Archive for January 2011

Follow Friday - Search for Non-Conformist burials

Category: Handy Family History Links

From the mid 19th century, Abney Park Cemetery became the principal place of memorial for prominent London dissenters (Congregationalists, Baptists and other Non-Conformists). Before this, the burial ground at Bunhill Fields had served a similar purpose.

National Burial IndexIf you have any Non-Conformist ancestors, it's worth performing a free search of the Abney Park Cemetery online database .

Furthermore, the 3rd Edition of the National Burial Index (available on CD for approximately £30) includes 47,682 entries for Bunhill Fields between 1788 and 1853.

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

Thrifty Thursday: Search & view Northern Ireland Wills online

Category: Handy Family History Links

The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) have recently launched a new application which provides a fully searchable index to the will calendar entries for the three District Probate Registries of Armagh, Belfast and Londonderry, with the facility to view the entire will calendar entry for each successful search. The database covers the period 1858-1919 and 1922-1943. Part of 1921 has been added, with remaining entries for 1920-1921 to follow in the near future.

In addition, 93,388 digitised images of entries from the copy will books covering the period 1858-1900 have now been linked to the corresponding will calendar entries and are now available online, allowing users to view the full content of a will.

I'd been waiting for some time for access to a downloadable version of the will of my 3 x great-grandfather, Joseph Dando (1802-1870). Not only was I pleased to see this facility had finally arrived but imagine my surprise when I also discovered that it's FREE.

Search the PRONI Will Calendars here - who and what will you find?

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