DNA and Genealogy Records Updates at Ancestry

by | Feb 22, 2019 | 01 What's New, DNA, Records & databases

Ancestry dominates this week’s genealogy news with a new update for AncestryDNA genetic communities! Also new from Ancestry this week are big updates to collections for England and Canada. 

Featured: AncestryDNA News

Announced on Tuesday, February 19: “AncestryDNA has launched 94 new and updated communities for customers of African American and Afro-Caribbean descent. These updates mean that in addition to enabling the African American community to dive deeper into their family history, they can also discover how their family connects to historical moments in time, such as the Great Migration–the movement of 6 million African Americans out of the rural South during the mid-1900s.

AncestryDNA can connect members to communities of people who lived and traveled with their ancestors 70-300 years ago–including communities of people who were enslaved in the US and Caribbean then later flourished in the South or traveled northward in the 1900s during the Great Migration.

400 years after the first documented arrival of Africans in the English colonies, Ancestry can map out the forced and voluntary migration patterns of African American and Afro-Caribbean communities, then connect their descendants to that history using their DNA.

These new insights, provided using our unique Genetic Communities™ technology, can reveal the roles and unique impact your ancestors played in history. Ancestry’s unmatched combination of the world’s largest consumer DNA network and millions of family trees  allows our customers to see this level of precision and trace how their ancestors may have moved over time.”

New and Updated English Genealogy Collections

If your ancestors hailed from England, you will love these new and updated genealogy records that Ancestry has added to their collections!

New: London, England, Poor Law Hospital Admissions and Discharges, 1842-1918 — After the Poor Law Act of 1834, workhouses became the main vehicle of assistance for the poor. Conditions were very hard and many of those who entered workhouses needed medical care. Infirmaries attached to workhouses, and administered by the Poor Law Unions were used to provide some relief for the impoverished elderly, chronically ill and anyone who suffered from one of many ailments prevalent at the time. You might find your ancestor’s name, admission date, age, death date, discharge date, and Poor Law Union.

Updated: London, England, Selected Poor Law Removal and Settlement Records, 1698-1930 — The records in this database relate to settlement and removals in the unions of Bethnal Green, Hackney, Poplar, Shoreditch, and Stepney. They include examinations and settlement inquiries, registers of settlement, orders of removal, and other documents. Details included in these records vary widely, depending on the document. An order of removal may contain a name, age, current parish, and parish being removed to. A settlement register may note number of children and marital status.

Updated: London, England, Poor Law School District Registers, 1852-1918 — These records are made up of lists of children who were admitted to and discharged from District schools across London. When education was required, children could be discharged from their schooling if they were needed to work to help support the family. The records vary by school and some are more detailed than others.

Updated: Somerset, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1531-1812 — This database includes records with dates ranging from 1531 up until 1812, after which George Rose’s Act called for preprinted registers to be used for separate baptism, marriage, and burial registers as a way of standardizing records. See the browse on the right to determine which parishes are included in this collection and the date coverage for each parish.

Updated Ontario, Canada Genealogy Records

Ancestry has also made updates to their vital records collections for Ontario, Canada! Discover your ancestors in the updated collections noted below.

Ontario, Canada Births, 1858-1913 — This database is an index to over 2 million births that were registered in Ontario between 1869 and 1913. Each name is linked to an image of the actual birth register or certificate in which the individual was recorded. Additional information may be found on the image that is not included in the keyed index.

Ontario, Canada, Marriages, 1826-1937 — This database is a collection of approximately 3.3 million marriages recorded in Ontario, Canada between 1826 and 1937. Additional information may be found on the original record. Be sure to view the corresponding image, if there is one available. If no online image is available, be sure to use the information found in this database to locate your ancestor in the original records that the index references – more information is usually available in the records themselves than is found in an index.

Ontario, Canada, Deaths and Deaths Overseas, 1869-1947 — This database is an index to over 2 million deaths that were registered in Ontario from 1869 to 1947. The database also includes deaths of Ontario military personnel overseas from 1939-1947. You might discover your ancestor’s name, death date, estimated birth year, birthplace, and Ontario county of death. 

