Family History News, 11 Aug 2019

Some people apparently didn't receive my email newsletter, so I'll post it here.

News

• In the past month, over 46,000 records have been added to the Ryerson Index. This is a truly magnificent online resource. Ryerson Index entries often include age, place of death, place of residence etc, which can lead you to other sources. Some entries are for death/funeral notices that you can see in Trove. Others are for newspapers that you'll find at a State Library.


• On August 4th I added more names to the Insanity and Unsound Mind index, which now has more than 20,000 entries. This latest batch included surnames beginning with B, C, D, K, L, N and O.


• There have recently been significant improvements to Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages online indexes for Victoria.


• The City of London Cemetery and Crematorium (England) has made 440,000 digitised records, dating from 24 June 1856 to 7 Oct 1955, available online (free) as part of a pilot scheme. Select the time period that you want to search, then scroll through the images.

Specials

Genealogy Discounts and Freebies currently has links for these new discount offers:

• During Aug 2019, downloadable historical birth, death and marriage certificates for Victoria cost just $20.


• Until midnight (AEST) tonight (11 Aug 2019), full transcriptions of historical birth, death and marriage certificates for New South Wales are just $18.


• Copies of Queensland's old age pension records are half price until 9am on 15 Aug 2019.


• Until 14 Aug 2019, AncestryDNA tests *in the UK only* are cheaper.


• During Aug 2019, new members pay a reduced price to join the Queensland Family History Society.


• During Aug 2019, Family Tree DNA has discounts of between $20 and $150 depending on which test or upgrade you order.

More details are on Genealogy Discounts and Freebies.

New publications

• A new edition of Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (by Chris Paton) has just been published.


• Today I noticed that my favourite online book store has the new edition of The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy listed at a reduced price, with free delivery worldwide. I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of my copy.

Research tips

Genealogy software won't always warn you when you enter nonsense (eg, someone dying at age 150, or children born after the mother's death date). I recently added this comment to a tree on Ancestry:

'Sarah Jane NICHOLSON is my great-great-grandmother. Your tree says her father was Richard NICHOLSON, born c.1781, who married Mary MILLER 27 Feb 1775. That's impossible - he can't have married before he was born. And the Mary MILLER who married Richard NICHOLSON in 1775 cannot be the mother of Sarah Jane NICHOLSON born c.1830, because by then Mary would probably have been in her 70s.'

To avoid making silly mistakes like this, I recommend using FTAnalyzer (available for Windows and Mac) to find errors in your tree.

Success story

I recently broke down a long-standing genealogy 'brick wall' when I succeeded in identifying another set of 5xgreat-grandparents. My favourite genealogy research strategy worked once again! More details are in How I Found Sarah Sheppard's Parents.

Events

This week I'm going to Brisbane for the first of the 'DNA Down Under' conferences. Similar events will be held in Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney. If you want to book for one of those cities but you live in the Northern Territory, Tasmania or New Zealand, email the organisers and ask for a special discount coupon code for NT/Tas/NZ residents. Note that the Sydney programme is almost entirely different from those in the other five cities. Details are on the DNA Down Under web site. Those who pre-book are entered into a prize draw, with a total prize pool of more than $17,000.

Did You Know?

Members of the Queensland Family History Society can (as a benefit of membership) have free access to the genealogy site MyHeritage from your home computer (via the society's website).

Questions?

Genealogy is my *business*, not just a hobby. My Web site has lots of free advice, plus details of my professional services. Before you ask me a question, please read both of these pages and follow relevant links:

* http://www.judywebster.com.au/prof.html

* http://www.judywebster.com.au/index.html.

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(This post first appeared on https://updatesgenie.blogspot.com/2019/08/family-history-news-11-aug-2019.html.)

No.53 (British Isles and European Ancestors)

Between 8th and 26th August 2017, family historians in Australia and New Zealand will have a unique opportunity to hear leading international genealogists Chris Paton and Dirk Weissleder explain how to research our British Isles and European ancestors.

I mentioned this briefly in a previous edition of UpdatesGenie and on my Facebook page, but here are a few more details.

Chris and Dirk will give a series of presentations in Brisbane, Auckland, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide and Perth during Unlock the Past's genealogy roadshow entitled Researching Abroad: Finding British Isles and European Ancestors.

Every time I've heard Chris Paton speak about Scottish and Irish genealogy, I've learned a lot (and the learning process has been fun). Dirk Weissleder (from Germany) is new to me, but he comes highly recommended by colleagues whose opinion I trust, and I'm sure he will inspire me to resume work on my STEINKE and RIENECKER family trees. While Chris and Dirk catch their breath between talks, local speakers will briefly describe British and European resources held by libraries and societies here. In each Australian city there will also be an introductory talk about using DNA as a tool for genealogy.

In some cities it may be possible to simply arrive and pay on the day, but if you pre-book you will save money, and you will also go in the prize draw. The prize pool is expected to total at least $10,000 over all six Australian cities.

On the roadshow's main page, click on your preferred city to see full programme details and a booking form for that venue. There are also links to pages about the speakers, prizes, special offers, sponsors and exhibitors.

