Thursday, 15 January 2026

TheGenealogist updates 1939 English and Welsh 1939 Register database

From TheGenealogist (www.thegenealogist.co.uk), an update to the 1939 Register, which might be of interest if your Scottish or Irish ancestors were south of the border at the time: 

TheGenealogist has today announced a significant update to its 1939 Register collection, adding 185,396 individuals from newly opened records. Most of these additions relate to people born in 1924 and 1925, further strengthening one of the most important resources for tracing families in 20th-century Britain.

Created at the outbreak of the Second World War, the 1939 Register provides a vital snapshot of the civilian population, capturing names, dates of birth, occupations and addresses at a key moment in modern history. For many researchers, it helps bridge the gap between earlier census returns and later post-war records, offering new routes to confirm identities, locate relatives, and place families in a precise time and place.

The update will be of interest not only to family historians but also to social historians and those looking to better understand the everyday lives and circumstances of well-known figures and the communities in which they lived. 

Born in 1925 and found in the 1939 Register is Ernie Wise, one half of the iconic comedy partnership Morecambe and Wise. Read the related article exploring Morecambe and Wise here: https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2026/eric-morecambe--ernie-wise-8866/ 

(With thanks to Paul Bayley) 

Chris 

Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast AncestorsTracing 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.

Saturday, 10 January 2026

Revisit your research, as Family Tree magazine's February 2026 edition goes on sale

The latest Family Tree magazine edition in the UK (Feb 2026) is now on sale, and includes my article on Revisiting Research, in which I discuss how important it is to go back to our research from time to time to see if any mistakes have been made, and if so, what to do about it! 


Also in this month's edition:

  • Discover the hidden truths behind poverty, illegitimacy and misinformation in Victorian records
  • Be inspired by a personal journey to reclaim German citizenship through family history
  • Enjoy expert guidance on avoiding common DNA testing pitfalls
  • Dive into powerful social history, from East London slums to Russian royalty
  • Find practical help with photo dating, Ancestry tools and historical literature

For further details on the issue, and on how to buy it, please visit https://www.family-tree.co.uk/store/back-issues/family-tree-magazine/family-tree-magazine-february-2026-issue-243-1/.

Chris  

Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast AncestorsTracing 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.

Friday, 9 January 2026

FindmyPast releases additional Royal Navy databases

FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) has added some furttehr Royal navy collections, as follows:

  • British Royal Navy, Submarine Movement Cards
  • British and Allied Warships Lost in the Second World War
  • British Royal Navy Casualty Logs 1939-1945
  • British Women's Royal Naval Service Enrolment, 1917-1919
  • Royal Naval Division Service Records, 1914-1920
  • Navy Lists (10,469,334 Navy list records, with name, rank, occupation, and promotion dates for those who served from 1921-1937).

For further details, and links, visit https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/wrens-enrollments-navy-lists

Chris 

Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast AncestorsTracing 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.

Deceased Online introduces monthly subscription rate

Deceased Online (www.deceasedonline.com) has introduced a new monthly subscription rate. Whilst the site mostly has English cemetery burial records, there are some Scottish records from places such as Aberdeenshire and Moray, as well as cremation records from Edinburgh.

From the site:

The rolling monthly subscription fee is £9.99 for 15 standard views, which equates to 67p per view. This is cheaper than our current cost for pay per view purchases, which can be seen in our pricing schedule.

There is also the annual option:

If you would prefer to purchase our annual subscription, this is £99 for 250 standard views. This equates to 40p per view. With the annual subscription you can view any of the standard records within this time. 

For further details visit the site's Ways to Pay page at https://www.deceasedonline.com/page_view.php?id=13.

Chris 

Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast AncestorsTracing 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.

Thursday, 8 January 2026

MyHeritage is now searchable in Irish (and Welsh)

MyHeritage (www.myheritage.com) has added nine new languages to its website, including the Irish language and Welsh, bringing the total number of languages to fifty that users can now employ to search records on the platform. I think this is the first time that any of the major commercial genealogy websites has offered a facility for records to be searched in an Insular Celtic language. 

It should be noted that many state based genealogy websites created in the Irish republic can also be searched in Irish (Gaeilge), for example IrishGenealogy.ie, with its gaelic version accessible via at https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/ga/ - simply toggle between the words English and Gaeilge located at the top right of the screen. 

Note that the Irish census website at https://nationalarchives.ie/collections/search-the-census/ shows a toggle option between the two languages, but in fact only has an English version available at present, with a small message written as Gaeilge at the top:

Cuirfear aistriúchán ar fáil go luath 

Ár leithscéal as an míchaoithiúlacht. Cuirfear aistriúchán Gaeilge ar an leathanach seo ar fáil go luath. Go raibh maith agat as do chuid foighneachta agus muid ag obair ar leagan uasdátaithe.  

Translated as: 

Translation coming soon 

We apologize for the inconvenience. An Irish translation of this page will be available soon. Thank you for your patience while we work on an updated version. 

For more on the MyHeritage story, visit its dedicated blog post at https://blog.myheritage.com/2026/01/myheritage-expands-to-50-languages/.

I look forward to hopefully seeing Scottish Gaelic (Gàidhlig) added st some point in the near future! (Hint!)

Chris 

Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast AncestorsTracing 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.

ScotlandsPeople adds 290,000 new records in annual update

ScotlandsPeople has performed its annual civil registration records update, with birth records from 1925, marriages from 1950, and deaths from 1975 now searchable on the platform.

