Large updates for Essex and Lancashire

Dear Users of the OGI,

Last night, an update of 1,576 new items was uploaded bringing the current total to 410,227 data sets on the site.

The major portion was for FreeReg in Essex and Manchester Ancestors for Lancashire.

The content is as follows:

• Manchester Ancestors - 1,094 War memorials in Cheshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire
• OPC Dorset - 8 new data sets
• Durham Records Online - 8 new data sets
• FreeReg - 401 Essex parish data sets
• Gravestonephotos - 8 new collections
• TINSTAAFL Norfolk Baptisms - 3 new parishes
• TINSTAAFL Marriages Project - 16 new parishes
• Lancashire OPC - 28 new data sets

The use of the site has grown due to the articles in Who Do You Think You Are magazine and the recent online article by Family Tree magazine.  It will keep me busier responding to questions and reports of problematic links but will result in the site being more streamlined and accurate.

The FreeReg project will take many months to complete then I will work on FindaGrave updates and some FamilySearch IGI unnamed batches.  The site will continue to grow for many years to come!

Until next time,

Tim Manners

https://ogindex.org

New Article in Family Tree Magazine

Dear Users of the OGI,

The Online Genealogical Index has been featured in an online article by Family Tree Magazine.  It will be published in the August edition of the print magazine available in July.

Read the online article here.

I am currently working on all updates from FreeReg since 2015 (when they had an active update index) so, over the next few months, there will be an expanded set of parish registers available there.

Thanks again for all your support and encouragement.  My goal is to help you find your ancestral records quickly and easily.

Until the next update,

Tim Manners

https://ogindex.org

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

Two more updates now uploaded

Dear Users of the OGI,

Happy to report there have now been a third and fourth update completed in 2021.  This has updated some Derbyshire and Wiltshire collections from Findmypast adding year ranges and new information.

Be assured, the genealogical community is still vibrantly active and updating information regularly.  

Here is the breakdown of the last two updates (added on 29th Jan and 12th Feb)

Ancestry Westminster Non-Conformist Records - 42 new data sets

Ancestry Wiltshire Non-Conformist Records - 192 new data sets

Dorset Online Parish Clerks - 8 new data sets

Durham Records Online - 11 new data sets

Findmypast Denbighshire Baptisms - 86 new and updated data sets

Findmypast Denbighshire Burials - 81 new and updated data sets

Findmypast Denbighshire Marriages and Banns - 92 new and updated data sets

Findmypast Derbyshire Births and Baptisms - 236 new and updated data sets

Findmypast Derbyshire Burials - 53 new and updated data sets

Findmypast Derbyshire Marriages - 101 new and updated data sets

Findmypast Dorset Burials - 3 new data sets

Gravestone Photos - 17 new graveyards

Lancashire Online Parish Clerks - 31 new data sets

TINSTAAFL Marriage Project - 31 new parishes

TINSTAAFL Norfolk Baptisms - 4 new parishes

Yorkshire BMD - 6 new marriage data sets

Current total on the site is 406,611.  

Have a wonderful February and enjoy your research.

With kind regards,

Tim Manners

http://ogindex.org

Two updates already in 2021!

Happy New Year to all the users of the Online Genealogical Index!

I hope you had a safe and enjoyable Christmas and have high hope and dreams for 2021.  

There was a small upload on 2nd Jan and a larger one today, 12th Jan.  I have been in hospital in-between these dates for yet another surgery and now have some time to get things recorded and new data gathered.

Here are the new addition details:

Cemetery Searcher - 2 new Grave Databases

Findmypast - Devon Burials 3

Findmypast - Devon Marriages 676

Findmypast - Durham Records Online 4

Findmypast - Montgomeryshire Monumental Inscriptions 19

Findmypast - National School Admission Registers 85

Findmypast - Northamptonshire Baptisms 199

Findmypast - Northamptonshire Burials 312

Findmypast - Northamptonshire Marriages 511

Gravestone Photos 19

TINSTAAFL Marriages 24

TINSTAAFL Norfolk Baptisms 4

As you can see, 2021 has started with lots of changes so keep looking for those allusive ancestors as you may be surprised to find new records.

Best wishes,

Tim Manners

http://ogindex.org