 Exciting news from Findmypast! If you have Catholic ancestors, you'll be very pleased to know Findmypast has announced an initiative to digitize the historic records of the Catholic Church in the U.S., Britain, and Ireland — the Roman Catholic Heritage Archive. They've also added to their U.S. Marriages Project. Get all the details below in their press release! Quick Links:
~Caroline  Findmypast launches Catholic Heritage ArchiveThursday 9th February 2017 Time: 8am MT, 10am EST, 3pm GMT Leading family history website, Findmypast, today announced the creation of the Roman Catholic Heritage Archive, a ground breaking initiative that aims to digitize the historic records of the Catholic Church in the United States, Britain and Ireland. Findmypast is today releasing over 3 million exclusive records including sacramental registers for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia from 1757 to 1916 as well as for the British Archdioceses of Westminster and Birmingham from 1657 onwards. This builds on last year's publication of more than 10 million Irish Catholic parish registers. The Catholic Church holds some of the oldest and best preserved genealogical records ever created. However, as many of these documents memorialize important religious sacraments such as baptism, marriage and burial, their privacy has long been protected and access to original copies has traditionally been hard to come by. In collaboration with various Archdioceses of the Catholic Church, Findmypast is helping to bring these records online in one unified collection for the first time ever. Exclusively available on Findmypast, images of original documents will be completely free to view in many cases. Fully searchable transcripts will also be included, providing family historians from the around the world with easy access to these once closely guarded records. The next phase of the Catholic Heritage Archive will include records from the archdioceses of New York and Baltimore as well as additional records from Philadelphia. There are over 30 million records in just these three dioceses. The digitization of the whole archive is a monumental undertaking and, when complete, will contain hundreds of millions of records for the USA alone. Brian Donovan, Licensing Manager at Findmypast said; “The Roman Catholic Church is the largest Christian denomination in the world. Despite the popular perception that it had few adherents in Britain, or was not that important in American settlement, it has always been a significant component (up to 25%) of the population. The Catholic Heritage Archive will uncover the history of millions of Irish, Italian, German, Polish and many other nationalities as they made a new home in the USA.” Kate Feighery, archivist at the Archdiocese of New York said; “The Archdiocese of New York is delighted to begin the process of opening their sacramental records for historical research. As one of the major immigration hubs in the country, and the second largest diocese in the United States, many Catholic Americans can trace their ancestors back to New York. The Catholic Heritage Archive will allow interested amateur and professional historians to more easily find out more about their family’s roots in Catholic New York.” Cait Kokolus, Director of the Philadelphia Archdiocesan Historical Records Center said; “ The digitization of parish records is a great gift to the Catholics in the Archdiocese. Now they will be able to find where their grandmother was baptized, or when their great-grandparents married. In such a quickly changing society, many people are discovering that knowing their family history gives a sense of identity and stability.” 10 million new US marriage Records Findmypast has also just released a further 10 million United States Marriage records in association with Family Search International. The new additions cover 45 states, over 1,800 counties and date from the early 17th century up to the present day. Over 65 million records are currently available to search within the collection. Covering 360 years of marriages from 1650-2010, when complete this landmark collection will form the single largest online archive of U.S. marriages in history and will only be found in its entirety exclusively on Findmypast. The launch of these new US records is central to Findmypast's growth strategy in the U.S. They will complement Findmypast’s massive collection of British and Irish data, providing many more connections and a more comprehensive experience to family historians in the US and all over the world. About Findmypast Findmypast (previously DC Thomson Family History) is a British-owned world leader in online family history. It has an unrivalled record of online innovation in the field across its family of online brands, which includes The British Newspaper Archive and Genes Reunited, amongst others. It’s lead brand, Findmypast, is a searchable online archive of over eight billion family history records ranging from births, marriages, deaths and censuses to migration records, military collections, historical newspapers and more. For millions of members around the world, Findmypast a crucial resource for building family trees and conducting detailed historical research. It is home to the largest online collection of Irish family history records, over 450 million exclusive UK parish records dating back to the early 16th century, and the Periodical Source Index; a rich, exclusive collection of the world’s best family history periodicals. Since 2003, Findmypast has partnered with a wide variety of public and genealogical organisations to bring millions of records online for the very first time and, in February 2015, partnered with FamilySearch international to create the largest online archive of U.S. marriages in history.
