by Lisa Cooke | Dec 3, 2013 | 01 What's New, British, Church, FamilySearch
Over a million Church of England records from the county of Norfolk are among materials now indexed at FamilySearch.org.
Happisburgh church of St. Mary’s, Norfolk. Image by Martin at Flickr Creative Commons.
The collection includes bishops’ registers of baptisms, marriages and burials from the mid-1600s to the mid-1900s.
- Baptismal records may include the child’s name, date and place of baptism, parents’ names and residence, legitimacy status of the child, father’s occupation and minister’s name.
- Marriage records may include the names, ages, marital status and residence of bride and groom; date and place of marriage; fathers of the bride and groom and information on whether banns were published.
- Burial records may include the name, age, and residence of the deceased and the date and parish of burial.
The Church of England was a state-sponsored church. This helps genealogists because it means that most everyone who lived there (until the mid-1800s or so) is likely to show up in Church of England records. So if you had English ancestors who lived in Norfolk, take a look. These images have been online since 2010, but the new index makes them a lot easier to search!
by Lisa Cooke | Dec 2, 2013 | 01 What's New, Conferences
The program for the 2014 National Genealogical Society Conference has been released! The lineup for the Richmond, Virginia event looks fantastic. Here’s the official summary:
“Conference highlights include a choice of more than 175 lectures, given by many nationally known speakers and subject matter experts about a broad array of topics including records for Virginia and its neighboring states; migration into and out of the region; military records; state and federal records; ethnic groups including African Americans, German, Irish, and Ulster Scots; methodology; analysis and problem solving; and the use of technology including genetics, mobile devices, and apps useful in genealogical research.”
I’ll be at NGS 2014 teaching these classes:
- Google Search Strategies for Common Surnames
- Tech Tools that Catapult the Newspaper Research Process into the 20th Century
- Find Living Relatives Like a Private Eye
Looking for my classes? Open the registration brochure (link below) and hit Ctrl+F, then type my last name and hit enter. Hit the up and down arrows to browse the places where my name appears.
Registration opens on December 1, just after Thanksgiving weekend in the U.S.
Why read over the program now? Because like early holiday shoppers, you’ll get the best selection if you’re ready to go when it opens. A number of special events (see the brochure) have limited seating so you’ll want to register as early as possible to ensure your seat. The 16-page downloadable registration brochure addresses logistics as well as the program.
Read more about it on the NGS website, or jump to these helpful URLS:
Guide for 1st-time NGS attendees
Up-to-date hotel info
Conference blog
by Lisa Cooke | Dec 1, 2013 | 01 What's New, FamilySearch, Military, Records & databases
FamilySearch recently added another 192 million+ images and indexed records from North and South America and Europe to its growing FREE online collections. In the list at the bottom of this post you’ll find content from Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Spain, Switzerland, the United States, and Wales.
Notable collection updates include the 314,910 images from the Spain, Province of Barcelona, Municipal Records, 1387–1936,
collection, the 576,176 indexed records from the United States Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards, 1907–1933, collection, and the 189,395,454
Sample image from “United States Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards, 1907-1933.” Index and images. FamilySearch. https://familysearch.org : accessed 2013.
indexed records from the United States Public Records Index.
Here’s an example of a V.A. pension card, created by the Bureau of Pensions and Veterans Administration to record payments to veterans, widows and other dependents. FamilySearch describes the cards this way: “On the front of the cards for invalid veterans are recorded the name of veteran, his certificate number, his unit or arm of Service, the disability for which pensioned, the law or laws under which pensioned, the class of pension or certificate, the rate of pension, the effective date of pension, the date of the certificate, any fees paid, the name of the pension agency or group transferred from (if applicable), the date of death, the date the Bureau was notified, the former roll number, and ‘home.’ On the reverse side of the form appears the name of the veteran, his certificate number, and the record of the individual payments. The army and navy widow’s cards are similar to the invalids’ cards with the addition of the widow’s name and occasionally information regarding payments made to minors, but they do not indicate if the veteran had a disability.”