Bring your story to life at Ancestry

Ancestry has always been one of the genealogy giants in the family history community, and they continue to be one of the largest databases in the world for genealogists. With over 10 million DNA profiles, billions of records, and millions of family trees, it’s a goldmine of genetic and genealogical matches for you to discover those hidden ancestor gems. Start with a free trial, take a DNA test, or upload a tree to get started today. 
Lacey Cooke

Lacey Cooke

Lacey has been working with Genealogy Gems since the company’s inception in 2007. Now, as the full-time manager of Genealogy Gems, she creates the free weekly newsletter, writes blogs, coordinates live events, and collaborates on new product development. No stranger to working with dead people, Lacey holds a degree in Forensic Anthropology, and is passionate about criminal justice and investigative techniques. She is the proud dog mom of Renly the corgi. 

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links and Genealogy Gems will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for supporting Genealogy Gems!

Year-End Round Up of New Genealogy Records Online

by | Dec 28, 2018 | 01 What's New, Records & databases | 11 comments

It’s the end of another year, and as 2018 comes to a close we’ve rounded up the last of the new online records collections for you. Explore a unique collection of Catholic Church records in Peru, dating back to the 17th century. Next you can view Jewish registers online at Ancestry.com, browse unique historical collections for the U.S., and check out German civil registrations new and updated at FamilySearch.

Peru Catholic Church Records

New at FamilySearch is a growing indexed collection of records for Peru, Diocese of Huaraz, Catholic Church Records, 1641-2016. These records include baptisms, confirmations, marriages, pre-marriage investigations, deaths, and indexes. More indexed records will be added as they become available, but right now the collection boasts over 150,000 records. 

About Catholic Church records: “Catholic Church parish registers were created by priests authorized to record the church sacraments of baptism, marriage, death, burial, and other ordinances in their parish jurisdiction. Catholic Church parish registers are the primary source for finding genealogical information of birth, death, and marriage in Peru prior to 1852, when the civil registration was implemented.”

Jewish Register Books

A new collection of Jewish register books from Poland is online now at Ancestry.com: 
Poland, Modliborzyce Ghetto Register Books, 1939-1944 (USHMM)
A variety of information can be found in these records, including your ancestor’s name, age, birth date and place, occupations, residences, parents’ names, and more.

From the collection description: “This database contains the names of the Jewish population in the Modliborzyce Ghetto. The registers were compiled by the Judenrat (Jewish Council) in Modliborzyce between 1941 and 1942. The original documents are held by the Emanuel Ringelblum Jewish Historical Institute in Warsaw, Poland. This collection was indexed by World Memory Project contributors from the digitized holdings of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.”

New U.S. Records & Databases

New from the University of Arkansas: a fascinating digital collection of the American Old West in the form of diaries. “Whiskey smuggling, murder, scandal and a ‘hanging judge’ — the latest digital exhibit from University Libraries has all this and more. The Deputy Marshal Addison Beck and Judge Isaac Parker’s Court collection is now available worldwide, free of charge. Addison Beck was a deputy marshal for the United States from 1875 to 1883 who patrolled for the United States District Court for the Western District of Arkansas in Fort Smith. Addison Beck’s two surviving diaries chronicle 1880 to early 1881 and from April through August 1881.”

The Washington State Libray is wrapping up the Washington Rural Heritage Collection, which includes nearly 2,000 new items spanning 5 collections. This expansive collaboration provides historic photographs, ephemera and objects, documents, artifacts, oral histories, and more throughout Washington State. 

Over at FamilySearch is a new collection for North Carolina, Historical Records Survey, Cemetery Inscription Card Index. This index contains images of Surname index cards listing county, name of cemetery, town, person, date of birth, death date, age, spouse or parents, location of grave, military information.

German Civil Registrations

Finally, check out these new online records for Germany, Saxony-Anhalt, Halberstadt, Civil Registration, 1874-1982, available for free at FamilySearch. In this collection you’ll find an index of the birth, marriage and death records from Halberstadt Kreisarchiv. Included in these records are these localities Aspenstedt, Emersleben, Halberstadt, Klein Quenstedt (Kr. Halberstadt), Langenstein, Mahndorf, Sargstedt, Ströbeck, and Wehrstedt. Original records held at Halberstadt Kreisarchiv, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.