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 Findmypast has just announced it will finally integrate its sister site, Mocavo, into its subscription database site. However, they will also be maintaining Mocavo's pledge to remain free forever. That means if a particular collection was free to access before, it will remain free on the Findmypast site. Making both sites' collections searchable from one site, will make searching more convenient for users. Additionally, Findmypast mentions adding more unique US collections during 2016 as they expand into the US market. It will be interesting to see what they add this year. Read the Findmypast release below for more details. ~Caroline Leading family history website Findmypast, has today announced that sister site Mocavo will be incorporated into Findmypast to create a single experience for customers interested in discovering more about their family history. The move forms an important part of the US growth strategy set out by Annelies van den Belt, CEO of Findmypast, and will bring the best aspects and features of both sites into one place. The two websites are currently working together to transfer Mocavo’s strengths and expansive record collections over to Findmypast. The transition will begin immediately and is expected to be completed within the next few months. The move is part of Findmypast’s continued expansion and growth in the US market. By merging the two brands, Findmypast will create a more focussed and efficient business that will offer a more comprehensive experience to US customers while continuing to offer the industry’s best British and Irish collections. In 2016, Findmypast will also be publishing hundreds of millions of new and exclusive US records to further enhance the experience for US family historians. As part of Findmypast’s commitment to sustain Mocavo’s ‘free forever’ promise, Mocavo subscribers will continue to enjoy free access to all of the same records that were previously published for free on Mocavo. In addition, they will be invited to take advantage of a subscription to Findmypast equivalent to their existing Mocavo subscription. Mocavo customers can easily import their family trees onto Findmypast and can immediately start to receive hints opening the door to new discoveries that they never knew existed. A subscription to Findmypast will allow them access to the site’s entire collection of records, containing over eight billion names, as well as the thousands of new records released by Findmypast every week. findmypast.com Annelies van den Belt, CEO of Findmypast, said; “A key part of our 2016 US growth strategy is to centralise our efforts on one core brand, Findmypast. Combining Mocavo’s strengths and Findmypast’s massive collection of British and Irish data will allow us to provide a richer and more comprehensive experience to family historians all over the world." This press release was just received from the Guild of One-Name Studies. ~Caroline  Guild of One-Name Studies Join the Guild of One-Name Studies at the Who Do You Think You Are? – Live Birmingham show (16th to 18th April 2015), thereby saving £1 on the normal rate for April joiners and receive a special “show time only” goody bag.
A special show offer of £22 will cover full membership to the Guild of One-Name Studies for a period of 19 months up to 1 November 2016. The current rate for anyone taking out an extended Guild membership in April 2015 is £23. New Guild members joining at the show will receive a goody bag comprising a “Special Guild 8Gb USB drive” (priced £9.00 at the show) which has the Guilds Members handbook, The Art of One-Name Studies “Seven Pillars of Wisdom” book (hard copy usually £7.00), the 2014 Guild Register and all 132 back issues of the Guild Journal of One-Name Studies pre-loaded, a Guild Lanyard and a Guild pen, along with their normal Guild joining pack. All visitors attending the Guild stand will also be offered free prints of the distribution map for their selected surname as recorded in the British 1881 census provided by Steve Archer’s “Surname Atlas” program. This special offer of full membership to the Guild of One-Name Studies for a period of 19 months up to 1 November 2016 is also available Worldwide via the Guild’s website – www.one-name.org from the 16th April 2015. The joining fee is: UK £22.00, Australia AUS$44.00. Canada CAN$44.00, Europe €31.00, New Zealand NZ$47.00 and USA US$37.00. Details of all the Guild facilities can be found at: www.one-name.org/guildsvces.html - where you can find more about:
Cliff Kemball, the Guild Publicity Manager, said today: “Visit the Guild Stand (Stand T7-T9) at the WDYTYA Birmingham show (16th to 18th April 2015) and learn more about the Guild of One-Name Studies and what excellent value for money membership of the Guild provides. Alternatively join the Guild on-line at http://www.one-name.org/about-the-guild/how-to-join.html from the 16th April and benefit from the reduced membership fee.” 
