New and updated genealogy websites, genealogy-related news articles, and anything else that strikes me as interesting. The emphasis is on Britain, but that's not exclusive.
On October 12th, FreeBMD added 1.8 million new entries: a million births, 300 thousand marriages, and 500 thousand deaths. Here are the top three quarters by number of new entries:
FreeCEN was updated on October 6th, with new census records from Caithness (1851), the Channel Islands (1861), Cornwall (1851 and 1871 and 1881), Devon (1861), Dumfriesshire (1841), County Durham (1861), Fife (1841), Hampshire (1861 and 1891), Invernessshire (1851), Lincolnshire (1861), Midlothian (1841), Morayshire (1851), Norfolk (1891), Ross and Cromarty (1841), Roxburghshire (1851), Staffordshire (1861 and 1891), Sussex (1891), Warwickshire (1861 and 1891), and Yorkshire (1861). The database now contains 8.5 million records. Completed counties include Angus, Argyllshire, Banffshire, Bute, Caithness, Cornwall, East Lothian, Kinrossshire, Nairn, Warwickshire, and Wigtownshire in 1841; Bute, East Lothian, and Nairn in 1851; Bute in 1861; and Bedfordshire, Cornwall, and Devon in 1891.
1837online has announced a forthcoming new database at Ancestorsonboard.com with searchable images of outward passenger lists. (These are class BT27 at The National Archives.) About 30 million passengers will be included, on ships leaving Britain between 1890 and 1960 bound for Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa, the United States, and elsewhere.
Ancestry has begun posting indexed scanned images of old British telephone books. The first release, now online, includes 430 directory volumes that cover London and parts of Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Middlesex, and Surrey. The earliest date from 1880, the most recent from 1984. Additional years and counties will be added in future releases. One can search the database with as little as just a surname (and after 1946, a county) or one can browse a specific directory (e.g. to view advertisements and front matter). The database is provided in association with BT, formerly British Telecom, which was part of the British post office until 1981. The original phone books are from the collection of the BT Archives.
FreeREG is now live for searching, at least for some people. Access is being rolled out gradually to prevent overloading of the servers. (Remember the 1901 census fiasco?) When I try it, I'm told that "access will be available from your location in approximately 15 days". This thread on soc.genealogy.britain includes reports from some people who have actually used the site and some whose wait will be 82 days (!). Reportedly, Staffordshire has the most data available so far, followed by Somerset, with at least some entries from more than 30 counties in England, Scotland, and Wales.
There's an interesting article National Archives squares the data circle in today's Guardian. Some excerpts: "Burgeoning demand for public sector information has prompted controversial cost-cutting measures . . . Some six million people visited the archives electronically last year . . . Meanwhile, through a series of innovative licensing deals, the organisation is taking an unusual approach to the task of digitising even obscure archives: it's encouraging private firms to foot the bill for doing so, in return for a certain amount of exclusivity - often time-limited - on the use of data . . . Britain's online genealogy sites are 'probably better than any other country' . . . [TNA] wants a thriving rivalry of healthy companies that can each raise enough funding to bid for the digitisation projects . . ."
Today's update at FreeBMD added 1.4 million new entries. The top three quarters for new births were Q3 1869, Q4 1858, and Q3 1858. The top three for new marriages were Q4 1914, Q4 1915, and Q3 1856. The top three for new deaths were Q1 1861, Q2 1861, and Q2 1860. For full details, see the coverage charts.
