Saturday, October 18, 2008

Familyrelatives.com release Irish Collections

One of the largest collections of Irish records available is being released online by www.Familyrelatives.com. This forms part of a programme to add more than 10 million new records by the end of this year.

The new sources will contain, Indexes to Irish Wills 1536-1857 (5 Volumes), Irish Genealogical Guide, Quaker Records Dublin Abstracts of Wills, Alumni Dublinense 1593-1846, Ireland Topographical Dictionary, Land Records Ireland, Commissioned Sea Officers of the Royal Navy, 1660-1815, Irish Names and Surnames, MacDonald’s Directory – 5 counties and the Medical Register for Ireland 2 Volumes. The records contain amongst other material, surnames, year, location and county.

An extract from the Irish Genealogical Guide - Copies & Abstracts of Irish Wills describes why these records are so useful to family historians and came to exist. “Wills being of paramount importance for the study of family and social history, the act of vandalism by which the buildings of the Four Courts, Dublin, were destroyed on the 30th June, 1922, has proved to be a serious set-back to genealogical research, as all the original wills deposited therein at the time were burned; many other documents of national importance met a similar fate. Fortunately however, prior to the disaster, genealogists had copied from time to time many thousands of these wills and the results of their labours had been offtimes published in genealogical journals and family histories….”

We are very pleased to present the Irish collection online, it has always been our intention to add Irish records to the existing Familyrelatives.com data as these rare records are invaluable to family historians and assist in their research, a spokesman for the site added.

IRISH RECORDS COLLECTION

Indexes to Irish Wills 1536-1857 (5 Volumes), this dataset is a five-volume series of indexes to Irish wills. Each entry lists the individual's name, address, and the year the will was settled in probate.

Irish Genealogical Guide, copies and Abstracts of Irish Wills covers the period from 1445 to 1834. Each entry lists the individual's name, address, reference and the year the will was settled in probate.

Quaker Records Dublin Abstracts of Wills. The Abstracts include valuable information including the individual's name, address, and the year the will was settled and proved in probate. Family relations, occupations, witnesses, freeholds, monies, inventories and more are mentioned in the abstracts.

Alumni Dublinense 1593-1846. Amongst other material includes schools, school alumni, the individual’s name, father’s name, trade, profession, or rank, age, birthplace, and the year they were awarded their degree.

The Royal School, Armagh
The Royal School, Armagh register officially began in 1849 although records date back to 1635.

The Register will prove invaluable in researching your family history as the material includes the individual's name, place or date of birth, father's name, rank, profession or trade, the year they were at the school, educational qualification and career. This may include additional information on their military ranks with the dates of promotion and the date and place of death.

Includes students and pupils from Ireland and abroad.

A typical entry in the register reads;

FITZHERBERT NICHOLAS CODDINGTON
Born in Meath, third son of Nicholas Coddington, of Oldbridge, Co.Meath,
In Couser’s books, 1820-1822 ; T.C.D., July, 1822 ; Ensign, 40th Foot,
22nd September, 1825 ; Lieut., 17th January, 1828 ; capt., 24th December, 1832 ; Major, 30th April, 1884 ; retired, 10th July, 1846 ; received a dangerous sabre wound at the battle of Maharajpore (medal). Died at Brighton, 6th April 1853

Note: T.C.D Trinity College Dublin

Ireland Topographical Dictionary. The database is an alphabetical dictionary of the topography of Ireland and provides historical and statistical descriptions of several of Ireland's counties, cities, boroughs, corporate markets, post towns, parishes, and villages. A useful resource as they enable us to locate and learn about the places our ancestors lived. provides historical and statistical descriptions of several of Ireland's counties, cities, boroughs, corporate, market and post towns, parishes, and villages. Ideal source for learning about the place your ancestors lived.

Return of Owners Land Ireland 1876. The Return shows the holding, in acres, roods and poles, and estimated yearly rental valuation, of all holdings over 1 acre. The database is organised by county, landowner and address for each landowner is provided.

MacDonald’s Directory 1927 for the counties of Antrim, Tipperary, Armagh, Belfast, Londonderry and Kerry. Business and trade directories providing useful social history information on trade names and occupations, names, addresses as well as information on schools in the locality.

Irish Names and Surnames, a fascinating collection of Irish names and surnames, the records include the Gaelic names of men and women from English to Irish and Irish to English and Clan names with useful and historical descriptions and the origins of a name. A treat for budding onomatologists.

Medical Register for Ireland 2 Volumes. The records contain the surname, address and location, year and qualifications followed by the Medical Schools from which the Members qualified.

Irish Passenger Lists 1846-1851, Passengers who arrived at the Port of New York during the Irish famine are already available for free online.

All these records are available as part of the Subscription and provide unprecedented value for money.

Upcoming CollectionsFamilyrelatives.com will be adding valuable new datasets to the site to benefit our subscribers. Additions over the next few months will include many more Military records including Commissioned Sea Officers of the Royal Navy, 1660-1815 as well as School and University records for England, Wales, Scotland, including Ireland and the USA.

Familyrelatives.com – records being added

Irish Records
Alumni Dublinense 1593-1846
Commissioned Sea Officers of the Royal Navy 1660-1815
Index to Prerogative Wills of Ireland
Indexes to Irish Wills 1536-1857
Indexes to Irish Wills 1536-1857 Vol I
Indexes to Irish Wills 1536-1857 Vol II
Indexes to Irish Wills 1536-1857 Vol III
Indexes to Irish Wills 1536-1857 Vol IV
Indexes to Irish Wills 1536-1857 Vol V
Ireland - Return of Owners of Land in Ireland
Irish Genealogical Guide
Irish Names and Surnames
Irish Immigration records 1846-1850
Irish Medical Directory 1878
Irish Medical Directory 1932
MacDonald’s Directory - Antrim
MacDonald’s Directory - Armagh
MacDonald’s Directory - Belfast
MacDonald’s Directory - Kerry
MacDonald’s Directory - Londonderry
MacDonald’s Directory – Tipperary
Quaker Records Dublin Abstracts of Wills
Royal School Armagh

Monday, October 6, 2008

Last survivor of the HMS Hood, Ted Briggs dies at 85

The last survivor of Royal Navy battlecruiser sunk by the Bismarck in Atlantic in 1941 has died.

Ted Briggs, 85, was one of only three of 1,418 crew that survived the sinking during the Battle of the Denmark Strait.

Mr Briggs, from Fareham in Hampshire, passed away at the Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth on Saturday night.

He was boy signalman aged 18 when the fifth salvo from the Bismarck hit the ship's magazine resulting in a catastrophic explosion. It tore the ship in half and it sank in less than three minutes.

The flagship of the fleet was part of a force ordered to engage the Bismarck and her escort cruiser Prinz Eugen off Greenland. Read more>>

You can search World War II Military records of Army, Navy and Royal Air Force personnel, soldiers and officers on www.familyrelatives.com