The roadshow starts in Brisbane, and I'm looking forward to catching up with friends and colleagues there. We don't often see such renowned international speakers here, so make the most of this opportunity!

(This post first appeared on https://updatesgenie.blogspot.com/2017/07/no53-british-isles-and-european.html.)

No.52 (genealogy news and tips worldwide)

Links open in new windows. If you share the tips below, the Creative Commons license requires that you acknowledge the source as http://updatesgenie.blogspot.com.

• Asylum casebook:   I've indexed another Goodna mental asylum case book, and the names are on my Web site.


• Council records:   Local Government Records for Family History has been updated and expanded.


• Cooroy/Noosa:   Cooroy-Noosa Genealogy Group has a new purpose-built building (the Heritage Centre) at 17 Emerald Street, Cooroy.


• E-book:   Using Macs and iPads for Genealogy, by Nancy Loe, is available as an e-book (59-page PDF download).



• Parish registers:   Many original parish register images for Cheshire, Devon, Hertfordshire, East Kent, Leicestershire, Rutland, Shropshire, South Yorkshire, Staffordshire, Wales, Westminster, Yorkshire North Riding and Yorkshire East Riding (with more coming soon) are online only at Findmypast and nowhere else; and for the next few days you can view them without a subscription, as explained below.


• Free British/Irish records:   Until 11:59pm BST Monday 26 June 2017 (which is 8:59am AEST Tues 27 June), there's free access to over 1.1 billion British and Irish records on Findmypast.


• Recommended reading:
  
  Common Latin Words for Genealogical Research. If your ancestors were Catholic, many of their church records will be in Latin.
  
  Widen the Search: a Genealogy Success Story includes links to the online sources I used.


• Document copies:   If you want copies of the original records that I've indexed, or if you just want source references so you can do the work yourself, send a request soon, because I've temporarily reduced many of my fees. Follow links from the list of sources.



• Roadshow:   If you have British Isles or German research, come to Unlock the Past's 'Researching Abroad' genealogy roadshow during August. Two top international speakers (Chris Paton and Dirk Weissleder) will be in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide, Perth and Auckland. Pre-book if you want to save money and go in the prize draw (total value about $1500).


• Talks:   I am giving free family history talks/workshops at Tully and Wongaling Beach on 11 July 2017 and at the Sunshine Coast on 24 Aug 2017.

(This post first appeared on http://updatesgenie.blogspot.com/2017/06/no52-genealogy-news-and-tips-worldwide.html.)
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No.51 (genealogy news and tips worldwide)

Links open in new windows. If you share the tips below, the Creative Commons license requires that you acknowledge the source as http://updatesgenie.blogspot.com.

• 10% discount:   Until 11:59pm (BST) Sunday 7 May 2017 (which is early on Monday 8th Australian time) Findmypast is giving new and lapsed subscribers 10% off the cost of a 12 month World subscription if you use Findmypast.co.uk or Findmypast.ie or Findmypast.com. You can subscribe there even if you live in Australia/NZ. If two or more people share a computer and/or an email address, only one of you can take up this offer. If you need a separate email address, I recommend a free Gmail account.


• Queensland:  Over 4,000 new records have been added to the Queensland School Pupils Index, which now has over 1.6 million names from 1,022 schools.


• UK parish records:   Findmypast, through their exclusive partnership with the Federation of Family History Societies, has the largest online collection of UK parish records. Recent additions include records for Devon, Kent and Wiltshire. Find out how best to search them.


• 1861 source:   Researching someone aged 14 or older in 1861? Try searching the British Army Worldwide Index 1861, which covers units serving in Britain and the British Empire.


• Missing records:   Find out what records are missing from UK censuses (links are on the left side of the page).


• Catholic records:   Scottish records have been added to the Catholic Heritage Collection. Most of the collection has never before been available to the public.


• Scotland:   Viewing images on Scotland's People.


• Ireland:   The Irish Genealogy website and workbook will guide you through the free online resources that exist.


• Evernote:   Lisa Louise Cooke explains an innovative way to use Evernote for genealogy - create your own genealogy library for easy on-the-go reference.


• Giveaways:   Prizes up for grabs here last week were a 12 month subscription to Findmypast (value: about $114) and a choice of five genealogy-related items (value: about $30). Winners' names are on the Prize Draws and Competitions page.

(This post first appeared on http://updatesgenie.blogspot.com/2017/05/no51-genealogy-news-and-tips-worldwide.html.)
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No.48 (genealogy news and tips worldwide)

Links open in new windows. If you share the tips below, the Creative Commons license requires that you acknowledge the source as http://updatesgenie.blogspot.com.

• Irish records FREE:   The largest online collection of Irish records (more than 116 million records, including images) will be FREE until 11.59pm (GMT) Friday 17 Mar 2017.


• AncestryDNA:   Until 19 Mar 2017, save up to 30% on Ancestry's DNA test for genealogy (the one you've seen advertised on TV).


• More discounts:   New discount offers (relevant worldwide) are coming soon, so check Genealogy Discounts and Freebies this weekend. If you use ChangeDetection to monitor that page, log in at www.changedetection.com and edit your alert for http://www.judywebster.com.au/specials.html to 'daily'. If new offers are added twice in one week, you will then be alerted twice instead of missing one.


