Have you taken a look at the Newfoundland Vital Records and 1935 and 1945 census images over at FamilySearch.org? If not, well sometimes it pays to procrastinate. The various registers and censuses have now been digitized and
indexed (no more browsing through pages of information by district to find your ancestors). To learn more about these record sets visit the
FamilySearch Wiki entry.
This got me thinking that I should check out the big four subscription websites (Ancestry, FamilySearch, FindmyPast, and MyHeritage) to see what all is available for Newfoundland, and what has been indexed. MyHeritage does not have any Newfoundland specific records. FindmyPast has the 1871 Lowell's City Directory and it is indexed and searchable. Ancestry has a number of Newfoundland specific records and it appears that Ancestry either indexed the birth, marriage, and death registers scanned by FamilySearch itself or acquired the rights to the indexes from FamilySearch. The index results at Ancestry link directly to the FamilySearch scanned images. Ancestry also has indexed (among other records) the 1935 and 1945 censuses and has the digitized images.
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| Images from Ancestry.com |
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| Images from Ancestry.com |
The
indexes for Ancestry and FamilySearch contain the same information (in slightly different order). The following example is for the Newfoundland Birth Register.
- name of child
- gender
- type of record
- birth date
- birthplace
- father's name
- mother's name
- entry line from register (included by FamilySearch)
Remember that
an index is your finding aid and you will most definitely want to go beyond the
index for the additional information. Keep in mind that the
birth register often includes the following (items in bold are additional items):
- birth date
- place of birth
- parents' given names and father's surname
- father's occupation
- registration certificate number
- baptism date
- religious denomination
- by whom baptized
- given name of child
- gender
- date of registration
- registration official
- remarks
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| Images from FamilySearch.org |
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| Images from FamilySearch.org |
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| Images from FamilySearch.org |
Ancestry and FamilySearch have vital records (birth & baptism, marriage, death & burial) as well as census returns, histories, books, and directories. These indexes should help you locate the registers and census returns for your Newfoundland ancestors. And be sure to check out unindexed records (you will simply need to browse) at FamilySearch. You can certainly get started reconstructing specific families and specific communities in Newfoundland. Cheers!
I’ve started to take an interest in genealogy recently and found this post interesting. Good luck with the rest of your A to Z Challenge!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much - hope I can keep it up (some letters are more difficult than others). Genealogy and family history is fascinating if you take your time, focus on the big picture, and just enjoy yourself rather than making it a chore. I have learned so much geography and history while doing my research and I have learned to be grateful for everything my ancestors went through - really resilient people. My father is 100% Irish ancestry; my mom is a combination of Slovenian, Swedish, and Norwegian so it is a great learning opportunity.
DeleteIndexes as breadcrumbs or finding aids...wise words Tessa. Sadly too many people are satisfied with indexes and not go back to the originals, either digitised or in hard copy.
ReplyDeleteDidn't realise you had Newfoundland roots.
Yes Pauleen my paternal grandfather was born and raised in Plate Cove East, Newfoundland. I was able to spend almost a month in St. John's and the various communities in the Bonavista region and met extended family in 2009. Great research facilities and such friendly people.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree, we have to go behind those indexes - so much more information is available.