New Records on FamilySearch

The people at FamilySearch have been busy adding records to their database over the past few months.  Below are a selection of their new record sets.

New Records on FamilySearch include :

• Australia, Albany, Inward Passenger Lists, 1873-1924
• Australia, New South Wales, Immigration Papers, 1877-1882
• Australia, Victoria, Wills, Probate and Administration Files, 1841-1926
• England and Wales, National Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1957
• England, Cumberland Parish Registers, 1538-1990
• England, Middlesex Parish Registers, 1539-1988
• England, Military Pension and Service Records, 1702-1933
• Find A Grave Index
• France, Manche, Parish and Civil Registration, 1546-1912
• Germany, Bavaria, Catholic and Lutheran Church Records, 1591-1963
• Germany, Bremen, Catholic and Lutheran Church Records, 1746-1970
• Germany, Lübeck, Catholic and Lutheran Church Records, 1797-1961
• Germany, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Catholic and Lutheran Church Records, 1639-1943
• Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia, Wuppertal, Civil Registration, 1810-1930
• Germany, Prussia, Catholic and Lutheran Church Records, 1580-1974
• Ireland, Catholic Parish Registers, 1740-1900
• United Kingdom, British India Office, Births and Baptisms, 1712-1965
• United Kingdom, Royal Air Force Service Records, 1912-1945
• And much more

So check out this free worldwide database and see what records it holds for your family history research.

New Records on FamilySearch

This week (23 January 2023) explore 3.2 million new records on FamilySearch. These include new record sets for the Ukraine (Cherkasy, Mykolaiv, Poltava, and Zaporizhzhia) and thousands of new records added to the United States Bureau of Land Management Tract Books, and expanded collections for Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Germany, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, S Africa, and countries all over the world. 

Two completely new record sets have also been added this week for the United Kingdom : Military Pension and Service Records (911,344 records) and Service Records and British India Office, Births and Baptisms (713,850 records).

Other record sets added in December/January include :

• Royal Air Force Service Records, 1912-1945 - 342,823 records
• Indexes to Service Records of Volunteer Soldiers, 1784-1858, 1899-1901 - 49,921 records
• France, Manche, Parish and Civil Registration, 1546-1912 - 1,731,181 records
• France, Ardennes, Parish and Civil Registration, 1585-1892 - 2,242,305 records
• Germany, Württemberg, Catholic and Lutheran Church Records, 1818-1915 - 29,735 records
• Belgium, Antwerp, Civil Registration and Church Records, 1803-1890 - 126,709 records
• Poland, Church Books, 1568-1990 - 9,170,277 records
• Belgium, Liège, Church and Civil Registration, 1590-1947 - 1,245,544 records
• Plus many more
  

New Records on FamilySearch

The people at FamilySearch have been busy adding records to their database over the past few months.  Below are a selection of their new record sets.

New Australian Records

Australia, Albany, Inward Passenger Lists, 1873-1924  226,067 records

Australia, Victoria, Wills, Probate and Administration Files, 1841-1926  38,081 records

Australia, Tasmania, Civil Registration (District Registers), 1839-1938  70,861 records

Australia, Western Australia, Fremantle, Inward Passenger Lists, 1890-1911  365,185 records

New British Records

England, Gloucestershire Non-Conformist Church Records, 1642-1996  204,664 records

England, Lancashire Non-Conformist Church Records, 1647-1996  1,436,324 records

England, Surrey Parish Registers, 1536-1992  2,566,198 records

United Kingdom, Merchant Seamen Records, 1918-1941  240,481 records

England, Cheshire Bishop's Transcripts, 1598-1900  2,179,329 records

England, Warwickshire, Parish Registers, 1535-1963  2,900,867 records

England, Middlesex Parish Registers, 1539-1988  5,996,379 records

England, Derbyshire, Church of England Parish Registers, 1537-1918  2,953,523 records

England and Wales, National Index of Wills and Administrations, 1858-1957  8,572,759 records

England, Devon, Parish Registers (Devon Record Office), 1529-1974  167,845 records

England, Herefordshire Bishop's Transcripts, 1583-1898  1,603,017 records

England, Oxfordshire Parish Registers 1538-1904  103,414 records

England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991  14,994,376 records

England Marriages, 1538–1973  12,143,153 records

England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975  46,619,345 records

England, Lincolnshire, Marriage Bonds and Allegations, 1574-1885  135,981 records

England and Wales Census, 1871  12,983,349 records

England, Isle of Wight Parish Registers, 1538-1983  170,353 records

Currently there are over 16 billion records searchable in the FamilySearch database, with more being added constantly, so check out what they have to offer.