• Conference & Fair:   The 'Footsteps in Time' Family and Local History Conference and free Fair is at Southport (Gold Coast, Queensland), 19th to 21st May 2017. I'm looking forward to it. Conference registration closes 14th April.


• Catholic records:   The Catholic Heritage Collection (available only on FindMyPast) is a growing online digitised and indexed collection of Roman Catholic records for Ireland, Britain and the USA. Most of the records have never before been accessible by the public, either offline or online.


• Electoral rolls:   You can do either a name search or an address search in the Australian electoral rolls collection at FindMyPast. The new search page explains which State and Commonwealth rolls are included. There are some for Queensland, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and Western Australia, and more rolls will be added in the future. Ignore the 'birth year' search field (it doesn't help).


• Gen-Ebooks:   Genealogy Ebooks (known as Gen-Ebooks) is one of Australia's largest Ebook stores for genealogy. They currently have over 550 titles, with more being added every month, all instantly downloadable. They offer four 50% discount specials each month.


• Web pages from GEDCOM:   GedSite by John Cardinal is a new program that creates 'family tree Web pages from GEDCOM files. It generates narrative or grid style person pages, a master index, a surname index, source pages and any other pages you want to add. You can review the pages on your own computer before you share them via DVD or flash drive or publish them on the Web. I expect GedSite to be even more popular than John's other program (SecondSite for The Master Genealogist, which I use to create the family tree on my Website).


• Digitised records:   Many records from around the world have been digitised but not indexed. You just have to know how to find them! See Image-Only Collections.


• 53,000 names:   You'll find information about an amazing number of interstate and overseas folk, as well as locals, in records at Queensland State Archives. My Web site has over 53,000 names from original documents there. See the list of record types, with links to alphabetical lists of names.

(This post first appeared on http://updatesgenie.blogspot.com/2017/03/no48-genealogy-news-and-tips-worldwide.html.)
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No.47 (genealogy news and tips worldwide)

If you share these tips/links, the Creative Commons license requires that you acknowledge the source as http://updatesgenie.blogspot.com. Links open in new windows.

• Customs House records:   The index to passengers and crew in Queensland Customs House shipping lists 1852-1885 is now online. It includes over 90 lists that are not in Qld State Archives' assisted immigration index. Departure ports are Batavia, Boston, Dundee, Glasgow, Greenock, Hamburg, Hong Kong, Liverpool, London, New York, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Plymouth, Queenstown (Ireland), Singapore, San Francisco, Sydney, South Sea Islands and Southampton.


• Not just names:   What were your ancestors really like as people?  7 Ways to Get to Know Your Ancestors Better describes some resources that may answer that question. Records could be in an unexpected country, so search widely.


• Illegitimate children:   On 14 Jan 2017 I added more names to the page about illegitimate children whose father is identified in a document in Archives. The Web page may list either the child or the child's mother, and it explains how to order copies of original records. Researching Illegitimate Children is one of my mini-guides.


• 1939 Register:   The 1939 Register for England/Wales now has over 5 million more records than it did at launch. Millions of closed records were opened during 2016, so check whether you can now see parts of the image that were previously hidden.


• Intermittent research:   If you only do family history intermittently, a one month subscription is a good way to view online records. Note, though, that the 1939 Register for England/Wales is only available with FindMyPast's 12 month 'World' or 'Britain' subscription.


• Photos:   The Most Important Question to Ask Cousins About Old Photos. If only I'd thought of this when my grandmother was alive!


• Books & microfilms:   The real reason why you shouldn't reshelve genealogy books (this also applies to microfilm in all libraries and Archives).


• Irish folklore:   'Local Marriage Customs' is one of many interesting items in the Irish Schools Folklore Collection (a treasure trove for family historians).


• Ancestry.com:   Why you should make copies of what you post on Ancestry.com.


• Western Australia:   I came across an interesting site for family and local history on the central goldfields of Western Australia.

(This post first appeared on http://updatesgenie.blogspot.com/2017/01/no47-genealogy-news-and-tips-worldwide.html.)
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No.44 (genealogy news and discounts worldwide)

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• FindMyPast discount:   Until 11:59pm on Tues 6 Sep 2016, new subscribers can pay just $1 (one dollar) for a 1 month FindMyPast world subscription. That's a saving of 95%! Un-tick 'Auto-renew' in the MyAccount section of the site. Read why I use and recommend FindMyPast.


• Passenger lists:   I was excited to see that images of Victoria coastal passenger lists 1852-1924 are now online. They list people travelling locally as well as immigrants from overseas. For many people attracted by Australia's gold rush, including those who were on USA goldfields, this may be the only surviving shipping record.


• Recommended reading:   Shadows of the Workhouse: The Drama of Life in Postwar London (Jennifer Worth). I couldn't put this book down!


