There are 882,724 records in this Glamorgan Archives collection on Ancestry, from Bridgend, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil and Pontypridd. Checking in 10-year segments only 470,076 entries were found, 28% in the first decade of the 20th century.
UPDATE: The dataset is now renamed to replace Cardiff with Glamorgan. Ancestry may not always be sensitive to geographical niceties. In this instance they reacted quickly.
Perhaps you have a photo of a house where an ancestor lived and are curious about the history. This article by house history expert Trevor Yorke for Findmypast might help you narrow down whether a 19th-century terrace belongs to the Regency or Victorian period.
The article is a promo for a House History special issue of Family Tree magazine, coming soon.
Choose from free online events in the next five days. All times are ET except as noted. Those in red are Canadian, bolded if local to Ottawa or recommended. Assume registration in advance is required; check so you’re not disappointed.
Tuesday 24 August, 2 pm: Virtual Genealogy Drop-In, from Ottawa Branch of OGS and The Ottawa Public Library.
https://ottawa.ogs.on.ca/events/.
Tuesday 24 August, 2 pm: The New Family Tree and Relationship Diagram, by Uri Gonen for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar_details.php?webinar_id=1699
Tuesday 24 August, 2:30 pm: Victor Henry’s Headstone, by April Lynne Earle for Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUofuCsqjwqGdS3rjy0RXLpz-2o_mteKJNC
Wednesday 25 August, 11 am: Your Ancestors’ Military Photographs, by Paul Nixon for Findmypast. www.facebook.com/findmypast.
Wednesday 25 August, 2 pm: Fire, Water, and the 1890 U.S. Census: Researching Beyond the Ashes and Mold, by Elizabeth Williams Gomoll for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar_details.php?webinar_id=1640
Thursday 19 August, 6:30 pm: Beginning Your Family History Journey, by Elizabeth Hodges for Allen Country Public Library Genealogy Center. https://acpl.libnet.info/event/5421018
Friday 20 August, 2 pm: 10 Ways to Find Your Native American Ancestor Using Y, Mitochondrial and Autosomal DNA, by Roberta Estes for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
https://familytreewebinars.com/webinar_details.php?webinar_id=1638
Coming
Tuesday, 31 August, 7:30 pm. Discussion with Terry Fallis about his latest book, Operation Angus. Organized by the Ottawa Public Library and Ottawa Writers Festival.
http://ow.ly/lFjm50FVey5
19 – 26 September 2021: BIFHSGO Conference. Irish Lines and Female Finds: Exploring Irish records, female ancestors and genetic genealogy. www.bifhsgo2021.ca/.
If you can spare 72 minutes I recommend viewing the YouTube video ‘Malignant destiny? Recovering the lost collections of the Public Record Office of Ireland’.
It tells the story of the buildings and collections at the Four Courts in Dublin destroyed in 1922, and also the work of the archivists before and after that tragic event. As genealogists and family historians, it’s easy to overlook the generations of effort and expertise that lie behind the production of a document requested from an archive or online.
A new YouTube video recounts the story of The Blitz for the month of large German daylight raids starting on 31 August 1940.
They’re very popular. I missed one this month as I was too late trying to register. Here’s the programme for September for which registration is scheduled to open today.
Friday, 3 September, 9 am EDT: Recovery from the Black Death in late-medieval Britain and Ireland, by Paul Dryburgh, TNA Principal Records Specialist (Medieval Records).
Wednesday, 8 September, 2:30 pm EDT: Writing John of Gaunt, The Red Prince: a conversation with Helen Carr.
Friday, 10 September, 9 am EDT: Recovery and Regeneration after the Great Fire of London (1666), by TNA Early Modern Record Specialist Philippa Hellawell.
Tuesday, 14 September, 9 am EDT: Top Level Tips: Wills and other Probate Records before 1858, by Ruth Selman, TNA Principal Early Modern Records Specialist.
Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.
British Comedian Sean Lock RIP
Britain, Knights of the Realm & Commonwealth Index
Findmypast this week updated this collection of “the good and the great”, notable knights and dames with the latest entries from the Queen’s Honors lists.
UK Ministry of Defence record transfer
(MOD) began the transfer of just under 10 million personnel records to TNA for all three services, Royal Navy, Army and Royal Air Force, where the individual has a date of birth prior to or up to 1939. The records will be transferred to Kew in batches over the next 6 years.
