Scottish vital records databases added to FindmyPast

An unusual release from FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) for those with Scottish family:

Scotland, Modern and Civil Births 1855-2019

Compiled from a number of sources, this collection is essential for enriching the Scottish branches of your family tree.The record set includes records from local government burial indexes held by various councils and archives, volunteer and local family history society transcriptions, modern records of funeral homes and civil registers.

What can these records tell me?

The detail contained in these records can vary, but you should find a combination of the following information:

    Title
    Forename(s)
    Surname
    Date of birth
    Year of birth
    Place of birth
    County of birth
    Mother forename
    Mother surname
    Father forename
    Father surname
    Usual residence
    Birth registration district
    Reference number
    Additional notes
    Original record source



Scotland, Modern and Civil Marriages 1855-2019

Did your relatives exchange wedding vows in Scotland? Unlock family love stories with this useful resource. Using the information you glean from this index, you can access copies of original Scottish marriage certificates via ScotlandsPeople.

What can these records tell me?

The detail contained in these records can vary, but you should find a combination of the following information:

    Title
    First Name(s)
    Surname
    Date of marriage
    Year of marriage
    Marriage venue
    Place of marriage
    County of marriage
    Spouse forename
    Spouse surname
    Usual residence
    Marriage registration district
    Reference number
    Additional notes
    Original record source


Scotland, Modern and Civil Deaths & Burials 1855-2021

This vast record set reveals rich Scottish family research detail including death and burial facts, addresses, occupations and next of kin.

Findmypast is home to the fastest growing collection of Scottish family records online. Enhance your research by combining these death and burial records with Scotland Monumental Inscriptions, the largest resource of its kind. With it, you'll uncover vital details about your Scottish ancestors’ lives and deaths.

What can these records tell me?

The detail contained in these records can vary, but you should find a combination of the following information:

    Title
    First Name(s)
    Surname
    Residence
    Occupation
    Next of kin
    Death Date
    Burial Date
    Death Place
    Burial Place
    Cemetery Reference
    Archival Reference
    Registration District
    Additional notes
    County


Expect this collection of modern and civil birth, marriage and death records to grow over the coming months, as we strive to create the last word in discovering your Scottish family story. 

 Our newspaper archives from Scotland have grown with the addition of:

- Glasgow Weekly Herald covering 1865, 1867-1869, 1879-1881, 1883-1885, 1887, 1889 and 1891-1892
- Glasgow Weekly Mail covering 1862-1864, 1866-1868, 1879-1880, 1883, 1886, 1888 and 1890-1892
- Inverness Advertiser and Ross-shire Chronicle covering 1849-1885
-   Inverness Journal and Northern Advertiser covering 1812-1833, 1835-1836, 1840-1842 and 1844-1848
- Kirriemuir Free Press and Angus Advertiser covering 1928-1949 

 

Comment: It's very difficult to really say anything constructive about these 1855-2019 collections, because there's very little given away about the sources utilised. From a few test searches, I have not found a great deal beyond the mid 1870s, which leads me to wonder if a lot of the records included are simply from the FamilySearch indexes which cover births and marriages from 1855-1874/5?

It is always handy to have alternative indexes, but when the FindmyPast site itself is saying "Original copies of civil registers can also be seen in person in Edinburgh, and through the National Records of Scotland's ScotlandsPeople website.", that's kind of where I want to be going! 

Good to see the Inverness newspaper coverage expanded though!

Chris 

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Limited access to Edinburgh City Archives starts June 4th

Thanks to Kirsty Wilkinson via the Scottish Genealogy Network's Facebook page for news that the Edinburgh City Archives are to reopen from June 4th, albeit on a limited access basis, for four every hours every Friday.

From the archive's site at https://www.edinburgh.gov.uk/archives/edinburgh-city-archives-1/4?documentId=12641:

Visit the search room

Following the easing of some Covid-19 restrictions will will be opening up some of our collections for researchers to view again from June 4 2021.

Access is limited for the next few months in terms of what you can access and where.  

Where and when  

At this time our search room in the City Chambers is still closed to the public due to the restrictions of this historic building. However, colleagues at Historic Environment Scotland (HES) have allocated us space in their own search room in John Sinclair House (EH8 9NX) every Friday between 11am and 3pm for researchers to access our collections.

Places are limited and must be booked in advance by getting in touch with us.  

Who

Those looking to book a space will also need to fit the following criteria

- Have a deadline that needs to be met (academically, legally, professionally).

- Be able to advise what records/materials need to be viewed (limits of 10 items per person/session are in place).

