The Scottish GENES Blog (GEnealogy News and EventS): Top news stories and features concerning ancestral research in Scotland, Ireland, the rest of the UK, and their diasporas, from genealogist and family historian Chris Paton. Feel free to quote from this blog, but please credit Scottish GENES if you do. I'm on Mastodon @scottishgenes and Threads @scottishgenesblog - to contact me please email chrismpaton @ outlook.com. Cuimhnich air na daoine o'n d'thà inig thu!
The Belfast based Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) has at long last launched its new website.
The new website is available at www.proni.gov.uk, a much simpler web address than its predecessor to remember, and if memory serves me right, an address that it used to have many, many years ago.
Everything looks slick, but whilst the catalogue is easily accessible from the main home page, one change that is immediately obvious is that you cannot access the digital records from the main home page, as with its predecessor - you instead have to go to the Explore Archives Online tab on the main menu at the top of the screen, and select Family and Local History Archives from the drop-down menu. Each collection's home page has a slight redesign, but it looks like the actual search screens are the same from the previous version of the website. One thing that is nice to see is the hierarchy of links that you go through under the main menu bar, ensuring you know how to get back to the home page or other parts of the trail to the collection of interest.
The biggest change is perhaps how the guides are now accessed, and I think this may take a bit of getting used to. I tried to locate the PRONI Guide to Church Records and ended up all over the place, so ended up just typing the name of the guide into the search box, and soon discovered it - but having done so, I still can't identify which collection the guide is contained within, or how to access it other than by the search box, so I think there may be an element of retraining needed here!
Needless to say, all the links on the new site are completely different, so you will need to remark any bookmarks that you have on your PC.
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.
From 1996-1998 I studied the University of Strathclyde's Postgraduate Diploma programme in Genealogical Studies, as part of its very first cohort, and back in the days when it was an attendance based course! At the time there was no Masters year to go onto, as this did not start until two or three years after, and I had moved onto full time working as a genealogist by then.
As a part of the diploma course, we had to submit a final year dissertation, and the topic for mine was The Role of King James VI Hospital in Perth as a 19th Century Feudal Superior - you can read this freely via https://scotlandsgreateststory.wordpress.com/free-items/, albeit minus the important appendices!
Last week, whilst at the university to speak at the 2-day Irish course there, I caught up with Tahitia McCabe and Calista Williams, the heid yins of the course and institute programme, and asked a simple question - with the diploma course having been running for twenty years now, and with the development of the subsequent masters programme, there must be an extraordinary amount of knowledge there in similar dissertations from over the years, but how can such information be identified?
Well, a seriously huge thank you to Calista for getting back to me today with a LibraryThing link that lists all such dissertations! You can search for past topics at https://www.librarything.com/catalog/gsholton/yourlibrary. Calista has indicated that these dissertations may be shared if those who have written them give permission to do so, and dependant on how busy the university staff are to make such enquiries of past students.
But perhaps more importantly, if you are thinking of doing the courses, this catalogue will give a great idea of the kinds of topics that past students have pursued for their studies!
Update: Interestingly, in addition to my own dissertation on King James VI Hospital, I see there;s another piece of course work that I submitted, on Castle Menzies. I've completely forgotten what that was, so am now digging it out!!
(With thanks to Calista, and also to Graham Holton for starting the catalogue!)
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.
The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) has passed 102 million pages, with 102,267,306 pages available at the time of writing.
The following are the latest Scottish and Irish additions over the last 30 days:
Scotland:
Northern Scot and Moray & Nairn Express 1986-1999
Kelso Chronicle 1882
John o' Groat Journal 1985, 1995-1999
Inverness Courier 1993-1994
Highland News 1994
Gourock Times 1915-1966
Fife Herald 1996-2000
Sunday Mail (Glasgow) 1986-1987, 1991, 1993-1999
People's Friend 1929
Glasgow Herald 1909
Ireland:
Dundalk Examiner and Louth Advertiser 1881-1883, 1885-1892, 1894-1901, 1916-1929
Freeman's Journal 1763-1765, 1771, 1775
Irish Weekly and Ulster Examiner 1965
Roscommon Journal, and Western Impartial Reporter 1865-1925, 1927
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.
Scribe AI is now available on the MyHeritage mobile app, making it possi1ble to analyze historical documents and photos instantly — right from your phone.
