Explore over 1.8 million new records from Canada and the British Isles

5-6 minute read

By Liam Boyle | July 28, 2023

With extensive record additions and over 100,000 newspaper pages, discover the stories of your ancestors like never before.

Over three centuries of history are covered by this week's new records. Our team has been hard at work, bolstering five of our existing collections with new additions, and adding two brand-new sets into the mix.

If you are descended from Scotland, Northern Ireland or Canada, you may just find the name of one of your forebears among this week's new records...

Fermanagh Parish Records

This week, we added 15,629 parish register records from the parish of Magheraculmoney in Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. Fermanagh is a Northern Irish county located within the province of Ulster - it borders Tyrone, Monaghan, Cavan, Leitrim, and Donegal.

These records are updates to existing baptism, marriage, and burial sets, and the addition of an entirely new set of congregational records from Fermanagh.

Fermanagh Parish Registers Baptisms

Our Fermanagh baptisms set grew by 7,731 records this week. Covering almost 300 years of history between 1767 and 1918, these records are from St Mary's in Magheraculmoney, a Church of Ireland denomination.

Image credit: Kenneth Allen / Magheraculmoney Church of Ireland / CC BY-SA 2.0

From these transcriptions, you can expect to learn a name, a birth date, a baptism date, a parish and both parents' names. In some cases, additional comments are also included - so be sure to check carefully for any extra information.

Fermanagh Parish Registers Marriages

Next up is our Fermanagh marriages collection, to which we've added 2,864 records, also from the parish of Magheraculmoney. Also covering the years 1767-1918, these records may just be able to teach you about the union of your Irish ancestors.

Elizabeth Louisa Muldoon Irish marriage record

The record of Elizabeth Louisa Muldoon, who married Robert Joseph McAnerin in 1915. Her father is listed as a farmer.

They take the form of transcripts of the original marriage register. You can expect to learn a name, marriage date, spouse's name, townland, parish, and church.

Additional notes are sometimes included. From these, you might glean details such as a person's marital status, or the occupation of the groom.

Fermanagh Parish Registers Burials

We also updated our Northern Irish burials with 1,086 new records from the same parish. Spanning from 1767 to 1918, these additions may just help you to uncover key information about ancestors that died in Fermanagh in the 18th, 19th, or early 20th centuries.

You'll learn a name, age, death date, burial date and location, parish and church from these records. Many also contain additional notes, with details such as the cause of death or parent's occupations listed.

Fermanagh Parish Registers Congregational Records

Last but not least, we've also added an all-new set of congregational records from Fermanagh, also covering the parish of Magheraculmoney.

With 3,948 transcriptions covering the years 1763-1887, this brand new collection offers you a chance to delve into the life of Magheraculmoney's Anglican parish in the 18th and 19th centuries.

The information included varies depending on the type of record, but you can expect to learn key details like a name, event date and type, townland, parish and county.

Scotland, Poor Law & Poor Lists, Inverness

If you have working-class roots in the Scottish Highlands, you'll be excited to learn that we've added 2,554 records from Inverness to the Scotland, Poor Law & Poor Lists collection this week.

They take the form of minutes taken by Guardians during poor law and relief hearings. These records are incredibly detailed, with all sorts of information about your ancestors included.

Alongside the usual name and birth year, you may be lucky enough to find details on their religious denomination, the names and ages of any spouses or children, their mother's maiden name, a brief history of the previous assistance they've received, and more.

There are some real gems to be found within this updated set. Many entries contain a fascinating level of detail. Take the record of the 17-year old John Adam, for example.

In a single record, we can gain an in-depth understanding of his life. His parents James and Margaret were 'both dead and interred in Davoit Churchyard', leaving the elderly John 'wholly destitute [and] disabled' due to paralysis.

John Adam's record, 1903.

In addition to his home address and occupation ('solicitor'), we are given a full account of exactly how much relief he recieved, and when. The full names of his family members are given. His sister Margaret Adam has her own Poor Law record - if you wish to delve further into this family's story, all of the necessary information is provided for you.

The detail contained within these records may just be vital in taking your Scottish research to the next level.

Canadian Headstones Index

The largest addition this week sees a massive 1.8 million new records added to the Canadian Headstones record set. Over 300 years of history can be explored through these records.

You can expect to find information such as the full name of the person, as well as the cemetery the headstone can be found in, and also a copy of the inscription from the headstone which may contain great detail about the person and their relatives.

Whilst these records are transcription only, you will find a link on the transcription which takes you to the Canadian Headstones site, where you can see a photo of the headstone itself.

Two new regional papers and so much more

There are 112,971 new pages for you to explore within our newspaper collection this week.

This Findmypast Friday, we added two new newspaper titles, both from the English county of Wiltshire.

These regional papers are the Wiltshire County Mirror and the Wiltshire Telegraph. We've added intermittent years between 1852 and 1916 - so you can now explore the history of Wiltshire in the latter half of the 19th century.

First published in 1833 and relaunched in 1852, the Wiltshire County Mirror went out every Tuesday, costing five pence.

Wiltshire County Mirror, 12 September 1866.

Based in the historic cathedral city of Salisbury, it combined local news with national and international commentaries. You'll find all manner of topics within this title's pages, from the Salisbury Choral Society to contemporary poetry and news from the local church.

In addition to these two new titles, we updated 14 of our existing newspapers. This includes 42,000 new pages added to the Newmarket Journal, 25,000 new pages added to the Stratford-upon-Avon Herald, and further pages added to two Scottish titles.

Here's a full rundown of all that's been added.

New titles:

Wiltshire County Mirror, 1852-1874, 1876-1877, 1889, 1893
Wiltshire Telegraph, 1879, 1889, 1901-1916

Updated titles:

Abergele & Pensarn Visitor, 1883, 1885-1886, 1891-1892
Atherstone News and Herald, 1892
Birmingham Journal, 1831
East Kent Gazette, 1899, 1901, 1907, 1909, 1911
Hamilton Advertiser, 1877-1878, 1880-1881, 1883
Haverhill Echo, 1962
Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 1882, 1939, 1959, 1964, 1968, 1973
Kensington News and West London Times, 1872, 1877-1878, 1880-1881, 1883, 1943, 1945
Middlesex County Times, 1876
Newmarket Journal, 1929-1942, 1945-1949, 1956-1959, 1961-1965, 1967-1975, 1979-1981
Southern Weekly News, 1889
Stockport County Express, 1942
Stratford-upon-Avon Herald, 1873, 1885, 1890, 1899-1910, 1912-1916, 1935, 1939, 1945, 1951-1962, 1970, 1981-1983, 1987-1988
West Lothian Courier, 1877-1878, 1880-1881

Have you made an interesting family history discovery? Whatever you've uncovered, we'd love to hear about it. You can now get in touch and tell us directly, using this handy form.