FindmyPast doubles British Newspaper Archive digitisation capacity

From FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk):

Findmypast announces major expansion of digitisation studio to accelerate access to British, Irish and Commonwealth newspapers

 

• Findmypast plans to almost double the capacity of its Yorkshire digitisation studio, based at the British Library’s Boston Spa site, over the next three years.

• The investment comes after the company, in partnership with the British Library, reached the milestone publication of 100 million digitised pages, strengthening its unrivalled leadership and demonstrating its commitment to preserving history.

• The expansion brings greater capacity to support the digitisation of under-represented Commonwealth materials, enhancing both family history research on Findmypast and the British Newspaper Archive, as well as academic studies through The Social History Archive.

Findmypast, home to the world’s richest online collection of British and Irish newspapers, is expanding its world-leading digitisation studio in Boston Spa, Yorkshire, investing further in the scanning of both paper and microfilm titles. The move follows the milestone publication of the 100 millionth fully searchable page in February, reinforcing Findmypast’s position as the unrivalled leader in British & Irish newspaper digitisation.

This investment marks the next major phase in its long-term strategy; increasing scale, broadening scope and deepening the historical context available to both academic and family history researchers. The move to digitise under-utilised, name-rich resources from diverse titles reflects the shared vision between Findmypast and the British Library, who have been collaborative partners on digitisation projects such as the British Newspaper Archive since 2010. It reinforces their joint commitment to democratising history and cements Findmypast as the go-to resource for British and Irish family resources.

Over the next three to four years, Findmypast’s Boston Spa studio, based at the British Library, will almost double its output by over 60% in paper titles, and over 80% in microfilm titles. The move includes new cutting-edge equipment, more skilled digitisation operatives, and improved workflows, all designed to uphold the high standards of scanning and OCR accuracy that the archive is known for.

This increased capacity will focus on under-represented Commonwealth and South Asian newspapers in the British Library’s collections, titles overlooked by every other major online archive. These publications hold name-rich accounts of community life, public events, and social and political change. Digitising them will help build a more equitable, accessible historical record for South Asian diaspora communities in the UK, North America and beyond, ensuring that more families can connect with the stories that shaped them.

The collection will reflect a broad mix of:

• Early English-language publications shaped by colonial transition

• Local community and nationalist newspapers capturing South Asian voices

• Materials vital for researchers in regions with incomplete or inaccessible civil records

• Bringing previously digitisation-silent regions, including, for the first time, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, into wider public access.

On Findmypast, family history is about more than tracking names and dates. Newspapers provide the social texture: the world behind the life event. This expansion strengthens Findmypast’s mission to help people understand not only who their ancestors were, but what shaped their lives, from local concerns to global events.

The increased capacity also strengthens the academic product, The Social History Archive, at a time when research into colonisation and decolonisation is accelerating across universities. By digitising a broader range of Commonwealth materials, it deepens access for scholars, as well as enhancing the product for future expansion into markets where British and Irish content resonates most strongly - including Australia, New Zealand and India. It also provides The Social History Archive with an opportunity to meet a growing academic demand with a richer, more globally relevant collection.

Sam Tillet, Head of Licensing Partnerships and Resource Sharing at the British Library, said: “We’re delighted that Findmypast will be expanding its studio at our site in Boston Spa. The stories captured in these digitised pages will give people across the globe the chance to see how their communities shaped society and enhance access to knowledge for everyone. It’s a move that brings under-represented histories into focus, and we’re thrilled to strengthen our digitisation partnership and capabilities so soon after publishing 100 million pages.”

Lee Wilkinson, Managing Director, DC Thomson History, said: “Reaching 100 million digitised pages was a major milestone but it was also a reminder of just how many stories remain fragile, scattered, or inaccessible.

This expansion is about meeting that responsibility. Increasing our capacity means widening the lens through which people can understand their past. It means preserving voices that have been under-represented in digital archives, and ensuring that future generations can access a fuller, more inclusive picture of history.