What's New on FamilySearch

FamilySearch expanded its free online archives in May 2022 with over 49 million new indexed family history records from 46 different countries. Over 14 million records were added for Germany (Posen, Prussia), and collections from Brazil, Canada, France, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States each received over a million new records.

 

Below are some of the new or expanded records available along with the number of new records added.

Australia, Albany, Inward Passenger Lists, 1873-1924	5,907
Australia, Western Australia, Fremantle, Inward Passenger Lists, 1890-1911	232,955
England, Gloucestershire Non-Conformist Church Records, 1642-1996	9,894
England, Lancashire Non-Conformist Church Records, 1647-1996	387,755
England, Middlesex Parish Registers, 1539-1988	5,236
England, Northumberland Non-Conformist Church Records, 1613-1920	4,611
England Deaths and Burials, 1538-1991	3,035,666
England Marriages, 1538–1973	329,190
England, Lincolnshire, Marriage Bonds and Allegations, 1574-1885	7,344
England, Prisoners of War, 1715-1947	993,584
Germany, Prussia, Catholic and Lutheran Church Records, 1580-1974	616,410
Germany, Prussia, Posen, Catholic and Lutheran Church Records, 1430-1998	14,504,330
Germany, Saxony, Church Book Indexes, 1500-1900	14,072

Currently there are over 16 billion records searchable in the FamilySearch database, with more being added constantly, so check out what they have to offer.

New Records On FamilySearch

FamilySearch expanded its free online archives in October 2021 with almost 10 million new indexed family history records from all over the world. 

In addition to a number of completely new indexes, there are also dozens of existing record collections that have been expanded - some by just a few records, some by thousands.

New historical records were added from Anguilla, Argentina, Austria, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Chile, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, England, Finland, France, French Polynesia, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, India, Kiribati, Liberia, Martinique, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Samoa, Sierra Leone, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turks and Caicos, Tuvalu, the United Kingdom, Uruguay, Venezuela, Zambia, and the United States.

So if you haven't visited the FamilySearch website for a while, take a look and see if they have new information for you to help in your family history research.

FamilySearch Completes Microfilm Digitization

Today FamilySearch International announced the completion of a massive project to digitize its collection of millions of rolls of microfilm containing billions of family history records from around the world. The archive containing information on more than 11.5 billion individuals is now freely available to the public on FamilySearch.org.

"We hope that all those who contributed to this milestone in the last 80 years feel a sense of humble accomplishment today,” said Steve Rockwood, the CEO of FamilySearch International. “And we hope the millions of individuals who will discover, gather, and connect generation upon generation of their family members for years to come because of these efforts will have a deep sense of gratitude for the many unheralded contributors who made those discoveries possible."

“It's a game-changer for everybody in the world. So, instead of having to come to the library, people can start accessing these records from home,” said Becky Adamson, a research consultant at the FamilySearch Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Over 200 countries and principalities and more than 100 languages are represented in the digitized documents. Completion of the project makes it much easier for individuals to make more personal and family discoveries.

To explore FamilySearch’s free collections of indexed records and images, go to FamilySearch.org and search both “Records” and “Images”. The Images feature enables users to peruse digitized images from the microfilm collection and more. A free FamilySearch account will be required to access the service.

So take a look at the new information available on this wonderful free database and see what it can add to your family history research.

New Record Set on FamilySearch

For those of you with Irish ancestors, you may be interested in a new collection of  prison records for Ireland from the 18th to 20th centuries which has been added to the FamilySearch website.