In addition the site has added 1,800 new cards to the Scottish Women's Land Army and Timber Corps records for ‘Land Girls’ who were born in 1925, as well as coats of arms registered in 1925. 

In total some 239,000 records have been added.

It will be interesting to see if the wills database will be updated at some point in the near future, with the current online cut off remaining at 1925.

To view the records visit www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk

(With thanks to ScotlandsPeople via email) 

 

Chris  

Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast AncestorsTracing 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.

Tuesday, 6 January 2026

ScotlandsPeople adds new records from 2010

No, it's sadly not the update that you've been waiting for!

ScotlandsPeople, now described by the National Records of Scotland as a 'historical research website', has added Scottish Cabinet records from the year 2010, accessible via its Virtual Volumes section at https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/virtual-volumes/cabinet-papers-search.

You can read more about the release at https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/latest-news/2010-cabinet-records-released-online/.

Have fun! 

Chris 

Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast AncestorsTracing 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.

British Newspaper Archive approaches 99 million pages of content

The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) is approaching 99 million pages of hosted content, with 98,981,588 pages available on the site at the time of writing. 

The following are the most recent Scottish and Irish additions over the last 30 days:

Scotland

Helensburgh and Gareloch Times 
1882-1892

Aberdeen Press and Journal 
2005

Kirriemuir Herald 
1957-1966, 1968-1970, 1986, 1994-2004

Ayrshire Post 
1987, 1995-1999

Voice of the People (Glasgow) 
1883

Highland News and Football Times 
1907-1917, 1920-1935, 1937-1938, 1940-1949

Montrose Review 
2000-2004


Ireland


Larne weekly recorder and Northern express 
1883

Connaught Telegraph 
1876-1913, 1919

Irish Temperance League Journal 
1863-1870, 1874-1896

Tyrone Courier 
1919

Belfast Telegraph 
2000-2014

Irish Independent 
1921, 1926, 1960

Dromore Leader 
1921-1950

Irish Ecclesiastical Gazette 
1888-1896

Ulster Gazette 
1878

Athlone Times 
1889-1902

Chris 

Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast AncestorsTracing 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.

RootsTech keynotes announced, and talks programme to be published this week - UPDATED

FamilySearch has announced its keynote speakers for its 2026 RootsTech conference. I personally have no idea who any of them are, but you may well do - full details are available at https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/

The virtual keynotes will be available on demand from 13 February 2026, with the rest given at the event itself from 5-7 March 2026. 


FamilySearch has also confirmed that the full talks schedule will be available on its site from Thursday 8 January.

Update: The schedule is now published and available at https://www.familysearch.org/en/rootstech/schedule?day=2026-03-05 

Chris 

Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast AncestorsTracing 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.

Progressing Your Irish Research Online genealogy course starts 26 January

My 5-week-long course Progressing Your Irish Research Online, taught through Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd (www.pharostutors.com), kicks off again on Monday, 26 January 2026, and I am very much looking forward to meeting the next group of students! 

If interested in joining in, there are still spaces available, which can be booked via https://www.pharostutors.com/progressing-your-irish-research-online.


Here is some further information about the course:

There is a common belief that if you have Irish ancestors then you should give up hope of finding out about them, because 'nothing survived the fire', referring to the destruction of Ireland's Public Record Office during the Civil War in 1922. The overall aim of this course is to point out that this is a nonsense, and that the glass is half full and not empty. Whilst there are certainly challenges to be overcome, a great deal can still be accomplished with the many resources now rapidly finding their way online.

This course will describe the many state created records and church records that can be used to research your Irish ancestry. It will provide a context to understand why they were created, and by whom and point out exactly where to find them online, and how to use them effectively.

Lesson Headings:

  • Understanding Ireland's boundaries, key repositories and platforms
  • The vital records of Church and State
  • Documenting the people: Irish censuses and substitutes
  • Valuation records and inheritance
  • The Decade of Centenaries

Each lesson includes exercises and activities and a one-hour Zoom-based chat per week.

Some reviews from students:

'I enjoyed all of the course, the lessons, exercises and chat sessions were all very helpful. I found Chris Paton ran the course and chat sessions brilliantly. I now feel enthused to carry out more research.'

'The astonishing range of information presented, the subsequent results within my own research and the fun, friendly and knowledgeable way it was all delivered. Excellent course and a tutor I would definitely want to study with again.'

'It really opened my eyes to what Chris calls the half FULL glass of Irish records, plus a glimpse of history and geography. Excellent.'

'It was beneficial from the standpoints of both improving general knowledge of Irish history, and illuminating the numerous and often unique potential sources of genealogical/family history information against that background.'

'Depth of knowledge. Expertise of tutor. Excellent Handouts.'

'Fantastic tutor. First class lesson materials. Top-notch quality learning programme.'

'The realization that there are more resources and information available than I first thought!'


And if it helps, a brief introductory video explaining what it will hopefully achieve!

(Also available at https://youtu.be/aonRMQEnIFw)

I hope to perhaps see you there!

Also please note that the next Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the Old Parish Registers course starts on Monday 16 March 2026, with further details on this available at https://www.pharostutors.com/scotland-1750-1850-beyond-the-old-parish-registers.

Chris

Order Researching Ancestral Crisis in Ireland in the UK at https://bit.ly/4jJWSEh. Also available -Tracing Your Belfast AncestorsTracing 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.