Friday, 11 May 2018

Hampshire and Isle of Wight now seperated and huge updates for Norfolk this week

Greetings friends!

 Another week and more data is added to the website!

 I have spent many hours this week manually reviewing over 6000 records for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.  They have now been divided into two sections so you will now see Isle of Wight as an option in the English counties drop-down list.  This will help with searching for ancestors by these geographic locations.  The OGI is now the largest Index of Isle of Wight genealogical data online with 818 data sets.


Findmypast is the star site of the week due to the release of a number of image collections for Norfolk.

  • Norfolk Parish Chest Records 1300-1990 Browse
  • Norfolk Parish Register Browse
  • Norfolk Archdeacon's Transcripts 1600-1812 Image Browse



    •  These collections include Apprenticeship records (find your ancestor in their first job!) and Bastardy Bonds (horrible name but excellent resource to find the father of an illegittamate child).

     I also learned this week that Archdeacon's Transcripts were copies sent to the Archdeacon up to 1812.  In 1813, copies of parish registers were sent to the Bishop, creating Bishop's Transcripts.

     This weeks additions total 1,426.  I am still hoping to near 400,000 data sets by the end of the year but that depends on 

     New record sets include updates in Gloucestershire's Ancestry collections, Suffolk parish registers and Somerset gravestone photos (from gravestonephotos.com).

     A great website you may find interesting is this comprehensive index of all graves in Froyle, Hampshire, a wonderful resource if you have ancestry in this area.  This is another excellent example of a free site created for the benefit of all!  I hope as more genealogists retire, they will spend more time adding resources similar to the Froyle pages online.

     If you have any electronic or scanned documents you feel would be of value (such as graveyard transcriptions or parish records), they can be hosted on ogindex.org for all to see.
    A recent example of a hosted document found through web.archive.org for a defunct website is here.  It is a graveyard survey for Horninglow, St John the Divine in Staffordshire.  Glad this is now available at a link on the OGI as it is hours of work to lose.

     I am dedicated in making this website the best resource for English, Welsh and Isle of Man research.

     May you be encouraged in your family history efforts!  The number of records and websites available today are better than ever before! 
    Until the next update,

     Tim Manners
    Founder and Chief Data Hunter!
    http://ogindex.org
    Posted by at No comments:

    Sunday, 6 May 2018

    New discoveries for Derbyshire, County Durham graves and parish registers from Lancashire, Shropshire and Staffordshire

    Greetings to all my fellow genealogical researchers!

     This week, I had to remove all dead links for Rootsweb who have been concerned about security problems.  This dropped the total of the OGI by 4000 links!  Another resource of hundreds of transcriptions, genogold.com, has also taken their site down but states they are preparing for a new launch "soon".

     I did find a lot of copies of the Rootsweb data (mainly for Derbyshire) on the amazing web.archive.org site.  I have also kept a full copy of all the removed links so if they are ever restored, they can be re-added to the OGI.  I am confident that the removed data was not unique and is available elsewhere by using the Online Genelaogical Index.

     This weeks new additions are as follows:

    I hope everyone in the UK is enjoying our warm bank holiday weekend.  We have had more  time with relatives and friends which is always a treat.

    In a few weeks, I will be having surgery in Dudley and may be quiet for a while.  I do hope that once I am up for it, there may be more time during recovery to find new resources to add to the OGI.

    Thank you all for your interest and support.

    Tim Manners
    Founder
    Posted by at No comments:

    Friday, 27 April 2018

    New data sets include Surrey Baptisms and Suffolk graves.

    Another week passes by and even more records are available at ogindex.org.

     Archive.org continues to add numerous genealogical resources to the database.  This weeks updates include 105 archive.org links.  Many of these records are not found anywhere else online so they are unique sources.

     Also, a new Surrey Baptism collection from findmypast which covers 180 parishes fills a gap in records from that county.

     A summary of this weeks additions follows:
    The total of today's imports is 357 data sets.

    The current total of archive.org pages reviewed is over 204,000.  This only includes the records I have recorded in a list to follow my progress as there are many I found years ago before keeping a seperate list for just archive.org sources.  This method of finding genealogical data has resulted in over 3,800 sets of unique records such as these from this week's discoveries.






    I am still amazed at the resources buried in the thousands of genealogical publications offered freely on archive.org and will continue searching for new records to help break down those genealogical brickwalls.

    This week, I heard an exciting rumour that a number of English counties are negotiating with findmypast to host the parish records held by their historical record societies.  This could increase the availability of online records by the millions.  Remember that findmypast.co.uk is free at any LDS Family History Centre.  Your nearest one can be found here.

    Ancestry also recently updated their London parish record collections adding millions of new records.  

