Anglo-Celtic Connections

Hundreds of Donegal census records, thought to have been destroyed in the Public Records Office fires in Dublin in 1922, have been recovered.

Three clusters are notable:

1821, Killymard parish, near Donegal Town. These extracts sourced from the book Killymard, ancient and modern. Attempts to track down the original notebooks containing the original transcriptions have so far proved unsuccessful.
1851, Gartan parish. Complete census records for about 15 townlands in the Glenveagh area.
1821, Clonmany and Desertegny civil parishes. All Doherty/Dogherty households and all households containing at least one person called Doherty (e.g. as servants or live-in labourers). This has resulted in the recovery of about 40% of the original census returns for both parishes.

The documents are now freely available online through the Virtual Record Treasury of Ireland to mark the 103rd anniversary of the Four Courts blaze.

This news is abstracted from an article in the Donegal Daily, which includes detailed instructions on access.

Surrey, Southwark, Licenses and Trade Registers (1690-1950) 25,361 records

Findmypast has digitized these registers from Southwark (1915-1950) in partnership with Southwark Archives. The collection includes licensed coal retailers and street traders.

Records provide names, addresses, event dates, and trading details. Original documents include commodity specifications and pitch allocations. Was an ancestor engaged in Southwark street commerce? There are pages of street trading licences for pitches on East Street, one of London’s oldest, largest, and busiest markets, with a history dating back to the 16th century.

The post-war street trader registers demonstrate notable increases in both licensed traders and product diversity, reflecting economic recovery following the Second World War.

St George The Martyr Workhouse Records (1729-1838) 63,448 records

Administrative records from St George the Martyr Workhouse in Southwark, digitized through a partnership with Southwark Archives. The collection comprises Board of Guardians minutes and overseer payment documentation from 1729 until the institution’s merger into Saint Saviour’s Poor Law Union in 1836.

Records contain names, dates, occupations, admission circumstances, family relationships, clothing allowances, and staff compensation details.

Newspaper Collection Additions 202,482 pages

This week sees the publication of four new titles, as well as the addition of more than 10,000 pages to four others, with considerable coverage in the 19th century.

Title	Date Range	Pages
Nottingham Advertiser (NEW)	1906-1911, 1913-1944	14,116
Morley Observer (NEW)	1878, 1900, 1986, 1988-1998, 2000-2004	35,766
St. James’s Budget (NEW)	1880-1911	64,024
North Wilts Guardian (NEW)	1911, 1913-1918	2,214
Southampton Observer and Hampshire News	1869-1888	8,340
Weston-super-Mare Gazette, and General Advertiser	1911-1951	21,726
Glasgow Morning Journal	1859, 1867-1869	6,180
Clare Journal and Ennis Advertiser	1828-1834, 1851-1853, 1873-1896	13,660
Teesdale Mercury	1871-1876, 1878-1885, 1889, 1897, 1899	7,116
Oxford University and City Herald	1871-1884	11,354
Waterford Mail	1845-1850	2,490
Aberdeen Weekly Journal	1904-1908	2,554
Cork Examiner	1872-1876, 1881, 1894-1895	13,416

 

The IGRS is launching a new database created from a card index compiled several decades ago by the now late Patrick Smythe-Wood. It notes biographical information from Irish, and a small number of Canadian, newspapers.

Find out more at https://www.irishancestors.ie/smythe-wood-newspaper-database

Join us on Sunday at noon at the new cafe at Westboro Beach.

After several weeks when the forecast was not promising, for next Sunday it’s better — “A mix of sun and cloud with 40 percent chance of showers. High 25.” That’s a couple of degrees cooler than the July average high temperature.

If you’ve not been to the cafe since it reopened earlier in the year, it’s more or less where it was previously, just shifted a bit more toward the river.

There’s no parking or vehicle access from the Parkway. Use parking on the south side of the Parkway on Kirchoffer Ave and adjacent streets. It can get crowded.

Find the menu here.

Look for updates as the day nears.

