Featured this week are new and updated records for South Africa. The all-free site FamilySearch has two new and one updated collection for South Africa including death and probate records and passenger lists. Ancestry.com also has an updated collection of church records going back to the 17th century. Also new at Ancestry.com are four genealogy records collections for Essex, England.
Featured: South Africa Genealogy Records
If you have ancestors that lived in South Africa, you may already be familiar with some of the challenges of researching them. And if you’re new to genealogy or to your ancestors that lived in South Africa, you might be in for a surprise when it comes to records: census records aren’t available! They are routinely destroyed after being abstracted and thus not available to the public.
So where’s the best place to start looking? Most genealogy experts will tell you to start with death notices. A death notice is different than a death certificate, in that it’s not an official document. Rather, it is a document provided by next of kin, friends, or associates of the deceased. Information provided may not be 100% accurate or reliable, but it can often provide really helpful details and a glimpse into the person’s life.
FamilySearch as a new collection of South Africa, Orange Free State, Probate Records from the Master of the Supreme Court, 1832-1989. There are over 300,000 records in this set, and the most useful records in the collection are the death notices, which give detailed information. The probate records usually have multiple pages and are included in a probate file, which is identified by a probate number.
When a person died, the nearest relative or other connection should have completed a death notice and sent it to the Master of the High Court within 14 days of the death. These records might tell you the deceased’s name, birthdate and place, marriage status, parents’ names, the names of their children, information about property and wills left, and more.
There is an updated collection of actual death certificates at FamilySearch, which is the Transvaal, Civil Death, 1869-1954 collection. “Death certificates are arranged chronologically and alphabetically by place and include full name, parent’s name if under the age of ten, mother’s residence, age, sex, birthplace, marital status, occupation, whether pensioner or pensioner’s dependent, place and date of death, residence, place of burial, cause and duration of death, and background of informant. For the years 1899-1902, records are arranged separately by internment camp and district where death occurred.”
If you’re an Ancestry.com subscriber, you can also check out the recently updated collection of Dutch Reformed Church Registers, 1660-1970. This collection contains records from various locations which were part of historic Cape Colony, including Namibia, Cape of Good Hope province and Transvaal province. Record coverage will vary depending on location. It is also available at FamilySearch.
Essex, England
Ancestry.com has four new collections of genealogy records for Essex, England. These BMD records date back as far as the 16th century and may hold important details about the lives of your ancestors living in Essex.
Church of England Births and Baptisms, 1813-1918: “Children were usually baptised within a few days or weeks of birth. The records generally include when the baptism took place and in what parish, child’s Christian name, parents’ given names and the family surname, residence, father’s occupation, and who performed the ceremony. Sometimes you’ll find additional details such as date of birth. Early records may contain less detail.”
Church of England Marriages, 1754-1935: “Couples were usually married in the bride’s parish. Marriage records typically include the bride and groom’s names, residence, date and location of the marriage, names of witnesses, condition (bachelor, spinster, widow, or widower) and the name of the officiant. Some records may also include the father’s name and occupation.”
Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538-1812: “This collection contains images of Church of England parish registers of baptisms and burials during the years 1538–1812, and marriages during the years 1538-1754 from Essex, England.”
Get more new and updated records every week!
Each week we round up the new and updated genealogy records collections for you in a helpful article so you can jump right into researching! Our free weekly email newsletter always has the latest records round up article, as well as other featured articles on genealogy methodology, inspiration, tips and tricks, and more. Plus the newsletter also lets you know where there is a new episode of The Genealogy Gems Podcast, new videos, and updates on news and events. And best of all it’s free! Sign up today to get our email newsletter once a week in your inbox.
About the Author: Lisa Louise Cooke is the producer and host of the Genealogy Gems Podcast, an online genealogy audio show and app. She is the author of the books The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox, Mobile Genealogy, How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers, and the Google Earth for Genealogy video series. She is an international keynote speaker and the Vice President of the Genealogical Speakers Guild.
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
From coast to coast, U.S. records from the ‘genealogy giants’ are new and updated this week. Findmypast has a new collection of mine accident records for Pennsylvania (and we’ll also highlight a similar collection for England). Ancestry.com has updated a large number of genealogy collections for U.S. marriage, census, and military records that you’ll want to check out. And lastly, FamilySearch has made updates to a small set of U.S. county, tax, and enumeration records.
Pennsylvania, Register Of Mine Accidents
Mining was an integral part of United States history. Immigrants were able to find work in the mines but sometimes at great risk and peril. Findmypast has a new collection that may shed light on the miners in your family tree.
