The document is made up of extracts from various Genealogical publications and was first published as is, in Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies quarterly magazine 'The Genealogist' December 2009, Volume XII No 12. 

CORNWALL

http://genuki.org.uk/big/eng/Cornwall/  This site contains an historical description of Cornwall in 1887 and also many links including Cemeteries, Census, Church Records, Directories, Maps, Probate Records and much more.

Go to http://www.cornwall-online.co.uk/genealogy.htm for the Cornish genealogy pages with links to the 11th Cornish Surname Index which contains 1,103 names, a list of convicts (some Cornish) to NSW and also the Cornish Mining Index - a searchable database with over 16,000 entries.

The Cornwall Family History site at: http://www.cornwallfhs.com/ has many links including that of the Federation of Family History Societies, but many databases are "Pay-per-view".

The Cornwall Online Census Project at: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~kayhin/ukocp.html is transcribing ALL of the UK 19th century census returns in order to create an online "free-to-view" searchable database. (ED a check at time of publishing to KDFHS indicates that this is now complete).

https://members.tripod.com/chrisuphill/ind.htm  Cornish cemeteries online a combined index which currently includes Towednack Churchyard, Longstone Cemetery, Penponds Cemetery and others. By highlighting and choosing SELECTION on the print menu, you are able to print only those names you require.

http://www.cornwalleng.com  This is the site of the Cornwall Parish Register Index where you are able to search baptisms, banns, burials, marriages and witnesses. Using a surname only is sufficient, but altering the Preferences on your printer to Landscape instead of Portrait allows the full page to be printed.

http://www.cornwall-opc.org  The Cornwall Online Parish Clerk's website for Family History. Search the database of Parish Register transcriptions for all of Cornwall using their search facility at the bottom of the page.

http://bodmoor.co.uk/bmoor1.html  The Bodmin Moor Cornwall Home Page is intended to help family and local historians doing research on the villages around the Moor. Other links as well - site still under construction.

http://www.ladock.com  This site contains lists of Births 1669 -1902, Marriages - Brides 1669-1902, Grooms 1669-1902 and Deaths 1669-1902 in Ladock and more.

http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/Cornwall/Maps/map_lisk.html   Click on Parish Index for all parishes in the Registration District of Liskeard plus a search page.

http://www.heritagepress.polperro.org/index.html  Polperro is a genealogist's dream. Because of its isolated situation, the indigenous families living within the two parishes tended to inter-marry. Click on a name in the yellow box for details. The site contains a link to the Polperro Family History Society for more information.

http://www.rootsweb.com/~engcopc/  This site contains Parish Records for Sithney, Porthleven & Constantine and other links including the Cornwall Parish Register database and Cornish Online Census Project.

http://www.censusfinder.com/england2.htm  Scroll down the page to many links to Cornish records including Census, Wills and more.

www.genealogylinks.net/uk/england/cornwall/  This Cornwall Genealogy Links page contains many links, though I found some of them are no longer working.

http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl  Don't forget to try this link for BMD information from 1837. More information is being added all the time.

http://vicnet.net.au/~caov/st_just/st_just.htm  The St Just District Research Group aims to help people researching families from the St Just in Penwith District. Click on Home at the bottom of the page for more.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~wbritonad/ A small group of volunteers have been transcribing and putting online every edition of this newspaper, from 1836.  Right now, we're completing 1849 - a very bad year, unfortunately.  Our posts include all BMDs, coroner's inquests, Local Intelligence (including, at times, weather reports) and every single Assizes and Quarter Sessions reports.  Our goal is to reflect how our ancestors viewed their world to today's researchers,  and help them realize exactly how our relies lived. - Links to other sites are also included.

 

 

The document is made up of extracts from various Genealogical publications and was first published as is, in Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies quarterly magazine 'The Genealogist' June 2009, Volume XII No 11. 

Do you have Welsh ancestors?

GENUKI is a good place to start with links to individual counties - http:// www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal and have a look at Welsh Counties in the Resources section for links to particular counties - http://www.walesgenweb.com

http://www.northwalesbmd.org.uk has many local indexes of civil registrations are online with more to come, the aim being to have all Birth, Deaths and Marriages for Wales on their searchable indexes. Also a link to John Bell's Welsh Family History Archive - http://www.jlb2005.plus.com/wales/index.htm purported to be the best Welsh site on the net.

http://www.britishorigins.com - Specialists in Welsh and English genealogy, this site has many searchable databases.

http://www.county-surnames.co.uk/list.php?county=Wales -This Wales Surname List has a total of 1228 entries.

The Gathering the Jewels site has over 20,000 images of objects, books, letters, aerial photographs, letters and more - http://www.gtj.org.uk - click on English unless you speak or read Welsh.

http://history.powys.org.uk - The Powys Digital History Project has put many documents online including Community and Civic Life, Powys:

http://www.rootsweb.com/~wlsafhs/index.htm - The Association of Family History Societies of Wales site - clicking on Relative Links takes you to their site and in the left-hand column click Research in Wales.

