What’s Coming on Ancestry UK

New Collections coming include

Glamorganshire, Wales, Electoral Registers, 1832-1978 —35,226,372 records and 455,794 images being added. It’s an Ancestry exclusive.

Staffordshire Parish Register Indexes\ — 7,176,340 records being added

Diocese of Lichfield and Coventry, England, Indexes of Wills and Probate, 1518-1858 — 504,135 records being added

UK, Blitz 80th Anniversary Artwork, 1940-1941 —80 records and images being added. Exclusive to Ancestry.

Updates coming

Welsh Parish Records. Updates include place data including Denbighshire, Glamorgan, Brecknockshire and Anglesey, so that names are both more accurate as well as enabling users to search for both Welsh and English place names

UK and Ireland, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960 — Improving keying accuracy and completeness for passengers travelling on Montserrat and Windrush ships

UK and Ireland, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960 — Adding records for ‘War Brides’ – passengers travelling after WWII to Canada and US after/before marrying servicemen in the UK.

 

FreeBMD July Update

The FreeBMD Database was updated on Thursday 1 July to contain 280,862,829  unique records (280,520,033 at the previous update). Years with major additions of more than 10,000 records are, for births 1986-87 and 1990-91, for marriages 1986-90 and for deaths 1986-87 and 1989-90. 

Your Genealogy Today: July/Aug 2021

Here are the contents of the forthcoming issue, available on 12 July.

COVER STORY: Drawing Them In
Sue Lisk suggests ways to get family and relatives interested in genealogy

TUBERCULOSIS:
From Maine Cornfields to California Orange Groves
Merrylyn Sawyer looks at the TB outbreak of the early 20th century in the US

“Shhhh! I’ll Let You In On a Secret
Our Female Ancestors Are Found in Ledgers” — Part 1 By Diane L. Richard

No Time Like the Present: Crafting Your Memoir
Lisa A. Alzo shares why now is the perfect time to leave your legacy for future generations

Bastardy Bonds
David A. Norris says family secrets may be the reason for genealogical “Brick Walls”

The Case of the Missing Grandfather
Gerald R. Gioglio offers a genealogical mystery with a touch of mysticism

In Memoriam
Sue Lisk shares ideas for paying tribute to a loved one

My 19th Century Relatives Were Coronavirus Precursors
Stephen L.W. Greene looks back to 1833 and the Cholera outbreak in Ellettsville, Indiana

Whodunit Fiction for Genealogy Lovers
Robbie Gorr wonders if reading too many genealogical mystery books can help or hinder our personal genealogical research efforts

Tradition is a Chronic Deceiver
Donna Potter Phillips says never accept a family traditional story at face value

Bad Luck Collisions with History
Lynn Cassity looks at one man’s run of bad luck and how his family chose to memorialize him

The Back Page:
Record Your COVID-19 Experiences for Your Family History’s Sake!
Dave Obee says it’s important to keep a written record for future generations

Six New Irish Collections from Ancestry

Over 2.2 million Irish records were just posted on Ancestry, although dated 28 June.

Title Records
Ireland, Crew Lists and Shipping Agreements, 1863-1920 861,868
Ireland, Indexes to Wills, Probate Administration, Marriage Bonds and Licences, 1591-1866 836,216
Ireland, Census Fragments, 1821-1851 357,733
Ireland, National School Registers, 1847-1959 157,855
Ireland, Wills and Grants of Probate, 1858-1900 32,858
Ireland, Registers of Wills and Administrations, 1828-1885 15,671

These are all sourced from the (Irish) National Archives; check out their genealogy resources at https://genealogy.nationalarchives.ie/.

Ancestry Updates Obituary Index Collection

The following Ancestry collections, taken from newspaper obits, updated on 24 June 2021 were made available on 28 June.

Canada, Obituary Collection, 1898-Current now has 9,387,518 records, increased from 8,926,805 records at the beginning of December.

UK and Ireland, Obituary Index, 2004-2019 has 6,470,815 records, up from 6,029,096 records last December.

Australia and New Zealand, Obituary Index, 2004-Current has  1,982,265 1,982,265 records, up from 1,891,525 records last December.

U.S., Obituary Collection, 1930-Current has 191,120,426 records.

 

 

British Newspaper Archive June Additions

The British Newspaper Archive now has a total of 43,214,356  pages online (42,915,614 last month).