• Hospital records:   Hospital admission registers have superb data (usually better than a death certificate), and I index them. Many patients were from interstate and overseas, especially the UK and Ireland. For Croydon hospital 1888-1925, which includes the North Queensland gold rush era, I've combined two lists of patients into a single alphabetical sequence. To order copies of original records, see 'Copying Service' near the bottom of that page.


• Illegitimate children:   Since 19th August I've added two batches of names to the page about illegitimate children whose father is identified in a document in Archives. Most of the mothers and children lived in Queensland or NSW but a few were interstate or overseas. This index is designed to help family historians and people seeking birth parents. See 'Copying Service' near the bottom of that page.


• Cemeteries:   Toowong cemetery and South Brisbane cemetery indexes are on FindMyPast, but you currently can't find them with an A to Z search. You need to use links on the full list of Australian and New Zealand records on FindMyPast. (Thanks to Rosemary for pointing this out.)


• Western Australia:   Uncertified copies of Western Australian birth, death and marriage certificates now cost just $20.


• Ancestry:   Danny Barber explains how to sort Ancestry hints by collection. I haven't tried this yet, but it sounds useful.


• Photographs:   See the tips in How to Relax and Rehumidify Old Rolled Photographs.


• Privacy:   Judy Russell (The Legal Genealogist) shares her sensible advice about privacy.


• Genealogy on Facebook:   You can read many genealogy pages on Facebook without joining. There is now a page for Toowoomba and Darling Downs Family History Society - and note my 'Saturday's Source' series of tips on Judy Webster: Queensland Genealogy.


• Copies of copies:   This article has images showing how information was copied from a copy of a copy (etc) and neither the birth date nor death date remained correct in the copy on Ancestry.

No.43 (genealogy news and discounts worldwide)

Links open in new windows.

• 50% discount:   FindMyPast (one of my favourite sites) has a half-price offer that ends 15 Jul 2016.


• Proof:   Read Else Churchill's delightfully simple and sensible explanation of how we can apply the Genealogical Proof Standard.


• Queensland:   A new index on the Qld State Archives Web site is 'Monthly and Half Yearly Returns for Moreton Bay 1829-1837'.


• New South Wales:   Learn how to use the new Web site for State Records NSW (the NSW equivalent of Qld State Archives).


• Western Australia:   Western Australian birth, death and marriage certificates are now cheaper. See Australian Genealogy and History Snippets.


• Ireland:   Ireland's wills and administrations 1858-1920 can now be searched on Ancestry.


• Canada:   FindMyPast now has links to images of the original 1911 census for Canada.


• USA:   Naturalisation and passport records are among new USA records added to FindMyPast.


• Scotland:   The Surnames of Scotland: Their Origin, Meaning and History by George F. Black is free online. Below the 'Viewability' sub-heading, click 'Full view'.


• Recommended reading:   'You can think that if you want, but it's wrong'.

(This post first appeared on http://updatesgenie.blogspot.com/2016/07/no43-genealogy-news-and-discounts.html.)
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No.41 (genealogy news and discounts worldwide)

Sketch found in Archives

I've just realised that yesterday was this blog's fifth anniversary. How time flies!

Links open in new windows.

• Photos/Sketches:   Check the lists of names from my on-going index to historical photos or sketches of people. These are images that I've found in various sources in Archives. Most are accompanied by superb information for family history.


• Ancestry discount:   Ancestry's annual UK Heritage Plus membership (with access to all their Australian, NZ, Irish and UK records) is cheaper until 11:59pm AEST Sunday 1 May 2016. The offer is not valid for members with current subscriptions, or with other offers or promotions including free trials. If you don't want your membership to automatically renew at a higher rate, cancel at least two days before your renewal date by visiting the MyAccount section (see their Terms and Conditions).


• QLD births to 1919:   Indexes to Queensland births registered up to and including 1919 are now on FindMyPast! This is exciting, because on the Registry of BDMs Web site, which has a 100-year access restriction, you can currently only search up to early 1916. On FindMyPast the transcription shows the exact birth date, not just the registration year.


• QLD marriages:   The quickest way to find the exact date of Queensland marriages 1829-1939 is to use the new indexes and transcriptions on FindMyPast.


• QLD deaths:   The FindMyPast record set that's misleadingly called 'Queensland Deaths' only has names from a few cemetery records, not official death registrations. Click 'Learn more' and 'Discover more' on this page (but the explanations are not as clear as we might wish).


• LostCousins:   The LostCousins site is completely free until Monday 2nd May.


• Photos/Images:   Read Judy G. Russell's superb article showing how to save source information so that it appears on an image.


• Will Books:   Family historians may not realise that local Archives often hold wills for people in other States and even other countries. Regardless of where your ancestors lived, you should search indexes to NSW Will Books 1800-1952. Although only a few of my families were in NSW, I've already found fifteen wills in these books.


• Victoria:   Law Making and Breaking in Colonial Victoria shows tools and resources for finding out about lives of crime and justice in Victoria and Port Phillip.


• Maps:   Almost 3,000 titles have been issued in a major series of reprints of Old Ordnance Survey Maps of towns throughout Britain and Ireland.


• WDYTYA handouts:   Speakers' handouts from this year's Who Do You Think You Are (Live) can be downloaded (free).