An online Welsh Names Directory for pre-1974 counties is at http:// www.list.jaunay.com/wlsnames

http://thomasgenweb.com/brynmawr.html - this site is dedicated to the history of the Brynmawr Genealogy Project - a collection of online resources.

http://freecen.rootsweb.com - There is not much Welsh material at FreeCen but give it a try as new material is being added all the time.

http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/ParishRegs.html describes the history and content of Welsh parish registers.

The Rootsweb mailing lists can be searched or browsed online at http://lists.rootsweb.com/index/intl/WLS

Many links for Monmouthshire here: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~monfamilies/monfh.htm

Welsh Mariners at http://www.welshmariners.org.uk is an index of 23,500 Welsh merchant masters, mates and engineers active from 1800-1945 with search facility.

http://www.genealogy.about.com/cs/walesgenealogy/ - Many links to tracing your Welsh ancestors, also includes a link to download a free Family Tree chart which has room for 4 generations.

http://www.genealogybranches.com/international.html - Here's a site with links to census records around the world - United Kingdom, including Wales, Canada, Denmark, Norway and Sweden amongst others, some are free, but most require payment.

http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/wales.htm - There are 31 Welsh newspapers on this link.

And from the Federation of Family History Societies:
The National Library of Wales has good news for family historians, social historians … and the inquisitive! Over 190,000 Welsh wills (some 800,000 pages) have been digitised and are now available on the Library’s website or direct on their online catalogue and are free to view.

Wills which were proved in the Welsh ecclesiastical courts before the introduction of Civil Probate on 11 January 1858 have long been deposited at The National Library of Wales. An online index and an opportunity to view digital images of these wills within the Library building has been available for some time, however, remote users can also view the digital images following the release of a new site on 16 October.

Amongst the collection is the will of Twm Siôn Cati alias Thomas Johnes, Fountaine Gate, Caron (SD1609-20), this year being the 400th anniversary of his death. The will of Howell Harris, the famous Welsh religious reformer can also be seen (BR1773-51). 

As well as being a fabulous source of information the National Library’s online wills offer the ability to view all 193,000 wills free of charge, a service few other similar institutions are able to offer. Whilst most institutions charge readers to view their documents, the Library only charges for providing copies of them.

More information can be viewed at
http://www.llgc.org.uk/index.php?id=1514&no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5btt_news%5d=2640&tx_ttnews%5bbackPid%5d=160&cHash=d41a0c9a42.

Roger Lewry
FFHS Archives Liaison
exec.member.rl@ffhs.org.uk
19 October 2009

 

The document is made up of extracts from various Genealogical publications and was first published as is, in Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies quarterly magazine 'The Genealogist' March 2009, Volume XII No 9. 

AUSTRALIA
The Convict Transportation Registers database 1787-1867 has been compiled from H011 (National Archives) and have been indexed by the State Library of Queensland. You can find the basic details for over 123,000 of the estimated 160,000 convicts transported to Australia in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries at www.slq.qld.gov.au/info/fh/convicts although not complete, it includes prisoners convicted in England Wales and Scotland plus a small number from Ireland, as well as soldiers who had been court-martialled and sentenced to transportation.  Family History Monthly, November 2008.

New South Wales
The Sydney Morning Herald will publish enquiries for lost relatives in their Weekend edition Family Matters section.  Contact RSVP submissions rsvp@smh.com.au  GPO Box 3771 Sydney 200l. Kith and Kin, Journal of the Cape Banks FHS, December 2008.

In 2006 The Society of Australian Genealogists reactivated their Australian Biographical and Genealogical Record project under the new name Biographical Database of Australia Library Inc.  It is a non profit organisation dedicated to building an internet based Biographical Database with a planned launch date of 2010.  The new project will be asking genealogists, Australia wide, in March 2009, to submit information about their research on special forms or electronically. Descent, Journal of the Society of Australian Genealogists, September 2008.

Tasmania
The opening hours of the Tasmanian Archives and Heritage Office, now located on the 2nd floor of the State Library of Tasmania, 91 Murray Street, have been extended: Monday-Thursday 9:30am - 6pm; Friday 9:30am -8pm; Saturday 9:30am-2:30pm.  Australian Family Tree Connection, October 2008.

The same publication gives details as to how to find Tasmanian convict records on the Tasmanian Archives and Heritage Office website.

Victoria
The Benalla Cemetery now has its own website.  Included at this site is a copy of their register of burials and similar information from the headstones for which there is no entry in the register.  At this stage pictures of the inscriptions for names A-D are available with the rest to follow.  A list is being compiled of those for whom there is no information other than that their death certificate states buried at Benalla.  Information on such entries would be appreciated.  Progenitor, Journal of the Genealogical Society of the Northern Terrritory, September 2008.