In addition, this collection was updated with more records: Germany, Schleswig-Holstein, Kreis Steinburg, Civil Registration, 1874-1983. This collection consists of civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths for the district of Steinburg, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Original records are located in the Gemeinsames Archiv des Kreises Steinburg und der Stadt Itzehoe (Joint Archive of the District of Steinburg and the City of Itzehoe).

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Lacey Cooke

Lacey Cooke

Lacey has been working with Genealogy Gems since the company’s inception in 2007. Now, as the full-time manager of Genealogy Gems, she creates the free weekly newsletter, writes blogs, coordinates live events, and collaborates on new product development. No stranger to working with dead people, Lacey holds a degree in Forensic Anthropology, and is passionate about criminal justice and investigative techniques. She is the proud dog mom of Renly the corgi. 

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links and Genealogy Gems will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for supporting Genealogy Gems!

Genetic Traits at Ancestry DNA

by | Dec 3, 2018 | 01 What's New, Ancestry, DNA | 5 comments

Get a new perspective on your DNA results with AncestryDNA’s new Genetic Traits feature. For just $10, you can discover how traits run in your family and might even come from ethnic origins, with no additional DNA test needed. It’s a deeper look into what makes you YOU, and it’s a fantastic way to engage non-genealogists in your family to be interested in where they come from.

Share Traits This Holiday Season

While the new Genetic Traits feature from AncestryDNA may not be directly applicable to genealogical research or uncovering brick wall ancestors, it’s the ideal tool to interest the non-genealogist in your family. Your relatives might not be interested in cousin-matching and identifying shared ancestors, but they will love discovering what makes them unique. The Genetic Traits tool provides another vehicle for people to discover their origins and connect with their past in a meaningful way. If you’re giving a DNA test kit as a gift this year, consider gifting the Traits feature as well. And have fun exploring your own traits! Order now at Ancestry.com or on Amazon.

New AncestryDNA Feature: Genetic Traits

November 9, 2018: “Ancestry’s long history of innovation has driven our leadership in family history and, more recently, the emerging field of consumer genomics. Today, we’re proud to introduce a fun and innovative way for you to further explore who you are and where you come from – AncestryDNA Traits. Using science and data to power ongoing journeys of discovery, Traits is a new interactive experience that allows you to discover traits and attributes influenced by your DNA. With AncestryDNA Traits, you can explore up to 18 traits and attributes that you’ve inherited from your ancestors, share with family, and may pass down to future generations.”

Through AncestryDNA Traits, people can:
  • Identify 18 traits (full list below)
  • Compare your genetic markers to your matches via the AncestryDNA mobile app to see who in your family you share certain traits with.
  • Explore an “Around the World” interactive map, where you can see how your traits align with your heritage.
  • New customers can upgrade their AncestryDNA kit to include Traits for an additional $10.00 on Ancestry.com and Amazon. Existing customers can purchase the Traits feature for $10.00 through their Ancestry account.

Identifiable Traits

With AncestryDNA Traits, customers can explore up to 18 traits and attributes including:
  • Finger length
  • Cleft chin
  • Earlobe type
  • Earwax type
  • Eye color
  • Freckles

 

  • Hair color
  • Hair type
  • Hair strand thickness
  • Iris patterns
  • Male hair loss
  • Skin pigmentation

 

  • Unibrow
  • Bitter taste perception
  • Sweet taste perception
  • Savory taste perception
  • Asparagus metabolite detection
  • Cilantro aversion

More About Traits

From Ancestry: “Powered by AncestryDNA, Traits gives you an even deeper look at your personal story through the “Around the World” interactive map. You can explore how your traits align with your heritage and learn whether your green eyes are common in other people with Irish ancestry.

 
Those of you with the AncestryDNA Mobile app will be the first with access to our new Traits Compare feature which allows you to compare your genetic markers that influence your traits with friends, family, or any other AncestryDNA customer who has Traits.
 
Traits is just the latest example of the many tools we’re working on to enable a journey of personal discovery that we hope will enrich your life. As in everything we do, protecting your privacy is our highest priority, so we will continue to place you in control of your data – that means both you and your counterpart must consent to participate in any Traits Comparison.”
Lacey Cooke

Lacey Cooke

Lacey has been working with Genealogy Gems since the company’s inception in 2007. Now, as the full-time manager of Genealogy Gems, she creates the free weekly newsletter, writes blogs, coordinates live events, and collaborates on new product development. No stranger to working with dead people, Lacey holds a degree in Forensic Anthropology, and is passionate about criminal justice and investigative techniques. She is the proud dog mom of Renly the corgi.

