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.39 (genealogy news and discounts worldwide)

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• FindMyPast discount:   Get 20% off the price of any 12 month subscription at FindMyPast. Offer ends Sat. 27 Feb 2016 (23:59 GMT). Please note that unlimited free access to the 1939 Register for England and Wales is only included in 12 month World subscriptions or Britain subscriptions. If you are not familiar with FindMyPast, read 'Why I Use and Recommend FindMyPast'.


• Webpages:   My 'Wednesday's Webpage for Genealogy' series is now underway. It gives you a sneak peek into records that many people have never used.


• Recent deaths:   If you're looking for recent death notices in Australia, check the Ryerson Index and the archived messages from the AUS-Newspaper-Extracts Mailing List at Rootsweb (but the mailing list is currently unavailable).


• Family history at the State Library:   Family history seminars at the State Library of Queensland are free, but you need to book.


• Weddings:   Life lessons from the altar - strange things that happen at weddings.


• Finding images:   Do you waste time searching your computer for all photos of a specific person or place? It's much easier if you follow the advice in Updating Metadata for Digital Photos: Keeping It Simple. The programme it describes (Irfanview) is free, and I love it.


• London maps:   Have a look at the high resolution scans of Ordnance Survey maps of London (1893-1896). At 60-inches-to-the-mile, the detail is astounding.


• Lookup offers:   Note this warning about genealogy 'lookup' offers.


• Historical background:    A Short History of the Football Boot

(This post first appeared on http://updatesgenie.blogspot.com/2016/02/no39-genealogy-news-and-discounts.html.)
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Genealogy Freebies and Discounts

Here are three great offers for family historians.

1. Ancestry:   Up to and including 8 June 2015 there is free access to Ancestry's UK and Irish records.


2. FindMyPast for $1:   New customers can get a one-month World subscription to FindMyPast for just $1 or £1 or €1, depending on whether you join via their Australia/NZ, United Kingdom, Ireland or USA site.
   
   The subscription gives you access to over 2 billion records worldwide (indexes, transcriptions and images of original documents). They include millions of birth, marriage, death and census records; the largest online collection of Irish family history records; more than 10 million British newspaper pages from as long ago as 1710; lots of records for Queensland; and much more. You have until 23:59pm on Tuesday 30 June 2015 to take up this offer. Terms and conditions are on the Web pages. You can un-tick 'auto-renew' on your My Account page.
   
   Some of the reasons why I like FindMyPast are listed here.


3. Genealogy seminar in Atherton, Qld:   There is free admission to my talks at Atherton Library on Friday 19 Jun 2015. The topics are 'Not Just the Patient: How Hospital and Asylum Records Tell the Story of a Family' and 'Ancestors who Moved or Vanished'. Get more details or make a booking.

(This post first appeared on http://updatesgenie.blogspot.com.au/2015/06/genealogy-freebies-and-discounts.html.)
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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.29 (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.

• 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.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.'

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