England Emigrants and More: New Genealogy Records Online

England emigrants to its U.S. colonies appear in new genealogy records online this week. Also: the 1891 New South Wales census; Czech church, land and school records; English parish records; and U.S. collections from the Freedmen’s Bureau, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and New England towns and cities.

dig these new record collections

Australia – New South Wales census

Findmypast.com has published over 200,000 records from the 1891 New South Wales census. The census collectors’ books are the source, as these are the only surviving documents. “While they provide less detail than a full census would, they can still be a useful aid to historians and genealogists alike in placing people at a specific moment in time,” states the collection description. “Each result will provide you with a transcript and image of the original collector’s books from the 1891 census. Original images may provide you with additional details, such as the number of individuals living in the same household or the number of residents who were Aboriginal or Chinese.”

Czechoslovakia – Church, Land and School

FamilySearch.org has added to its collection of Czech Republic Church Records spanning more than 400 years (1552-1963). You’ll find “images and some indexes of baptisms/births, marriages, and deaths that occurred in the Roman Catholic, Evangelical Lutheran, and Reformed Church parishes, as well as entries in those registers for Jews.” These are taken from parish registers and synagogue records now in regional archives. Though not fully indexed, the browse-only records number over 4 million! (Click here to learn how to use browse-only collections on FamilySearch.org; remember you can use the FamilySearch wiki for help in translating records in another language.)

FamilySearch has also added more than 850,000 browsable images to its existing collection of Czech Republic Land Records 1450-1889 and more than a million browsable images to the existing collection Czech Republic School Registers 1799-1953.

England Emigrants

Remember recently when we blogged about emigrant records, or those created about people leaving a country? Ancestry.com recently posted a new database called Emigrants in Bondage, which it says is “the most important list of ships’ passengers to be published in years.” Indexed are names of “more than 50,000 English men, women, and children… sentenced to be deported to the American colonies for crimes ranging from the theft of a handkerchief to bigamy or highway robbery.” The collection dates cover 1614 to 1775, after which time the British empire was not permitted to ship its “undesirables” to U.S. shores.

England – Parish records – Staffordshire and Sussex

Findmypast has added to its collections of church vital records for Staffordshire, England. Its browsable parish registers, 1538-1900 now includes 300,000 full-color page-by-page images. Separate databases of baptisms, wedding banns, marriages and burials have also been updated.

Also, more than 1.2 million indexed records have been added to FamilySearch’s collection of England, Sussex, Parish Records, dating 1538-1910.  Sussex parish registers contain baptisms, marriages/banns, and burials. Date ranges of available records vary by locality; you will want to use the coverage table at the FamilySearch wiki to see what’s available.

U.S. – Freedmen’s Bureau Records

Now that the Freedmen’s Bureau collections have been fully indexed, FamilySearch is dumping them onto its website in batches. This week, they added these new databases:

U.S. – Military

FamilySearch.org has added just over 4 million indexed records to its database of United States Muster Rolls of the Marine Corps (1798-1937). The collection is described as an “index and images of muster rolls of the United States Marine Corps located at the National Archives. The records are arranged chronologically by month, then by post, station or ship.”

This week, the Fold3.com blog reminds us of its Coast Guard collections, in honor of the Coast Guard’s 226th birthday. Hundreds of thousands of search results on the site relate to Coast Guard history, from disapproved Navy survivors pension files to photos dating to the Civil War; accounts of shipwrecks or accidents, WWII war diaries for several units, images of insignia and Navy cruise books.

U.S. – New England

FamilySearch has posted a new index of New Hampshire Vital and Town Records Index for the years 1656-1938. It contains shy of half a million records of births, marriages and deaths. Entries were sourced from multiple archives in New Hampshire; the citation for each record is included in the index entry at the bottom of the record screen.

The New England Historic Genealogical Society has announced improvements to its databases for three New England cities, which now include more searchable fields and images. “Hartford, CT: General Index of Land Records of the Town of Hartford, 1639-1839, is now searchable by grantee and grantor name, and results provide the record type and volume and page of the record (available on microfilm at the Connecticut State Library). Boston, MA: Births, 1800-1849, and Dover, NH: Vital Records, 1649-1892, are now searchable by first name, last name, record type, family member names, date, and location.”

 

 

 

 

Find Old Film Footage Online: YouTube and Google Video Search

Old film footage can make your family stories truly unforgettable–even for those relatives who seem to forget every fact you tell them about your genealogy! Follow these tips to find old film footage and video online.

find old film footage tips for finding video online

If a picture’s worth a thousand words when you share your family history, how much more do you think a video is worth?

A while back, we told the gripping story of Betty McIntosh, a Honolulu reporter-turned-World War II spy. What fun it was to research and share on the blog! The post has multimedia sources threaded throughout: an image of a young Betty from the CIA’s website, news articles, oral histories with more memories of Pearl Harbor, a YouTube video interview with Betty, and even a dramatic radio broadcast clip from the day of the attack, when the media was trying to reach the mainland with news of the attack.

We found all those sources via Google searching. And while we could go into great depth on how to find each of those kinds of sources (and I do, in resources such as my book, The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox), in this article, I wanted to share some tips on finding old film footage online, using Betty as a case study. Think about how you might use these tips to look for old video or films related to your family history–and let me know what you find! I’d love to hear from you.

How to find old film footage online: 4 tips

1. Search for your topic on YouTube, the world’s largest video-sharing website. My book The Genealogist’s Google Toolbox has an entire chapter devoted to YouTube searches for family history, so I won’t go into great depth here. I will tell you to think of search terms that pertain to the family history stories you want to share: a person’s name, a place, an event in history, or even an occupation or industry. Enter those search terms at YouTube.com.