• Epidemics:   This timeline for disease epidemics may explain some deaths in your family tree.

(This post first appeared on http://updatesgenie.blogspot.com/2016/05/no41-genealogy-news-and-discounts.html.)
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No.40 (genealogy news and discounts worldwide)

Book by Chris Paton

Links open in new windows.

• Irish land records:   Paul Milner has written a comprehensive review of Chris Paton's book Discover Irish Land Records.


• FindMyPast discounts:   Until midnight 17 Mar 2016 you can get a 1-month World subscription at FindMyPast for just $1, or you can get 20% off a 12-month World subscription. To find out about future discounts, go to Genealogy Discounts and Freebies, click the bar marked 'Receive email when this page changes', and follow the instructions. Select 'daily' as the frequency (not 'weekly') so you don't miss short-term offers that last less than a week.


• My other sites:   When I hear about discounts and freebies for genealogy, I often mention them first on my Facebook page.


• 1939 Register:   A 12-month Britain or World subscription to FindMyPast now gives you unlimited free access to the 1939 Register for England and Wales (including images of the original documents).


• Pastoral runs:   The Queensland State Archives Web site now has an index to rents payable on pastoral runs 1860-1911.


• Toowoomba seminar:   On Sat. 2 Apr 2016 I'm giving two talks to members of Toowoomba & Darling Downs Family History Society ('Not Just the Patient: how hospital and asylum records tell the story of a family' and 'Ancestors who Moved or Vanished'). For more details see my 'Talks' page.


• Cairns seminar:   The two talks I'm giving at Cairns Library on Sat. 16 Apr 2016 are 'Scallywags, Scoundrels and Vanishing Relatives' and 'Researching Illegitimate Children'. For more details see my 'Talks' page.


• Handouts from my talks:   If you were on Unlock the Past's genealogy conference/cruise (Barrier Reef, March 6th-13th) and want a free copy of the handouts from my first two talks, email me at the address shown on my Web site, quoting your name and town as shown in the '11th Unlock the Past cruise group' list. There was no handout for my third talk ('Researching Illegitimate Children') because there is already a mini-guide.


• Wednesday's Webpage:   The Wednesday's Webpage for Genealogy series will resume next week, but if the level of interest doesn't increase, it may be discontinued.


• Recommended reading:   5 Tips for Finding Women's Obituaries, by Amy Johnson Crow.

(This post first appeared on https://updatesgenie.blogspot.com/2016/03/no40-genealogy-news-and-discounts.html.)
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No.38 (genealogy news and discounts worldwide)

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• Genealogy Discounts and Freebies:   Two new offers were added today, including one from FindMyPast that ends at midnight Monday 15 Feb 2016. This is your last chance to beat next week's 20% price rise.


• Current electoral roll:   It is once again possible to visit Australian Electoral Commission offices to use the current electoral roll for genealogical research. Electronic recording of data is not allowed.


• Seminar in Brisbane:   Judy Russell ('The Legal Genealogist') and Carol Baxter are two of the speakers at the Unlock The Past seminar in Brisbane on Sat. 5 Mar 2016.


• Ships & Passengers:   A new Web site, Passengers in History, brings together a database of 250,000 passengers to South Australia between 1836 and 1961, and a list of ships' logs/diaries (Log of Logs).


• Searchable books:   On MyHeritage you can search the text of many books that are useful for genealogy. It covers an amazing variety of publications.


• Google maps:   Step-by-step guide to using Google Maps and creating personalised maps for your family history.


• One-place studies:   Check the list of one-place studies to see whether there's one for an area where your ancestors lived.


• Irish R.C. parish records:   FindMyPast will soon release indexed transcriptions of 10 million records from over 3,500 Irish Roman Catholic parish registers (baptisms and marriages) for all 32 historical counties (Irish Republic and Northern Ireland), with links to images.


• USA marriages:   FindMyPast is releasing what will be the largest online collection of USA marriages 1650-2010 (60% of which have never before been published online). The first 33 million records are free to the public until 15 Feb 2016. When complete, this collection in its entirety will only be found on Findmypast.


• Client records:   I am updating my client records. If I've done research for you, or if you are/were on my mailing list, I invite you to contact me to confirm your preferred/alternative email addresses. Use the address in the sidebar here or the one on my main Web site.


• Interesting historical background:
  
  • 9 Fascinating Facts About Ag Labs
  
  
  • Australia Day, 26&nbspJanuary... or is May or July?

(This post first appeared on http://updatesgenie.blogspot.com/2016/02/no38-genealogy-news-and-discounts.html.)
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No.36 (genealogy news and discounts worldwide)

I hope you all enjoyed Christmas and New Year. Here are some ideas for family history in 2016. Links open in new windows.

• 50% off FindMyPast:   Until 11.59pm (GMT) Thurs 14 Jan 2016, get 50% discount on any new FindMyPast World subscription (1 month or 12 month). I put the discount code and page links for this unexpected 2 day 'flash' sale on Genealogy Discounts and Freebies yesterday.


• National Library card:   E-resources: Getting Started shows how to use your National Library card (Australia) to explore online databases.