The new collection, which comprises 3,127,924 records, is a compilation of prison records from collections held in the National Archives of Ireland. It includes most surviving prison records from the 26 counties of the Republic of Ireland. 

The records can contain the following information about individuals:

• Name
• Age
• Birthplace
• Name of prison
• Dates of admission and release
• Physical description
• Next of kin
• Details of crime and name of victim

Remember FamilySearch is a free resource for family history researchers.  To access you need to register with the website, then you have access to all their wonderful records.  To take a look and see what you can find.

What's New on FamilySearch

FamilySearch have been busy over the past months adding records to their free online database.  Below are lists of the new additions for the United Kingdom and for Australia.

New additions for the United Kingdom include : 

New additions for Australia include :

New on FamilySearch

Over the past year there have been a number of new and updated records added to the database at FamilySearch.  Below are some of the data sets added for Australia.  While not all records contain images, they are all available free and are well worth exploring.

Victoria Petty Sessions Registers 1858-1985

Court records extracted from several different Archival Series and held by the Public Record Office Victoria in North Melbourne, Australia. The records are arranged chronologically within each of the Magistrate Courts and contain brief details of minor criminal matters and committal proceedings.

Number of Records -  3,095,843

Australia Cemetery Inscriptions, 1802-2005

Cards of cemetery inscriptions from many cemeteries throughout Australia. The majority of the cemeteries are in Queensland, but there are some in New South Wales, Norfolk Island, Tasmania, and Western Australia. Some cards include information culled from local newspapers which sometimes include birth and marriage announcements. The cards are sometimes in reverse alphabetical order and there are sometimes many interfiled cards which do not belong to the sequence--generally these have a slash mark across the cards that do not belong in the sequence. The file was the product of many years of work by Jim and Alison Rogers.

Number of Records - 1,124,411

Victoria Coastal Passenger Lists, 1852-1924

Coastal passenger lists from Victoria, Australia. The original lists are located in the Public Records Office of Victoria, North Melbourne, Australia.

Number of Records -  3,244,620

South Australia, Immigrants Ship Papers, 1849-1940

Immigrants ships papers containing a record of births and deaths aboard, 1849-1867 and 1873-1885. Indexed records in collection include passenger lists arriving and departing from South Australia. Information on images varies but may include ship's name, master's name, tonnage, where bound, date, port of embarkation, names of passengers, ages, occupation, nationality, and port at which passengers have contracted to land. Original records in the State Records of South Australia, Adelaide.

Number of Records - 595,565

Queensland Cemetery Records, 1802-1990

An index which combines several indexes, cemetery transcriptions, burial and other records from cemeteries in Queensland. This collection also contains small portions of New South Wales, Norfolk Island, Tasmania, and Western Australia.

Number of Records - 2,168,409

New South Wales, Assisted Immigrants Inwards, 1828-1890

This collection contains assisted immigrants inwards to Sydney, Australia from 1828-1890.

Number of Records - 263,719

 

New Family History Library Webpage

FamilySearch International has announced the launch of a new webpage for its Family History Library, located in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. The new Family History Library webpage enables guests to better access existing site services, such as visitor information, collections and hours of operations, and introduces many new and expanded services. For example, patrons worldwide can now schedule 20-minute appointments for free personal research consultations with a specialist. And book look-up services will be coming soon.

David Rencher, the chief genealogy officer for FamilySearch and director of the Family History Library, says this resource is just the beginning of plans for the library’s updated web presence. “Moving forward, we will build out the webpage to help our patrons’ and guests’ expanding needs with a global reach.”

The webpage is available in German, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and Chinese. Japanese and Italian languages will be added soon.

“The Family History Library offers the largest collection of genealogical materials in one place, making it a premier destination for family history resources and genealogical expertise,” added Rencher. “Its mission is constantly expanding to meet the evolving needs of guests throughout the world—and at no charge.”

Although the library itself is currently closed due to a global pandemic, the new website allows it to deliver online many of its services for patrons worldwide.  So tame a few minutes to have a look at the new webpage and see what it can offer you in your family history research.