In case you need a refresher: Scribe AI transcribes handwritten and printed text, translates records, and interprets images to extract meaningful genealogical insights. Whether it’s a document, an old photo, or even a gravestone, it turns complex material into clear, structured information you can actually use. Since its release, Scribe AI has been highly popular in the genealogy world and has received enthusiastic praise.
ScribeAI Mobile
With this mobile release, you can simply scan an item on the spot and get insights immediately. This is especially useful when on the go visiting archives, relatives, or cemeteries.
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.
My next 5-week course for Pharos Teaching and Tutoring Ltd (www.pharostutors.com), entitled Researching Scottish Ancestral Crisis, starts on Monday 18th May 2025.
For some ten years or so, Pharos offered two Scottish themed courses, Scottish Research Online and Scotland 1750-1850: Beyond the Old Parish Registers. In the first course, we've shown how to access certain records for Scottish research online, whilst the second course has taken things further by showing how to access records not just online, but in archives. At the same time it has also shown how various aspects of Scotland worked, as a means to locate records offline and online that might help when the OPRs don't.
In this third course, we now turn things seriously up to eleven...! In the past, records were often kept documenting various crises on a range of fronts, and in this course, I not only explore those scenarios, but also explain how the country worked, as well as the types of records generated, and crucially, how to access them.
If you have done the previous two courses - or feel yourself to be somewhat further along with your research experience and at the relevant level - I hope you can sign up to this course, which I hope, as ever, will be both fulfilling and fun!
The following is the course description:
Researching Scottish Ancestral Crisis
As in our own lives, many of our Scottish ancestors had to overcome great adversity on occasions to simply make it through the day. Illness, death, bigamy, abandonment, accidents, eviction, victimhood, ethnic cleansing, and so much more a dramatic range of experiences across a series of lifetimes. And whenever such crises emerged, somebody was usually close to hand with a quill and ink to bear witness. In so doing, a great documentary legacy was created that can greatly help us to understand the true lives of our forebears, and the struggles that led to who we became today.
Many challenges and hardships were faced across time. There were the laws of the local parish church and the punishments awaiting those who breached kirk discipline, diligently recorded in the kirk session and presbytery papers, but additional courts existed elsewhere in society, from the Crown and the burghs to the local justices of the peace and trade incorporations. Records of the churches and heritors, as well as the post-1845 poor law records, can detail the struggles of those who struggled to avoid poverty, whilst documents such as letters of horning and warrants of poinding, as well as sequestration and cessio bonorum, can detail the persecution and stigma of being a debtor or a bankrupt. In other areas, the court records can also reveal some of the ingenious methods by which people could avoid inheriting the debts of their predecessors.
The darkest moments of the soul, from mental health issues and illness, are revealed in historic asylum and hospital records held in archives across Scotland, whilst cases of murder and suicide can be uncovered in court processes, newspapers and broadsheets. Dramatic moments of rebellion, when our forebears drew a line in the sand against a perceived tyranny or democratic deficit, can be found in contemporary records of the Covenanters, the Jacobites, the Chartists, the Suffragettes, crofters, and those cleared from the land to make way for more profitable sheep, from the forfeiture of lands and prosecutions to the folk songs of many who were forced to emigrate.
This course will reveal the many areas of Scottish ancestral hardship that have been documented over the last few centuries, and explore how to access the relevant records. It follows on from two previous Pharos courses, Scottish Research Online, which explores websites offering some of the more basic records for Scottish research, and Scotland 1750: Beyond the Old Parish Registers, which takes students to more advanced records found offline and online, and which flags up the importance of using catalogues. Although not compulsory, it is recommended that both courses are completed prior to studying Researching Scottish Ancestral Crisis.
Lesson Headings:
* Law and Order * Family Events and Relationships * Poverty and Debt * Medical Issues * The State and the People
Each lesson includes lesson notes, activities and forum exercises for students to complete during the week and a one-hour live tutorial (text chat or Zoom) with the tutor and the rest of the class. Times for the tutorials are set at the beginning of each course by the tutor.
"Wonderful topics to research and presentation and ideas of where to go to look for answers regarding these topics. Have learnt so much over the 3 courses and now have lots to do in updating and following through on the course materials and what I have learnt. Already looking at different ways of research and finding out heaps more. The 3 courses are so great and full of information and Chris is excellent in the Chat section with not only giving questions for us to reply to but also the answers."
"It was an excellent continuation of the previous course and really made me look at genealogy in a much broader way. Chris is a very encouraging tutor and willing to answer all questions. He has such an extensive knowledge of genealogy."