• 'The Queenslander':   See examples of pages in The Queenslander. The complete contents of the paper are in Trove.


• Saving Trove articles:   Kylie Willison shows how to save a copy of a newspaper article in Trove so that source details are included. For the 'take a screenshot' step, I use PrintKey to capture and save a selected area.


• Ancestor profiles:   Brandy Heineman's 5-step plan for creating profiles of your ancestors is simple, sensible and can be adapted to suit your own needs. Step 1 works for Britain and North America but not Australia!


• Irish soldiers' wills:   Wills of Irish soldiers who died while serving in the British Army have been digitised and are free online.


• Devon parishes:   An interactive map shows the location of Devon's historic parishes.


• Free online course:   'Genealogy: Researching Your Family Tree' will discuss how to find and analyse sources; record and communicate your findings; add historical context to your family history; and explore the potential of DNA testing for genealogy.


• Interesting historical background:
  
  • Men's fashion in 1939
  • Rationing in Britain during World War 2


• Starting soon:   'Wednesday's Webpage', a weekly series coming soon to Genealogy Leftovers.

(This post first appeared on http://updatesgenie.blogspot.com/2016/01/no36-genealogy-news-and-discounts.html.)
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No.35 (genealogy news and discounts worldwide)

One of several different types of Missing Friends records

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• Missing Friends:   Names from the first stage of my index to Missing Friends records are online (3 pages). Most of these people were born in the United Kingdom, Ireland, western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, USA or Canada. I expect to gradually add another 8,000 names.


• Beenleigh cemetery:   The Beenleigh (Qld) cemetery register for 1872-1961 is now at Qld State Archives (series ID 20515).


• FindMyPast discounts:   Until 30 Nov 2015, get 50% discount on any FindMyPast subscription by using discount code BLACKFRIDAY15 at Findmypast.com.au or Findmypast.co.uk or Findmypast.ie. (USA customers only get 75% discount on a FindMyPast 12 month World subscription by using discount code THANKSNOV15 on the USA site, Findmypast.com.)


• Asylums, Hospitals & Vanishing Ancestors:   Free download until 30 Nov 2015 via the link on Genealogy Discounts and Freebies.


• VIC BDM indexes:   Victoria's historical birth, death and marriage indexes are now FREE to search online.


• Clothing:   How World War 2 changed women's fashion (interesting for family history).


• Billion Graves:   'Billion Graves' cemetery indexes for Australia and New Zealand are now on FindMyPast (free to search, and updated regularly).


• British places:  A Vision of Britain Through Time has maps, statistics and historical descriptions between 1801 and 2001. Use the 'Places' page to research towns and villages where your ancestors lived.


• Site search:   For technical reasons, the search box for my main Web site (www.judywebster.com.au) is now (1) near the bottom of most pages and (2) on the page 'How to get the most out of this site' (and a link is at the top left of each page as shown below).

(This post first appeared on http://updatesgenie.blogspot.com.au/.)
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No.33 (genealogy worldwide)

Links open in new windows so you won't lose your place on this page.

• Discounts:  Some exciting offers are currently listed on Genealogy Discounts and Freebies. The best one expires soon.


• Indexes:  I am indexing Missing Friends registers and Brisbane Prison Hospital admissions. Watch for links to be added to my 'indexes' page.


• 'Off The Record':  This highlights records that many family historians overlook (eg, plastic surgery archives!) Each fortnight's Off The Record has a different theme, with links to four series (one each from the UK, Ireland, USA and Australia/NZ). Recent themes include Death records, Local collections, World War I, Military records, Criminal records, and the (In)Justice system.


• 'In Time and Place':  The Queensland State Conference on local history, family history and social history is in Brisbane on the weekend of 3rd-4th Oct 2015. One of the speakers is Janis Wilton, whom I find quite inspirational.


• Placenames:  A useful site is Renamed places in Queensland.


• FindMyPast:  More Australian records are now on FindMyPast. Scroll down on the page that lists recent additions.


• Ireland's Catholic parish registers:  These are now online as free images. See Chris Paton's article with the link and extra advice.


• Free e-book:  Surnames: Family Search Tips and Surname Origins consists of five guides ('4 Keys to Surname Origins and Meanings', 'Seven Strategies for Surname Research', 'How to Construct Google Surname Searches, Step by Step', '10 Sources to Find Female Ancestors' Maiden Names' and 'Country-by-Country Guide to Naming Customs').


• WDYTYA? handouts:  Download speakers' handouts/slides from Who Do You Think You Are? Live in 2014 and 2015.


• Wednesday's Webpage:  This is a new feature on my Queensland Genealogy Facebook page, which anyone can read (no need to log in).

(This post first appeared on http://updatesgenie.blogspot.com/2015/07/no33-genealogy-worldwide.html.)

No.30 (genealogy worldwide)

Links open in new windows so you won't lose your place on this page. If a link won't work, try a different browser (I checked them with Chrome). If you share these tips, please say that you saw them on http://updatesgenie.blogspot.com.au.

• Discounts & freebies:  Take advantage of the many genealogy discounts and freebies currently available. Some are only offered during August (National Family History Month).


