Monday 25 June 2018

Additions for Wiltshire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire, Norfolk and Lancashire

Hello everyone,

I am still committed to finding the latest data for English, Welsh and Isle of Man research.  I have added 1,562 data sets to the Online Genealogical Index today.  This includes updated collections for Wiltshire from findmypast along with a brand new valuable set of data.




Findmypast has added some new parish records to their Wiltshire Baptism, Marriage and Burial Indexes as well as a brand new collection entitled, 'Wiltshire Social & Institutional Records'.  This includes a large collection of Monumental Inscriptions (a different set than the existing Wiltshire Memorial Inscription Index), an extensive Bastardy Index for 330 places in the county.  Bastardy indexes can often reveal the name of the father of an illegitimate child as the mother attempts to get financial support through the parish leadership.

This weeks additions include:
The total of the OGI data sets is now 382,961.  Remember, a data set is a group of records for a specific place and date range and can include from dozens to tens of thousands of names.


I am currently reviewing the content of Billiongraves to find new additions for England and Wales which will take a few weeks as there are over 6,400 links for burial places where only a portion have actual images or names.  I need to test each one!  When complete, the OGI will have an up to date list of all graveyards at that website with useful data for research.

There are still amazing people working on their personal projects which will benefit us all.  I have recently been in touch with Mark Etheridge, creator and author of Yorkshire Churches and Graveyards and helping him with some updates and additional data.  I am so impressed with these wonderful projects and that is one of my big motivators in keeping the Online Genealogical Index growing to help others find and utilize these websites.

I wish you all a wonderful week and hope you are enjoying the World Cup as much as we are!

Best wishes,

Tim Manners
Creator and Owner

Monday 11 June 2018

Huge week for Leicestershire research and new MyHeritage collections


Dear friends,

I am slowly getting back to full mobility after my three surgeries though life is uncomfortable unless I am lying down and full of pain killers!  Nineteen stitches removed from my leg and at least the same amount remain elsewhere but are slowly disolving!  Despite this situation, I am trying to add to the available data sets on ogindex.org and have made some good discoveries this past week.  Thinking about this project is a good distraction from my current health challenges but only done in short bursts when I am able to deal with a laptop on top of me!

The biggest realization this week is realizing that the parish list indexes for Findmypast collections are incomplete.  I was happy to see that the Leicestershire Parish Register collection on Findmypast is now available for free on FamilySearch.org (transcriptions only).  As FamilySearch has not offered a detailed content list, I spent four days going through the actual images on Findmypast to determine what is included and have added this information to ogindex.org for FamilySearch and the original collection on Findmypast.

The number of available data sets has now reached a total of 382,381.  I am still hoping to reach 400,000 by the end of the year!  I am still hoping that the large release of Kent records promised before December will still go ahead on findmypast.co.uk.

Here is a complete breakdown of the latest additions.
  • Norfolk Baptisms from Norfolk Baptism Project (http://tinstaafl.co.uk/nbp)
  • Lancashire Parish Registers from www.lan-opc.org.uk
  • Cheshire Civil Registration Marriages from cheshire.bmd.org.uk
  • Staffordshire Civil Registration Marriages and Deaths from www.staffordshirebmd.org.uk
  • Leicestershire Parish Register transcriptions from familysearch.org (1,157 data sets)
  • Leicestershire Parish Registers image collection from findmypast.co.uk
  • New collections added to MyHeritage which are data collections originally on FamilySearch.org.  The collections are as follows:
    • England, Warwickshire Parish Registers, 1538-1900
    • England, Bristol Parish Registers, 1538-1900
    • England, Essex Parish Registers, 1538-1900
    • England, Dorset, Parish Registers, 1538-1936
    • England, Norfolk Parish Registers, 1538-1900
    • England, Norfolk Bishop's Transcripts, 1685-1941


I updated the Isle of Man Marriages collection from Findmypast to include exact marriage date ranges for each parish (Note: If you are researching the Isle of Man on ogindex.org, please select Isle of Man for the country AND the county)


That is a grand total of 6,088 data sets added over the weekend and today!

I invite you to use the comments feature in the blog to leave feedback.  It is always good to get to know those using this site.

Best wishes in your research!

Tim Manners
Creator and Owner
http://ogindex.org