The Pennsylvania Register of Mine Accidents is a collection containing records from the Department of Mines and Mineral Industries. These records document mine accidents for the anthracite districts and the bituminous districts between 1899 and 1972. They are held by the Pennsylvania State Archives and links to the PDF versions of the accident registers are available on the transcripts.
The records explain where the accident happened, the cause, whether the accident was or was not fatal, and who was at fault. A few examples of the accidents include caught in a conveyor belt, runaway trip wrecked into an empty trip, crushed with a possible fracture of the leg, fallen roof, and falling coal.
With each record, you will find a transcript of the vital information about the individual involved in the mining accident, including nationality, name, age, marital status, and other details. Over time the amount of information recorded at the time of the accident changed as the volume of accidents diminished.
More Mining Records at Findmypast
If your mining ancestors were immigrants, they may have also been miners in their home countries. Findmypast has another fascinating collection of records of England Mining Disaster Victims. Included in these records are the 26 children who lost their lives in the Huskar Pit disaster of 1838 as well as 88 of the men who died in the Cadeby Main pit disaster in 1912. The initial explosion at Cadeby Main killed a total of 38 men; however, when a rescue party was sent in, another explosion occurred, killing 53 of the rescue workers.
From these transcripts, you can discover the following information: name, birth year, age, event date, colliery, and incident details. Four counties are represented in the records: Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, and Yorkshire. This collection has been obtained from the Alan Beales Database of Fatalities in the Coal Fields. Additional information about the records can we found on the source’s website.
Updated U.S. Records at Ancestry.com
Over at Ancestry.com you’ll find big updates to numerous records collections for the U.S.
Lastly, we head over to the all-free genealogy giant website FamilySearch. This week they’ve made updates to the following US genealogy records collections:
Most of these updates are pretty small, under 2,000 records. But you never know where your ancestor’s name might be lurking! The Ohio Tax Records collection has over 1.5 million new records, so if you have Ohio ancestors you’ll definitely want to check it out.
More U.S. Research Resources on the Free Genealogy Gems Podcast
If you’re filling in the gaps of your family tree with your U.S. ancestors, you’ll love episode #193 of the free Genealogy Gems Podcast! In this episode, we’ll talk about tips for using the U.S. Public Records Index. We’ll also dig deep into using the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) for genealogy research, including what kind of records you can access, how to request them, and more. Take listen to this episode right now in the YouTube media player below, or find it on the go on the Genealogy Gems App!
About the Author: Lisa Louise Cooke is the producer and host of the Genealogy Gems Podcast, an online genealogy audio show and app. She is the author of the books The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox, Mobile Genealogy, How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers, and the Google Earth for Genealogy video series. She is an international keynote speaker and the Vice President of the Genealogical Speakers Guild.
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!
Is that the sound of bagpipes? It might be, because the Scotland 1901 Census is now available at FamilySearch! Learn more about what you’ll find in this collection and get top tips from a Scottish genealogy expert on how to find your ancestors is in Scottish records. Then we head over to Central and South America for exciting new and updated genealogy collections for the Bahamas, Panama, and Brazil.
Scotland Census Now at FamilySearch
Does your family tree have roots in Scotland? You’re in luck! You can now search for your tartan-clad ancestors for free at FamilySearch! The Scotland Census, 1901 contains almost 4.5 million records for those living in Scotland on Sunday March 31, 1901.
“These records are comprised of Enumeration forms that were distributed to all households before the census night and the complete forms were collected the next day by the enumerators. Included in this series are returns from ships of the Royal Navy at sea and in ports abroad.
This collection is also available on Findmypast. If you have a subscription to Findmypast, you can access the 1901 census that includes Scotland, England, and Wales. Click here to search at Findmypast.
UPDATE: The original FamilySearch press release contained incorrect information about the source of the 1901 census records. Visit the National Records of Scotland website here for more information about the 1901 census.
According to the National Records of Scotland website, they hold records of the census of the population of Scotland for 1841 and every tenth year thereafter (with the exception of the wartime year of 1941 when no census was taken) and of the sample census of 1966. Census records are closed for 100 years under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.”
3 Strategies for Finding an Ancestor in Scottish Records
If your love of tartan, bagpipes, and kilts equals your love of family history research, you are likely hoping to find an ancestor who was born in Scotland. Or perhaps nothing would surprise you more than to find a Scottish ancestor. In either case, the next step is to find this ancestor in Scottish records.