• Mental asylum patients:
  1. I have started indexing three new sources. One includes people who were mentally ill but not actually sent to an asylum. When I've indexed the new records, links will be added to the 'Insanity' page on my Website, so you may want to use the ChangeDetection bar there.
  2. I've added more names of escaped mental patients to my Police Gazettes index.
  
  
• Illegitimate children:  Archival records often identify the father of an illegitimate child even if the birth certificate doesn't. I've added more names (some babies and some mothers) to the 'Illegitimate' page on my Web site.


• Dropbox:  I use the free version of Dropbox for sharing documents and images, and as an additional off-site backup.


• Banana Shire:  Records recently deposited at Qld State Archives include rate books and valuation registers from Banana Shire Council.  (My 'Genealogy Articles' page has a link to Local Government Records and Family History.)


• State Library info-guides:  State Library of Queensland has free family history Info-Guides on many topics.


• Moreton Bay history:  Peel Island - Paradise or Prison? (the history of the Quarantine Station and Lazaret/Leprosarium) and Moreton Bay People: the complete collection are now available as e-books.


• CuriousFox:  Tips on using CuriousFox, a genealogy message system and gazetteer for the United Kingdom, Ireland and USA.


• NSW prison records:  Many interstate folk were in NSW prisons. NSW gaol description and entrance books 1818-1930, which include descriptions of prisoners and some photographs, are now on Ancestry.


• South Australia:  South Australian passenger lists 1847-1886 have been added to FindMyPast. Some of these immigrants moved on to other States.


• Victoria:  55,000 images have been added to Ancestry's lists of assisted and unassisted passengers arriving in Victoria from the United Kingdom, New Zealand and other foreign ports.


• West Yorkshire & Cleveland:  Over 28,000 new baptism records from West Yorkshire and 150,000 National Burial Index records from Cleveland are now online.


• Prisoners of war:  Records for 1914-1918 & 1939-1945 prisoners of war are online.


• Treble Almanac (Ireland):  The Treble Almanac 1818, with transcripts and images of 17,870 records from all 32 Irish counties, has recently gone online.


• Church of Ireland parish registers:  Download a table showing what baptism, marriage and burial registers exist, where they are, and dates covered.


• Recommended reading:
  • James Tanner's warning about newspapers.
  
  
  • Did your ancestors play sport?
  
  
  • World War I photos.
  
  
  • Genealogy Research in Spain.

~ ~ ~

FindMyPast's World Records discount offer

FindMyPast's logo

A one-month 'world' subscription to FindMyPast is just $5 (usually $19.95) for new subscribers who pay before midnight on 1 Sep 2014.

The world subscription gives you access to more than 1.5 billion family history records for Australia, New Zealand, Britain, Ireland, the USA and Canada.

If you do not want your subscription to automatically renew at the normal price after your initial period, un-tick the 'auto-renew my subscription' box in the My Account section of the site.

You may want to read why I use and recommend FindMyPast.

(This post also appears in Genealogy Leftovers.)

No.27 (exciting improvements online)

The introduction of a one month subscription is the first of several exciting changes at FindMyPast.

The cost of a World subscription has already been reduced, and we can also look forward to the addition of new records every month; a new family tree builder; a new way to search; and a forum where you can vote for features and give feedback to improve the site.

I am a big fan of FindMyPast for genealogy research. For records that are on both FindMyPast and other sites, FindMyPast's indexes and transcriptions are usually (in my experience) more accurate. This is particularly obvious with British census records.

Although a 12-month subscription is the best value, you may want to start with the new one month subscription. This is now available for each of FindMyPast's regional collections (Australia/NZ, UK, Ireland, USA) and also for the World collection.

If you have no Australian research but need access to United Kingdom records, get your subscription via findmypast.co.uk.

Searches on FindMyPast are free. You only need pay-as-you-go credits or a subscription if you want to see transcriptions or images of original records. There is a 10% loyalty discount for renewing a 12-month subscription.

Follow the links below to see (for each region) a full list of categories and all the record sets currently available within them, with descriptions of what each record set contains and what detailed information you can expect to find... and watch for more to be added each month.

• Australia and New Zealand
• United Kingdom
• Ireland
• USA

I have been using FindMyPast's census records and parish registers for many years. Recently other data sets (including passenger lists, Police Gazettes, Royal Household records and East India Company and civil service pensions) have provided some exciting discoveries. For example, I was surprised to find that two of my British families went overseas (one to South Africa, the other to Canada) for a short time - because they were back in the UK before the next census!

If you only get time to do research during your holidays, the new one month subscription to FindMyPast may suit you perfectly.

Postscript, 14 Feb 2014:  One of my clients signed up for the new one-month subscription and had huge success on day 1. She said (I quote), 'It has already paid for itself ten times over. I had no idea so many new records had been added since I looked a year ago! I found brilliant problem-solving stuff in Passengers leaving the UK, Convict records, and deserters and missing friends notices in Police Gazettes. Also lots of clues to follow up in electoral rolls, expats in New Guinea, wills, monumental inscriptions etc.'