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links and Genealogy Gems will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for supporting Genealogy Gems!

U.S. Naturalization Records & More New Genealogy Records Online

by | Nov 30, 2018 | 01 What's New, Records & databases | 1 comment

U.S. Naturalization Records at MyHeritage top the charts this week for new records collections online. Over 200 million records are available for Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. Also new this week are German marriages, baptisms, and burials. Britain marriage licenses dating back to the 12th century may also pique your interest and are available online.  

U.S. Naturalization Records

New this week at MyHeritage are over 200 million U.S. Naturalization Records. First is the record index for Northern Illinois, 1840-1950, containing petitions for naturalization filed in northern Illinois circuit court and INS District 9. In addition to Illinois, INS District 9 covered parts of northwestern Indiana, eastern Iowa, and southern and eastern Wisconsin. Data collected prior to 1906 was limited, likely containing just the name of the petitioner, their country of origin, and record dates and numbers. After 1906, you’ll be more likely to see records with not only names, but also addresses, birth dates, witnesses present, and date and place of arrival the U.S.

Also new is the Naturalization Record Index for New England, 1791-1906. This collection is an index of naturalization documents filed in courts in the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont from 1791 to 1906. The 3X5 inch cards in this collection contain limited information. But the 5X8 inch cards will likely contain the name of the petitioner, petition for citizenship, oath of allegiance, record of previous citizenship, place and date of birth, occupation, place and date of arrival in the United States, name of the ship, place of residence at the time of application, and name and address of a witness to these statements.

German Marriages

Genealogy Giant website Ancestry.com has a new collection of Eberswalde, Germany, Marriages, 1874-1936. Within these records, you can find a wealth of information, including names, occupations, birth date, parents, witnesses, and more. Each document has a front and back and are displayed one after the other. Additional events from the life of the couple were sometimes recorded later on in the margins, but these notes are not indexed. In addition to these civil registers, complementary alphabetical directories of names may also have been created. These directories may tell you the names of the bride and groom, occupations, residence, and cross-reference to the marriage register.

Ancestry has also recently partnered with FamilySearch to provide free access to Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1500-1971. From the collection description: “This collection contains parish registers from numerous Protestant communities and military garrisons found in former or modern German territories. The records are largely organized according to historical regions and church districts that may differ from current affiliations. These parish records primarily contain information about births and baptisms, marriages, and deaths and burials.” It’s important to note that this collection is in German, so you may want to reference the German Genealogical Word List on the FamilySearch Wiki.

Britain Marriage Licenses

If your ancestors were married in England, you’ll want to explore this great collection of Britain Marriage Licenses at Findmypast. Fifteen English counties are represented including London, Lancashire, Suffolk, Exeter, Lincoln, Yorkshire, and more, and records date back as early as 1115! These marriage licenses may be able to tell you the couple’s names, father’s name, and the marriage location. The collection consists of a mixture of more than 536,000 handwritten and typed record books from 1115 until 1906 provided by the College of Arms, Anguline Research Archives, and Gould Genealogy.

Reconstruct Your Ancestors’ Stories

When records have been destroyed, or simply remain elusive, you can still put the pieces together to discover your ancestors’ stories! In the new Genealogy Gems Premium eLearning Video, instructor Sunny Morton will show you how to reconstruct fascinating experiences from your own family history by combining clues from your family’s knowledge, documents from genealogy websites, good historical research and Googling to fill in the gaps. All while learning the riveting story of one of the worst disasters in U.S. history. Members can watch right now by clicking here. Not a member? Sign up today!

 

Lacey Cooke

Lacey Cooke

Lacey has been working with Genealogy Gems since the company’s inception in 2007. Now, as the full-time manager of Genealogy Gems, she creates the free weekly newsletter, writes blogs, coordinates live events, and collaborates on new product development. No stranger to working with dead people, Lacey holds a degree in Forensic Anthropology, and is passionate about criminal justice and investigative techniques. She is the proud dog mom of Renly the corgi.

