No.45 (genealogy news / discounts worldwide)

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• Discount:   Until 21 Nov 2016 (11.59pm BST) one of my favourite Websites, FindMyPast, is offering new customers 30 days of access to 8 billion records worldwide (a monthly 'World' package) for just $1, £1 or €1. This is a huge saving compared to the usual $19.95, £12.95 or €14.95. (The 1939 Register is only included in a 12-month World or Britain package.) You can untick 'auto-renew' in the My Account section of the site.


• Qld BDMs:   From 5 Dec 2016, the Brisbane Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages will move to Level 32, 180 Ann Street, Brisbane. Their other contact details won't change.


• Crematorium records:   Search names on 95,000 memorials in Mount Thompson Crematorium memorial gardens (Brisbane).


• England/Wales births/deaths:   The General Register Office has released online indexes for England/Wales births 1837-1915 and deaths 1837-1957. They show mother's maiden name for births even before 1911, and age at death even before 1865. These new indexes are different from (and maybe more accurate than) the existing ones. Warning! If the death index says 'age 11yrs', it may really be 11 days, 11 weeks or 11 months. It's best to search without specifying the age. Index searches are free after you register and confirm your email address. For a short trial period the certificates cost just £6. (NOTE! I wrote this in November, and the trial period only lasted for a few weeks.)


• Wills:   The National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations) is an essential source for English and Welsh family history. Indexed images of the books for 1858-1966 and 1973-1995 are now on Ancestry. They often show the testator's exact death date, address, occupation, and details of relatives.


• Photos:   See 5 Must-Have Photo Identification Tools by Maureen Taylor.

(This post first appeared on http://updatesgenie.blogspot.com/2016/11/no45-genealogy-news-discounts-worldwide.html.)
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No.43 (genealogy news and discounts worldwide)

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• 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.29 (genealogy worldwide)

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• British Newspaper Archive discount:  Today is the last day to get a 1 month subscription to the British Newspaper Archive for just 1 pound (use the discount code SUMMER01).


• Land Records in Queensland:  On Monday evening, 21 July 2014, Nola Fulwood is speaking on this topic at the Genealogical Society of Queensland's Southern Suburbs branch. Nola is one of only a handful of people who understand the complexities of land records at Qld State Archives.


• Illegitimate children:  I have added more names to the page about illegitimate children whose father is named in archival records.


• Wills:  10 tips for wills, intestacies and probate (and related documents in unexpected places).


• Origins.net:  Record sets from Origins.net will be added to FindMyPast. With the National Wills Index from Origins, and collections currently on FindMyPast and those in development, FindMyPast will become the largest online resource for UK wills and probate (and those records include material for many people from other countries including Australia). The Origins website will continue to run as usual.


• Searching at FindMyPast:  The site has changed again, and more improvements are coming. Read the latest tips on how to use FindMyPast's new search tools.


• Recommended reading: 
  • 'Name Variations: Tips and Tricks', by Dan Lynch, author of the brilliant book Google Your Family Tree.

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No.28 (genealogy worldwide)

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• Free access to British records:  Until 11.59pm on Monday 9th June 2014 there is free access to many British records on Ancestry. You can see images of original records such as UK outward passenger lists; 1911 census; and the magnificent England & Wales Probate Calendar 1858-1966 where you will also find death dates/places, addresses, next of kin etc for thousands of people from other countries including Australia. Use 'sign in' on Ancestry for a free account.


• Research Tip:  In the British Newspaper Archive, look for clues about family members who emigrated (for example, a death notice saying "NSW papers please copy"). The BNA now offers very affordable one-month subscriptions.


• Land Records in Queensland:  On 21 July 2014 Nola Fulwood is speaking on this topic at the Genealogical Society of Queensland's Southern Suburbs branch. Nola is one of only a handful of people who understand the complexities of land records at Qld State Archives.


• Lifeline Bookfest:  The Brisbane Bookfest runs until 10th June. See my tips for family historians looking for bargains in books and stationery.


• Free family history seminars in North Qld:  Between 13th & 28th June 2014 I will be speaking at Cairns, Atherton and Townsville. Admission is free, but you need to book because space is limited. Each seminar consists of two talks ('Court Records' and 'Look Beyond the Border'). For dates, times, venues, and how to book, see www.judywebster.com.au/talks.html.


• NSW Public Service Lists:  More than 630,000 records have recently been added to the online collection 'NSW Public Service Lists 1858-1960'.


• NSW certificates:  NSW certificate transcriptions are cheaper ($18) if you order them on any Saturday in June 2014.


• 'Brick wall' tips:  'Widen the Search: a Genealogy Success Story' includes links to online sources that I used to solve a family history mystery.


• Recommended reading:  'Finding genealogy data in an unexpected country'.

No.26 (genealogy worldwide)

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• 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.19 (Queensland births, deaths and marriages)

If you share this information, please acknowledge the source as http://updatesgenie.blogspot.com/.

Queensland Registrar-General's indexes to births to 1914, marriages to 1938 and deaths to 1983 are now online - but note that some indexes (births to 1919 and marriages to 1939) are available on microfiche but not online.

Once you know a year of death, it's much easier to search for a recent Supreme Court probate file - which, if it exists, will include the death certificate, thus saving you a lot of money.

There are other tips about Queensland birth, death and marriage records on my Web site and in the book Tips for Queensland Research. See also 'Free certificates in Archives files'.

(Postscript, 25 Mar 2013: See the WARNING about problems with the recently released death indexes.)

No.3 (genealogy worldwide)

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• Genealogy conferences:  Whether you are organising a conference or thinking about going to one, you will find useful tips in recent articles about attending genealogy conferences and speaking at genealogy events. You are welcome to add comments below each article.


• WorldConnect family trees:  CeCe Moore (My Tangled Vine) refers to many ways in which Google is useful for genealogy. She also says that many researchers with well-documented family trees do not put them on Ancestry, but they do put them on Rootsweb. Names from Rootsweb's WorldConnect trees are included in Google search results. Those on pay-to-view sites are not.


• Can you identify these photos?  They are mainly from Toowoomba and the Darling Downs.


• New index to immigrants 1922-1940:  The latest addition to indexes on the Qld State Archives Web site is an index to immigrants 1922-1940. Note, though, that you will usually find extra information in a different series of records. To find those records, search for (1) the person's name in the CARD index to immigrants, and (2) the ship's name in the CARD index to ships. The card indexes are in the Public Search Room at the Archives.


• Genealogy seminar at Townsville:  On Sat. 18th June I am giving two talks in Townsville: 'Who Else is Researching Your Family?' and 'My Favourite Archival Sources'. Admission is free. For more details, see my 'talks' Web page.


• NSW probate records:  Another 30,000 probate packets have been listed in Archives Investigator.


• London history:  Interesting articles in the London Historians blog may provide background and historical context for your ancestors' lives.


• Indexes for Wales:  The National Library of Wales has put indexes to wills, gaol records and marriage licences on the Internet.


• New Zealand:  New Zealand military records have been released on FindMyPast and Ancestry.


• Wanted:  One of my clients wants to buy Queensland birth death and marriage indexes 1915-1919 on microfiche. If you can help, email me and quote a price including postage in Australia.


• Recommended reading:  Profiling Your Ancestors.

Some of these tips are from other people, as shown on my Twitter page.