"The course content...amazing"
"All course materials were professional and thorough. Chris did a lot of prep work to make sure that we received the best information needed to be successful."
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.
Something I only discovered tbis week is that the catalogue cards from the Keane Index from 1891-1909 are now available to view via the National Library of Ireland's catalogue at https://catalogue.nli.ie/Collection/vtls000923169?recordID=vtls000929125, thanks to the efforts of the library and the Irish Manuscript Commission.
The Keane Index provides the only current means to identify information held within the records of the Irish Land Commission, which the Irish Government has stubbornly locked away in a warehouse in Portlaoise, where they currently remain out of the reach of researchers. The Land Commission papers details the acquisition of lands by the general public from the landed gentry after the collapse of the landed estates system following An Gorta Mór from 1845-1851. Amongst the papers are deeds, wills, and other extraordinarily useful records for family history purposes.
The Keane Index comprises of 36,000 cards, that leads to information about properties contained within 35 bound volumes, all at about 400 pages each. The index allows researchers to search by county, estate, or individual name.
And maybe, one day, when the Irish Government wakes up on this, we'll get to see the actual Land Commission records themselves (many for the north after Partition are already accessible at PRONI)...
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.
The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland announced a while back that they were developing a new front of house website, but today they have confirmed on their Fwcebook page when it will go live: PRONI is delighted to announce that our new website will be launched on Thursday the 30th of April. The redesigned website will offer clearer navigation that makes it easier to explore our collections, plan a visit, and access a wide range of resources!
This was first raised several months ago at the PRONI Stakeholder forum, where it was confirmed that the new site will mean several new URL addresses for web pages.
I look forward to seeing the new site!
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.
The day has come - the 1926 Free State census for Ireland has finally been released after 100 years at https://nationalarchives.ie/collections/search-the-1926-census/. I have already made several searches in this today, uncovering various situations for my family and that of my wife, and it has been a pleasant search experience, with no site crashes, and an excellent presentation of the resources, which are free to view. This is one area where the Republic of Ireland really does trump the UK, in making its public documents available free of charge, as can also be witnessed through its birth, marriage and death records platform at https://www.irishgenealogy.ie.
The equivalent census for Northern Ireland, taken on the same night, has sadly not survived, but something that I learned during the week is that even if it had done so, it may well have not been released. This is because, unlike the rest of the UK, Northern Ireland astonishingly does not have a 100 year census rule for privacy, thanks to an act of the Stormont parliament from 1969. The same fate awaits the 1937 Northern Irish census, which means that unless a specific law is passed for it to be released, it just won't be. If we want to see it, we'll have to start lobbying our politicians to get their acts together! You can read more about this in an interesting blog post from Professor Marie Coleman of Queen's University Belfast at https://blogs.qub.ac.uk/qpol/the-lost-northern-ireland-census-of-1926.
In the meantime, what details are included in the 1926 Free State census? You can find the answers to this at https://nationalarchives.ie/search-the-1926-census-2/census-1926/. It's not quite as detailed as the 1911 census, but it is nevertheless another very useful document for family history research.
Have fun exploring!
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.
We want to let you know about a change to our booking options for visitors to the Scotland's People Centre in Edinburgh.
Current legal regulations mean we are unable to continue offering half-day bookings. We know that this option has been popular, so we’re working to reintroduce it in future.
In the meantime, full-day bookings remain available at £15. We are also introducing a limited number of free two-hour sessions for personal research.
Comment: Where there's a will, there's always a way.
Update: I messaged ScotlandsPeople to clarify what the issue was, and with which piece of legislation. This was its response:
Hi there: A recent review of the legislation governing our fees indicated that our earlier interpretation should be revised. We’ve now stopped taking bookings for half days while we work to request an update. We’ll highlight here on Facebook and on the Scotland’s People website, if we are able to reinstate our half-day service. You can find the full regulations here https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ssi/2006/575/contents?commentary-key-6a0e41cca2699729e0a99d1981758138
(With thanks to ScotlandsPeople)
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.
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH (7 April 2026) —RootsTech 2026, the world’s largest family history celebration, successfully held its 16th annual event and offered new content in 23 languages. Hosted by FamilySearch, the event drew millions of people in person and online from 235 countries and territories and all 50 states. It offered more than 500 classes, keynotes, an expo hall with more than 200 exhibitors, and the popular Relatives at RootsTech interactive discovery activity. This global experience had millions of participants who made new family connections and viewed millions of ancestral relationships online. Find and share this announcement in the FamilySearch Newsroom.