    It is comforting to know that finding an ancestor will become more possible through the growing collection of online records.  And, please remember to come to ogindex.org to find those new records when you know the place to search!

    Until the next update,

    Tim Manners





    Posted by at No comments:

    Friday, 20 April 2018

    Two updates in one week!

    I don't usually have two major updates in a week but it has happened this month!

     Here is an overview of today's import of 1,183 new data sets!

     Findmypast has added new documents for Somerset, Northumberland, Rutland and Nottinghamshire.  These include parish registers for a variety of parishes.  See details here.

     I have spent hours this week going through the digital films available from FamilySearch looking for memorial inscriptions in Suffolk.  This has resulted in an addition of 246 data sets to the OGI.

     Another find was this document found on the Wiltshire Record Society's website.  It includes 209 graveyards and extracts of memorial inscriptions.  These are all now linked by place in the OGI.

     My greatest impression this week was of the many researchers who, over the past 150 years or so, have spent years of their lives transcribing records in churchyards all over the country.  I know this continues today with billiongraves and findagrave, etc but here are some examples of old notebooks written long ago recording the names and dates from headstones.  I wonder if these men died young due to so much outdoor exposure or, perhaps, the opposite effect.... a longer life due to so much fresh air!

    Mr Burdon reviewed hundreds of churchyards in Suffolk.  His works are now filmed and available to view at FamilySearch.org through their catalog.


    Mr Whitehead is another who worked tirelessly recording the names, dates and inscriptions on thousands of headstones.


    There are also bound volumes available which include the works of researchers such as G H Lawson who also devoted much of his life to the recording of headstones.

    The above examples are only those I have reviewed this week but I have come across dozens of people who have specialized in this field.  Their contributions have helped to locate missing children, siblings, parents, etc.  Take a look at these headstones from my own family tree.  The amount of information on one headstone can expand your pedigree chart in new directions.



    If you wish to get involved, take a look at billiongraves.com who collect cemetery transcriptions and photos from around the world.  Other sites collecting gravestone data are gravestonephotos.com and findagrave.com.  They are always looking for contributions which will help others find their ancestors.  As I have discovered with my own line, even those not christened and lived to adulthood were buried in churchyards.

    This weeks additions have benefited from those individuals who have transcribed headstones.  This has brougth the OGI total to over 374,000 data sets.  

    I will leave another post as soon as there are new entries added to the site.

    Thanks to all those signing up as Friends of the OGI (see the bottom of the home page of ogindex.org).  I now have over 700 names and emails of those wishing to stay in touch with the updates to the site.  I hope to eventually have a regular mailing list to inform of new updates and blog entries.

    Until the next updates!

    Regards,

    Tim Manners



    Posted by at No comments:

    Monday, 16 April 2018

    New OGI additions for April

    It is good to return to all those using the Online Genealogical Index and especially those who take the time to read the blog.

     To justify the month of silence, I was with my family in Utah, USA celebrating the wedding of my daughter Reilly and her husband Sam.  I also had the opportunity to visit the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, the world's largest genealogy library.  

     Image result for salt lake city genealogical library

     I was invited to present the Online Genealogical Index to the support team working on the British Floor of the library.  Thanks to Val Atkinson for arranging this event.  There were two one hour sessions given and I enjoyed meeting over 50 attendees who seemed quite interested in how the OGI can help with researching British ancestry quickly and efficiently.

     Here is the list of the latest updates to the OGI.

    • Cardiganshire Burials collection updates from Findmypast.
    • Cheshire, Lancashire, Staffordshire and Yorkshire Civil Registration births and marriage updates.
    • Cornwall Burials collection updates from Findmypast
    • Gravestone Photos updates (lots of new cemeteries included)
    • New Gloucestershire Monumental Inscriptions collection covering 318 churchyards from Findmypast.
    • New Kent Parish Record collection for a few parishes from Ancestry
    • Updated transcriptions from the Lancashire Online Parish Clerk website.
    • New memorial inscriptions for a few British cemeteries hosted on Geneanet
    • Updated baptism transcriptions from Norfolk Baptism Project
    • New Findmypast collections of digital parish register images for Suffolk and Surrey.
    • New Yorkshire Parish Record collection of 95 digital books from Ancestry.
    • 58 new archive.org links to digital books covering parish registers and memorial inscriptions from Berkshire, Gloucestershire, Kent, Lancashire, Warwickshire and Yorkshire.
    • And finally, a burial register for Chiddingly, Sussex from FamilySearch books!
    The total number of links on the OGI is approaching 373,000.  Still hope to reach 400,000 by the end of the year.

    There is a slight bug when switching between countries using Chrome on the OGI home page.  The counties do not always load for Wales, for example.  It seems to be blocked due to either security software or a browser issue.  I tested the same process on Firefox and this seems to work perfectly.  I hope to find a solution soon for those using Chrome or other browsers.