The Herald Sun has launched an online memorial website http://tributes.heraldsun.com.au/HeraldSun-AU/Obituaries.asp which enables relatives and friends to build interactive tributes to deceased loved ones.  Also the site gives users the ability to search all death notices that had appeared in the Sun since 1995, and any recent death notices will automatically be placed online.  Clan Macmillan Society Newsletter, November 2008.

GREAT BRITAIN
The National Archives have a pilot program to ascertain whether the data provided will prove useful.  The contents of the filing cabinets in the main search room are being placed online free of charge.  At the moment about 190 films are available many of which are Admiralty and War Office. From the documents online site use digital microfilm and if a piece that you wish to view appears you click as if purchasing and are given a £0.00 invoice.  News newsletter of VIC Gum, November 2008.

An update on the fate of the stalled GRO digitalisation project appears in the Illawarra Branches, journal of the Illawarra Family History Group. September 2008. The IPS has confirmed that the creation of an accessible online index is a commitment which the GRO will continue to work towards, and is investigating a new project to complete the work and address the requirement of an online index. At this stage the options for the best method of implementation are being reviewed, and new timescales will be announced as soon as decisions based on the outcome of the review can be taken.

A word of warning regarding the “Times Online” which is free to access at www.timesonline.co.uk/archives where the text has been scanned and made OCR searchable.  If the older type is broken the correct letter may not be identified, and if the scan is not clear it will not be searchable.  Family Tree Magazine, August 2008.

A website www.military-genealogy.org.uk  is to give users access to a large collection of military personnel records. The collection which will be free to access lists details of over 4,000 units and a million service personnel back to 1630.  Family History Monthly, November 2008.

The 3rd edition of the National Burial Index should be available in the near future.  Entries closed on 8 October 2008 for data to be presented whether checked or unchecked for inclusion. Progenitor, Journal of the Genealogical Society of the Northern Territory, September 2008.

The names of almost 180,000 Mancunians missing from the 1851 census for Manchester because the records were too damaged to read without specialist equipment, have been made available at a free online database, http://www.1851-unfilmed.org.uk/ Family History Monthly, Christmas 2008.

For those with an interest in Bath 1770 - 1779 a database has been created of the content of the Bath Chronicle for these years.  For more details see the Family Tree Magazine, January 2008.

Ancestry.co.uk have entered an agreement with the City of London by which they will host the most comprehensive collection of historical London records covering 500 years of that city's history.  Ancestry has secured exclusive rights to digitise and display key records from the London Metropolitan Archives and Guildhall Library manuscripts.  The first records will be available early 2009 (the initial release will include Poor Law documents school and parish records) and the whole collection will take several years to completely index.  Newsletter, of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain, October 2008.

IRELAND
Over 80,000 records from the first Irish police force are being released online on www.Ancestry.co.uk  This new source will contain details of every man enlisted in the Irish Constabulary between 1816-1921, including name, year and place of birth age on enlistment and marital status.  Thousands of officers emigrated to Ireland from the US, Australia and UK to enlist in the force.  lllawarra Branches, journal of the Illawarra Family History Group, September 2008.

A new website for County Roscommon research was available from June last year. The site is at www.roscommonhistory.ie  and contains databases, documents and ephemera which might be of interest to anyone with an interest in family history. The site is constantly being added to. Family History Monthly, June 2008.

The first of Familyrelatives.com new Irish records are searchable at www.familyrelatives.com and among the Irish sources available on this site are Alumni Dublinese and abstracts of wills.  Family Tree Magazine, December 2008.

SCOTLAND
The pay-per-view website http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ expects to add in the near future the Public register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland from the Court of the Lord Lyon.  The Lyon Register contains an official copy of every coat of arms granted in Scotland since 1672 and much genealogical information about Scottish families.  In addition the Scottish civil registration marriage index will be extended from the present cut off point of 1932 to 2006, as the birth and death indexes already have been.  Practical Family History, September 2008.

CANADA
It has been reported that FamilySerach will digitise and index Canadian census records that have been acquired by Anncestry.ca.  These records will then be made available on the Ancestry.ca's website and then the indexes will be made available to the public on www.FamilySearch.org   The project will be launched online in 2009 and will eventually have the censuses of 1851,1861,1871,1881,1891, 1901 and 1906.  Toronto Tree, newsletter of the Toronto branch of the Ontario Genealogical Society, November/December 2008.

