FindMyPast: 5 million Yorkshire and POW records

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Phase 2 of the Yorkshire Collection and new POW records available
to search this Findmypast Friday

This Findmypast Friday marks the release of over 5 million parish records in the second phase of Findmypast’s Yorkshire collection and over 43,000 prisoner of war records released in partnership with the National Archives to coincide with the centenary of the Gallippoli landings. This week’s new additions also include Australian military and land survey records, Irish local government records and newspapers and the United States BillionGraves Index.   

United States Billion Graves Index

The United States Billion Graves Index contains 9 million cemetery records from right across the United States. Findmypast’s partnership with BillionGraves aims to make available all the cemetery records held on their site for free. BillionGraves is the largest resource for GPS-tagged headstone and burial records on the web, with over 12 million headstone records. This index will be regularly updated throughout the year and pertains solely to U.S. headstones. Each entry has a transcript, which includes a link to an image of the headstone with GPS details.  The amount of information varies, but transcripts will usually include the deceased’s name, birth date, death date, cemetery and a link to an image of their headstone.

Yorkshire Records

Over 5 million Yorkshire parish records have been released in the second phase of Findmypast’s partnership with the Yorkshire Digitisation Consortium. The Yorkshire Collection comprises beautiful scanned images of the original handwritten registers held by six Yorkshire archives and spans the years 1538 to 1989. Fully searchable transcripts of the original documents enable anyone to go online and search for their Yorkshire ancestors by name.

The Yorkshire collection covers the whole of Yorkshire including the three historic counties; North Riding, East Riding and West Riding. The first phase of this landmark project was released in September 2014 and included nearly 4 million parish records and Bishop’s transcripts. This second phase includes baptism, banns and marriage records held by the North Yorkshire County Record Office, Doncaster Archives and Local Studies, East Riding Archives and Local Studies Service, Teesside Archives and Sheffield Archives and Local Studies. It also includes new Bishop’s Transcripts of baptisms, marriages, banns and burials from the Borthwick Institute for Archives (University of York).

The latest additions include:

·         Over 1,2 million new Yorkshire baptisms, 1538-1914

·         Over 1.3 million new Yorkshire bishop's transcripts of baptisms, 1578-1914

·         Over 277,000 new Yorkshire banns, 1653-1930

·         Over 709,000 new Yorkshire Marriages 1539-1930

·         Over 684,000 new Yorkshire bishop's transcripts of marriages 1534-1899

·         Over 885,000 new Yorkshire burials  1538-1966

·         Over 945,000 new Yorkshire bishop's transcripts of burials 1578-1972

Prisoner of War Records

Containing over 43,000 records with images, Prisoners Of War 1914-1920, are the first in a series of PoW records to be digitised and published by Findmypast in partnership with The National Archives. These latest additions consist of 10 series of British Foreign Office document’s relating to prisoners held by the Ottomans during World War One. They not only include the names of military personnel taken prisoner – both allied and foreign – but also the names of civilians, merchant seamen, fishermen, diplomatic employees and more. They will eventually form part of a wider Prisoners of War Collection, 1715-1945, which on completion will span 230 years and date back to the Jacobite rebellion.  

Prisoners of War 1914-1920 includes ten series of documents taken from The National Archives’ collection Foreign Office: Prisoners of War and Aliens Department: General Correspondence from 1906 (F0 383). Consisting of lists and general correspondence, the records contain the names, ranks and locations of PoWs and provide insights into life in the Ottoman camps. They contain details of requests made by inmates for items including footballs and biscuits, details of visits by foreign diplomats and reports on camp conditions. The amount of information in each record can vary depending on the type of document and the amount of detail recorded at the time of the event.

The Australian Military Forces WW2 missing and prisoners of war records list the details of approximately 23,000 servicemen who were recorded as missing or as PoWs in the pacific theatre of World War Two. The records relate specifically to members of the Australian armed forces who were captured or went missing while serving in the Far East and South West Pacific islands as of 30 June 1944. Each record includes a transcript that can give the individual’s service number, rank and unit, as well as a note of whether they were missing or had become a prisoner of war. For those listed as POWs, the location of the camp in which they were imprisoned was also recorded. The prisoner of war camps listed span from Borneo to Keijo in Korea, from the Netherlands East Indies (modern-day Indonesia) to Malaya, from Thailand to various camps in Japan itself.

Australian Records

Containing over 1,000 records, the New South Wales, Returned Soldier Settlement Miscellaneous Files 1916-1939 were transcribed from records relating to ex-servicemen’s applications for financial assistance as part of a soldier settlement scheme following the First World War. Soldier settlement schemes were introduced around Australia to sell or lease land selected and acquired by the Government to servicemen returning from service overseas. Each record includes a transcript provided by volunteers from the State Records Authority of New South Wales.

The Australian Imperial Force, Nominal Roll of the First Railway Section 1917-1920 transcripts were compiled using an index compiled from a record series by the State Records NSW Volunteer program. The index lists the details of railway employees who formed the 1st Railway Section of the Australian Imperial Expeditionary Force, also known as the 6th Australian Broad Gauge Railway Operating Company, during World War One.

Irish Records

Over 500,000 new articles have been added to our collection of historic Irish Newspapers. Additions have been made to 14 existing publications including generous updates to Dublin Evening Post (65,152), Northern Whig (34,651) and Tipperary Vindicator (13,958). Four brand new titles have also been added to the collection: The Cork Advertising Gazette, Derry Journal, Dublin Correspondent and Saunder’s News-Letter.

Containing over 7,000 records, Clare County Government Proceedings 1732 – 1882 record the members, presentments and correspondence of Clare’s Grand jury. Grand juries were the forerunner of county councils and functioned as local government authorities.  Each record is a PDF of the original material. The amount of information varies as several different types of document are included in these records. Members of the Grand Jury dating back to 1668 are listed by name and (usually) rank, and there are 42 volumes of payment orders for various works around the county (presentments). Letters and circulars to the Grand Jury are also to be found. 

Remember to check our dedicated Findmypast Fridays page every week to keep up to date with the latest new additions.

Notes to Editors

Findmypast is an international leader in online family history and genealogy research with customers and operations in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland and Australia. Its searchable online archive includes over two billion family history records, from parish records and censuses to migration records, military collections, historical newspapers, the Periodical Source Index (PERSI) and lots more. For members around the world, the site is a crucial resource for building family trees and making family connections.Findmypast has an unrivalled record of innovation in the field of family history, and works closely with the genealogy community, including local libraries, archives, societies, and other organizations from around the world, to preserve, digitize, and provide access to historical records. Findmypast’s historical records, advanced search tools and accurate data work together to help both professional and budding genealogists discover, explore and share their family stories.