Newspapers don’t just record events; they capture lives in motion: the hopes, the tensions, the ordinary rhythms that define a community. When you bring more of those pages online, you’re not just expanding an archive. You’re giving people the chance to see themselves, and their ancestors, with greater clarity and connection. I’m proud to say Findmypast will continue its unrivalled leadership in this work.”

Explore the newspaper archive today at www.findmypast.co.uk

(With thanks to Ellie Ayton)

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.

MyHeritage launches new Scribe AI tool

With the arrival of Rootstech in the US, MyHeritage (www.myheritage.com) has announced the launch of a new AI based tool on its website called ScribeAI:

Introducing Scribe AI: Transcribe, Interpret, and Receive Fascinating Insights About Your Family’s Historical Documents and Photos, and MyHeritage Records

We’re excited to introduce Scribe AI, a powerful new feature on MyHeritage that transcribes, translates, and interprets historical family documents and photos. Simply upload an image file of a scanned handwritten letter, an old photograph, a gravestone, or a coat of arms, and Scribe AI will generate a clear transcription, translate it into your language if necessary, explain symbols and context, and suggest next steps for your research.

Caution is advised! This feature is highly addictive and genealogists we’ve given early access to this feature have become hooked, and can’t stop uploading more and more items for analysis! It would be fair to say that Scribe AI is one of the most important genealogical features we’ve added to MyHeritage in the past few years.

Watch the video below to see what Scribe AI can reveal:

(Also available at https://youtu.be/zbbyRnBSPz8?si=5QkdRIdwMwM0i8_C)

If you’ve ever struggled to read an old family document, you’re not alone. Perhaps you’ve found yourself squinting at faded handwriting, trying to decipher unfamiliar script, or puzzling over a record written in a language you don’t speak. Maybe you’ve shared an image in a genealogy Facebook group or sent it around in a family chat asking, “Can anyone read this?”

Old family documents and photos often contain valuable information, but extracting that information can be frustrating and time-consuming. Scribe AI removes these barriers and does the work for you. Instead of guessing, crowdsourcing, or hiring an expert, you can get detailed answers quickly.

Scribe AI is currently available on the MyHeritage website and can be accessed through the browser on your computer or mobile device. Support for the MyHeritage mobile app will be added soon.

For further details visit https://blog.myheritage.com/2026/03/introducing-scribe-ai/ - for the tool itself, visit https://www.myheritage.com/scribe-ai

(With thanks to Daniel Horowitz)

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.

FindmyPast launches new "A Family History of..." podcast series

From FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk):

New podcast brings Britain and Ireland’s past to life through the real families who lived it 

• Historian Lucy Worsley is first guest exploring her grandmother’s life in new podcast which offers a radical retelling of the events that shaped Britain and Ireland
• A brand-new original podcast, A Family History Of... launches on Spotify and Apple Podcasts today, exploring defining moments of British and Irish history through the eyes of real families who experienced them.

Each four‑part series follows one real person’s life through a major historical event, using original records, historical newspapers, and contextual sources to uncover how ordinary people experienced extraordinary times. It focuses on the stories not told in history books, blending gripping storytelling, archival research and intimate personal reflection, showing how individual lives illuminate the wider history of Britain and Ireland.

Regular host Jen Baldwin — genealogist and research specialist at UK family history platform, Findmypast — is joined each month by a special guest whose family history or area of expertise connects to the story being told. 

The series weaves in Census records, birth, marriage and death records, crime, school, military records, historical newspapers and more, all available on Findmypast, to showcase how genealogical detective work can be pieced together to create a compelling life story.

The debut series A Family History Of Wartime Women, features historian Lucy Worsley, who revisits the life of her grandmother, Edna, uncovering a woman shaped by two World Wars, seismic social change, and long‑buried family secrets.

The series opens in industrial Birmingham, where Edna is born just days after the 1911 Census records a nation on the cusp of transformation. Listeners are drawn into the smoky streets and tight communities that define her early childhood as Britain entered the First World War. Rationing, civic duty, and upheaval are the forces that shape her formative years.