This month 29 papers had pages added (65 in the previous month). There were 9 (29) new titles. Dates range from 1801 to 1999

Those with more than 10,000 pages added were:

TITLE DATE RANGE
Croydon Observer 1864-1895, 1898-1904
Daily Record 1895-1896, 1898, 1901-1902, 1908-1910, 1921, 1931-1932, 1936-1937, 1946, 1950, 1952-1954
Essex Times 1870, 1873, 1875, 1878, 1880-1882, 1884-1888, 1890-1896, 1898-1899, 1903-1907, 1909-1913
Evening Irish Times 1896-1904, 1906-1914
Fermanagh Times 1887, 1889-1890, 1901-1927
Kentish Express 1979-1982
Morning Herald (London) 1801-1807, 1809-1810, 1819-1828, 1837-1844, 1846-1852, 1861-1862, 1864-1869
Staffordshire Newsletter 1907-1915, 1917-1971, 1973-1985
West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser 1991-1999

This Week’s Online Genealogy Events

Choose from free online events in the next five days. All times are ET except as noted. Those in red are Canadian, bolded if local to Ottawa. Assume registration in advance is required; check so you’re not disappointed.

Tuesday 29 June, 2 pm:  Virtual Genealogy Drop-In, from Ottawa Branch of OGS and The Ottawa Public Library. https://ottawa.ogs.on.ca/events/.

Tuesday 29 June, 2:30 pm: Discovering Your Ancestors in Poorhouse Records, by Elizabeth Hodges for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center, (US-oriented). https://acpl.libnet.info/event/5191925

Wednesday 30 June, 11 am: A Hard Lot to Labour: Exploring Occupations, by Rose Stevely-Wadham for Findmypast. www.facebook.com/findmypast

Wednesday 30 June, 2 pm: Genealogy for Houses, by Jeanie F Glaser for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.  (US-oriented). https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar_details.php?webinar_id=1633

Friday 2 July, 11 am: Friday’s Live. with Alex Cox for Findmypast. www.facebook.com/findmypast

Saturday 3 July, 2 pm:  Chipping Away at the Brick Wall, by Ken McKinlay for Simcoe Branch OGS. https://simcoe.ogs.on.ca/events/simcoe-county-branch-chipping-away-at-the-brick-wall-with-ken-mckinlay/

Coming

19 – 26 September 2021: BIFHSGO Conference. Irish Lines and Female Finds: Exploring Irish records, female ancestors and genetic genealogy. www.bifhsgo2021.ca/.

The New Canadian Maximum Temperature Record

As a former meteorologist, I can’t let the recording-breaking heat recorded on Sunday go unmentioned.

Here’s the tweet.

Lytton’s official high-temperature today June 27, 2021 is 46.6 C. Lytton BC now holds the record for Canada’s all time maximum high. The previous record was 45.0 C set on July 5, 1937 at Yellow Grass, and Midale, SK.

Part of a Canadian weather-person’s common knowledge was the records — hottest temperature in Yellow Grass, SK, and the coldest in Snag, YT. 

The record will not be official until the thermometer that recorded it is recalibrated. Perhaps the Science and Technology Museum will ask to have it donated as a bit of Canadian history.

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UK Past Weather

There are several sources for historical weather information for the UK.

One of the most accessible as it hits the highlights of more extreme events is WEATHER IN HISTORY 11,000BC TO PRESENT.  In half-decade periods since 1600, and even back further learn about the weather events that may have disrupted your ancestor’s life.

The British Meteorological Office Digital Library and Archive website includes various resources listed under UK Observations. The most valuable if you’re looking for daily information is Daily Weather Report /Daily Weather Summary with data from 1860 onward. Choose a date in your UK family history and find out the weather on that day.

British newspapers often covered weather including in regular commentary columns. If you have access to newspapers.com try The Guardian, available with the Publishers Extra subscription.  Try newspapers available through Findmypast and the British Newspaper Archive.

A recent source for monthly rainfall, freely available files ready to be loaded into a spreadsheet, is the product of a crowdsource project described in the article Citizen Scientists Digitized Centuries of Handwritten Rain Data.

Military Monday: Battalion Photos

Following up on a post about CEF Infantry Battalions information came an email asking where a photo of the  183rd Btn might be found. I didn’t know.

Battalions with higher numbers were used for recruiting and training, then dispersed once in Europe. The 183rd, headquartered in Winnipeg, went through that in 1916. My best suggestion was to contact the Archives of Manitoba and City of Winnipeg Archives.

On Saturday the OGS eWeekly had an item Archives of Ontario Shares Photos to Wikimedia Commons. Included is a high-quality example of the type of photo, this for Soldiers of the 227th Regiment, Gore Bay.

If you know of a source for a photo of the 183rd please post a comment.