Old Occupations

Family historians often locate records that list ancestors with unusual and intriguing occupations. Many of these occupations may have originated as far back as the Middle Ages and by the 14th century it was common for people to take their occupation as a surname. i.e. Skinner - Flayer of animal hides for leather or Fletcher – maker of arrows.


For a detailed list of old occupations have a look at the following websites, compiled from historical census returns, registers and voters lists.


• The 1891 London Census Transcription – Victorian Occupations
• Dictionary of Ancient Occupations and Trades
• Old Occupations in Scotland

Genealogy SA

Genealogy SA in conjunction with the South Australian Registrar of Births Deaths and Marriages has just announced that public domain South Australian Births, Deaths and Marriages Indexes are now available online via the new Genealogy SA website. Up until now these indexes have only been available in book form, on cd-rom and microfiche so great news for those of us doing SA research!


The indexes cover :

• Newspaper Birth Notices Index from 1960 onwards
• Newspaper Death Notices Index from 1972 onwards
• South Australia Cemeteries Index
• Birth Registration Certificates Index 1842 – 1928
• Death Registration Certificates Index 1842 – 1972
• Marriage Registration Certificates Index 1842 – 1916

Who do you think you are - new Australian series

Great news for fans of hit TV drama Who Do You Think You Are? The show returns for a fourth series in March as six more Australian celebrities trace their family tree, uncovering secrets and stories from the past.


Shaun Micallef, Kerry O’Brien, Melissa George, Vince Colosimo, John Wood and Michael O’Loughlin travel to all corners of Australia and the globe to find the definitive answer to where they came from.  The series starts 7.30pm Tuesday 27 March.

Popular Websites list

The Genealogy In Time Magazine website has released a Top 100 popular websites list. This is a worldwide collection but with a USA bias.


This list can also be downloaded as a handy PDF file.

Remember also that Cyndis List is a good port of call for that next step in your research or just for a good browse to see what is new.

Irish Military Archives

Ireland’s military archives have gone online for the first time on a new website called Military Archives. The website was launched in conjunction with the National Archives of Ireland. It will be the “place of deposit” for the records of the Irish Department of Defence, the Defence Forces and the Army Pensions Board. The website is planning a phased release of military records. Already online is a collection of maps, plans and drawings of military installations throughout the island of Ireland. Next up will be the Bureau of Military History Collection, which covers the period 1913 to 1921. This collection is expected to be online by March. It is composed of 36,000 pages of witness statements, photographs, letters, legal documents, etc. from the period. Access is free.

National Archives UK

The National Archives is launching a new online catalogue at the end of January. Called Discovery, it will make it easier for people to search the online collections. Discovery will run in parallel with the old search catalogue until 31 March, at which time the old search methodology will be permanently disabled. There is a fee to access most of the extensive collections of the National Archives, which currently number over 11 million records.  Go to http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/

National Archives of Ireland

The website for the National Archives of Ireland has been redesigned to make it easier to navigate and more intuitive to understand. The new website also comes with expanded guides for people wanting to trace their Irish ancestors. Most of the records on the Irish National Archives website cover records from various Irish government departments from the twentieth century. Access is free.