As the 1930s unfold, Edna steps into adulthood as a boot shop assistant, navigating new freedoms and lingering societal pressures. Against the backdrop of the Blitz during the Second World War — aged 30 and pregnant — she marries Lucy’s grandfather. But wartime Britain is full of hidden complexities, and Lucy reveals a shocking family discovery about the marriage which she believes her grandmother never knew.

Host and genealogist, Jen Baldwin, says: ‘History is most powerful when it’s personal. Every family has stories that reveal what life was really like during the biggest moments of our past. With this podcast, we wanted to bring those stories to the forefront, using amazing historical records and newspapers on Findmypast, real people and the voices of those who carry these histories today.’

First guest and historian, Lucy Worsley, says: ‘Exploring my grandmother’s life has shown me how much of women’s history remains hidden in plain sight. Her story is dramatic, painful, surprising — and yet in many ways completely ordinary for her generation. A Family History Of Wartime Women shows just how much we can learn when we take the time to uncover the lives of the women who came before us. I’d encourage everyone to have a listen to this unique take on British and Irish history, wherever they get their podcasts.’

The next series, launching in April, will explore the Irish Famine through the eyes of the MacKenzie family, with special guest Trinity Dublin historian and founding member of EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, Fiona Fitzsimons. Further episodes will follow lives through the 1926 General Strike and The American Revolutionary War.

Listeners can discover more about the research behind the stories and explore fascinating historical records and newspapers discussed in the episodes on the podcast website, as well as in special bonus episodes.

The podcast is the newest offering from longstanding media company DC Thomson Media, whose portfolio includes hit true crime podcasts Was Justice Served? and Who Killed Annalise? as well as top golf podcast Bunkered.

The first series of the podcast, A Family History Of Wartime Women, is available to listen on all major steaming platforms from Tuesday 3 March 2026. 

(With thanks to Madeleine Gilbert)

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.

Glasgow City Archives launches online catalogue

Glasagow City Archives has launched an online catalogue at long last! Here's their announcement:

We are delighted to announce the launch of our online catalogue, which is now available at https://cityarchives.glasgowlife.org.uk/. 

The catalogue includes descriptions of our core Glasgow local authority archive collections (refs: A-H). These collections document the rise of various public bodies in the city until many united under the banner of Glasgow Corporation, the largest local authority in Scotland and, for a time, the largest city administration under one council in the UK.

In celebration, we’ll be posting a collection highlight from these descriptions every day this week.
Thank you to all Glasgow City Archives staff, past and present, who worked hard behind the scenes to make this possible. Our thanks also go to our IT and Digital colleagues for their expertise and support. 

The catalogue was launched last week, and you can find examples of some of the records highlighted from it in a series of posts on the archive's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/GlasgowCityArchives. 

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.

Review: Genealogy Methods and Techniques: A Practical Guide to Research, by Dr. Karen Cummings

A huge thanks to Harriet Hurley at The Crowood Press for sending me a review copy of Karen Cummings' new book, Genealogy Methods and Techniques: A Practical Guide to Research. The following is the description for the book from the website: 

This book takes the reader on a journey through a series of research strategies, providing guidance at every step of the way. With clear explanations, real-life case studies and over 100 tables, charts and illustrations, it will equip you to apply best practices to your own research right from the start.

The following is my impartial review.

Genealogy Methods and Techniques: A Practical Guide to Research, by Dr. Karen Cummings (The Crowood Press, 2026; £16.99)  https://www.crowood.com/book/genealogy-methods-and-techniques/ 

Many would-be genealogists believe that family history research involves simply diving into online databases and copying other people's family trees from online resources, letting what can be found with ease guide the research process, rather than the skills and consideration of the genealogist that are actually required for successful research. 

Thankfully, Karen Cumming's new book takes a welcome and thoughtful look at the necessary methodology for an effective ancestral pursuit. As she notes in her introduction, "It is quite easy to create a family tree these days. With such a wealth of material available at your fingertips online you can work back through the generations quite quickly, creating a family tree in no time at all. It is easy to create a family tree, but how do you know it is your family tree?"