A single surname society is one where data and research on a particular surname beyond their own family members with that surname is gathered and published by researchers. These types of societies provide a single surname researcher a place to publish their work and to collaborate with other single surname researchers on that surname. This type of research, of course, can also be a great reference for any type of researcher to use. Below is a press release from a new society for single surnames called The Surname Society. You can join if you are interested in researching single surnames beyond your own family tree and then you can collaborate with others researching the same name. This new single surname society provides collaboration with other researchers around the world using online technology only. Take a look at what they have to offer below in their press release and on their website. Also, you can search their website for your particular surnames and see what research they have published already. They also have an introductory recorded Hangout On Air video on their "About Us" webpage. ~Caroline The founder members are delighted to announce the launch of The Surname Society - the online society for individuals, groups and associations with an interest in surname studies, regardless of their location in the world, the surname they are studying, or their level of research expertise.
Focussing on single surname studies, the society meets the needs of researchers in the world of family history and genealogy as it evolves in the 21st century. The Surname Society’s vision is to connect like-minded people by providing facilities which enable members to share knowledge, data and good practice with others. The society allows members to register both worldwide and limited studies and is entirely online. Collaboration is facilitated and encouraged as it is the core ethos of The Surname Society. Surname researchers collect data relating to all name bearers, either on a global or restricted basis. The society does not mandate study methods and members are encouraged to develop their own approach to the investigation of their surname to advance their knowledge and expertise in areas such as etymology, DNA, name collection and family reconstruction. The Surname Society will help and advise inexperienced members on ways to conduct their study and how to avoid the pitfalls which can occur! A truly global organisation from the outset, the committee members are located around the world from Australia to England, Spain and Canada and in the first week since its announcement to those who completed the online questionnaire, the society has almost one hundred new and enthusiastic members. The cost of membership to The Surname Society is just £5 per annum with no hidden extras. You can register as many names as you want on either a restricted or worldwide basis, collaborate with others, share in the educational opportunities offered and a plethora of resources in the Members’ area of the website including a fascinating quarterly e-newsletter and the School of Surnames, with many other developments in the pipeline in due course. So, what are you waiting for? Take a look at the website and if you are interested, join! For more information visit http://surname-society.org, email [email protected] and/or follow us on Twitter: @surnamesoc  Click on image for a larger view. This press release was just received from WikiTree. While I have a tree on WikiTree, it's not my main tree, but as I have delved into DNA testing and the myriad of ways to analyze the data, these 2 new DNA tools are going to be very helpful to me. And coming to that conclusion this morning, I logged onto my WikiTree tree and explored their DNA tools and other new-to-me tools early this morning. I added a few more people like siblings, merged some duplicates, looked at a merged ancestor a distant cousin had made for us with a common ancestor, and looked at all the of WikiTree's DNA tools which I had not even looked at before. Then I added all my DNA tests and info to my tree. It takes a while for that information to get processed, I think, but what I found was that the information in general that WikiTree provides about DNA and DNA testing would really help others who have taken DNA tests for genealogy and are lost with their results. They really do a good job of explaining DNA for genealogy and what other DNA tests you need to get and why for confirming your research. The navigation on the site is not as intuitive as I'd like, but if you're willing to click on all the links to find information, then you will be rewarded. So, you have to "play" with it. [But, hey, another weekend is just about here. ;) ] Read their press release below which explains their new DNA tools. ~Caroline FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 6, 2014
