Jump into nearly a million new records with this week's release

4-5 minute read

By Jessie Ohara | May 27, 2022

Jump into nearly a million new records with this week's release

From trade directories to true love, there's thousands of stories to unravel.

Our ancestors' lives are more than just birth and death dates - there are whole lifetimes in between to trace. These incredible new additions to our archive can help you do that, so read on to discover everything that's new.

City of York Trade Directories 1781-1955

You know of the 1939 Register and the 1921 Census, but have you cross-referenced your ancestor's occupation with local directories? Well, if you have roots in York, you can now.

A snippet from the york trade directories

A snippet from the trade directories. View this full record here.

Trade directories can be a vital resource for understanding what your ancestor did for a living. However, rather than just offering a snapshot in time the way other sources do, you might just be able to trace any occupation changes as they happened throughout their lives. There could be multiple entries across different books for the same person, tracking their career as the years go by. This is particularly important during times where strikes and unemployment were high, such as immediately after World War 1.

A snippet from the trade directories

A snippet from the trade directories. View this record here.

There are 16 separate trade directories in this collection, spanning almost 200 years of commerce within York. Different books may offer different information, but typically you'll find your ancestor's trade and where they traded. Some books will also have a full address. This could come in particularly handy if you've struggled with tracing your house history - the more sources you can compare, the more sure you can be of your house's previous occupants.

There are over 720,000 records in this collection, so if you have ancestors in York from the 18th century onwards, then make sure to have a browse.

Herefordshire Marriages

Discover 220,000 new marriage records from the county of Herefordshire, provided by the Hereford Family History Society and published solely on Findmypast.

A couple getting married in Weobly Church, Herefordshire

A couple getting married in Weobly Church, Herefordshire, found in our Photo Collection.

The information will vary per record, depending on the condition of the source material, but generally earlier records in this collection will give you the couple's full names and the marriage date. Later records will often give you both spouses' fathers' names, meaning you could trace generations upon generations back, enriching your family tree.

These records span from 1538-1838, covering an incredible 300 years of history, and document marriages from 470 parishes across the county. If you have roots in the West Midlands of England, this resource could become paramount to your family history research.

Stop the press

What's headlining this week? Well, we've certainly not held back, with five brand new titles and 94 updated titles. Our new titles cover both Scotland and Wales as well as the North and South of England. They also focus particularly on news from the 1980s and 1990s, meaning these will be more relevant when uncovering slightly more recent history. Perhaps you'll even find your close family - or your own name - within these pages.

The Rhondda Leader in particular has a large section dedicated to marriage notices, obituaries, anniversaries and birthday wishes. These can help you discover how more recent life events were reported on, often with full names and other rich detail.

An acknowledgement and a thank you in the Rhondda Leader, 1987.

An acknowledgement and a thank you in the Rhondda Leader, 1987.

Some of these acknowledgements will also have photographs attached to them.

A birthday greetings to a lady in Melbourne, Rhondda Leader, 1987.

A birthday greeting to a lady in Melbourne, Rhondda Leader, 1987.

Newspaper notices can hold crucial information about your ancestor that cannot be found in records. Once you've narrowed the search down to years relevant to you, then browse through the titles available from your local area. You could find descriptions of marriage ceremonies, lists of funeral attendees, portraits of your ancestor, and more. You can find additional information on how to optimize your newspaper search in our handy go-to guide.

Marriage notices from our Scotland, Newspaper Marriages and Anniversaries collection. View this record here.

Marriage notices from our Scotland, Newspaper Marriages and Anniversaries collection. View this record here.

We also have entire record sets dedicated to newspaper notices, particularly focused around Scotland, Ireland, and some in America. There may also be more of these collections just on the horizon - be sure keep your eyes peeled for what's new every Friday.

Notices aside, here's a rundown of everything that's new and updated this week in our newspaper archive. To find a particular title, just filter your search results by the title you're interested in.

New titles:

Updated titles:

Any questions, thoughts, or discoveries? Pose them to us directly and join us for Findmypast From Home, live on Facebook every Friday at 4pm UK time.

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Picture of Jessie O'Hara - Brand Marketing AssistantJessie O'Hara

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