Over 1 million records added to UK National Burial Index

FindMyPast.com announced that it has added another 1.2 million National Burial Index records to its existing online collection of UK family history records, according to a recent column on About.com. The new records cover the counties of Somersetsire, Dorset and Essex and have been contributed by he Somersetand Dorset Family History Society as part of an arrangement with the Federation of Family History Societies (FFHS) to transfer their local family history society records to findmypast.com.

Searching for burial records may take time

In her article, "Searching for Burial Grounds Takes Time," Karan Pittman reminds us how many old cemeteries and burial spots have been lost over time, and how much time and effort it can take to dig up evidence of an ancestor's death and burial. In an age when so much information is at a our fingertips, we may be frustrated when our expectations are not met. It's good to keep in mind that some things take time and there are many avenues to explore.

New online Wales and England burial records date back to 1538

According to an article today in ic Wales, "New online family research sources," online family tree researchers will be able to delve 300 years further back into their histories from today, thanks to a new register of burials in Wales and England. The database, available on www.findmypast.com, dates back to 1538, predating the centralised registration of deaths in Wales and England, which began in 1837. It includes details of more than 13 million burials contained in parish registers, non-conformist registers, Roman Catholic, Jewish and other registers as well as cemetery and cremation records. All the records are cross-searchable, making it possible to search for ancestors by surname without needing to know where in the country they came from.

Tips on obtaining burial information in the UK

If you've ever bumped into a problem locating burial information in the United Kingdom, you re not alone, according to an article by Shelley Poblete, "UK Burials: The Value of Persistence." In addition to persistence, she suggests, an "understanding of English burials can be extremely useful."