Collection Name	Date Range	Number of Records
Marriages and Banns	1754-1950	1,091,738
Births and Baptisms	1813-1924	1,544,406
Deaths and Burials	1813-1997	413,911
Baptisms, Marriages and Burials	1538-1812	2,731,359

Another nice collection from Ancestry provided in association with Cambridgeshire Libraries and Archives and the Huntingdonshire Family History Society. Each has a linked image of the original and the ability to browse each parish individually.

Findmypast also has an extensive collection of parish records for the counties,

Have you ever been walking through a cemetery and had a grave marker catch your attention? You wonder about the person it commemorates.

I’ve stumbled upon a series of YouTube Shorts, 2 minutes in length, that follow a common pattern, investigating the person beneath the gravestone. Included are videos or images of places around King’s Lynn, Norfolk, that were important in the person’s life.

The latest is about George Robert Mann, who emigrated to Canada, joined the CEF, was sent to England, married, and died on 3 February 1919. View it here.

On his CEF attestation paper, Mann provided his Canadian address as Bethany, Ontario, a community situated on Highway 7 between Peterborough and Port Perry. His occupation was listed as a labourer.  It’s a reminder of the thousands upon thousands of immigrants to Canada from the UK who signed up with the CEF and the many who didn’t survive to return after the war.

Global wasn’t kidding in their last announcement when they mentioned their immediate priority would be Eastern Ontario books. Here they are:

A Collection of Lanark County, Ontario Marriage Records 1817-1967

Narrative of a Voyage to Quebec and the Journey from Thence to New Lanark in Upper Canada (1821)

The Lanark Society Settlers: Ships’ Passenger Lists – Glasgow Emigration Society 1821

Perth-On-The-Tay, A Tale Of The Transplanted Highlanders

The Picturesque St. Lawrence River, Kingston and Cape Vincent to Morristown and Brockville (1895)

Pioneer Sketches of The District of Bathurst [Upper Canada]

Vol 1 – The Lanark Era – Births, Marriages and Deaths 1895 to 1911

Vol 2 – The Lanark Era – Births, Marriages and Deaths 1912 to 1936 [Also accounts of returning WWI soldiers and many who did not return]

Vol 3 – The Lanark Era – The Missing Issues, to 1930, (1903, 1916, 1920-29, 1930)

Vol 4 – The Lanark Era – Births, Marriages and Deaths 1936 to 1939

Pakenham, Ottawa Valley Village 1823-1860

Pakenham, Ottawa Valley Village 1860-1900

The Bathurst Courier, Extracts From The Bathurst Courier 1834-1857

Vol 1 – Genealogical Extracts from the Perth Courier and Bathurst Courier Newspapers 1834-1867

Vol 2 – Genealogical Extracts from the Perth Courier 1870-1889

Vol 3 – Genealogical Extracts from the Perth Courier 1890-1899

Vol 4 – Genealogical Extracts from the Perth Courier 1900-1909

Vol 5 – Genealogical Extracts from the Perth Courier 1910-1914

Vol 6 – Genealogical Extracts from the Perth Courier 1915-1919

Vol 7 – Genealogical Extracts from the Perth Courier 1920-1924

Vol 8 – Genealogical Extracts from the Perth Courier 1925-1929

Wow!

Next, the focus shifts to Ireland & Scotland resources, plus 27 volumes of County Surrogate Court Indexes (for wills) of Ontario, and more Lanark County, Ontario, cemeteries.

Choose from these selected free online events; it’s yet another week of thin pickings. 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 conferencekeeper.

