More updates in March

Dear Users of the OGI,

I am happy to see the site is getting more use as the word is getting out there thanks to two mentions in Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine (January and April 2021).

In January, the OGI was included in the "50 Hottest Websites" list, a real compliment of the usefulness of the site.

In the April 2021 issue, the OGI was chosen as the Digital Pick Website of the month! (see page 85)

This has come just in time for the new look and feel of the Online Genealogical Index.  I hope the site will be a useful tool to all our new users.

There were two new uploads of data, one on 26th and the other 31st March.  The grand total is now 409,030 data sets on the site.  A data set can be a small collection of headstone transcriptions or tens of thousands of baptism records, for example.

Here is the breakdown of what has been added or updated:

• Archive.org (Suffolk and Essex) - 8 new Parish Register and Memorial Inscription collections
• Birmingham Burial Records - 15 Cemeteries
• Derbyshire FHS Parish Record Indexes - 247 data sets
• EssexandSuffolkSurnames.co.uk - 70 new Parishes
• Findmypast (additions and updates)
• Essex Monumental Inscriptions - 39 cemeteries
• Lincolnshire Monumental Inscriptions - 319 cemeteries
• Norfolk Banns and Marriages - 714 parishes
• Norfolk Baptisms - 713 parishes
• Norfolk Burials - 699 parishes
• FreeReg - 56 new Parish record sets
• Google Books (Suffolk) - 8 Parish Register collections
• Interment.net - 82 new cemeteries
• South Warwickshire FHS Parish Registers and Memorials - 869 data sets
• TINSTAAFL Marriage Project - 8 new parishes
• TINSTAAFL Norfolk Baptisms - 1 new parish
• Warwickshire BMD at hunimex.com - 36 new Parish Registers

All these items were gathered in less than a week so it shows that when you seek, you will find!  So many more items to review and update so the OGI will grow for many years to come.

I would love to hear from you so please feel free to leave comments on this blog or send me a message from the site directly.

Thank you for your enthusiasm and for spreading the word about the site.

Until the next update,

Tim Manners

https://ogindex.org

Welcome to the new OGI!

Dear Users of the Online Genealogical Index,

Today is a big day as the new OGI was released last night!  Completely rewritten thanks to a skilled FamilySearch colleague of mine in Finland, Pablo.  We are still refining the new site and things will settle down even more in the next few days.

Pablo and I hope you enjoy the new look and feel, the speed of searching and the ability to filter the type of results you need.  The year range is more intelligent and will offer results that include all or a part of the search range as well as any collection that has no years (such as a cemetery).

Please feel free to reach out and suggest any changes or leave your comments here in the blog.  I am reachable anytime at contact@ogindex.org.

Today's update was a generous 1,879 data sets bringing the site total to 407,640.  This included the reupload of changed collections where year ranges have been expanded such as in Findmypast's Leicestershire collections.  Not included in this total are hundreds of changes to FreeReg year ranges.

Here are the details of today's upload.

• Archive.org, Somerset - 15 image sets
• Archive.org, Derbyshire War Memorials - 2 locations
• Findmypast, Leicestershire Banns - 281 parishes
• Findmypast, Leicestershire Baptisms - 307 parishes
• Findmypast, Leicestershire Burials - 287 parishes
• Findmypast, Leicestershire Marriages - 306 parishes
• Findmypast, Staffordshire Parish Registers - 7 parishes
• Findmypast, Yorkshire Monumental Inscriptions - 306 cemeteries
• FreeReg - 277 Parish Register sets (Dorset, Devon, Derbyshire, Berkshire)
• Gravestone Photos - 5 new cemeteries
• OPCDorset - 5 new data sets
• Surrey, Epsom and Ewell Records - 54 data set collections
• TINSTAAFL Marriages - 18 new parishes
• TINSTAAFL Norfolk Baptisms - 3 new parishes

I still am very impressed with the hidden genealogical treasures available on archive.org's amazing digital book collections.  After manually reviewing over 214,000 pages and adding over 3,900 links to parish registers, memorial inscription lists, family pedigrees and other vital record information to the database, it has been worth every page!  It may have deteriorated my vision but I would do it all again.  There are hundreds of thousands more pages to review but a lot of the information I have found is unique to this resource.  The only graveyard survey available anywhere, etc.  And I do trust a survey recorded in the 1800s as it includes many headstones that have since crumbled or been removed.  Here is an example for St Weburgh, Bristol printed in 1890.  It includes 39 headstone transcriptions.

https://archive.org/details/gloucestershire03unkngoog/page/n611/mode/2up?view=theater

It is very satisfying finding such items in these old books and adding them to the database for all to find once more.  And archive.org is completely free!

I hope going forward, the changes and new data will be a joy to use and bring more success in your research.  Thank you for your encouragement and for the kind donations that have helped cover the costs of keeping the site up and running.

Until next time,

Tim Manners

http://ogindex.org

Big update on 5th March

Dear Users of the OGI,

Happy to report a large import of new and updated datasets was completed on Friday, 5th March bringing the total on Online Genealogical Index to 407,033.  Remember, a dataset can include thousands of names and dates.

Here is a breakdown of the new/updated items:

Findmypast

Essex Baptisms - 659 new and updated parishes

Lincolnshire Monumental Inscriptions - 295 new and updated data sets

Northumberland: National Burial Index - 139 new and updated data sets

Wiltshire: National Burial Index - 12 new data sets

FreeReg - 222 new data sets

Lancashire Online Parish Clerk - 5 new data sets

TINSTAAFL Marriage Project - 22 new parishes

TINSTAAFL Norfolk Baptisms - 3 new parishes

Gravestone Photos - 20 new cemeteries

As you can see, this was a large update and has also started my first FreeReg updates in 6 years.  I am now reviewing each county in FreeReg to update data on the server and add new information.  Expect some great new resources over the next few months as I work no this intensive update.  It demands the review of hundreds of changes for each county.

Thank you for your support and use of the site.  Glad to see that over 37,000 searches have been done since the site came online in 2014.

Until the next update,

Tim Manners

http://ogindex.org