FREE ACCESS TO FINDMYPAST FOR HOLIDAY WEEKEND

Findmypast celebrates 
Canada Day and
4^thof July 
with free access to more than 1 billion records

·         From June 29^th until July 6^th 2016, over 1 billion UK, US and Irish records will be completely free to search and explore on Findmypast

·         This includes all 118 million “Travel and Migration” records, 116 million US marriages, and all UK, Irish and US censuses

·         Over 7 million new US Naturalisation records and over 1.7 million US Passport Applications have also  been released, marking the first phase of two brand new collections ideal for uncovering early immigrant ancestors

Salt Lake City, Utah, June 27^th 2016

Leading family history website, Findmypast, has just announced that they will be granting 8 days of free access to over 1 billion records as part of a new campaign designed to help US family historians learn more about their family's path to red white and blue. This will include free access to their  entire collection of Travel and Migration records, all US, UK and Irish censuses and all US marriage records.

The campaign has been launched to coincide with this year’s 4^th of July celebrations and will provide customers with exciting new opportunities to uncover the pioneering immigrant ancestors who started their family’s American story.

Researchers will be provided with daily getting started guides, expert insights and useful how to videos designed to help them trace their family’s roots back to their earliest American ancestors and beyond. A special webinar will be hosted by expert genealogist, Jen Baldwin, at 11:00 MDT, July 1st, in which she will be sharing essential tips and tricks for getting the most out of Naturalisation records.

The campaign also coincides with the release of two new record sets that will prove incredibly useful to those looking to explore their family’s pre-American roots. Over 2 million US Passport Applications & Indexes (1795-1925), and over 7 million US Naturalisation Petitions have just been released in the initial phases of two brand new collections that will allow family historians to learn more about the first members of their family to become US citizens.

Over 1.1 billion records  will be free to search and explore on Findmypast from June 29^thuntil July 6^th 2016. This will include free access to:

• ·         Over 106,000 US passenger list records
• ·         Over 116,000,000 US marriage records
• ·         Over 690,000,000 US & Canada census records
• ·         Over 265,000,000 UK & Irish census records
• ·         Over 10 million new and existing Naturalisation records
• ·         Over 1.7 million brand new US Passport applications
• ·         Passenger Lists Leaving UK 1890-1960
• ·         Over 827,000 convict transportation records

This vast collection of travel and migration records coupled with unique UK, Irish and US data, makes Findmypast the best place for tracing ancestors back across the Atlantic and uncovering their English, Welsh, Irish or Scottish roots. Findmypast is home to more than 78 million exclusive UK parish baptisms, banns, marriages and burials, the largest collection of Irish records available online (totalling more than 110 million), and over 100 million United States marriages including millions of records that can’t be found anywhere else online.

New Irish Record Release for 100th Anniversary of the Easter Rising

Findmypastreleases a new record set to mark the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising in Ireland. The records are FREE to search from April 17 - 27, 2016.

From the press release:

Findmypast launches online today the most complete collection of British War Office records  relating to the Easter Rising and Irish War of Independence from 1916-1921. The collection, digitised from original records held by The National Archives in Kew, reveals the struggles of life under Martial Law in Ireland, and demonstrates how events under the occupying military served to galvanise support for the rebels.  

Totaling more than 75,000 records, the collection will be free to access for ten days at Findmypast.iefrom today, 17 April, in advance of the 100^th anniversary of the Easter Rising on 24 April 2016.

More than 3,000 people were injured or killed in a conflict which saw three civilians killed for every one rebel. The records reveal the impact that the conflict had on men, women and children across Ireland. There are eye-witness accounts, interviews with civilians and reports of the trials of the leaders of the Rising and their sentences of execution.

The once classified records shine new light on the subsequent period of Martial Law in Ireland which was declared by the Lord Lieutenant in 1916, including the War of Independence, when the British military assumed control of the executive, judiciary and legislative arms of the entire country.. The contents of the collection provide a picture of what life was like for ordinary citizens in Ireland during this turbulent time.