New Irish Records on FamilySearch

FamilySearch has added two new collections of Irish records – ‘Diocesan and Prerogative Wills & Administrations Indexes, 1595-1858’ (with 364,122 records) and ‘Diocesan and Prerogative Marriage License Bonds Indexes, 1623-1866’ (with 218,434 records).

Probate refers to the process of ‘proving’ a person’s will after their death by seeing that the administration of their bequests was carried out correctly. Civil probate was introduced in 1858. Previously, it was the responsibility of the church authorities. In Ireland, this was the ecclesiastical courts of the Anglican Church of Ireland, despite the fact that the majority of the population were Catholic. The indexes reveal the date your ancestor died and the place where the record was proved.

Marriage licence bonds were an alternative to marriage bonds. They allowed a couple to go to the ecclesiastical court and pay a sum to sign a witnessed declaration that the marriage was free to go ahead. The records include the names of the spouses and the date and place where they obtained the licence.

The records are taken from indexes compiled by the Dublin Public Record Office. Many of the original records were destroyed when the Public Record Office burned down in the Irish Civil War in 1922, so the indexes are all that remain.

New Records on FamilySearch

Free family history website FamilySearch has added a several new collection this month.  They include 594,707 Herefordshire bishop’s transcripts (1583-1898), 109,010 Scottish Presbyterian and Protestant church records (1736-1990) and 1,125,332 records of passenger arrivals at New York City, primarily dating from 1944-48, although some cover the early years of the 20th century.

Each Church of England parish was required to create copies of its registers to send to the local bishop, known as bishop’s transcripts.  These records are therefore a good alternative source for Herefordshire baptism, marriage and burial records where the originals are lost, although there may be occasional errors.

The Scottish Presbyterian and Protestant records also cover baptisms, marriages and burials in different Scottish religious dominations.

The New York arrival records include images of the original passenger cards, potentially including the passenger’s age, place of birth, occupation, marital status, last permanent residence, destination, purpose in coming to the USA and even physical descriptions.

The Herefordshire bishop’s transcripts are transcribed from original documents at Hereford Record Office. The Scottish Presbyterian and Protestant records are from the National Records of Scotland. The New York arrival records are from the American National Archives and Records Administration.

A New Feature At FamilySearch

Behind every photo is a story. You can now record that story with the photos of your family that you upload to FamilySearch on both the FamilySearch.org website and the FamilySearch apps.

To add audio, first go to your family photos by clicking the Memories tab at the top of the FamilySearch screen. Or, in the Family Tree, you can click an ancestor’s name and go to the person’s details page. Then choose Memories to see photos for that particular family member.

Next, add a new photo or click on one you want to add audio to. (You will only be able to add audio to those photos you have uploaded to FamilySearch.org.) You will notice a microphone below the photo with the words Record a Memory. After you click the words, an audio recording screen will appear. Click the blue microphone to start talking, and record up to five minutes for that photo.

This is a quick and easy way to record the stories and memories that make so many of our family photos so special, and share them with friends and relatives.

New on FamilySearch

A major new collection now available free on FamilySearch are the Surrey Parish Registers. 

The parish records include baptisms, marriages and burials, potentially revealing details such as your ancestors’ dates and places of birth, marriage and death, as well as the names of their parents and spouses.  Including data from 1536 to 1992, the set consists of over 2.5 million records and were transcribed from the London Metropolitan Archives.

FamilySearch

Here is a list of what's new and free on FamilySearch so far this year.

