaining how the indexes can be used to determine in which court a case may have been heard, which can be used to them locate the relevant records in the National Records of Scotland. 

The following is the result of a quick look-up to see if I could find the entry for James Crichton, who was tried in Perth in 1867 for the murder of my three times great grandmother Janet Rogers (nee Henderson), in a case found to be not-proven:

For coverage on what else in included in the Scotland's Criminal Database, visit www.scottishindexes.com/coveragescd.aspx.

(With thanks to ScottishIndexes via Twitter)

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.

FamilySearch has digitised all of its microfilm records

This is a MASSIVE moment for FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org) - it has just completed the digitisation of ALL of its microfilm records. Here's the press release: 

September 21, 2021
FamilySearch Completes Digitization of Massive Microfilm Collection
Effort makes billions of historical genealogy records freely available online

FamilySearch completes initiative to digitize its 2.4 million rolls of microfilm for free online access.It is a milestone 83 years in the making. Today FamilySearch International announced the completion of a massive project to digitize its collection of millions of rolls of microfilm containing billions of family history records from around the world. The archive containing information on more than 11.5 billion individuals is now freely available to the public on FamilySearch.org.

"We hope that all those who contributed to this milestone in the last 80 years feel a sense of humble accomplishment today,” said Steve Rockwood, the CEO of FamilySearch International. “And we hope the millions of individuals who will discover, gather, and connect generation upon generation of their family members for years to come because of these efforts will have a deep sense of gratitude for the many unheralded contributors who made those discoveries possible."

“It's a game-changer for everybody in the world. So, instead of having to come to the library, people can start accessing these records from home,” said Becky Adamson, a research consultant at the FamilySearch Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Over 200 countries and principalities and more than 100 languages are represented in the digitized documents. Completion of the project makes it much easier for individuals to make more personal and family discoveries.

To explore FamilySearch’s free collections of indexed records and images, go to FamilySearch.org and search both “Records” and “Images”. The Images feature enables users to peruse digitized images from the microfilm collection and more. A free FamilySearch account will be required to access the service. 

For further information on the full project history, visit the original announcement at https://media.familysearch.org/familysearch-completes-digitization-of-massive-microfilm-collection/.

COMMENT: A massive congratulations to all at FamilySearch, for a monumental effort on this front!

FamilySearch has evolved massively over the last decade, transforming our ability to use its online resources. Whilst in the past we may have confined our searches to the available databases on the site, there are now many digital microfilms equally accessible through the online catalogue - amongst the records I regularly use, for example, are the Glasgow burial registers and the Irish Registry of Deeds records, which can only be accessed in an unindexed format via the catalogue.

However, despite the announcement, not all of the digitised material will be instantly available to us in our homes - for more on the reasons why, read the following article from the Legal Genealogist herself, Judy Russell, entitled 'Digitization Done', available at https://www.legalgenealogist.com/2021/09/21/digitization-done/.

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.

RootsIreland adds further records for Co. Armagh

From RootsIreland (www.rootsireland.com) via email:

New Armagh Records Added

We are delighted to announce the addition of over 20,000 Armagh records of the following types:

    Kilmore Church of Ireland - additional baptisms
    Portadown Church of Ireland baptisms
    Kilmore Church of Ireland deaths
    New gravestone inscriptions (see online sources list for full details) https://rootsireland.ie/armagh/online-sources.php
    Various corrections and additions to existing Armagh record sets have also been made.

For an up to date list of sources for Armagh and to search these records, go to armagh.rootsireland.ie and login or subscribe as required.

Yours Sincerely
rootsireland.ie 

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.