FamilySearch hosts RootsTech as part of its purpose to help individuals discover more about their heritage and make more family connections—past, present, and future. Although RootsTech 2026 has concluded, many of the sessions are now available on demand for free at RootsTech.org. Users can explore thousands of free online classes and create personalized watchlists of their interests to continue learning and discovering year-round. The RootsTech Online Expo Hall will be available until August 2026.
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.
ScotlandsPeople (www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk) has added over 100,000 new prisoner records from Ayr and Inveraray jails from the Victorian era. The addition includes 98,000 entries from Ayr Prison from 1841-1911.
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.
East Lothian Library Service is hosting a 50th anniversary Family History Fair on Monday 20 April 2026 from 3.30-6.30pm, at the Star Room in the John Gray Centre in Haddington.
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.
The Friends of Argyll Estates Archives Newsletter, now available to non-members! Edited by volunteer and trustee, Duncan Beaton, the Newsletter was established in 2016 to document all the exciting things happening in the archives.
Issued twice a year at the traditional Scots term dates of Whitsunday (28 May) and Martinmas (28 November) the Newsletter typically includes an Editor’s note, a list of upcoming seminars, reports on Friends outings and events, articles informed by archival research, a Pen Picture feature and more!
Select issues of the Newsletter are now available to purchase for those who are not yet members, but want to learn more about the Friends or read a particular article.
PLEASE REMEMBER: existing members can access the full back catalogue of Newsletters by logging-in to the Friends Area!
(With thanks to the Friends)
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.
If your ancestors were members of the Salvation Army, the British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) has now uploaded the archive of the War Cry publication. The current release includes content from 1879-1985, but coverage is planned to continue to the present day, according to its description page at https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/titles/BL/war-cry.
My grandmother was a member of the Salvation Army in Belfast as a child, with her mother and grandparents being staunch members. I am still trying to determine which branch they attended in the city, but have already found some clues that I will now pursue with the Salvation Army itself, via its International Heritage Centre (https://www.salvationarmy.org.uk/about-us/international-heritage-centre).
Happy hunting!
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.
We are now just a week away from the release of the 1926 Irish census by the National Archives of Ireland, the first census to be recorded by the Irish Free State after its foundation in December 1922. The census revealed that the population of the state (today the Irish republic) at that time was just under 3 million people, standing at 2,971,992. The census will be searchable at https://nationalarchives.ie/collections/search-the-census/, alongside the 1901 and 1911 censuses, and the surviving census fragments from 1821-1851.
I am very much looking forward to the release, to discover information about my wife's family in counties Tipperary and Kilkenny, but also branches of my own family in Donegal and Dublin.
There was an equivalent census recorded on the same night in 1926 by the recently established Northern Irish government, but these returns have tragically not survived. The next census for the north was recorded in 1937, whuch means we still have eleven years to consult that. However, the 1939 National Identity Register for Northern Ireland, recorded two weeks into the Second World War in September 1939, can be consulted by sending an enquiry to the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland at https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/forms/submit-enquiry. There is no charge for the service, but you may be required to submit evidence of the death of those you are seeking details for, to protect privacy for those still alive.
The next census in the Irish Free State was recorded on April 26, 1936. The following is therefore the list of censuses for Britain and Ireland to be released over the next 25 years:
1931 Scottish census (the English and Welsh returns have not survived)
1936 Irish Free State census
1937 Northern Irish census
1939 UK National Identity Register (already available)
No UK 1941 census (Second World War)
1946 Ireland (Republic) census
1951 UK census / 1951 Ireland (Republic) census
Every census release is a big occasion - happy hunting!
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.
This new set consists of 1,636 employment records from the 19th and 20th centuries.
Comment: Dublin Port employment records from 1906-1925, as sourced from the Dublin Port Name Book, are available at https://www.dublinportarchive.com/searchable-archives/. It is unclear if this is the source for some of the records.
It is regrettable that FindmyPast portrays itself to be the bona fide source here, when it is simply a publisher of material derived from another archival source.
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.