Country	Collection	Indexed Records
Australia	Australia, South Australia, School Admission Registers, 1873–1985	50,944
Austria	Austria, Carinthia, Gurk Diocese, Catholic Church Records, 1527–1986	75,102
Belgium	Belgium, East Flanders, Civil Registration, 1541–1914	2,757
Benin	Benin, Civil Registration of Deaths, 1891–2014	10
Bolivia	Bolivia Catholic Church Records, 1566–1996	419,322
Brazil	Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Civil Registration, 1829–2012	4,552,840
Brazil	Brazil, São Paulo, Immigration Cards, 1902–1980	2,120
Cape Verde	Cape Verde, Catholic Church Records, 1787–195	19,477
Chile	Chile, Cemetery Records, 1821–2015	70,261
Costa Rica	Costa Rica, Civil Registration, 1823–1975	75,296
Czech Republic	Czech Republic, Church Books, 1552–1981	1,059
Dominican Republic	Dominican Republic Civil Registration, 1801–2010	6,437
El Salvador	El Salvador Civil Registration, 1704–2001	306,119
England	England, Derbyshire, Church of England Parish Registers, 1537–1918	319
England	England, Northumberland, Parish Registers, 1538–1950	994,791
France	France, Calvados, Military Registration Cards, 1867–1921	1,388
France	France, Convict Register, 1650–1867	48,409
France	France, Haute-Garonne, Toulouse, Church Records, 1539–1793	1,151
France	France, Saône-et-Loire, Parish and Civil Registration, 1530–1892	3,064,022
France	France, Vienne, Census, 1856	372,562
France	France, Vienne, Census, 1876	304,196
France	France, Vienne, Military Draft Cards, 1867–1921	511
Germany	Germany, Baden, Archdiocese of Freiburg im Breisgau, Catholic Church Records, 1678–1930	7,397,644
Germany	Germany, Baden, Stebbach, Church Book Extracts, 1675–1951	3,457
Germany	Germany, Bavaria, Diocese of Augsburg, Catholic Church Records, 1615–1939	2,871,125
Germany	Germany, Rhineland, Diocese of Trier, Catholic Church Records, 1704–1957	34,378
Germany	Germany, Schleswig-Holstein, Kreis Steinburg, Civil Registration, 1874–1983	17,160
Hungary	Hungary Civil Registration, 1895–1980	113,787
United States	Italy, Campobasso, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1809–1918	7,900
Italy	Italy, Mantova, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1496–1906	34,729
Italy	Italy, Terni, Civil Registration, 1861–1921	123,204
Italy	Italy, Vicenza, Bassano del Grappa, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1871–1942	120,752
Netherlands	Netherlands, Noord-Holland, Civil Registration, 1811–1950	55,943
Nicaragua	Nicaragua Civil Registration, 1809–2013	35,367
Other	BillionGraves Index	173,946
Peru	Peru, Diocese of Huacho, Catholic Church Records, 1560–1952	19,808
Peru	Peru, La Libertad, Civil Registration, 1903–1998	18,924
South Africa	South Africa, Pietermaritzburg Estate Files 1846–1950	3,686
South Africa	South Africa, Cape Province, Civil Deaths, 1895–1972	330,782
South Africa	South Africa, Transvaal, Civil Death, 1869–1954	134,526
United Kingdom	Great Britain, War Office Registers, 1772–1935	3,153
United States	Delaware Vital Records, 1650–1974	126
United States	Georgia Probate Records, 1742–1990	321
United States	Illinois, Cook County Marriages, 1871–1920	94,757
United States	Indiana, Ripley County, Osgood, Greendale Cemetery Records, 1861–2007	4,443
United States	Maine, Tombstone Inscriptions, Surname Index, 1620–2014	129,668
United States	Maryland, Baltimore, Loudon Park Cemetery, Cemetery Records, 1853–1986	356,122
United States	Missouri, Civil Marriages, 1820–1874	785
United States	Missouri, Pre-WWII Adjutant General Enlistment Contracts, 1900–1941	83,991
United States	Montana, Cascade County Records, 1880–2009	45,437
United States	Montana, Granite County Records, 1865–2009	656,620
United States	Montana, Teton County Records, 1881–2012	348
United States	Ohio, County Naturalization Records, 1800–1977	20,709
United States	Texas, Swisher County Records, 1879–2012	72
United States	United States, Cemetery Abstracts	288,877
United States	United States, Native American, Eastern Cherokee Indian Reservation Rolls, 1848–1970	769
United States	United States, Obituaries, American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 1899–2012	1,392,105
United States	United States, Veterans Administration Master Index, 1917–1940	487,730
United States	Virginia, Lynchburg, Diuguid Funeral Home records, 1820–1971	39