As with all immigrants, the first step to finding them in their homeland is to research their lives extensively in America before searching for them in Scottish records. Scottish genealogy expert Amanda Epperson, PhD joins us here on Genealogy Gems to share some of her top strategies to help you find your ancestors in Scottish records. Click here to read more!
New Genealogy Records for the Bahamas
Findmypast has been making major strides in expanding its collection to include rare and underrepresented records. The newest addition is the Bahamas Birth Index 1850-1891. Discover your Bahamian ancestors in this online index of registered births from the British Crown Colony of The Bahamas.
Birth records are essential to expanding your family tree. There are tens of thousands of records in this collection, giving information not only about relatives born in the Bahamas but also their parents. Click to search the Bahamas Birth Index 1850-1891.
Panama Records Indexes
Three new indexes containing just under half a million vital records from the Republic of Panama have recently joined Findmypast’s growing collections of international records. There are now four collections for Panama:
These new additions consist of baptisms, marriages and deaths spanning the years 1750 to 1950 and will generate hints on Findmypast family trees. (Learn more about Findmypast’s new tree hinting feature by clicking here.)
Brazil Civil Registrations
FamilySearch has a new genealogy collection for South America: Brazil, São Paulo, Civil Registration, 1925-1995. Boasting nearly 2 million records, this data set includes births, marriages, deaths, and indexes created by various civil registration offices in the state of São Paulo. Some of these records have been indexed and are searchable as part of this collection. Additional images and indexed records will be published as they become available.
These records are in Portuguese so you may want to take a look at these resources for help with these records:
You can search the index or view the images or both. Before using this collection it is helpful to know your ancestor’s given name and surname, identifying information such as residence, and estimated marriage or birth year.
Bring genealogy records to life with Google Earth!
Genealogists love making discoveries in records, but the excitement of documents doesn’t exactly translate to the non-genealogists in your family. Capture your family’s imagination by telling their family history story with Google Earth. See how easy it is to turn the genealogical information you’ve collected into compelling multi-media stories. These tours will help everyone in your family appreciate your genealogical research and protect as a legacy for generations to come. Enjoy!
About the Author: Lisa Louise Cooke is the producer and host of the Genealogy Gems Podcast, an online genealogy audio show and app. She is the author of the books The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox, Mobile Genealogy, How to Find Your Family History in Newspapers, and the Google Earth for Genealogy video series, and an international keynote speaker.
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!
Topping the list of new and updated genealogy records this week are United States military records. Ancestry.com has a new collection of U.S. Navy Muster Rolls and an updated collection of historical postcards. Enjoy a special interview with military expert Michael Strauss on how he solved an old postcard mystery! Also new this week are WWI U.S. records at FamilySearch for Michigan and Utah, which you can access for free online.
“These records were created to document enlisted Navy personnel assigned to each and every discrete Navy command (known as “activities” in Navy terminology), such as ships, aviation squadrons, air stations, bases, stations, training centers and schools, flag staffs, and Marine Corps units.
“Arranged by two-year chronological subseries (1949-1950, 1951-1952, 1953-1954, 1955-1956, and 1957-1958), followed by single-year subseries (1959-1971). Each subseries is arranged by “activity number,” a unique number assigned to each ship, unit, and command within the Navy. Each activity’s muster rolls are arranged in chronological order by quarter, typically with enlisted personnel arranged by rate and thereunder alphabetically by surname.
“Beginning in the spring of 1956, officers precede enlisted personnel, with officers arranged either alphabetically by surname or hierarchically by rank. Personnel diaries, which precede each quarter’s muster rolls, are arranged chronologically by date.”
Historical Postcards
Ancestry.com also recently updated their collection of U.S. Historical Postcards, 1893-1960. You might be wondering how historical postcards would be valuable to your genealogy research. The collection description sheds some light on what you can use this database for:
“This database contains over 115,000 historical postcards with photos of places in the United States. Each postcard caption has been indexed and may be searched by keyword or location. The database also includes the city, county, state, and postcard era (estimated year range) for most postcards.
This database is primarily useful for obtaining a photograph or picture of a specific place in time. If you do not already have pictures of the places your ancestors lived, historical postcards are a good alternative to personal photos.”
In the video below: A captivating story unfolds of old postcards from WWI that are snatched from oblivion by Michael Strauss, who is the Genealogy Gems Podcast Military Minutes man. Michael shares the story of how he found the historic postcards on eBay, and the research process he followed to identify their author. These are strategies that you can use in many areas of your family history research!
FamilySearch
You can explore even more new WWI records for genealogy thanks to FamilySearch’s newest additions to their free records.