    Not be looking for continuous access every week (unless your project is very time critical and then we can discuss on an individual basis).

What

There are certain restrictions on the types of records we can safely transport over to HES. Any architectural drawings and plans will not be sent, due to their size and the space they take up to view. Any outsize or very fragile records will also not be sent. We will discuss further with anyone who gets in touch with us what records they would like access to and whether this is currently possible.

Spaces will be filled quickly and so please get in touch with us as soon as you can if you would like to make use of this service.

We hope to welcome you back through our own doors at the City Chambers later in the year, and we will keep you updated with any further developments.

(With thanks to Kirsty)

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

PRONI re-opens on May 24th by appointment only

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (www.nidirect.gov.uk/proni) has announced on its website that it is to re-open from May 24th, by appointment only - but that's about all it has announced!

Obviously if I hear any more I will update you further!

UPDATE: OK, here's the drill...!

Requesting a research appointment at PRONI

PRONI will be operating a limited onsite public service from 24 May 2021. Advance booking is one of a number of changes to PRONI services which have been put in place to ensure the health and safety of staff and visitors during the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID 19) pandemic.

You must request a research appointment at PRONI (booking re-opens on 24 May) and have your booking confirmed in advance of your visit.

Research appointments previously cancelled due to the enhanced restrictions are being rescheduled for dates from 24 May 2021.  Visitors affected will be contacted by PRONI directly.

Registered PRONI visitors will be able to request a new research appointment at PRONI (to view original records/microfilms) when new appointment bookings are released on 24 May 2021, using the revised procedures below.

You can book one appointment per week, and access up to ten items on that visit. The full details - and there is a lot to digest - are available at https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/research-appointments-proni

Good to see it reopening!

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Forthcoming Scottish Indexes conference on Saturday May 22nd

I've just recorded my presentation for the forthcoming Scottish Indexes (www.scottishindexes.com) conference on Saturday 22nd May 2021, the tenth event hosted by Graham and Emma Maxwell. 

Entitled Genealogy Without Borders, my talk will look at the importance of considering the diaspora when looking to build your family tree, discover your full family history, and to help construct a fuller sense of family and identity that can go well beyond any national boundaries. I hope you will enjoy it!

The full schedule will be going up on the Scottish Indexes platform shortly, and you can find more about the many speakers participating on the team's website. The conference is free as always, and there will be talks, Q&As, and plenty of craic I'm sure! The talks will be shown twice, to cater for the various time zones around the world.

I'll hopefully see you there!

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Who Do You Think You Are? series 12 in Australia

If you're down under in Australia, the new series of Who Do You Think You Are?, the twelfth in Australia, is due to start on Tuesday 8th June 2021.  You can find more about this series on Alona Tester's post at Gould Genealogy, at https://www.gouldgenealogy.com/2021/05/who-do-you-think-you-are-australia-2021-season-12/.

I've actually carried out research for two episodes of this series, and was almost filmed for the episode with former Australia Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, but I unfortunately had to pull out fairly late on, following the death of my father, with the filming due to take place the night before his funeral. There's a good Scottish connection in this one, but I don't want to give anything away - suffice to say, it's an interesting story! 

The celebs lined up for this run are: Celia Pacquola, Malcolm Turnbull, Denise Drysdale, Jef Fatt, Uncle Jack Charles, Grant Denyer, Chris Bath, and Natalie Bassingthwaighte

Enjoy!

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

TheGenealogist adds RAF Operations Record Books

From TheGenealogist (www.thegenealogist.co.uk):

RAF Operations Record Books for the Dambusters squadron go online

TheGenealogist is marking the anniversary of the famous Royal Air Force Dambusters raid on the Ruhr Valley dams in May 1943 by releasing a massive tranche of fully searchable RAF Operations Record Books (ORBs) including those ORBs for the famous No 617 Squadron giving an insight into their lives.

With a release of 1,550,018 records, bringing the total to 6,748,021 these new diary-like RAF documents paint a picture of the goings on in a squadron on a day-to-day basis for those units under British control.

These are uniquely fully searchable by:-
●    Forename and Surname
●    Squadron
●    Date Range

Using keywords users can also search for Service Number, Rank, and Duty, Aircraft type and location where the fields appear in the record. This makes it possible to easily find your Royal Air Force ancestors and discover more about their war time activities on the base and in the air.

The Operations Record Books are for squadrons primarily from after the First World War, although there are a few early squadron records from 1911 to 1918. These ORBs follow the daily happenings in the air and on the base, and frequently name the brave aircrew who battled against the odds.