Structured across eleven chapters, Karen tackles the subject matter with a welcome non-academic tone, exploring what it means to carry out research, and how to be effective in doing so, with her book packed with tips and case studies to guide the reader along the way. 

The introductory chapter defining the nature of family history research is followed by a step-by-step approach to the basics in the subsequent four chapters, inviting you to lay and check the foundations of your research, how to get organised with your research, how to evaluate evidence (what does a document tell you, but also, what does it not tell you?), and how to identify and record the sources consulted (in both academic and more simplistic formats). In Chapter 6 she then looks at how archives categorise their holdings, and how to effectively look for their records on catalogues and datasites (and how to look for gaps in their holdings), and then from Chapter 7 considers how to effectively plan for research by creating source surveys. 

Chapter 8 is one of the bigger chapters, discussing how to put research together, with many effective case studies to illustrate some of the challenges involved, followed then by a detailed consideration of standards in Chapter 9. This chapter includes considered coverage of two standards codes used to help genealogists work out if they are on the right track with their efforts, one from the Society of Genealogists in London called the 'Standards and Good Practice Guide', and then the American based Genealogical Proof Standard, followed by other useful techniques to help with problem solving, such as family reconstitution and the mapping of ancestors' locations. 

Chapter 10 is then a bit of an oddity, a short and well-written look at the use of DNA in family history research, with some methodological considerations for that as a particular field of research, but which does feel a little bit out of place compared to the preceding chapters. This may simply be a reflection of just how different a research tool it is to the traditional archive based resources used by genealogists covered earlier in the book, and which Karen quite rightly notes must still be considered when carrying out genetic genealogy research. Chapter 11 concludes with a simple afterword to the whole tome. 

Mercifully written in plain English rather than in a more formal academic tone adopted by other works in the field, this is a very effective guide that will help the humble genealogist stay on track with their research. Each chapter is clear, concise, and well illustrated, concluding with a summary of key points and action points to consider in going forward. 

Whilst the book almost exclusively relies on English based records alone for its case studies, the point of the work is to show how to find records - any records - and how to consider them and employ them for your research, and thus the techniques discussed can be just as effectively applied to research sources in Scotland, Ireland, or anywhere else in the world. Genealogy Methods and Techniques is a cracking work which I have no hesitation in recommending to all those wishing to become genealogical researchers rather than genealogical sheep!

(With thanks to Harriet) 

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.

University of Strathclyde to host two-day Scottish Family History Course in May

From the Strathclyde Institute of Genealogical Studies, news of a forthcoming two-day in-person Scottish genealogy course event at the University of Strathclyde:

Intermediate Scottish Family History Research course

Join us on Tuesday 5th and Wednesday 6th May 2026 at the University of Strathclyde for an engaging two‑day Intermediate Scottish Family History Research course. 

Participants are welcome to arrive from 8:30–9:00 am each day, with teas, coffees and biscuits available to help you settle in before the sessions begin.

The course will run until 5:00 pm on day one and conclude at the earlier time of 4:15 pm on day two.

Designed for intermediate level researchers, this hands‑on course features talks from prominent Scottish genealogists and educators, covering research techniques and using a variety of Scottish records. In-course exercises will provide hands-on learning to embed the skills and knowledge covered. This course is also suitable for anyone who attended the 2-day Introduction to Scottish Family History Course (summer 2025). 

The two‑day course fee is £165.00 (participants are asked to bring their own lunch. tea/coffee and biscuits will be available throughout the day).

The two-day event will see talks by myself (Chris Paton), Catriona Haine, Judith Russell, and Alison Spring. You can find details of the full programme at https://www.strath.ac.uk/studywithus/centreforlifelonglearning/genealogy/scottishfamilyresearch/. I'll be giving the following talks on Tuesday 5th: Scottish Burgh and Trade Incorporation Records, An Introduction to DNA Testing, and Scottish Research Resources Before 1800.

I hope that you can join us!

(Don't forget also that I will also be participating in Strathclyde's two-day Irish family history course from April 21st-22nd 2026 - further details on this can be found at https://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/2026/02/university-of-strathclyde-to-host-two.html)

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.