Ancestry.co.uk are making their England, Wales and Scotland census index records available for free for 24 hours on the 27th March, which is the night that the 2011 census will be taken.

To view the original pages for England and Wales you'll need to select one of their membership options or pay-as-you-go. However, Ancestry do offer a 14 day free trial so you could always choose that option first.

[Why Thrifty Thursday? This phrase has been included in the title in order to take part in Daily Blogging Prompts at Geneabloggers]

(From my gran's 1894 publication of 'Mrs Beeton's Cookery Book and Household Guide' - see this post for more information.)

WALL PAPER, TO CLEAN.

If not very dirty, tie a soft clean cloth over a long soft broom and brush the walls with it in straight lines ; if, however, the paper be very much soiled, stale bread should be used to cleanse it. Cut a stale quartern loaf in thick slices and rub the paper very lightly with it, going always in one direction and discarding the bread when dirty. Dough may be used instead of bread ; and in either case it is best first to take off all the dust from the paper in the way described above with a broom.

[Why Wisdom Wednesday? This phrase has been included in the title in order to take part in Daily Blogging Prompts at Geneabloggers]

Click the image for a larger version.
This photograph is of the Avon Dam on Dartmoor, not far from South Brent, and was taken in June 1966. There are more photos in the collection which were taken on the same day and it would appear to have been a family day out. I'm in some of the pictures, aged 3.

(From my grandpa's collection of old slides - see this post for more information.)

[Why Wordless Wednesday? This phrase has been included in the title in order to take part in Daily Blogging Prompts at Geneabloggers]

Ancestry have expanded their Irish collections:

Griffiths Valuation,1848-1864
UPDATED - One of the most important surviving 19th century genealogical resources for Ireland, this collection of over 2.5 million records offers a snapshot of ancestors who rented land or property throughout Ireland in the 1850s.

Tithe Applotment Books, 1823-1837
UPDATED - In 1823 a law was enacted requiring all land holders to pay a tax or "tithe" to the Church of Ireland, regardless of their religious affiliation. With details like tithe payer, acreage of their land and amount of their tithe, these records in effect provide a census of pre-famine Ireland.

Lawrence Collection of Photographs, 1870-1910
NEW - This collection of 20,000 images showcases the length and breadth of Ireland through the eyes of William Lawrence's photography studio in Dublin.

Ordnance Survey Maps, 1824-1846
NEW - Almost 2,000 incredibly detailed six-inch-to-the-mile maps of almost the whole of Ireland were produced before and during the Great Famine and take you practically to the spot where your ancestor lived and worked.

(This recipe comes from my gran's 1894 publication of 'Mrs Beeton's Cookery Book and Household Guide' - see this post for more information.)

PICKLED NASTURTIUMS (a very good substitute for Capers).
INGREDIENTS.- To each pint of vinegar 1 oz. salt, 6 peppercorns, nasturtiums.

Mode.- Gather the nasturtium pods on a dry day, and wipe them clean with a cloth ; put them in a dry glass bottle with vinegar, salt, and pepper as above. If you cannot find enough ripe to fill a bottle, cork up what you have got until more are fit : they may be added from day to day. Bung up the bottle, and seal or resin the tops. They will be fit for use in 10 or 12 months ; and the best way to make them one season for the next.
Seasonable.-Look for nasturtium-pods from the end of July to the end of August.


Illustration from the book.
[Why Family Recipe Friday? This phrase has been included in the title in order to take part in Daily Blogging Prompts at Geneabloggers]

I have in my possession two volumes of Mrs Beeton's Cookery Book which have been handed down to me. Both books are old and well used, one originally having been owned by one of my maternal great-grandmothers, Florence Weaver, nee Smale, and the other by my paternal grandmother, Ivy Alice Hibbitt, nee Dando, and perhaps her mother before her.


The 1894 Edition on the left was owned by my grandmother, Ivy Alice Dando.
The 1909 Edition on the right belonged to my great-grandmother, Florence Smale.
The oldest of the books is an edition published in 1894 (pictured on the left) and its full title is 'Mrs Beeton's Cookery Book and Household Guide'. The hardback cover states 'One Shilling Mrs Beeton's Cookery Book New & Enlarged Edition'. Inside the front cover are a number of loose recipes which my grandmother presumably collected over the years, although they are not all written in her handwriting. The contents of the book include the following sections; The Cook's Time Table, Invalid Cookery, Hints to Prevent Waste, American Cookery, Table Decorations and Marketing......Read more »

Click the image for a larger version.

Click the image for a larger version.
These pictures of Clovelly in North Devon probably date from the 1950's or 1960's.

(From my grandpa's collection of slides - see this post for more information.)

[Why Wordless Wednesday? This phrase has been included in the title in order to take part in Daily Blogging Prompts at Geneabloggers]

Another family history researcher recently sent me a transcript of a marriage settlement involving my Dando line. As these documents can be a little confusing I decided to search for a useful online guide and came across the following link among the Learning Resources at FamilySearch:

Marriage Settlements in England and Wales

[Why Tuesday's Tip? This phrase has been included in the title in order to take part in Daily Blogging Prompts at Geneabloggers]

(Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

You can now search 60,523 Bank of England Wills Extracts covering the period 1717-1845 on findmypast.co.uk.

They've also published 54,722 new Lincolnshire parish marriage records spanning the period 1700 to 1837 which cover a total of 139 parishes. View the full list of parishes here.

Search for your Yorkshire ancestors in 40,029 new baptism, marriage and burial records. New parishes covered are:

Warmfield St Peters
Ossett Holy Trinity
Sandal St Helens
Alverthorpe St Pauls
Royston St Johns
Wrenthorpe Chapel
St John & St Michaels
Horbury St Peters
Wakefield All Saints
Flockton St James

The London Illustrated News

TheGenealogist.co.uk has started to release The London Illustrated News for Diamond subscribers. They have added 6 months' worth of the weekly newspaper from 1890 to the site so far with more to follow. They are bookmarked by article and are easily searchable, containing many announcements of Births, Marriages, Deaths, Obituaries, Wills & Bequests.

Birth Transcripts 1973-2005

TheGenealogist.co.uk have now added over 7.6 million birth transcripts, bringing the total number of birth records to over 28 million. They've added these records to a new tool that lets you search across all their Birth, Marriage and Death transcripts with built in SmartSearch technology, automatically showing partner's full name where available, and enabling you to find potential parents from a birth, potential children to a marriage and potential birth records from a death record.