You can use the collection to follow an airman’s war time experiences from these fully searchable Air Ministry operations record books which cover various Royal Air Force, Dominion and Allied Air Force squadrons that came under British Command. The AIR 27 records allow the family history researcher a fascinating insight into their relatives serving in a number of wartime air force units, as can be seen in the video and article that shines a light on Wing Commander Gibson and his squadron.

●    See the wartime operations of air crew
●    Discover pilots, navigators, radio operators and gunners mentioned in the diaries
●    Find airmen receiving an Honour or a Medal
●    Note the names of squadron members wounded, killed, or who did not return
●    Fully search these National Archives records and images

Find out more about the AIR27 recordset here: https://www.TheGenealogist.co.uk/Air27

This release expands TheGenealogist’s extensive Military records collection for Diamond subscribers.

To take a deeper look into these records read TheGenealogist’s feature article and see how 617 Squadron recorded the famous Dambuster operation in the ORBs from the time.
https://www.thegenealogist.co.uk/featuredarticles/2021/guy-gibson-and-the-dambuster-raid-found-in-raf-operations-record-books-1411/

(With thanks to Nick Thorne)

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Scots Guards WW2 service records added to FindmyPast

FindmyPast (www.findmypast.co.uk) has added records from the Scots Guards to its British aemy service records collections:

Britain, Campaign, Gallantry & Long Service Medals & Awards

Discover decorated military ancestors in thousands of new medal records. The latest additions cover:

    Indian General Service Medals 1854-1895, 1908-1935 and 1936-1939
    China War Medal 1900
    Second China War Medal 1857-60
    General Service Medal 1918-1962
    India Medal 1895-1902

Also added are further medal records:

Britain, Campaign, Gallantry & Long Service Medals & Awards

Discover decorated military ancestors in thousands of new medal records. The latest additions cover:

    Indian General Service Medals 1854-1895, 1908-1935 and 1936-1939
    China War Medal 1900
    Second China War Medal 1857-60
    General Service Medal 1918-1962
    India Medal 1895-1902

You can focus your search on any of the above awards by selecting it from the 'Medal type' filter on the search page. The records can reveal important details for tracing someone's military past including service number, rank and regiment.

For details of all of this week's releases, and for links, visit https://www.findmypast.co.uk/blog/new/military-records-memorials

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Britain, Campaign, Gallantry & Long Service Medals & Awards Discover decorated military ancestors in thousands of new medal records. The latest additions cover: Indian General Service Medals 1854-1895, 1908-1935 and 1936-1939 China War Medal 1900 Second China War Medal 1857-60 General Service Medal 1918-1962 India Medal 1895-1902 You can focus your search on any of the above awards by selecting it from the 'Medal type' filter on the search page. The records can reveal important details for tracing someone's military past including service number, rank and regiment.

Ancestry updates Scotland and Northern Ireland, Death Index, 1989-2020 database

The Scotland and Northern Ireland, Death Index, 1989-2020 database on Ancestry, located at https://www.ancestry.co.uk/search/collections/60631/, has been updated on May 10th. 

The last update was in June 2020, so this is preumably a completion of records for last year.

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Adopted children to be given right to see birth certificates in Ireland

A big story in the Republic of Ireland - from RTE:

Adopted people will be able to get access to their birth certificates even if a parent indicates they do not wish to be identified under new legislation published today.

Minister for Children Roderic O'Gorman said that nobody will be denied access to their information under the proposed new law.

Groups representing adoptees have repeatedly called for full access to information around their identities.

For the full story visit https://www.rte.ie/news/2021/0511/1221008-birth-certificates-adopted/

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.

Fife Archives to re-open search room from May 5th

From Fife Archives:

Visitor appointments to the Archive Search room at OnFife Collections Centre, Bankhead will reopen from Wednesday 5th May 2021.

Visits are by appointment only and visits are limited to 1.5 hours. You can make a booking by email to archive.enquiries@onfife.com

To access the archives you have to register with one form of photographic ID along with something with your address such as a utility bill.

The records you are using are unique and irreplaceable, so please be very careful when handling them. Before your visit, make sure you read our Search Room Rules. You can find out what records are held at our Archive Centre by searching our online catalogue.

For further details, and to access the archive's catalogue, visit https://www.onfife.com/libraries-archives/archives/.

Chris

Just out, Sharing Your Family History Online is on sale at https://bit.ly/SharingFamHist. Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scottish2 is also out, as are Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed) at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Irish1 and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records at http://bit.ly/ChrisPaton-Scotland1. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, and on Twitter @genesblog.