Uncover the lawbreakers and teachers in your family tree

2-3 minute read

By Liam Boyle | February 23, 2024

This Findmypast Friday there are millions of new and improved records for you to delve into.

Whether your ancestors were less than law abiding or educators, this week's new additions are bound to throw up some surprises in your family tree.

With over 300,000 new records and newspaper pages, plus improvements to over 22 million census records, what will you discover?

Here's a full rundown of all that's been added this Findmypast Friday.

1871 England & Wales Census

The largest of this week's updates sees improvements made to 22,808,909 records from the 1871 Census for England and Wales, making finding your English and Welsh ancestors easier than ever before.

Previously untranscribed, we have added occupation and place of birth to over 22 million records, so not only will you see this information on the transcriptions, you can now search by these fields using the advanced search page.

England & Wales, Crime, Prisons & Punishment, 1770-1935

Our next update sees 62,569 new records adding to our existing collection of England & Wales, Crime, Prisons & Punishment records.

These new records cover 1915 to 1923 and will give you all the juicy details of your criminal ancestors. Be sure to check the original images for extra information, including a remarks column where you may find occupations, relations or references to another case they were involved in.

Teachers' Registration Council Registers 1914-1948

We also have 612 new records in the Teachers' Registration Council Registers 1914-1948 set, plus improvements to over 100,000 existing records.

1931 Teachers' Registration Council Register record

View this record here.

On the transcriptions, you will now see where your ancestor trained as a teacher and if you check the original images, you will also find extras such as any attainments they received and a full history of the schools they worked in.

Discover over 240,000 new pages

Rounding off this Findmypast Friday, we have two brand new newspaper titles to explore, including the Halifax Daily Guardian and the fantastic Fashion and Craft (also known as Creative Needlecraft). And that's not all - we also have updates to 17 existing titles, with over 125 years of history to be uncovered.

Here's everything that's been added to our newspaper archive this Findmypast Friday.

New titles:

Fashion and Craft (Creative Needlecraft), 1967-1992
Halifax Daily Guardian, 1906-1909

Updated titles:

Beverley Guardian, 1986
Deal, Walmer & Sandwich Mercury, 1992
Dundee Weekly News, 1986
Kentish Express, 1975, 1977, 1985-1986, 1992
Kentish Gazette, 1986, 1995
Maidstone Telegraph, 1974, 1977, 1992
Mearns Leader, 1958
Melton Mowbray Times and Vale of Belvoir Gazette, 1906-1910, 1912-1916, 1919-1920, 1922-1928, 1931, 1963-1965, 1969, 1971-1972
Mid Sussex Times, 1985
Motherwell Times, 1986
Northampton Herald, 1872, 1911
Oban Times and Argyllshire Advertiser, 1879
Retford, Worksop, Isle of Axholme and Gainsborough News, 1983
Sheerness Times Guardian, 1992
Shetland Times, 2000
South Eastern Gazette, 1970, 1973-1974, 1976, 1979
Wolverhampton Express and Star, 1965, 1969-1970, 1976, 1979-1983

Join us for a special Friday Live

On 23 February, our very own Rose Staveley-Wadham will be joined on Friday Live by historian Suzannah Lipscomb. They'll be taking a deep dive into researching and writing about female ancestors and discussing the importance of remembering the stories of the women within our family trees.