The 25,000 search and raid records show the efforts of the military and police to discover arms, ammunition and seditious material through thousands of raids as well as their search for individuals associated with Sinn Féin, Irish Citizen Army, Irish Volunteers and the Irish Republican Army. Members of the public accessing the records on Findmypastwill find the names of the thousands of people who were detained and interned in prisons in Ireland, England and Wales and tried by courts martial, including the names of prominent nationalists and elected officials.

Military correspondence between the barracks in Dublin and the War Office in London grants new perspectives on the motivations and fears of the British Army leadership. The movements and actions of several key nationalist figures are also documented, including those of James Connolly, Eamon De Valera, Thomas Ashe, Joseph MacDonagh, Arthur Griffith, Padraig Pearse and Francis and Hannah Sheehy Skeffington and Countess Markievicz.

Key items from the collection include:

•  Daily situation reports sent by the British Army from Dublin to London between 24 April and 12 May 1916 documenting events during the uprising
•  A reportfrom the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief confirming the execution of iconic Irish socialist and rebel James Connolly, who owing to injuries sustained in the conflict had to be strapped to a chair before being shot 
• Court martial reports sentencing prominent nationalist, politician and suffragette Countess Markievicz to two years in prison for “assisting and promoting crime and murder” 
• Witness statements from civilians caught up in the Rising 
• Documents authored by Michael Collins seized from a safehouse used by the nationalist figurehead 
• Details on raids of pubs such as the Brazen Head, hotels, nationalist club houses such as the Ancient Order of Hibernians and thousands of homes 
•  An urgent and secret warning from Sir C Spring Rice, British Ambassador in America, of gun running in Ireland 
•  A telegram to the Prime Minister to report the expected surrender of the rebels from the Lieutenant General John Marshall
•  Internment files including the personal letters from prisoners or their relatives testifying to their innocence 
•  Details on the hunger strikes of interned prisoners 
• Secret documents that reveal the British Military’s own concern with some of the behaviour of the Royal Irish Constabulary (RIC)

The collection was digitised in partnership with The National Archives in London and contains documents from their WO35 series, War Office: Army of Ireland: Administration and Easter Rising Records. Totaling more than 110 million records, Findmypast has the largest Irish family history collection available online.

Brian Donovan, Head of Irish Records at Findmypast, comments:

“These records constitute an extraordinary resource which will transform the search for answers about our ancestors' activities during 1916 and the years that followed. While those who fought were small in number, the war impacted on the lives of ordinary people in many ways. We’re extremely fortunate to have these records to help us make some sense of it.”

30 Free Credits From FindMyPast

Today is the start of Family History Week. And to kick the week off, FindMyPast is offering 30 free pay-as-you-go credits. http://www.findmypast.co.uk/ 

You will need to register for an account, or sign into an already existing one, Next, click "subscribe" at the top right of the screen. On the subscription page, there is a yellow bar on the left side of the screen. Here, about the middle, you will see a box where you can enter a promo code. Enter XMAS13 and hit "apply"

The offer of the free credits is available until midnight January 2.

Enjoy the finds!

1881 Scottish Census Now Available on FindMyPast

News from FindMyPast yesterday was the release of the 1881 Scottish Census. Thanks to Mick Southwick for the heads up on the release. Mick's blog post from Bi-Gen can be read here


Like the other Scottish census records on FindMyPast, this is a transcription. Also like the other there is a wealth of information in the transcriptions.

This is the "print view"

The census transcription can be viewed on a pay-per-view basis. Each view is 5 credits. 60 credits are good for 90 days at a cost of £6.95 ($11). 280 credits are good for a full year at a cost of £24.95 ($39)

Happy searching!

Crew Lists

If you have ancestors who were on British Merchant Ships, you can now have a look at the indexes to the Crew Lists from FindMyPast.  For those of you who do not have a FindMyPast subscription, it will cost you 5 credits to view a single crew member and another 15 to view the crew list.

From these indexes, you will get enough information to search other respositories where the original documents can be found. Minimally, you will get the Official Vessel Number from the crew lists. You will need this number to access the original record. Most of the records are available at the Maritime History Archive. The records detail the employment of each member of the crew. This includes deck hands, stewards, maids, nurses and engine staff. These were updated every six months.

Happy Searching!