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links and Genealogy Gems will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for supporting Genealogy Gems!

New Collection for Tracing Immigrants From the British Isles

by | Dec 15, 2017 | 01 What's New, Australian, British, Irish, Records & databases, United States

Exciting news this week is the brand new British and Irish Roots Collection from Findmypast. This collection has 98 million records and is free to search for a limited time. Also new are electoral rolls for Australia and vital records for the United States. 

Findmypast: New Collection for Tracing Immigrants From the British Isles

Findmypast has just announced the brand new British and Irish Roots Collection. This exciting new database consists of more than 98 million assorted records that have been hand-picked from existing collections by Findmypast’s in-house experts. It spans more than 400 years of migration between the British Isles and North America, all in one place. And for a limited time, this database is FREE to search for everyone!

A little more about the collection: “Millions of passenger lists, census records, naturalization applications and draft registrations, as well as birth, marriage, and death records spanning more than 400 years (1573 to 1990) of migration between the British Isles and North America can now be explored in one unified search, enabling North American family historians to trace the migration of ancestors from the Old World to the New through one simple search.”

The journeys researchers can expect to find include:

  • Anyone leaving the UK or Ireland and emigrating to the US, Canada or the Caribbean
  • Anyone emigrating from Canada or the Caribbean to the US (this covers the large number of British and Irish immigrants who stopped temporarily in Canada and/or the Caribbean)
  • Anyone listed on any US or Canadian record with British or Irish origins, birthplace or parents

This is a very exciting new collection, and one well-worth exploring now while it’s available for free. Click here to start searching now (a free Findmypast account may be required to view).

Australia – Electoral Rolls

MyHeritage has added new collections for Queensland, Australia Electoral Rolls. Years include 1906, 1941, and 1959. Electoral rolls are the nearest record Australians have to census listings and hence are extremely important to local, social and family historians. MyHeritage has also added the Tasmania Electoral Rolls 1916 collection as well.

Also new this week is Ancestry’s collection for the Queensland, Australia, Mining Accident Index, 1882-1945. From the database description: This collection contains information about mining accidents published annually in the Queensland Legislative Assembly Votes and Proceedings (later known as Queensland Parliamentary Papers) from 1882 to 1945.

United States Vital Records & More

Obituary Notices. Findmypast has a new collection of Obituary Notices containing 6 million records (transcribed from the tributes.com website) that could help you unlock unknown details on your ancestor’s death in America.

Colorado. A new collection of Steelworks Employment Records, 1887-1979 is available now at Ancestry. The original records come from the Steelworks Center of the West, and you may find names, birthdates, birthplaces, spouses, occupations, and more.

Idaho. Two new collections of vital records for Idaho are now online at Ancestry. County Birth and Death Records, 1863-1967 will reveal names, dates, places, and includes a small amount of marriage records. County Marriages, 1863-1967 contains a variety of marriage forms, including: Marriage Certificates, Marriage Licenses, Marriage Affidavits, and Marriage Applications.

Montana. Also new at Ancestry are marriage records for Montana. These new databases include County Marriages 1865-1987, Marriage Records 1943-1986, and Divorce Records, 1943-1986. To obtain certified certificates (or request changes) you’ll want to contact the Montana Department of Public Health and Human Services Office of Vital Records.

New Hampshire. Finally, vital records for Portsmouth, New Hampshire are available at Findmypast. Start with the Vital Records 1706-1895 collection, containing birth, marriage, and death records reported in newspapers and town record transcripts. If your ancestors fell on hard times, you’ll want to search the Expenses Of The Poor 1817-1838 collection. The Newspaper Abstracts 1776-1800 collection may help you sketch a more detailed view of significant events in your ancestor’s life. Finally, cver 10,000 new records from Portsmouth, NH have been added to Findmypast’s collection of United States Marriage records.

Try Findmypast FREE for two weeks!

As we mentioned above, the new British and Irish Roots Collection is free to search at Findmypast for a limited time. But there’s so much more to discover! Findmypast is the leading records website for British and Irish records, and has growing databases for the United States, Australia, and Canada. Get a two-week free trial to explore everything that Findmypast has to offer!

Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links and Genealogy Gems will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on these links (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for supporting Genealogy Gems!

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