CHINA
Descendents of Chinese families can now trace their family history online as far back as 2,600 years thanks to www.jiapu.cn a new Ancestry run website.  The site launched in partnership with the Shanghai Library is the only Chinese family history site and contains records of the top 200 Chinese surnames in use today.  It is estimated that some 38 million people of Chinese heritage living outside China will be able to trace their roots online.  The collection will include up to 181 million names from 22,700 Chinese Jiapu family histories. The average Jiapu is recorded in 10 volumes covering a period of up to 300 years.  Family History Monthly, November 2008.

INDIA
The medal index cards of more than 200,000 soldiers of the Indian Army who served in WWl are now available to search and download online. The National Archives is providing this access, and unlike the other WWl Medal rolls, only one medal card for the Indian Army is available per download form http://tinyurl.com/5h78av  Family History Monthly, November 2008.

ITALY
For free Births, Deaths and Marriages visit www.italyfreebmd.org This is a new website that aims to provide a comprehensive list of transcribed births deaths and marriages for Italy.  Currently only a few towns have been transcribed and is a site to remember for the future. Australian Family Tree Connections, November 2008

OTHER
The original release that prompted this clarification was that FamilySearch had announced that it was joining with findmypast.com.  The first joint initiative sought to publish online indexes to censuses for England and Wales from 1841 to 1901. The 1841 and 1861 Census indexes were the first targeted and are now accessible at www.familysearch.org and www.findmypast.com  The Journal of the Huddersfield and District FHS, October 2008.

The Coalmining accidents and deaths database for the UK can be found at the website of the Coalmining History Resource Centre www.cmhrc.co.uk where Ian Winstanley's mining deaths index can also be found.  This database from C.1700 to the present is divided into three sections, deaths and accidents, disasters, and reports and contains some 164,000 records. There is also a Scottish Mining database at www.scottishmining.co.uk whose mining accident section covers the whole of Scotland for 1852-1914.  Queensland Family Historian, Journal of the Queensland FHS, November 2008.

Proquest and Google are partnering in a project to digitise hundreds of millions and ultimately billions of pages from local newspapers.  Pages digitised to date can be searched via the Google news ar­chive.  Family Tree Magazine, December 2008.

Millions of Jewish historical docu­ments are becoming available free of charge on the www.Ancestry.co.uk website after a partnership announced between the Generations Network and www.jewishgen.org  As a result many databases will be integrated and made easier to access using the powerful Ancestry search engine. Practical Family History, October 2008.

The document is made up of extracts from various Genealogical publications and was first published as is, in Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies quarterly magazine 'The Genealogist' December 2008, Volume XII No 8. 

---

GREAT BRITAIN

The British Postal Museum has launched a new interactive "wiki" at its web site.

A wiki is a collaborative web site which can be directly edited by anyone with access to it. The organisation recognised that its web site would only be fully utilised if people were given a reason to keep coming back. Practical Family His­tory, June 2008.

The same publication also notes that the Kent Archaeology Society has nearly 16,000 web pages of free indexed records including memorial inscriptions transcribed in the graveyards of Kent up to 250 years ago.

Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies has launched a free web facility, Hertfordshire Names Online which allows you to search the county's entire index of genealogical materials and documents.  You can also make an online request for a quote of having a document copied and sent to you.  HNO includes eight databases that can be searched separately or together. Practical Family History, June 2008.

The Federation of Family History Societies is gradually transferring its records from http://www.familyhistoryonline.com which has been acquired by Scotland Online. The merger will see the service ScotlandsPeople working closely with firidmypast.com and will enable access to the most complete suite of family history records available online in the UK in one place.  The transfer should be completed by the middle of next year and ScotlandsPeople's online resources will be unaffected by the transfer. Journal of the Cleveland FHS, July 2008.

A new newspaper site        Nineteenth Century Serial Edition has been created as the result of collaboration between Birbeck College, Kings College London and the British Library.  Details can be found in The Manchester Genealogist, Vol 44 No 2 2008.

With over 3,000 entries and another 3,5000 to follow, a new online database of the Royal Monmouthshire Royal En­gineers (Militia) could facilitate in tracing a soldier in the regiment. The Castle Museum holds records covering the men who served in the regiment 1786 to 1976.  Family Tree Magazine, summer 2008.

Cockney Ancestor, journal of The East of London FHS, Summer 2008, states that the organiser of photography at the FRC, says that some 23,500 entries from BMD entries that were illegible of various filmed indexes have been transcribed and placed on FreeBMD.

The Midland Ancestor, journal of the Birmingham and Midland Society for Genealogy and Heraldry, September 2008 reports that the MoD has launched a con­sultative exercise to seek the public's views on transferring the historic Armed Forces Service Personnel records to the National Archives as they have done with the WW1 records. The period under review covers personnel who served between the wars and those who served in the Home Guard inWW2.

The same publication also mentions deceasedonline, a new site currently under development and intended to be the central database for UK burials and cremations from the official records of Municipal Cemeteries and Crematoria. The Leicestershire and Rutland FHS Journal, September 2008, currently the site is available in test mode with records from the Kent and Sussex Crematorium and Tunbridge Wells Cemetery available free of charge.

