Anglo-Celtic Connections

The outline for the latest episode was posted on 24 September.

I particularly appreciated Mark Thompson’s explanation of “setting up a scheduled agent that checks Ancestry, MyHeritage, Findmypast, Library and Archives Canada, and other repositories each week for newly released records in the places he researches, and compares how Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini handle the job.” That looks like a way of helping with my more routine blog posts,

Toward the end Mark and co-host Steve Little had an informative discussion on calls to slow down AI development, separating real risks from headlines.

Here’s the complete outline

00:06 Family History AI Show Academy: Advanced Family History AI Course

01:35 Trends from the East Coast Genetic Genealogy Conference: Adoption Goes Mainstream

05:46 Today’s Headlines: A Preview of the Episode

In the News

07:18 New Features at Ancestry: Document Transcription and AI Stories

11:18 Artificial Intelligence Model News: Claude Fable 5.1, GPT-6 Astra, and Navier-Stokes

20:34 Another Round of Simplification: Claude Merges Chat and Cowork, Custom GPTs Retire

Tip of the Week

30:05 Scheduling Your Artificial Intelligence Agent: Weekly Checks for New Record Collections

RapidFire

42:56 Claude Memory: Editable, Project-Aware, and Worth Checking

49:50 Apple’s Smarter Siri (Again): Google Gemini Under the Hood

54:03 Calls to Slow Down Artificial Intelligence: Separating Real Risks from Headlines

Final Thoughts

1:16:53 Episode Wrap

TheGenealogist is marking Lincolnshire Day, 1 October, with the release of new parish registers, marriage licences and local history
publications spanning the Tudor period to the early 20th century.

The newly released Lincolnshire publications include:
● The Registers of Coleby, Lincolnshire, 1561–1812
● The Parish Registers of Alford & Rigsby, 1538–1680
● The Parish Registers of Bourne, 1562–1650
● The Parish Registers of Gainsborough, Volume I, 1564–1640
● The Parish Registers of St Margaret in the Close, Lincoln, 1538–1837
● Lincoln Marriage Licences, 1598–1628
● Notices of the History and Antiquities of Spalding
● The Lincoln Pocket Guide (1880)
● Guide to Lincoln Castle (1924)
● J. Charles Cox’s Lincolnshire

• Lake Ontario
  “Library of Congress recently updated the Library of Congress Subject Heading term representing Lake Ontario to reflect the new name, “Lake America” designated to the lake by presidential executive order.
  Because this is a geographic region that largely exists within the boundaries of Canada, and to best reflect known Canadian terminology for the area, Library and Archives Canada has established Canadian Subject Heading (CSH) “Ontario, Lake (N.Y. and Ont.)”. This will ensure that libraries can continue to assign subject headings for the area using the Canadian name for the lake.”

• Collection data export tool.
  Data nerds will love LAC’s new capability for downloading Canadian census data. Complete datasets are in CSV format, presently for 16 censuses from 1825 to 1931. You need to agree that the copy will be used for research and private study purposes only.  I can see this being useful for demographic studies.
  The 1901 census for Ontario, Part 1, has 500,000 rows, each for a person. The data is arranged in alphabetical order by last name, then first name. Strangely, the last name is in column EE, the first in column BA.
• Shannon Lectures in History
  In a departure from long-standing routine, the Shannon lectures are being held at LAC this year rather than on the Carleton U campus. The first has already happened. The next, a hybrid event on Tuesday, October 13, 2026 at 7:00 pm, is Preserving Unremarkable Videogames with Dany Guay-Bélanger.
• What’s in Collection Search?
  As of 29 September, there are 7,944,445 (7,942,117 on 22 September) items in the Archives section of Collection Search, 8,227,688 (unchanged) in the Genealogy section, 4,439,575 (4,438,807) in Library, including 827,605 theses, and 352,754 (352,748) in Images.
• Maps
  LAC’s A to Z research guides and tools still has no entry for the map collection, and just four niche entries mentioning maps in the guide description. LAC can do better!
  
  
• LAC Records New on Ancestry
  Canada, Mounted Police Records, 1873-1914, 6,624 entries
  Canada, Citizenship Registrations, 1857-1916, 8,416 entries
  These appear to be extracts from existing LAC databases. Gail Dever has a post with more details on her Genealogy à la carte blog.
• Ādisōke Summer 2026 Update

Below are the updates to Full Text Search listed for this month. Do you notice anything about the dates? Do miracles happen?

	Collection Title	Records	Last Updated
	United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, Births, and Marriages, 1980-2015	8,180	16 September 2026
	United States, Virginia, Biographies, from 1005 to 2014	1,026,511	16 September 2026
	United States, Virginia, Others, from 2010 BC to 2033	182,744	16 September 2026
	United States, Maryland, Legal, from 14 May 1894 BC to 2011	7,563,263	7 September 2026

Here’s a summary of top updates from February to date

Country	Cumulative Records Added (Feb–Sep 2026)
United States	147,815,479
Peru	7,261,514
United Kingdom	6,338,501
Mexico	2,717,878
Argentina	564,309

There could be other updates and additions available only at FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries of FamilySearch Centres.

Choose from these selected free online events. All times are Eastern Time, unless otherwise noted. Registration may be required in advance—please check the links to avoid disappointment. For many more events, mainly in the U.S., visit https://conferencekeeper.org/virtual/.

The FreeBMD Database was updated on Friday 25 Sepember 2026 to contain 296,707,946 unique records, an increase of 205,328 since August.