|
Collection
|
Indexed Records
|
Digital Images
|
Comments
|
| Brazil, Mato Grosso, Civil Registration, 1848-2013 |
0 |
126,870 |
Added images to an existing collection. |
| Brazil, Minas Gerais, Catholic Church Records, 1706-1999 |
0 |
827 |
Added images to an existing collection. |
| Brazil, Pernambuco, Civil Registration, 1804-2013 |
0 |
94,516 |
Added images to an existing collection. |
| Colombia, Catholic Church Records, 1600-2012 |
0 |
111,526 |
Added images to an existing collection. |
| Peru, Puno, Civil Registration, 1890-2005 |
0 |
176,918 |
Added images to an existing collection. |
| Spain, Province of Barcelona, Municipal Records, 1387-1936 |
0 |
314,910 |
Added images to an existing collection. |
| Switzerland, Fribourg, Census, 1839 |
0 |
2,552 |
New browsable image collection. |
| Switzerland, Fribourg, Census, 1842 |
0 |
2,851 |
New browsable image collection. |
| Switzerland, Fribourg, Census, 1845 |
0 |
3,062 |
New browsable image collection. |
| Switzerland, Fribourg, Census, 1850 |
0 |
2,968 |
New browsable image collection. |
| Switzerland, Fribourg, Census, 1860 |
0 |
20,530 |
New browsable image collection. |
| Switzerland, Fribourg, Census, 1870 |
0 |
22,554 |
New browsable image collection. |
| U.S., Alabama, County Marriages, 1809-1950 |
324,971 |
690,459 |
Added indexed records and images to an existing collection. |
| United States Public Records Index |
189,395,454 |
0 |
Added indexed records to an existing collection. |
| United States Veterans Administration Pension Payment Cards, 1907-1933 |
576,176 |
0 |
Added indexed records to an existing collection. |
| United States World War I Draft Registration Cards, 1917-1918 |
644,004 |
0 |
Added indexed records to an existing collection. |
| Wales, Court and Miscellaneous Records, 1542-1911 |
0 |
84,676 |
Added images to an existing collection. |
by Lisa Cooke | Nov 30, 2013 | 01 What's New
Today is the last day to enter our giveaway for a free digital subscription to Family Tree Magazine. We’re hosting the giveaway in honor of the article on 
genealogy teamwork in the December 2013 issue written by yours truly and Sunny Morton (Contributing Editor here at Genealogy Gems).
If you haven’t already entered, it’s really easy:
- Go to the Genealogy Gems Facebook page. “Like” it (if you haven’t already done so).
- Post your answer to the question “What is your favorite collaboration tool for genealogy?” with the hashtag “#collaborate.”
Enter by MIDNIGHT TONIGHT (PST) and you’ll be automatically entered to win a year’s digital subscription. Anyone can enter. Good luck!
by Lisa Cooke | Nov 29, 2013 | 01 What's New, Newspaper
Recently I did a webinar for Legacy Family Tree called “Get the Scoop on Your Ancestors with Newspapers.” Soon after, I heard from a happy student 
named Christina.
“I just had to let you know how grateful I am to you,” she writes. “I finally had a chance to utilize the information you shared and wanted to check out the websites you talked about. I started with the Stanford Data Visualization and the very first newspaper I opened online had one of my ancestors on the front page. WOW! When I went into my Legacy program I discovered that I already had that information, but now I also had a verification.”
She goes on to say she started reading through more newspaper issues, which were so interesting she kept getting distracted. She found another ancestor mentioned in a political newspaper and guesses she’s just discovered his political affiliation.
Then she tells me about a longtime family mystery she decided to try to solve in newspapers. “My cousin’s daughter contacted me about a year ago for information about a child that died in the same time period that the local court records were lost in a fire. I didn’t think we would ever get the information. But I thought I would use the date that we had and start with any paper I could get online, starting the day after. I wasn’t sure it would hit papers that soon in that time period, but I had to start somewhere. Lo and behold, her death notice was on page 4 of the first paper I opened!”
“I realize I am very lucky to have found so much right away and it won’t happe
Available at http://genealogygems.com
n every time, but I am encouraged that your training was so helpful that I am going to break through a lot of walls. Again, Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge.”
I’ve heard countless stories like these from so many people who have discovered their family histories in newspapers. A video version of my newspaper class is available as part of Genealogy Gems Premium Membership, along with over a dozen other instructional videos, and over 100 exclusive podcast episodes. Starting today 11/29/13 through Monday 12/2/13 when you purchase a 1 year membership you will get an exclusive free ebook. Click here for all the details.
You can also get my complete newspaper research method in my book: How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers, available in print and as an e-book. And also starting today 11/29/13 through Monday 12/2/13 you can get it as part of a special book bundle or ebook bundle at a 40% savings.