With the GRO now a part of the Identity and Passport Service, there are now plans to integrate the GRO web site into the DirectGov web site which acts as a portal for many different Government web sites.  Concerns have been expressed that this could make the GRO web site home page much more difficult to find. Leicestershire and Rutland FHS Journal September 2008.

The GRO contract with Siemens, who over the past 3 years have digitised about half the national BMD records, was up for renewal in July and both parties have jointly agreed not to renew it.  At this point there is no indication as to what will hap­pen. Cheshire Ancestor, journal of the FHS of Cheshire, September 2008.

National Archives UK Free Trial is putting hundreds of films online and downloadable into PDF files for FREE.  At present there are nearly 200 films available and many are Royal Navy and War Office, so anyone with Royal Navy and Coastguard connections should check them out.  Some are indexes and/or finding aids to other records, however some include full service records.  Do an advanced search of documents online and chose digital microfilm, and after searching if you see a piece you wish to view proceed as if you are purchasing the image and you will be charged £0.00. Vic Gum Newsletter.

IRELAND
The Irish Family History Foundation pay-per-view online record search has added birth, marriage and death records for counties Antrim, Down and Longford and more church records for East Galway.  There are now more than 11 million records on the site which can be searched free of charge, though to view details will cost £5. Practical Family History, Summer 2008.

The Newsletter of the Surf Coast Family History Group, Autumn-May 2008 states that the Irish Family History Foundation has announced that records of the Co. Sligo Heritage and Genealogy Society are available at their database, adding to it 200,000 baptismal, birth, marriage and death records from the parishes of county Sligo.

The Cobh Genealogical Project is one that involves the computerising of all of the Church of Ireland parish registers for the county of Cork from the microfilm of Church of Ireland registers held in the National Archives. These contain marriage records prior to 1845 and Baptism and Burial records prior to 1970, some go back to 1650 but 1750 is more usual.  To date 200,000 records have been processed, approximately half of the surviving records in the diocese.  The Manchester Genealogist, Vol 44, No 2, 2008.

Limerick City Council is in the pilot phase of their Archive Digitisation project aimed at expanding access to its archive holdings.  A selection of collections from Limerick City Council's own records as well as private papers acquired by the city archives have been scanned in colour.  September 2008.

By July 2008 almost all of Ireland should be covered by an index of transcribed BMD records (including entries from both church registers and civil registration). The central index can be searched at the Online Record search of the Irish Family History Foundation.  Family Tree Magazine,May 2008.

SCOTLAND
The index of Lanarkshire death records for the year 1858 has now been completed at the McKirdy Index site.  Practical Family History, June 2008.

On its Scottish Documents web site the National Archives of Scotland has published a timetable for access to the Scottish church records that have been digitised and are now in use for public access in the NAS search rooms.  These are the records of Kirk sessions, presbyteries, synods and the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland and include minute books, act books, proclamation registers, communion rolls, seat rent books and poor relief accounts.  Also included are the records of secession churches that later rejoined the Church of Scotland.  Images of baptisms and marriages are already available online at ScotlandPeople with burials set to follow.  The NAS has been remote testing for the months November 2007 to June 2008, and it is hoped that from around December 2009 the records will become available via the ScotlandsPeople web site on a pay per view or subscription basis. Practical Family History, Summer 2008.

New charges came into effect at New Register House from April 2008 for customers using the search rooms.  Weekly, four weekly and part day passes are no longer available, and access is now £10 at any time of the day.  Journal of the Central Scotland FHS, Autumn/September 2008.

CANADA
That's My Family or 'Voici Ma Famille' is a new free search tool available in both English and French that searches geneal­ogy and family history databases hosted by Canadian federal, provincial or terri­tory archives centres and libraries as well as those of several commercial partners.  That's My Family hosts no data of its own and is a search engine similar to Google that indexes data found on other sites.  Practical Family Historysummer 2008.

NEW ZEALAND
The Register of Otago and Southland Marriages 1848 to 1920 includes all known Presbyterian marriages for the provinces of Otago and southland 1848 to 1920 (exclud­ing the First Church Invercargill).  Searches are free and copies of the original marriage certificates, if held, may be purchased.  Australian Family Tree Connections, August 2008.

USA
Scanned images of Arizona birth cer­tificates 1855 to 1932 and death certificates 1844 to 1957 are available, and details of images of death certificates from Georgia 1914 to 1927.  Relatively Speaking.  Journal of the Alberta Genealogical Society August 2008.

OTHER
The Vatican has ordered Catholic parishes throughout the world not to co­operate with the LDS in the microfilming of records, particularly baptismal registers, in an attempt to prevent posthumous rebaptisms. It is not clear how this order will affect the LDS digitisation project. Practical Family History,summer 2008.