Betty lived in the 20th century and was recognized publicly for her work during her own lifetime. So there was a good chance that old film or video would exist about her. And they do! A YouTube search brought up video interviews with her, such as this one:

2. Repeat the searches on Google. YouTube searches can only bring up what’s actually been put on YouTube. Google searches are much wider, across millions of websites, and you may find some other wonderful resources. When your Google search results come up, click Videos to narrow your results:

find old film footage online

You’ll have some duplication with results from YouTube. In the case of Betty McIntosh, I found two additional videos that didn’t come up on YouTube. One of them was at NBC News.com and the other was an hour-long interview on C-Span!

find old film footage

3. Run multiple searches on both Google and YouTube. Repeat your searches with various search parameters to broaden or narrow your results, or to capture different kinds of results. In Betty’s case, keywords such as spy and reporter were important to filter out unwanted results.

Remember that Google and YouTube aren’t specifically designed for searching for name variants like your favorite genealogy website is. So these sites may not recognize nicknames or other name variants, such as “Elizabeth” instead of “Betty.” Also search by surnames only, maiden and married names and even initials. Here’s a quick video tutorial I did on using asterisks to search for name variations on Google:

4. Pay attention to copyright restrictions if you want to share old film footage, such as if you’re making your own family history video. For example, I found these copyright restrictions for using C-Span video (noncommercial use is allowed and there’s even a handy video clipping tool right on the site if you want to clip part of it and save it).

More on YouTube for Family History: Get Inspired!

6 Tips for Using YouTube for Family Historyyoutube genealogy find old film footage

History documentaries online can help you understand your family’s story

My Most Amazing Family History Find Ever–and It’s On YouTube

 

New Free Genealogy Records and Images at FamilySearch

When new genealogy records come online, they can be in different forms. Sometimes they are indexed records and sometime they are browse-only digital images.

Either way, new genealogy content online is always welcome. And this week this new content is free thanks to FamilySearch.

Family Search new records

Don’t let the fact that some of these genealogy records are currently browse-only images. in our article Browse Only Databases at FamilySearch are Easy to Use, we’ll help you navigate these types of records.  It’s not difficult to do, and the rewards can be big. 

Browse_Only_Database_at FamilySearch

Example of accessing browse-only digital images at FamilySearch

If you haven’t used FamilySearch before, all it requires is that you sign up for a free account which you can do here at their website

Here’s the latest press release from FamilySearch detailing the newest content. 

SALT LAKE CITY, UT—FamilySearch.org added over 13 million new, free, unindexed digital images of historical Italian records this week from Avellino, Belluno, Caserta, Matera, Verona, and Vicenza, Italy. Other indexed records include areas from Brazil, Germany, Peru, South Africa and the United States, including Alabama and Kansas.

Click here to search over 8 billion free names and record images catalogued on FamilySearch.

(Find and share this announcement online from the FamilySearch Newsroom.)

Brazil            

Brazil, Pernambuco, Civil Registration, 1804-2016               
Indexed records: 162,706   
Added indexed records to an existing collection

Brazil, São Paulo, Civil Registration, 1925-1995                   
Indexed Records: 199     
Added indexed records to an existing collection

Germany     

Germany, Baden, Archdiocese of Freiburg im Breisgau, Catholic Church Records, 1678-1930 
Indexed records: 1,045,113
Added indexed records to an existing collection

Germany, Bavaria, Diocese of Augsburg, Catholic Church Records, 1615-1939
Indexed Records: 383,480 
Added indexed records to an existing collection

Italy 

new records Italian genealogy records

Italy, Avellino, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1809-1947
Digital Images: 3,099,458       
Added images to an existing collection

Italy, Belluno, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1806-1815
Digital Images:  43,298 New browsable image collection.

Italy, Caserta, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1809-1866
Digital Images:  4,543,698       
Added images to an existing collection

Italy, Matera, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1809-1925
Digital Images: 1,323,614       
New browsable image collection.

Italy, Verona, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1630-1942 
Digital Images: 2,796,910       
New browsable image collection.

Italy, Vicenza, Bassano del Grappa, Civil Registration (State Archive), 1871-1942 
Digital Images: 1,637,660   
Added images to an existing collection

Peru

Peru, Lima, Civil Registration, 1874-1996 
Digital Images: 175,257  
Added images to an existing collection

The records newly added to this collection have not yet been digitized. Click the clink at the bottom of the search page to browse. 

Click to browse genealogy records from Peru

Click to browse genealogy records from Peru

 

Here’s an example of what these Civil Registration record from Peru look like:

Example of Civil Registration records from Peru

Example of Civil Registration records from Peru

South Africa

South Africa, Natal, Passenger Lists, 1860-1911     
Indexed Records: 154,091  
Added indexed records to an existing collection

United States                                  

Alabama, Jefferson County Circuit Court Papers, 1870-1916
Indexed Records: 30,070
Added indexed records to an existing collection

Kansas, Grant County, Census Records, 1895-1982
Indexed Records: 87,928 0 
New indexed records collection

Example of a Kansas Grant Co Census Record at FamilySearch

An example of a record from the Kansas Grant County Census Record Collection

United States Census, 1880  
Digital Images: 13 
Added images to an existing collection

United States, Cemetery Abstracts    
Indexed Records: 179,757
Added indexed records to an existing collection

Share Your Findings

Did you find a genealogy gems in one of these new records at FamilySearch? Please leave a comment below. 

 

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