This who have been following Highland Archives archivist Lorna Steele-McGinn over the last six years with her weekly online Learn With Lorna lectures will perhaps be interested to know that Lorna will be hosting an in-person event in Inverness on 28 May 2026. Here's the blurb from the archive's latest newsletter:
Our series of short online talks about the records held by the Highland Archive Service returned on 22nd January 2026 after a Christmas break. As advertised in our last newsletter we are looking forward to hosting an in-person Learn with Lorna event at the Highland Archive Centre on 28th May 2026. A talk on some "Treasures of the Highland Archive Service" will be followed by the chance to see some of the many documents that have featured across the 6 years of the series and to meet some of the other team members who have contributed research over the years. We are really looking forward to welcoming LWL viewers to the archive centre, celebrating the community that has grown from the series, and saying thank you to all who have helped it grow. The few remaining tickets are available via https://tickets.highlifehighland.com/events/highlifehighland/2057468 or by contacting the Highland Archive Centre direct.
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.
This blog tends to concentrate on genealogy resources relevant to Scotland and Ireland these days, but occasionally there are developments down south of the border worth noting. The English and Welsh 'probate' system - the equivalent of Scotland's confirmation system - had two high-tier ecclesiastical courts running the show until 1858. One of these, the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC Court), has had wills for the southern half of England available for some time, but there was also a Preogative Court for York (PCY Court), for the northern half, although the PCC Court remained superior to the PCY Court. Whilst some records for the PCY Court have been available on FindmyPast for a while, Ancestry (www.ancestry.co.uk) has also now added them as a collection. Ancestry's collection also includes wills form the lower Exchequer Court in York:
England, Prerogative and Exchequer Court of York Wills, 1389-1858 https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/63000/ Source: Yorkshire Wills and Probate, 1383-1858. York, England: Borthwick Institute for Archives.
This collection contains images of wills filed in Yorkshire, England, between 1389 and 1858. A will is a document that specifies how a person’s property should be distributed after their death.
Records in this collection may include the following information:
Name
Place of residence
Relationship to head of household
Will date
Probate date
The indexed information may help you confirm important dates regarding your ancestor’s death and estate processing. You may find additional information by looking at your ancestor’s record image. Your ancestor’s will may include names of family members that you can add to your family tree, and they can help to sort out how your ancestors were related. A will may also include an inventory of an estate’s assets, which may provide some insights into your ancestor’s financial status and lifestyle.
If the will doesn’t have the information you are looking for, you may be able to find related probate records, such as property inventories, petitions to begin the probate process, guardianship and orphans’ court records, and estate bonds.
The majority of the wills in this collection are written in Latin. Ancestry’s Latin genealogy guide may help you read the documents. Some of the records are handwritten in English, but old handwriting can be difficult to read. This article may help you decipher your ancestor’s record.
For further details, consult the link above.
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.
Save up to 30% with Findmypast’s unmissable Easter sale
Delve deeper into your family story this Easter with up to 30% off selected subscriptions* from 1st – 13th April 2026
Easter is the perfect moment to delve deeper into the people and stories in your family tree and Findmypast is making it easier than ever with a limited‑time sale, offering up to 30% off subscriptions.
Between 1st – 13th April 2026, enjoy 20% off 1-month (was
£24.49, now £19.59) and 3-month (was £59.99, now £47.99) Everything
subscriptions and 30% off 12-month Everything annual subscriptions (was
£169.99, now £118.99). The discount will be automatically applied at
checkout.
The Everything subscription is Findmypast’s top tier
subscription, offering full access to the platform’s rich archive of
historical records and newspapers, as well as the simple-to-use family
tree builder, millions of family trees, innovative tools and smart
features to help users delve deeper into their family history.
Whether
you’re just beginning your family history journey or you’re deep into
long-standing research, this unmissable offer makes it easier than ever
to uncover the details of your ancestors’ lives and the world in which
they lived. From grandparents’ wedding announcements to handwritten
census entries, quickly uncover names, places, milestones, photographs,
occupation histories, and vibrant stories that bring ancestors’ lives
into focus.
As the home of British and Irish family history,
Findmypast is the UK’s leading genealogy company, built on long-standing
collaborations with archives, cultural institutions and publishers
across the UK and beyond. Unique partnerships with the British Library,
The National Archives, county record offices, family history societies,
and major publishers including Reach PLC and National World ensure
unrivalled access to rich resources tracing back over 1,000 years of
history. Thousands of records are digitised at Findmypast’s dedicated
scanning facility in Yorkshire and added to the site every week,
creating one of the richest and most varied online archives available
for researching British and Irish roots.