The same publication notes that Findmypast has added a free Help and Advice section to its website with tips to help peo­ple over obstacles in their research as well as providing information on the background to the records and step-by-step guidance about searching them

The document is made up of extracts from various Genealogical publications and was first published as is, in Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies quarterly magazine 'The Genealogist' September 2008, Volume XIII No 7. 

 

Great Britain
A Directory of medical licences issued by the Archbishop of Canterbury 1535-1775, although rather specialised, has been indexed by the Lambeth Palace Library and is available free of charge from http://www.lambethpalacelibrary.org If an entry of interest is located you can order a photocopy of the original. Source - Root and Branch, journal of the West Surrey FHS, March 2008.

Findmypast.com has added another 1.2 million records from the National Burial Index to its online resources. The new records have been provided by the Somerset and Dorset FHS and the East of London FHS. Source - Family History Monthly, April 2008.

The admission records of the Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital from 1852 to 1914 are available online. Registration is not mandatory but you can access more detail if you do. At a later date the records for Cromwell House, the hospital's convalescent home, will be made available. Source - The Researcher, newsletter of the Gympie FHS, April 2008.

Findmypast.com have added the 2006 Marriage data to their BDM index, but due to the transfer of responsibility for the official records from the ONS to the Passport Office, who have a completely different approach to access, no more BDM information will be allowed to be posted. Source - The Midland Ancestor, journal of the Birmingham and Midland Society for Genealogy and Heraldry, June 2008.

Root and Branch, journal of the West Surrey FHS, June 2008 adds more information to the above stating that the Provisional indexes for Births and deaths, 2007 are available at the National Archives, the Greater Manchester County record Office, Birmingham Central library and Plymouth Central Library. Each of these centres will receive the GRO indexes for more modern events as and when they become available and these arrangements will continue until GRO is able to offer free access to its indexes through the internet.

Findmypast.com anticipates that by 2009 they will have more UK Census documents than any other organisation. They plan to commence the transcription of the 1911 census in 2009. Source - The Journal of the Peterborough and District FHS, June 2008.

The same publication also states that an online archive of First World war memorabilia is to be launched on November 11, 90 years after Armistice Day, at www.thegreatwararchive.com

The same publication also notes that Ancestry.co.uk has done a deal with Rod Neep to host 1300 of Archive CD Books UK collection online now that that business has ceased operation.

Family Tree Magazine, February 2008, notes that the inbound passenger lists (BT26) of those who returned to Britain will become available through Ancestry.co.uk for the years 1878 to 1933 in 2008.

Illawarra Branches, journal of the Illawarra Family History Group, June 2008, cites Richard Eastman (May 14 2008) in announcing that the fully indexed Surrey Will Abstracts from the 15th to 19th century of all 28,000 wills proved in the Archdeaconry and Consistory Courts (and known to still exist) are available online at British Origins. The indexes include the name of every person mentioned, and searches can be made by name or date using the "free text" facility.

The Old Bailey Proceedings Online web site now has twice the number of court records, and now can assist researchers trace their criminal London relatives from the Great Fire to 1913. Researchers from the Universities of Sheffield and Hertfordshire and the Open University have doubled the size of the original web site. Source - Family History Monthly, July 2008.

There seems to have been a change in the digitisation of the Chelsea Pensioner Records reported in The Genealogist, June 2007. Findmypast and Family Search have been awarded licences by The National Archives U.K. and will make available the following records: Chelsea Pensioner and Militia records. The three year digitisation project will scan 8 million images from the War Office's Royal Hospital Chelsea Soldiers Service documents from 1870 to 1913. The records include each ex serviceman's name, age, birthplace and service history, as well as details of physical appearance, conduct sheet, previous occupation and sometimes the reason for discharge. After 1833 details of marriage and children may appear. The partnership will also digitise the Board of Trade's merchant seamen records from 1835 to 1844, and 1918 to 1941. Source - The Endeavour, journal of the Botany Bay FHS, June 2008.

The same publication also notes that UK Marriages for the last quarter of 1925 are not able to be accessed on Ancestry.co.uk. It is anticipated that the problem will eventually be rectified.

Ireland
The Irish Family History Foundation which I mentioned in the last Genealogist as anticipating their index to be available online in April, has now indicated a date of July 2008. An all Ireland search facility has now been added. Source - Practical Family History, April 2008.

The National Library of Ireland is now allowing public access to the Roman Catholic registers for Cashel and Emly,

Cloyne and Kerry. The reopening of Cashel and Emly is of major importance for those trying to trace their ancestry in an area covering almost half of Co Tipperary as well as a large part of East Limerick. Source - Kith and Kin, journal of the Cape Banks FHS, June 2008.

Griffiths Valuation of Ireland has now been placed online by Ancestry.co.uk Source - Family History Monthly, July 2008.