Contact: Eowyn Langholf, [email protected] WikiTree Makes Finding Relationships with DNA Matches Easier 6 November 2014: Today WikiTree.com is announcing two important features for genealogists who have taken DNA tests. These features make WikiTree’s Relationship Finder a uniquely powerful tool for genealogists who have taken 23andMe, AncestryDNA, and FTDNA Family Finder tests. “One of the biggest challenges facing genetic genealogists,” according to Dr. Blaine Bettinger, author of the long-running blog The GeneticGenealogist, “is finding the elusive common ancestor. Finding genetic matches is easy, but finding the common ancestor from whom we inherited a segment DNA is very hard. WikiTree’s new Relationship Finder is a great tool for identifying the ancestors that two or more people share in common.” All Common Ancestors Genealogical relationship finders are generally designed to find the first common ancestor between two people. Genetic genealogists need to know about all the common ancestors they share with a match. Everyone’s family tree intertwines in multiple ways. The first shared ancestor may not be the reason for a shared segment of autosomal DNA. WikiTree’s Relationship Finder now enables you to easily browse all your common ancestors. Filtering for Multiple Matches When a genealogist shares a segment of autosomal DNA with two or more other people who also match each other on that segment, it’s a big clue in discovering which ancestor it came from. WikiTree’s Relationship Finder now enables you to filter the common ancestors shared by two people to only display common ancestors who are also shared by a third, fourth, or fifth person. The Universal Family Tree These Relationship Finder features are possible because WikiTree members are collaborating on a single tree for the entire human family. “The genetic genealogy community absolutely must have a universal family tree,” says leading genetic genealogist Dr. Tim Janzen. “With smaller unlinked trees it's frequently impossible to see all of the true genealogical connections with the people who share autosomal DNA with us. We are finally getting to the point where this vision is becoming a reality at WikiTree.” About WikiTree WikiTree: The Free Family Tree has been growing since 2008. Community members privately collaborate with close family members on modern family history and publicly collaborate with other genealogists on deep ancestry. Since all the private and public profiles are connected on the same system this process is helping to grow a single, worldwide family tree that will eventually connect us all and thereby make it free and easy for anyone to discover their roots. See http://www.WikiTree.com.  The following press release was just received from Findmypast — looks like some free binge researching time this weekend for Veterans Weekend plus a live broadcast to show how to use their records. Read on for all the details:
Explore Findmypast’s billions of historical records for FREE this Veterans Weekend
This Veterans Weekend, we want to help everyone find their First World War ancestors and learn more about their family history. So we’re delighted to announce that this Veterans Weekend, we’ll be opening up our archives and giving unlimited free access to billions of records and newspaper pages from all over the world. That means that between 7am on Friday, November 7th and 7am on Monday, November 10th (EST), absolutely everyone will have access to all our historical records, including:
As well as millions of other records that will give everyone the opportunity to explore their family history and bring their past to life. It’s not only new users who will be able to take their family history research further this weekend. Those with current Findmypast Local subscriptions (with an active Britain, Ireland, US & Canada or Australia & New Zealand subscription) will be able to access all our historical World records during the free access weekend. Those with active World subscriptions will have an additional three days added on to their subscription. Find out more at our dedicated Free Weekend page. Live Broadcast This Saturday 8th November, we will be hosting our first ever Live Broadcast. Featuring an expert panel including Findmypast’s Director of Family History, Joshua Taylor, military historian Paul Nixon, and Who Do You Think You Are?’s Lead Genealogist Laura Berry, the broadcast is designed to help everyone get further with their family history research. The talks will cover a wide range of topics – from getting started to breaking down brick walls – and viewers can choose to watch the entire event, or tune in for specific presentations. The Live Broadcast will be shown at http://new.livestream.com/innerear/findmypast at 10am (EST) on Saturday 8th November. All of the presentations can also be watched on demand after the broadcast on the Veterans Weekend section of our blog. See the programme below, and read more about the speakers and their talks on our blog. Live Broadcast Programme
(all times EST) Live Family History Facebook Q&A Directly after our Live Broadcast, we’ll also be hosting a live Q&A on family history researching on our global Facebook page with some of our speakers. Join us between 5.30 and 6.30pm GMT (4.30-5.30am AEDT) to join the discussion on how to get started or break down your family history brick walls. You can submit your questions in advance to our Facebook wall, send them @Findmypast on Twitter using the hashtag #FMPLive, or join us live on Facebook on Saturdayevening. Follow @Findmypast on Twitter and use the hashtag #FMPLive to follow our event updates. For further information please contact: [email protected] About Findmypast Findmypast has been a leading family history website for more than 10 years. It’s a searchable online archive of billions family history records, from parish records and censuses to migration records, military collections, historical newspapers and lots more. For our members around the world, Findmypast is a crucial resource for building family trees and doing detailed historical research. In April 2003 the company was the first to provide access to the complete birth, marriage, and death indexes for England & Wales, winning the Queen’s Award for Innovation. Since that time, Findmypast has digitised family history records from across the globe, including major collections from Britain, Ireland, Australia, and the United States. In partnership with the British Library, Findmypast is part of a project to safeguard the future of the world’s greatest newspaper archive – allowing digital access to more than 40 million newspaper pages. Recently, The National Archives awarded the company the exclusive rights to put the 1939 Register for England and Wales online. www.findmypast.com This just in from Findmypast — a new partnership with the Wall Street Journal. Read on for all the details.  FINDMYPAST ANNOUNCES MAJOR PARTNERSHIP WITH THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