    I may need to remove the broken Rootsweb links to data in the near future as they are still not repaired.  This mainly effects links for Derbyshire.

    Thanks again for your support and interest.  I will continue reviewing my monthly list of ever-changing source sites and also look for new resources to fill in the gaps in data.  I hope that one day, the records for parishes in England and Wales will be so well represented, researchers will always come to the Online Genealogical Index first.

    I wish you all well and hope your research is fruitful and your family tree continues to grow.

    Until next time,

    Tim Manners
    Posted by at No comments:

    Monday, 19 March 2018

    Latest Additions include many resources from Archive.org

    I have just totalled the number of archive.org pages I have reviewed over the past four years while compiling genealogical data for the Online Genealogical Index.  These scanned books includ historical magazines, pedigrees, local histories, school records, graveyard surveys,  parish registers, etc.  The total number of pages I have personally examined is over 110,000.  That is a lot of paperbacks!

     The fruit of my labour are 3,768 links to genealogical data found at archive.org.  You may wonder why this is such a big deal seeing that the OGI has over 372,000 data sets.  Many of these digital books are unique and valuable resources.

     Here are some impressive examples of the types of resources found at archive.org:

     Phillimore's Marriage Register collections including this one for Harwell, Berkshire
    Memorial Inscriptions in the church and churchyard for Little Missenden, Buckinghamshire
    School Registers from Repton, Derbyshire (includes birth dates and parent's name)
    Complete Parish Registers like this one from Doddinton Pigot, Lincolnshire
    Detailed pedigrees similar to this discovery for the Manners family from Framlington, Northumberland (No connection to my family so far!)
    All gravestones at Almondbury, All Saints, Yorkshire published in 1880.

     The value of graveyard surveys from old books and magazines is that many of these were done in the 1800s and the older headstones are either illegible, damaged or missing today.

     Archive.org is an amazing website with everything from historical books to newsreel footage, rare concert audio, classic video games (you can play them right on the website!), photo collections and, one of my favourites, backups of "dead" websites (see web.archive.org).  The latter is an amazing resource for genealogical information.  More on that in a future blog post.

     To see Archive.org's genelealogical collection, click HERE.  With over 134,000 genealogical books and magazines, I personally have a lot of pages left to review, thousands of hours of reading!

     Additions to the OGI in March include:

     Marriage Records from Cumberland, Denbighshire, Durham, Lancashire, Lincolnshire and Yorkshire.
    Parish Registers and Memorial Inscriptions from Cheshire, Kent, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Suffolk, Warwickshire and Westmorland.
    School Registers from Essex, Kent, London, Middlesex, Surrey and Yorkshire.
    Welsh War Memorials from Denbighshire, Flintshire and Merionethshire.

     I will be 'quiet' for a few weeks as I travel to the United States with my family to attend the wedding of my daughter, Reilly, and Samuel Pakratz of Tooele, Utah.  As people have reminded me, "That's what happens when you send your daughter to university in Utah!"  We are very happy and look forward to meeting Sam and his family.

     I will return ready to search the depths of the internet for more unique and valuable genealogical treasures!

     Best wishes and a Happy Easter to all,

     Tim Manners
    http://ogindex.org

    Posted by at 1 comment:

    Wednesday, 7 March 2018

    BIG NEWS! The 1939 Register of England & Wales is now available on MyHeritage

    I had to share this with the users of the Online Genealogical Index as it is an excellent resource for researching more recent ancestors from 1939.

     The 1939 Register used to be only available on findmypast with a special additional subscription and is still the only place to see the original images from this collection.

     MyHeritage now hosts a copy of the 33+ million records of those living in England and Wales in 1939.


    MyHeritage also offers free accounts for members of the LDS Church 
    (LDS members can sign up by going to http://familysearch.org/partneraccess and click on MyHeritage)

     MyHeritage is also available at any LDS Family History Center (find one near you here)

     BUT the collection is not well advertised on their site so you can find it by doing the following once you have your own account....

     1.  Login at http://www.myheritage.com
    2.  Put your mouse over (do NOT click) the heading "Research"
    3.  Click on "Collection Catalog"
    4.  Click on the image or heading for "1939 Register of England & Wales" (or type the word '1939' into the search field at the top of the list and hit Enter)
    The direct link to this collection is: https://www.myheritage.com/research/collection-10678/1939-register-of-england-wales

     You can now search for your ancestor!  Those younger than 100 years who have not been matched to a death record will be hidden in the results.  Every year, as the 100 year mark approaches, more records will become visible.

     Enjoy!
    Posted by at No comments:
    Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)