Wales
The Index to Welsh Wills is available on the Access to Archives web site. If you put the surname in the search box and select the National Library of Wales from the Archives, it provides probate records the earliest of which date from the 16th century. Source - Family Tree Magazine March 2008, cited in Msmanian Ancestry, journal of the Tasmanian FHS, June 2008.

Scotland
The Scottish Archive Network's digital archive offers online access to the Highland and Islands Emigration Society passenger lists 1852 to 1857 at www.scan.org.uk/researchrtools/emigration.htm The lists are organised by ship and family. They record name, age, residence and sometimes notes on health and situation. Source - The Ancestral Searcher, journal of the Heraldry and Genealogy Society of Canberra, June 2008.

Australia
Digger History is an extensive web site. providing an unofficial history of the Australian and New Zealand armed services. Source - Illawarra Branches, journal of the Illawarra Family History Group, June 2008.

Victoria
St Kilda Cemetery is available for a deceased search on the Necropolis web site.

Canada
About 29 million French-Canadian records are now available on the Ancestry web site. as part of a joint project with the University of Montreal. The names are part of the Drouin Collection which contains Quebec records from 1621 to 1947. A further eight million baptism, marriage and burial records will go online by the end of the year. Those wishing to find if they have any Canadian connections can search the Drouin Collection on Ancestry.co.uk. Source - Family History Monthly, July 2008.

U.S.A.
The New York Times articles published from September 1851 are now available, indexed and digitised. Those from 1851 to 1962 and since 1987 are free, there is a charge for those from 1922 to 1987. Source - Root and Branch, journal of the West Surrey FHS, March 2008.

Other
The LDS Church is to cease support for PAF when their new program "New Family Search" is fully available. PAF users will have several options open to them if they wish to benefit from changes and improvements. Source - The Midland Ancestor, journal of the Birmingham and Midland Society for Genealogy and Heraldry, June 2008.

The US Holocaust Memorial Museum is now accepting requests for searches of its International Tracing Service records. A digital copy of part of the ITS Bad Arolsen Archives containing 12 million documents was handed over to Yad Vashem, and Yad Vashem expects to receive the entire ITS archive by the end of 201O. A form is available on the internet and priority will be given to Holocaust survivors and their families. Source - Newsletter of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain, April 2008.

Please understand that although each of these sites were checked prior to publication, due to the dynamic nature of the Internet, Keighley & District Family History Society can not be held responsible for any inappropriate, offensive or incorrect content that may be discovered.

The document is made up of extracts from various Genealogical publications and was first published as is, in Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies quarterly magazine 'The Genealogist' June 2008, Volume XII No 6. 

UNITED KINGDOM

http://www.nmm.ac.uk/ - The premier portal of high quality maritime resources on the Internet which includes Maritime Memorials and the National Register of Historic vessels, you can either search or browse by subject. Click on Collections or type in your query into the box on the top of the page.

http://www.mightyseas.co.uk - a site on maritime history entitled "Through Mighty Seas" which is maintained by an enthusiast of merchant sailing ships of the NW of England. Provides alphabetical listings of sailing vessels and there are hyperlinks to more information for some, with a brief history of the vessel provided and in some cases, a photograph.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~puxty/ a great little site concentrating on the records of Coast guards on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent in the 1841 through to 1891 censuses, with full transcription including families.

The HMS Cavalier Association has opened a free searchable online database at www.hmscavalier.org.uk listing all those who died in U. K. destroyers during WW2.   This accounts for 11,000 servicemen killed in action. Family Tree Magazine, November 2007.

The free British History online site, www.british-history.ac.uk now includes transcriptions of London Consistory Court wills from 1492-1547. Practical Family History, November 2007. The October issue of this magazine mentions that the Index for about 31,000 wills and administrations proved at the Diocese of London's Consistory Court is now online at the City of London web site and will become fully searchable early this year as part of the LMA new online catalogue of holdings.

The Federation of Family History Societies plans to make its online records available on www.findmypast.com Currently they are available on the FFHS web site, www.familyhistoryonline.net and the transfer of records to Find My Past will be gradual, being accessible there until summer 2008. By the middle of this year the transfer of records will be completed. Family Tree Magazine, December 2007.

The same publication states that thou­sands of Militia Records are now available on the British Origins database - over 22,000. This means that British Origins has over 86,000 recruits listed on www.originsnetwork.com with information taken from Militia Attestations which contain quite a bit of genealogical information. For Irish Militia recruits you should consult the Irish Origins database which has 12,000 individuals.

The National Archives has made available online the wills of 35,000 men who joined the Royal Navy between 1786 and 1882. The documents which are the original wills of warrant officers and seaman can be searched for free and downloaded at the usual cost of £3.60 per image. They can be searched by name, date, ship's name, address executor or beneficiary. Family History Monthly, March 2008.