Jen Baldwin, Research
Specialist at Findmypast said: “Easter is a moment when many of us come
together with family, making it the perfect opportunity to explore our
shared stories. Whether you’re discovering your ancestors for the very
first time or building on years of research, our Easter sale opens the
door to millions of records and intuitive tools that help bring your
family history to life. There’s no better time to delve deeper into your
family tree and see what new discoveries are waiting for you.”
*Code
applied automatically at checkout. Subscriptions included in the offer
are 20% off 1m Everything and 3m Everything, and 30% off 12m Everything
annual subscriptions. Offer period runs from 9am BST on 1st April 2026
to 11.59pm BST on 13th April 2026. UK only. Ts&Cs apply.
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.
Please note: Certificate Priority Ordering will be unavailable
from 1 p.m. on Thursday 2nd April 2026 with all Certificate Ordering
unavailable from 4 p.m. on Thursday 2nd April 2026.
All Certificate Ordering will re-commence from 9 a.m. Tuesday 7th April 2026.
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.
We’re excited to introduce Scribe AI, a powerful new feature that transcribes, translates, and interprets historical documents and photos. Released just a few weeks ago, the first users who tried it have already given it rave reviews and told us about breakthroughs they were able to make with it.
Upload a scanned family letter or historical document, or a photo, and Scribe AI will generate a clear transcription, explain symbols and context, and suggest next steps for your research. For photos, it will estimate the place and date and provide a full historical context. It can also be applied directly to historical records on MyHeritage that include images, and to photos you’ve already uploaded to MyHeritage.
Powered by advanced AI technology trained on historical records and photos, it reveals insights you may never have uncovered otherwise.
Comment: I am personally allergic to anything that has AI in its title, but let me know what you think of it!
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.
Ulster Historical Foundation would like to broaden its pool of genealogical researchers and is compiling a register of individuals interested in part-time research work and assisting delegates during our family history conferences. The work also offers the possibility of data input and validation as part of the Foundation’s role in compiling databases of genealogical records for our members and the general public.
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 (www.findmypast.co.uk) has added two medical professions collections sets that may be of interest:
Britain, The Medical Registers
Did your ancestor work in the medical field during the Victorian era? Following the landmark Medical Act of 1858, which sought to distinguish qualified practitioners from "quacks," these registers provide a definitive annual account of every person legally entitled to practice medicine, surgery, and midwifery in the United Kingdom.
Explore this brand-new set of 393,288 records to uncover more about their qualifications and career, and find out more about the world of medicine in Victorian Britain. The records span 1859-1895. London (and Provincial) Medical Directory 1847-1869
This new set of fascinating medical directories, comprising 511,311 records, contains the names, addresses, qualifications, and appointments of every surgeon, physician, and general practitioner residing in London and its immediate vicinity.
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.
The National Records of Scotland (www.nrscotland.gov.uk) and the ScotlandsPeople Centre in Edinburgh will be closed on Friday 3 April and Monday 6 April for Easter.
Belfast based PRONI (https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/campaigns/public-record-office-northern-ireland-proni), however, will be closed on Monday 6 April and Tuesday 7 April for Easter, as well as on Saturday 4 April as part of the Easter holidays. Their extended opening hours will resume with a late-night opening on Thursday 16 April.
Please take note, no-one likes to make a long journey only to find the door closed!
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.
The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) has passed 101,000 pages, now sitting at 101,001,747 pages. The recent releases over the last 30 days are exclusively Irish:
Ireland: Irish Weekly and Ulster Examiner 1966
World (Dublin) 1840-1851
Westmeath Guardian and Longford News-Letter 1835-1840
Waterford News 1872-1880, 1882, 1884, 1886-1896
Waterford Mirror and Tramore Visitor 1808-1809, 1813, 1827-1836, 1841-1843
Waterford Mail 1870, 1886, 1888-1893, 1895-1896
Warder and Dublin Weekly Mail 1902-1909
Tuam Herald 1873-1878, 1883-1909, 1911
Skibbereen & West Carbery Eagle 1870, 1872-1874, 1876-1882, 1884-1885, 1887-1921
Saturday Record (Ennis) 1899, 1901, 1903-1904, 1907-1908, 1911
PAT (Dublin) 1881-1882
Northern Standard 1872-1880, 1882-1884, 1887-1890, 1892-1896, 1914, 1916-1919
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.