London, UK. 31 October, 2014. Findmypast, the leading British family history company, has announced a major partnership with The Wall Street Journal’s WSJ+ membership programme. Under this new partnership, members of WSJ+ can claim a complimentary three month subscription to findmypast.com as part of their WSJ+ benefits. With a searchable online archive of over 1.8 billion historical records from around the world, including millions of local US and British newspapers, as well an easy-to-use family tree builder, Findmypast is one of the world’s fastest-growing family history websites, both in terms of records and members. It acquired Colorado-based genealogy site mocavo.com in June this year, and is quickly establishing itself as a major player in the competitive US online genealogy market. WSJ+ members will have access to the largest collection of Irish records available online. Alongside extensive passenger lists, and parish records dating back over 1000 years, these records make Findmypast the best place to trace your ancestors and bring your past to life. Juliet Bauer, Chief Commercial Officer at Findmypast, said “This is a great partnership for us. We are very excited to be bringing new customers to family history, and sharing our fantastic record collections with a new US audience. Tracing your family history is addictive and we look forward to giving the members of WSJ+ the chance to explore their past.” About Findmypast Findmypast has been a leading family history website for more than 10 years. It’s a searchable online archive of over 1.8 billion family history records, from parish records and censuses to migration records, military collections, historical newspapers and lots more. For our members around the world, Findmypast is a crucial resource for building family trees and doing detailed historical research. In April 2003 the company was the first to provide access to the complete birth, marriage, and death indexes for England & Wales, winning the Queen’s Award for Innovation. Since that time, Findmypast has digitised family history records from across the globe, including major collections from Britain, Ireland, Australia, and the United States. In partnership with the British Library, Findmypast is part of a project to safeguard the future of the world’s greatest newspaper archive – allowing digital access to more than 40 million newspaper pages. Recently, The National Archives awarded the company the exclusive rights to put the 1939 Register for England and Wales online. For more information please contact [email protected]  The British Newspaper Archive has now reached 9 million pages. Read the following press release for all the details:
The British Newspaper Archive reaches 9 million pages There are now 9 million historical newspaper pages to explore at The British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk) after the website reached a major milestone this week. Product Director Ian Tester commented, ‘We’re thrilled to have reached 9 million pages and have already started chasing the next big milestone. Customers tell us that they’re making amazing discoveries every day, whether they’re researching their family history, the First World War or the history of their local area. Our focus on local titles means that you can find stories from all around the UK and with the recent addition of more Irish titles, we’re becoming a more useful resource all the time’. The British Newspaper Archive has grown massively since it was launched in November 2011. 282 British and Irish newspaper titles are now online, covering 1710-1954. 45 newspaper titles added so far this year Thousands of pages are added every week, so coverage will just keep getting better. More than 2 million pages and 45 new titles have been added to The British Newspaper Archive so far this year, including the Daily Mirror, Daily Record, Dublin Monitor, Lancashire Evening Post, London Evening Standard and Sports Argus. Register for free at www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/account/register to receive monthly updates about what’s being added to the website. Vote for the newspapers you’d like to see online Is there something you’d like The British Newspaper Archive to digitise? You can now suggest titles and vote for other people’s suggestions on the website’s feedback forum: http://help-and-advice.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/forums/243704-newspapers-we-should-add-next New collaboration combines family trees and DNA to empower individuals to discover and document their ancestry This just in from MyHeritage: a "strategic collaboration" with 23andMe. You can watch MyHeritage Founder and CEO, Gilad Japhet, break the news live on Bloomberg TV earlier today ( http://youtu.be/c1MefhlGTA8 ): MOUNTAIN VIEW, California & TEL AVIV, Israel - October 21, 2014: 23andMe, the leading personal genetics company, and MyHeritage, the leading destination for discovering, sharing and preserving family history, announced today a strategic collaboration that will provide an enhanced experience for individuals to discover their legacy based on genetic ancestry and documented family history.