Historical Society of Ottawa September Zoom Presentations
Wednesday 15 September 7 pm. Rockin’ on the Rideau: Ottawa’s Golden Age of Rock & Roll, by Jim Hurcomb
Wednesday 29 September 7 pm. Tunney’s Pasture – The Story Behind Ottawa’s Field of Dreams, by Dave Allston
Repairing ozone layer is also reducing CO₂ in the atmosphere – new study
For Margaret: CIHM = Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions.
Thanks to this week’s contributors: Anonymous, Gail B., Judy H., Margaret Dougherty, Teresa, Toni, Unknown.
Since the end of March, a median of 6.2% of records have been added to the Find a Grave Index on Ancestry. Leading in increases, nearly 20% more index records, is the UK and Ireland. Canada’s total is up by 5.2%. An updated figure for the US is not yet available.
| Country | Dates | 18 August 2021 | 31 March 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. | 1600s-Current | ? | 161,058,083 |
| Global | 1300s-Current | 18,108,373 | 17,547,571 |
| UK and Ireland | 1300s-Current | 13,076,152 | 10,918,486 |
| Australia and New Zealand | 1800s-Current | 9,342,735 | 8,986,286 |
| Canada | 1600s-Current | 8,528,651 | 8,104,545 |
| Germany | 1600s-Current | 1,647,357 | 1,507,399 |
| Italy | 1800s-Current | 232,222 | 216,616 |
| Norway | 1800s-Current | 204,100 | 197,584 |
| Brazil | 1800s-Current | 130,664 | 129,786 |
| Sweden | 1800s-Current | 115,898 | 106,588 |
| Mexico | 1800s-Current | 48,638 | 44,507 |
The actual Find a Grave website shows fewer records available than advertised by Ancestry.
Find 17,307 entries in this database searchable by any combination of First name(s), Last name and Regimental number.
Results returned will add Casualty Year, but it’s not to be trusted. Check the linked image of the original card. Most I looked at were post-Second World War, probably men on National Service.
Now with 2,076,936 records, 315 parishes alphabetically from Acton to Willeston, the Findmypast Greater London Burial Index has expanded with records from:
Southwark, St George the Martyr Workhouse, 1835-1874 — over 10,000 additions
Southwark, St Olave, 1848-1866 — over 2,000 additions.
There are also a few additions from Chiswick, 1856-1866, which now has 30,367 records.
Three parishes in this London collection have over 100,000 records: Bermondsey, St Mary Magdalen, St Andrew Holborn, and Newington, St Mary.
The folks at Canadiana.ca continue adding to the Serials collection, 520,000 pages in 2020-21 despite COVID restrictions. They are about 95% of the way through making available material from the CIHM collection, the original purpose of the Canadiana initiative, and thinking about what comes next.
In the meantime we’re teased with information on serials titles to appear soon. There are 111 additions to the “Coming Soon” list. 28 have “Annual” as the first word of the title, 24 “Minutes” and 21 “Report.” Dates are from 1829 to 1925.
Some of the more interesting titles are Maritimes newspapers: Watchman – Saint John, N.B. (1875-1877), Saturday gazette – Saint John, N.B. (1887-1888), Guardian – Bay Roberts, NL (1910 – 1925), Fredericton Globe (1891-1893), Evening gazette – Saint John, N.B. (1889-1891). Also the Victoria Weekly Times (1893-1895).
Find the complete list of “Coming Soon” and “Recently Added” items here.
I’m informed LAC is picking up the pace of digitization of item to be added to the Héritage collection. First priority is items requested by researchers, then filling in gaps in series already represented.
Through the Indigenous Documentary Heritage Initiative, Library and Archives Canada announce $739,305 to support 19 projects by First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nation organizations throughout Canada. They include six in Manitoba, four in Ontario, two each in BC and Alberta.
Other funding for similar targetted projects is provided by the Documentary Heritage Communities Program. Out of $1.5 million for 2021-22 it allocated $454,051, 30%, to First Nations, Inuit and Métis community projects.
Combined these two LAC funding programs allocated 57% of the total funding for the two initiatives to indigenous initiatives in 2021-22.