Revenue from ads goes to Kiva

No.26 (genealogy worldwide)

Links open in new windows so you won't lose your place on this page. If you share these tips, please acknowledge the source as http://updatesgenie.blogspot.com.

• Qld BDMs - major changes:  On 16 Oct 2013 there were major changes to the Qld Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages Web site. Read my tips on how to benefit from the changes. I've already heard several success stories.


• FamilySearch & FindMyPast:  13 million genealogy records from FamilySearch.org (including major collections of births, deaths and marriages for Australia, Ireland and America) were added to FindMyPast this week. About 600 additional collections (millions of records) will follow. We now have the convenience of searching treasures from FamilySearch at the same time as existing collections at FindMyPast.


• Genealogy mini-guides:  The first two to be made available are 'Researching Illegitimate Children' and 'Researching Queensland Mental Asylum Patients'.


• NSW Deceased Estates:  Index to NSW Deceased Estate Files 1923-1958 (new on Ancestry).


• Toowoomba Chronicle:  Toowoomba Chronicle newspaper index 1921-1925 (births, marriages, deaths, accidents and other events such as maintenance cases, transfers, lost, missing etc.)


• England/Wales probate indexes:  The probate search facility at High Holborn (London) is moving to the Strand.


• Alcohol?  Do terms on death certificates really suggest that it was alcohol-related?


• Digitised newspapers:  8 Ways to Overcome OCR Errors when Searching Newspapers.


• Does time matter?  Yes! Many 'dead ends' in research can be overcome if you think about your family in the context of local, national and world events.


• Green:  17 things our grandparents did when green was just a colour.


• Hospital records:  I have found more hospital admission registers to index!


• ChangeDetection:  I can see from the statistics that very few of you updated your ChangeDetection settings when my Web site moved. Many pages (including What's New, Indexes, Tips, Hospitals and Publications) have a 'Receive email' bar (an image is below). Don't worry - you will only receive an email when there is a significant change to the page!

This ChangeDetection option is on many pages of my Web site

No.25 (genealogy worldwide)

Links open in new windows so you won't lose your place on this page. If you share these tips, please acknowledge the source as http://updatesgenie.blogspot.com.

• My Web site has moved!  To help you find Queensland, interstate and overseas folk, the site now has 135 pages with free advice and 53,000 names from my indexes to records in archives. The emphasis is on unusual sources that are superb for finding people who 'vanished'. The site is now easier to use, with a different font, a new 'main menu' bar, breadcrumb navigation links, etc. Before using the customised search box to search my entire site, read 'Site Navigation Tips'. Please update your bookmarks and ChangeDetection settings, and notify your family history group that the site is now at www.judywebster.com.au.


• BDMs for VIC & ACT:  FindMyPast recently added birth, death and marriage records for Victoria and the ACT. Other States' records will follow soon.


• 1911 census (England/Wales):  Although I think FindMyPast's census indexes are the most accurate, you may want to try Ancestry's version of the England and Wales 1911 census while it is free (until 23:59 GMT on 14 Oct 2013).


• Dog Licences (Ireland):  Half a million records (1866 onwards) from Irish dog licence registers are now online, with millions more to be added later in the year.


• Irish newspapers online:  More digitised Irish newspapers are now on the Internet.


• Biographical Database of Australia:  Transcripts and indexes of many original records and published biographies of people who arrived in or were born in Australia, starting from the earliest times. Index searches are free.


• Lost in Early NSW:  This is the theme of the Society of Australian Genealogists' weekend seminar at Port Macquarie (2-3 Nov 2013).


• Why FindMyPast?  Read why I use and recommend FindMyPast for family history research in Australia, NZ, United Kingdom, Ireland, USA and Canada.


• NSW Immigration Deposits Combined Index 1853-1900:  An updated edition of this CD index, with new data added to many records, is about to be released. It will be free to purchasers of the 2012 edition. To claim this, send the original CD (you can keep the case) to Aileen Trinder, 5 Garbala Road, Gymea NSW 2227, with a $5 admin fee to cover costs.


• Family history talk:  On Fri. 25 Oct 2013 I am speaking at Mission Beach ('Family History Sources in Archives & Elsewhere').

No.24 (genealogy worldwide)

Links open in new windows so you won't lose your place on this page. If you share these tips, please acknowledge the source as http://updatesgenie.blogspot.com.

• Maiden names missing from Qld death indexes:  I received a reply from the Queensland Registry of BDMs after I sent examples of maiden names that are missing from death indexes online but shown in the corresponding indexes on fiche or CD-ROM.
• 20% discount:  In August, Findmypast added 10 new data sets (2 million records) for Australasia. Until 30 Sep 2013 you can get 20% discount off a world subscription to FindMyPast, which allows you to search billions of records for Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, USA and Canada (including British newspapers).
• Innisfail (Geraldton) burials:  Do you have a death certificate or other details for someone buried at Geraldton (now Innisfail) in North Qld?
• Victoria:  Passenger lists (Victoria) 1846-1899.
• NSW:  NSW Registers of Coroners' Inquests 1796-1942.
• Recommended reading:  Artificial 'brick walls' in family history.