23andMe pioneered autosomal DNA ancestry analysis for consumers, and has created the largest DNA ancestry service in the world. With a simple saliva sample 23andMe can reveal the geographic origins of distant ancestors and help people discover unknown relatives. MyHeritage helps millions of families worldwide find and treasure their unique history with easy-to-use family tree tools, a huge library of more than 5.5 billion historical records and innovative matching technologies for automating discoveries. Integrating the market leading solutions in ancestral DNA and family trees will provide an unparalleled experience for customers of both companies. “We believe this collaboration with MyHeritage will offer our customers a vastly improved opportunity to build their family tree and discover new connections,” said Andy Page, President of 23andMe. “Given MyHeritage’s technology leadership in the ancestry space and vast global reach, we are excited about the value this relationship will bring to our customers around the world.” “Combining genealogy with DNA-based ancestry is the next evolution in uncovering family history,” said Gilad Japhet, Founder and CEO of MyHeritage. “DNA testing can connect you to relatives you never knew existed, who descend from shared ancestors centuries ago, but family trees and historical records are critical to map and fully understand these connections. We have great respect for 23andMe’s technology and values, and its pioneering approach to genetics represents strong potential value for our users in the future.” 23andMe will offer its more than three quarters of a million customers around the globe access to MyHeritage’s family tree tools. This will allow 23andMe’s customers to enjoy automated family history discoveries. Smart Matching™ automatically finds connections between user-contributed family trees and Record Matching automatically locates historical records from the billions of records available on MyHeritage, pertaining to any person in the family tree. MyHeritage will utilize 23andMe's API to provide the best experience for customers, by allowing any two people with matching DNA to explore their family tree connections. MyHeritage will also offer 23andMe's Personal Genome Service® to its global community of more than 70 million registered users, in addition to the DNA tests it already offers. The first phase of integration will be complete by early 2015. About 23andMe 23andMe, Inc. is the leading personal genetics company dedicated to helping people access, understand and benefit from the human genome. The company's Personal Genome Service® enables individuals to gain deeper insights into their genetics and ancestry. The vision for 23andMe is to personalize healthcare by making and supporting meaningful discoveries through genetic research. 23andMe, Inc., was founded in 2006, and the company is advised by a group of renowned experts in the fields of human genetics, bioinformatics and computer science. More information is available at www.23andme.com. 23andMe’s health reports are not cleared by the FDA. US customers may purchase 23andMe’s ancestry-only product. Media Contact (Edelman): Jackie Kahn Phone: +1-202-538-0128 Email: [email protected] About MyHeritage MyHeritage is the leading destination for discovering, sharing and preserving family history. As technology thought leaders and innovators in the space, MyHeritage is transforming family history into an activity that’s accessible and instantly rewarding. Trusted by millions of families, its global user community enjoys access to a massive library of historical records, the most internationally diverse collection of family trees and ground-breaking search and matching technologies. MyHeritage empowers families with an easy way to share their story, past and present, and treasure it for generations to come. MyHeritage is available in 40 languages.www.myheritage.com Media contact: Aaron Godfrey Phone: US +1-347-542-7902, UK +44-207-193-2049 Email: [email protected] |
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