The Midland Ancestor, journal of the Birmingham and Midland Society for Genealogy and Heraldry, March 2006, advises that National Archives associated www.bmdregisters.co.uk site is to be augmented by adding the following records shortly: Quakers; people who were born, married or died upon a ship; clandestine marriages and overseas records.

The British Library, which was intending to phase out the paper copies of newspaper held at their Colindale site between 2007 - 2011 has now agreed that all the paper copies will remain until 2011; and where no viewing was to be permitted at Boston Spa, they will now allow access there, where no digital or microfilm copies exist, provided the quality of the material is good enough. Journal of the Dorset FHS, December 2007.

www.noah.norfolk.gov.uk is Norfolk Online Access to Heritage, an excellent site for those with Norfolk ancestry. A search can be made of the Norfolk Record catalogue, and some of the original documents such as the Consistory Court of Norwich wills 1800-1856 have been digitised and can be viewed free of charge. Roots and Branches, journal of the Flexstowe FHS, March 2008.

The Proceedings of the Old Bailey 1674-1913 containing nearly 200,000 trials at London's Central Criminal Court is now available at www.hrionline.ac.uk/ccc/index.jsp  

WW11 Air Combat reports were made available on the National Archives web site in December. These give the name of around 20,000 British Airmen. You can also find Commonwealth and Allied Units based in the UK including the USAAF. Bedfordshire FHS Journal, March 2008.

SCOTLAND

Scotlandspeople birth and death indexes now span the years 1855-2006. It is intended that marriages too will be extended from 1932 to 2006. The images for the documents outside the historical period have not been digitised and cannot be purchased through the web site, but the indexes like those in England enable an application to be made to the GROS.

Another item from the Tay Valley Family Historian, journal of the Tay Valley FHS, February 2008 indicates that ancestry. co. uk now has a database containing a collection of index cards referencing articles and announcements found in several Perth area newspapers from 1809-1990 (with a gap in coverage from 1890-1920). Most of the cards refer to births, deaths, retirements, golden and diamond wedding anniversaries, personal achievements or tragedies.

NORTHERN IRELAND

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland's web site was re-launched in January 2008. In addition to the Ulster Covenant and freeholders databases previously avail­able, the web site now includes the 1858 to 1920 Will Calendars Index. There are over 148,000 entries. This is the first phase of a project to index and digitise all the early wills proved in the District Probate Regis­tries of Armagh, Belfast and Londonderry from 1858 to 1900. It provides a fully searchable index to the will calendars for these 3 District Probate Registries with the ability to view the entire will calendar entry for each successful search.

IRELAND

The Journal of the Dorset FHS, December 2007writes of a Canadian web site www.irishindex.ca/index.asp which claims to give Irish birth, marriage and death data including newspaper reports. It is a pay per view site and a search can be made on a name or place and a table showing the number a various events recorded and the place and date for each is presented. There is a cost should you wish to view the full entry. News Sheet of the Irish FHS, Spring 2008.

The Irish Family History Foundation was hoping to have the records of the Family History Research Centres available on it web site by April 2008. This was launched as the Irish Genealogical Online Research Service on 12 March 2008. Details of the records are specified for each centre and a number of centres in additional to church registers also include Civil Records. A facility to search across the centres is also available. This is a pay per view site, with the initial search free. News Sheet of the Irish FHS, Spring 2008.

OTHER

In what may be a precedent a family history society has joined with Ancestry. The New England Genealogical Society is going to offer joint access to its material on Ancestry.com and vice versa. Family Tree Magazine, December 2007.

An article in the Geneva Tribune suggests that the Prisoner of War records for WWl are going to be made available to the public. The Red Cross has set the date for their release of 2014 which will be the centenary of the beginning of this conflict. The records comprise some 2,400 volumes of information and 5,000 boxes of index cards containing individual reports, and the date of release is cannot be any earlier. The Manchester Genealogist, journal of the Manchester and Lancashire FHS, Vol 44 No 1 2008.

The LDS have opened a new beta test site for the new Record Search - the Family Search labs. This site has some of the digitised images and some are indexed. The majority of the records so far are for the USA, but they do have the Ontario Death records 1869-1947 and they are indexed. The only indexed records for England at this time are for Cheshire, although they have images for some parishes in Cumberland, Durham, North Durham, Northumberland and York. VicGum News, newsletter of the Victorian GUM, April 2008.

TRANSLATIONS

http://babelfish.altavista.com - do you need to translate any other language to English? Then try the Babel Fish translation site which will translate a block of text up to 150 words or just a web page.

Please understand that although each of these sites were checked prior to publication, due to the dynamic nature of the Internet, Keighley & District Family History Society can not be held responsible for any inappropriate, offensive or incorrect content that may be discovered.