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.

Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland

Have you discovered the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland yet?  This new website described itself as "an all-island and international legacy for the Decade of Centenaries.

The Treasury re-imagines and reconstructs through digital technologies the Public Record Office of Ireland, a magnificent archive destroyed on June 30th, 1922, in the opening engagement of the Civil War. 

This is an open-access resource, freely and permanently available online to all those interested in Ireland’s deep history at home and abroad. Together with our partners across Ireland and around the world, we are democratizing access to invaluable records and illuminating seven centuries of Irish history."

In 1922, the Irish Record Treasury contained

• 100,000 square feet of archival shelving
• organised into 4,500 series of records
• accumulated over 7 centuries.
• It was destroyed in 1 afternoon.

In 2022, the Virtual Record Treasury democratizes access to

• 50 million words of searchable text spanning 7 centuries
• 2.7 million knowledge graph triples
• 150,000+ database records
• 6,000+ maps
• created with the support of 70 archival partners.

The reconstructed records currently available include the Medieval Exchequer of the 13th-15 Centuries, the Cromwellian Surveys of the 17th Century and the 1766 Religious Census.

So take a look at this great new resource and see what it has to offer you in your research.

Look History in the Eye Episode 7

The new podcast series Look History in the Eye, produced by the Public Record Office of Victoria, continues this week with Episode 7 - the Charles Troedel Archive : Advertising and Marketing in Marvellous Melbourne.

This episode explores nineteenth century Melbourne through the lens of advertising.

These images held up a mirror to society, providing a social commentary on the public and private spheres of colonial Australia. Many of the images were fun and frivolous, brilliantly capturing Marvellous Melbourne and the budding consumer culture emerging in the colonies. But behind the colour and spectacle, the Troedel archive also covers some more sobering themes and unscrupulous practices.

This talk by author Amanda Scardamaglia was originally presented for Melbourne Design Week 2022. 

Charles Troedel Archive is part of Look history in the eye, available on Spotify, Google Play and Apple Podcasts.

Family Tree US Magazine

The latest issue of Family Tree US magazine is now available free online for Campaspe Library members via our subscription to Libby eMagazines. 

Inside this month's issue :  

• Class Act - a celebration of local Black history.
• FamilySearch Opens New Portal for Volunteer Indexing
• New photo and storytelling tools at Ancestry
• Congregational Archives online
• MyHeritage Launches LiveStory
• Heirlooms on Display
• 75 Best State Websites
• Find Your U.S. Ancestors - a state-by-state guide
• Tax Records
• Finding Maps at the David Rumsey Map Collection
• Preserving Old Luggage
• RootsMagic
•  And more
  

#52Ancestors - Week 25 - Broken Branch

The theme for Week 25 is broken branch.  For some this might mean a branch of the family tree that they can search no further, that they have hit a brick wall and nothing seems to help.  I have a few branches in my family tree that have been much more difficult to trace than others, that I revisit time and again searching for that elusive clue that will allow me to finally make some progress in my research.  

These hidden branches are a source of frequent frustration along with occasional bursts of elation as I make a new discovery.  Today a broken branch, however, means something a little different for me. 

Today the 'broken branch' is the discovery that somewhere, somehow I have made a research mistake, gone researching along the wrong branch only to discover my mistake and have to break off an entire branch of my tree because it is not actually directly connected to me.

It happens to us all.  Mistakes happen.  Everything seems to be correct but then we find out we have missed one little fact that invalidates hours (days, weeks.....) of research and entire branch of our tree breaks off.  This happened to me this week.

My initial error was in some ways understandable.  Two male cousins, both named Henry Pike, born within 12 months and 2 miles of each other both married women named Sarah - in the same year!  One is my direct ancestor, the other is not.  

Everything seemed to match.  Parents names - Henry Pike and Sarah - on the birth certificate of my ancestor (James, born in 1824) match the 1821 marriage I thought was correct.  I had only discovered one of the marriages initially and mistakenly assume it to be correct.  No mother's maiden name on James' death certificate (nor on any of his siblings).  Then this week I received a copy of Henry Pike's will - in which a brother-in-law James Hart is mentioned.  A brother-in-law whose surname did not match the woman I thought was my Henry's wife.

Further investigation has revealed my error.  And broken a branch off my family tree that goes back three generations who I thought were my direct ancestors but are not.  I now have to remove the broken branch - and all the detail, certificates, and records attached - and start growing that branch anew.  At least I have the correct marriage to the correct wife now.  

And yes, I have checked.  No, there is not a third Henry Pike who married a woman named Sarah - not anywhere in Suffolk within 10 years of 1821.

The Family Histories Podcast

The Family Histories Podcast is an independent British podcast founded during lockdown in 2021 by family historian Andrew Martin.  It celebrates family historians all around the world, and the work that they do to piece together our collective social and family history. 

The podcast does not include advertisements or participate in paid promotions, sponsorship, or requests for funding.  The show is available worldwide for free, unless podcast platforms or countries impose restrictions, and is currently listened to in 47 countries.

Each episode features a family history addict and follows a familiar format – itself three stories.

The Interview

Andrew interviews the episode’s guest, where he uncovers how they got into this wonderful pastime of genealogy, what their challenges have been, and all kinds of questions relating to their area of research. Every family historian’s origin story is different, often emotive, and wonderfully fascinating.

The Life Story

Next up is the Life Story part of the show – where the guest tells the story of one of their most fascinatingly good, bad, or just plain ugly relatives that they have researched.

The Brick Wall

Everyone faces and fears a research ‘brick wall’ at some time in their family tree research, where the story hits a dead end. Therefore, the end part of the show is an opportunity to put a plea out for help in a hope that a listener has that little clue or scrap of information that cracks that wall and brings it tumbling down. The listeners can make contact with the guest via the show's Contact Us page or via the means given by the guest in the episode.

So take a look at this wonderful series today.

Traces Magazine

The latest issue of Traces : Uncovering Australia's Past magazine is now available free online for Campaspe Library members via our subscription to Libby eMagazines. 

Inside this issue : 

• Heritage News
• What’s that thingamajig?
• Cascade Brewery
• Men without country : Harrison Christian’s childhood was steeped in tales of his ancestors’ mutiny on the HMS Bounty.
• The drop of a brick : In the middle of the Great Depression, Prince Henry was scheduled to make a tour of Australia.
• The forgotten Dja Dja Wurrung queen
• Gilding the Lily
• The nightman : In this first feature of a new series on ‘lost jobs’ of the past.
• The Homecoming hero : ‘Wing Commander Garing Returns!
• Victoria’s hidden histories revealed
• Threads of a life
• A short biography of Elizabeth Marsden
  
• Slang of the Talkies
• What’s new online?
• Capturing the past