These records may help you find out more about your ancestors who served in the military during WWI. Depending on the collection and record, you might find:
name of Veteran;
serial number;
address;
place and date of birth;
nationality;
color;
occupation before and after the war;
marriage date;
wife’s name,
birthplace and date;
names of children and their birth dates;
parents’ names and addresses;
first camp entered and date;
rank, company, and regiment;
transfers and promotions;
battles engaged in;
discharged date and reason, and additional information.
If you don’t find the person you’re looking for, FamilySearch has these helpful suggestions for next steps:
Look for variant spellings of the names. You should also look for alias names, nicknames and abbreviated names.
Look for an index. Local genealogical and historical societies often have indexes to local records.
Search the records of nearby localities (or military units, counties, parishes, etc.).
More Military Records with Michael Strauss
Michael Strauss is our resident Military Minutes man for The Genealogy Gems Podcast. He first debuted on the show on episode #207, where he talked about draft registrations. Click here to listen to the episode and download an exclusive free 4-page handout! For more expert military research tips and insight, browse Michael’s many articles on our website by clicking here.
About the Author: Lacey Cooke 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!
It’s a great week for new genealogy records online! We’re featuring German vital records now available at Ancestry.com, including civil registers, parish records, and census records. You can also explore two updated Italian records collections at FamilySearch, plus check out an expert interview for tips on researching your Italian ancestors. Lastly, Findmypast is continuing to to expand their international records with a new Jamaican records collection. Happy researching!
Featured: German Genealogy Records
Ancestry.com, one of the Genealogy Giants subscription websites, has several new German vital records collections now available online. Specifically, Trier, Germany.
You can find a wealth of genealogical information in these civil registers, parish records, and census records. Look for names, dates, locations, parents and spouse names, occupations, and even some narrative comments in margins.
The city of Trier has an interesting history, and is among the oldest cities in Germany. It was founded by the Celts in the late-4th century BC and was known as Treuorum. Later on the city was conquered by the Romans in the late-1st century BC and renamed Trevorum or Augusta Treverorum.
In the Middle Ages, the Archbishop-Elector of Trier was an important prince of the church, and Trier is the oldest seat of a bishop north of the Alps. The archbishop-electorate controlled land from the French border to the Rhine. The Archbishop-Elector also had great significance as one of the seven electors of the Holy Roman Empire. You can learn more about Trier and more available genealogy records at the FamilySearch wiki page for the city here.
Additionally, there is a new collection for Barnim, Germany, Deaths, 1874-1966. The name directories are arranged alphabetically according to the last name of the deceased. They are bound as separate volumes covering several years each. They contain the following details: sequential number, last names and given names of the deceased, residence, and cross reference to death register.
Updated Italian Genealogy Records at FamilySearch
Over at the all-free website FamilySearch, two Italian genealogy records collections have been updated.
If you’re searching for Italian ancestors, check out episode #207 of The Genealogy Gems Podcast! In this episode, you’ll hear from Mary Tedesco, a co-host of PBS’ Genealogy Roadshow. Mary shares stories and tips about tracing Italian and Italian-American roots.
New Jamaican Genealogy Records Online
Lastly, we head to Findmypast for an exciting new addition to their database. While Findmypast focuses on British and Irish records, they are rapidly expanding their international collections as well!
The latest in this expansion is a big boost of genealogical records for Jamaica. The update includes five new sets encompassing over 2.4 million parish and civil register entries for births, baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials dating back to the mid-17th century.
Jamaica is divided into three counties:
Cornwall
Middlesex
Surrey
Within each county are parishes, the fundamental civil administrative unit. Genealogy records in Jamaica are kept at this local level.
These collections may help you discover your Caribbean ancestors and add a Jamaican branch to your family tree.
German Genealogy Research Tips From an Expert
Researching your ancestors deep into Germany simply doesn’t happen unless you know the name of the village of origin. In this video presentation renowned German genealogy expert James M. Beidler goes over the sources to tie your immigrant to a Heimat (Heimat (pronounced [ˈhaɪmat]) is a German word translating to “home” or “homeland” ) and then find the village and its records!
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!
Each week we round up the new and updated genealogy records collections for you in a helpful article so you can jump right into researching! Our free weekly email newsletter always has the latest records round up article, as well as other featured articles on genealogy methodology, inspiration, tips and tricks, and more. Plus the newsletter also lets you know where there is a new episode of The Genealogy Gems Podcast, new videos, and updates on news and events. And best of all it’s free! Sign up today to get our email newsletter once a week in your inbox.