Tuesday, 15 July

2:30 pm: Finding the Records for Impossible Genealogy, by Linda Yip for the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
acpl.libnet.info/event/13836071

8 pm: Civil War Records: What is a Reasonably Exhaustive Search? with Craig R. Scott for Legacy Family Tree Webinars
familytreewebinars.com/webinar/civil-war-records-what-is-a-reasonably-exhaustive-search/

Wednesday, 16 July

2 pm: Tracing Scots Ancestors Before 1855 by Alison Spring for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
familytreewebinars.com/webinar/tracing-scots-ancestors-before-1855/

Thursday, 17 July

6:30 pm: Discovering Pennsylvania Dutch Ancestors, by Jeanie Glaser for the Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center.
acpl.libnet.info/event/14008274

Friday, 18 July

2 pm: Strategies for Sorting Out and Documenting Mexican Names and Families, by Colleen Robledo Greene for Legacy Family Tree Webinars.
familytreewebinars.com/webinar/strategies-for-sorting-out-and-documenting-mexican-names-and-families/

Saturday, 19 July

Ancestry is now offering a premium membership. As they’ve named it, Club 1890, it hints at helping find workarounds for those struggling with the missing 1890 US census. To be clear, that’s not explicitly mentioned.

The annual cost is $5,000 US.

What’s included? Is it worth it? Ancestry already offers various layers of service, including a Canadian-records-only layer, and the relatively new PRO Tools. US genealogist Amy Johnson Crow has investigated, explains what’s being offered with this premium service, and shares her concerns.

I agree with Amy that Ancestry has every right to market its services in whatever way it sees fit. However, her concerns about the company’s direction are worth more than a thought.

Have you searched for and located a previously unknown immediate or closely related genetic relative using DNA?

If so, you may be able to help Prof Barbara A. Mitchell of Simon Fraser University with her study funded by the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) for 2023–2027. The project “Aging Amateur Family Genealogists: Linking Lives and Long-Lost Relatives” focuses on the psycho-social impacts of discovering previously unknown family members, drawing upon historical and archival records, family stories/memories, and home-based DNA kits.

Genealogists aged 55 and older are being sought to complete a web-based survey consisting of three questions, which should take less than half an hour to complete.

Find out more at https://www.sfu.ca/gerontology/research/agegen2.html

Miscellaneous items I found of interest during the week.

Technological Unemployment
Dan Gardner on Kurt Vonnegut and the long history of a jobless future

Cooking for all Seasons
Community cookbooks are a thing.” Favourite” recipes are collected and published with the person suggesting them given. One compiled from suggestions by employees and friends of Environment Canada (Downsview) was published in October 1994, Cooking for All Seasons, and has recently come online. It jogged my memory of several former colleagues. If an ancestor’s organization, church, or similar community group compiled such a book, it should not be overlooked as a source for adding a personal touch to a family history.
Has a genealogy or family history society produced such a publication?

Teeth record the hidden history of your childhood climate and diet

Global Genealogy Website News
Rick and Sandra Roberts continue to work on completing the transfer to a new website at GlobalGenealogy.ca/. The original website, launched in 1995-96, has been permanently replaced by a new, modern website that offers advanced functionality, precise search, intuitive browsing, easy checkout, immediate automated downloads of PDF books, discounted shipping, and immediate tracking of physical items. Many of the most popular titles have been added to the new site, with approximately 1,000 more titles to be uploaded. The immediate focus is on adding dozens more Eastern Ontario titles.

International Bomber Command Center: Losses Database
TheGenealogist has incorporated this record set documenting individuals who lost their lives while serving with Bomber Command.  The records are linked to the IBCC database, which is compiled from over 6.2 million pieces of data, providing information for each individual, often including a photo.
● 67,140 Records
● Covers 1936 to 1968
● Gives over 100,000 names of Parents, Spouses, Siblings and Children

Ancestry Updates
UK, British Army World War II Medal Cards, 1939-1945 was updated on 9 July with 834,078 records.
Ireland, Railway Employment Records, 1870-1940 was also updated on the same day with 306,881 records.

The Contronym Conundrum
By Claude

I dusted off my dusty shelf today,
Which left me quite perplexed—
Did I add dust or sweep it all away?
English leaves me vexed!

I clipped a coupon, then I clipped my hedge,
One saved, one cut apart—
The same word walks a contradiction’s edge,
Language is quite an art!

“I’m finished!” cried the student with his test,
But was he done or through?
Or did his teacher finish him instead?
Words can mean one thing—or two!

So when I weather storms or weather fades,
And fast means quick or stuck,
I marvel at these verbal masquerades—
Contronyms! What luck!