Years with more than 10,000 additions are: 1994-96 for births, 1995-97 for marriages, and 1996-97 for deaths.

Looking back over the past year, the vast majority of additions are from 1991 onward. Thanks to the volunteers for these additions, and for the numerous updates for earlier years, especially pre-WW1.

Today, 28 September 2026 (that’s for the record), Mark Thompson, a leader in AI and Genealogy, will speak on Beyond the Prompt. He promises you will find out how AI will change how you research, analyze and share your family history.

Before that Major John M. Stephens will describe the wealth of unique material for genealogists housed at the Queen’s Own Rifles of Canada Regimental Museum and Archives.

The online meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. EDT. Register at https://torontofamilyhistory.org/september-2026-meeting-online/

 

Following on from last week, when FMP introduced records from the Royal School of Needlework, come two more small databases between 1889 and 1946.

Royal School of Needlework Teaching Staff Records

This new collection comprises 5,140 staff records from the Royal School of Needlework. A mix of records, some with no first name, some with a home address.

Royal School Of Needlework Student Records

3,441 records, spanning 1895 to 1944. Was your person of interest judged Excellent, Very Good, or Good?

Newspapers

Three new titles are added to the newspaper archive this week and updates to 22 existing publications, a total of 266,842 pages added. Note the long run of the Aberdeen Press and Journal, starting in 1748, and Lloyd’s List with a broken run, starting in 1801, to 1919.

New titles:

• Highbridge and Burnham Gazette, 1874, 1877
• Musician of the Salvation Army, 1897–1985
• Portadown Express and County Armagh Advertiser, 1906–1920

Updated titles:

• Aberdeen Press and Journal, 1748–1959, 1963–2008
• Argyllshire Advertiser, 1887–1888, 1974–1975, 1986, 1988–1994
• Banffshire Advertiser, 1881–1902, 1905–1982, 1986–1989
• Bicycling News, 1877, 1885–1887, 1890–1893
• Birmingham Weekly Mercury, 1889, 1897, 1912, 1918–1921, 1923–1945, 1947–1999, 2001–2003, 2005
• Blyth News Post Leader, 1986–2004
• Catholic Standard, 1933–1963
• Church in the West, 1885–1886, 1888, 1890–1891
• Co-operative News, 1876, 1881, 1885, 1887–1888, 1890–1891, 1893
• Doncaster Chronicle, 1889, 1950
• East Cumberland News, 1898, 1900–1901
• Hertford Mercury and Reformer, 1834–1837, 1840–1889, 1897, 1913, 1916–1918, 1939, 1950, 1953, 1958, 1960, 1963–1967, 1980–1999, 2002, 2004–2005
• Isle of Wight County Press, 1884–1919
• Knutsford Guardian, 1911–1913, 1919
• Lloyd’s List, 1801–1884, 1887–1890, 1892–1894, 1896–1919
• Macclesfield Express, 1981–2003
• Nation and The Athenaeum, 1907–1931
• Pink (Newcastle), 1987–1990, 1993–1999
• Shipping World and Herald of Commerce, 1883–1918
• St. Mary Cray & Swanley Express, 1900–1917
• Uxbridge Leader, 1986–2005
• Wokingham Times, 1931–1942, 1944–1958, 1977–1981, 1983–1999, 2001–2002

Miscellaneous items I found interesting this week.

What happened the week Ottawa was born
In Saturday’s Ottawa Citizen first section  Randy Boswell rescues characters and details that have been lost to time, adding a new chapter to the capital’s origin story.

WDYTYA: Ian McKellen

Ontario, Canada Births, 1832-1918
On 24 September 2026 Ancestry updated the civil registration collection to now contain 7,794,437 records.

 

This new to Ancestry title has 570,090 records. Some are indexes, with name date and a portrait. Some link to a full obit. There’s a mix of anglo names with the majority francophone.

Using forenames in family history research. Chloe O’Shea tells how a little knowledge of forenames can take your research to a new level

Commonwealth Marriages – the impact of Oliver Cromwell on the records. David Annal looks at the marriage legislation introduced under Cromwell’s Commonwealth

Hidden figures – tips for tracing female ancestors. Phil Isherwood explains why women tend to be less well represented in the official records and suggests some strategies that might help in researching female ancestors more effectively

Regimental music. Graham Bandy takes a look at the military music that soldier ancestors marched to, from dawn to dusk, to celebrate and commemorate…

Karen Evans explains how GEDmatch can help with DNA research

The making of Mrs Smith. Julie Johnson continues Jessie Blackshaw’s story, which reaches a turning point as faith, friendship and family shape her life

What can a diary tell us about the past? Jack Jewers reflects on some personal diaries that have survived the march of time, and the insights they provide to previous eras,

PLUS

Readers’ letters and questions answered; Book reviews; Diary Dates; Photo Corner – with Jayne Shrimpton; Dear Paul – with Paul Chiddicks; Twiglets – with Gill Shaw; & Thoughts on… with Diane Lindsay.

On Friday, 25 September at 14:00 BST, that’s 09:00 ET, The National Archives presents a webinar by Steven King from Nottingham Trent and Paul Carter from TNA discussing how the central and local state created a framework of oppression to control the lives of the poorest citizens. From the 1780s to the outbreak of World War I, discover how actions of petty tyranny became entrenched within workhouse regimes under both the Old and New Poor Laws.

Find out more, and reserve a spot (if still available) here.