When Griffin joined findmypast.com to research her husband’s English ancestry, she discovered a burial record for Tabitha Rayson, who died Tabitha Johns in 1831, just two years after the birth her great-grandfather Henry. She pursued Tabitha on findmypast and information about her missing relative started to unfold in front of her.

Griffin’s great-great-grandfather George Johns sailed to the United States from London, England with his wife Maria and two sons David and Henry. It was the older boy Henry who became a successful land owner, brother-in-law to the Rainsbarger brothers and her great-grandfather. George registered as a widower at his wedding to second wife Maria, although no legal transcripts spoke of his first wife. It was the second marriage record that first “handed” Griffin the knowledge to find her real great-great-grandmother who had almost slipped from existence.

“I was just almost numb because after all this time I have been looking for her and here she was right in front of me,” Griffin said about the search for Tabitha, “and I just found everything about her by just typing in those names. It is amazing when you see the marriage, and then all the rest of it, and how it all fits in so easily.”

George married Tabitha Rayson in Middlesex county at St. Martins in the Fields in 1828. One year later, Henry was brought into the world. The Westminster marriage certificate on findmypast included signatures of the

George Johns and Tabitha Rayson in the Westminster Marriages records on findmypast.

happy couple, a memento Griffin called, “just amazing.”

Tragically Tabitha died in 1831, leading George to marry his second wife Maria the following year, and expand the young family before sailing to the new world. Ever the treasure hunter, Griffin pines for the ability to know more about witnesses who attended George’s and Tabitha’s union, which is not included in findmypast’s record.

Griffin’s pursuits paid off and found her true lineage and mother of her great-grandfather Henry, who Mildred believes was poisoned to death by the same doctor that gave him a clean bill of health after Henry sustained a gun shot wound. Although, that is a story for a different day.

Findmypast will offer more fantastic tales of successful family history searches in the coming months. To find your missing ancestors and stories about your family history, visit findmypast.com to get started.

Findmypast.com just added millions of new parish registers to its Westminster Collection. Family historians can now search for London ancestors on transcripts and scanned images of these parish records  from the city of Westminster that date back more than 400 years.

The Westminster Parish records cover the period 1538-1945 and come from more than 50 Westminster churches, including St. Anne, Soho, St. Clement Danes, St. George Hanover Square, St. James Westminster, St. Margaret Westminster, St. Martin-in-the-Fields, St. Mary-le-Strand and St. Paul Covent Garden.

Parishes are renowned for keeping detailed records of congregation members, including baptismal, marriage and funeral records. Findmypast.com has tens of million parish records, including those from Wales, England and Scotland that date all the way back to 1538.

(How to use parish records in family history research)

In this new addition, you can find details of President Theodore Roosevelt’s wedding in 1886; the marriage of UK Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel; and the marriage of poet Percy Shelley.

“Parish records offer a wealth of information for genealogists,” said D. Joshua Taylor, findmypast.com lead genealogist. “Stretching back hundreds of years, they offer a glimpse into some of the most important moments in the lives of churchgoers and their families.”

The Westminster Collection at findmypast.com is part of a growing resource of official parish records from local archives, including Cheshire Archives & Local Studies, Manchester City Council and Plymouth and West Devon Records Office, with many more in the pipeline, due to go live in the coming months.

The Westminster Collection is available on all of findmypast’s international sites as part of a World Subscription.

Findmypast.com’s expertise at digitizing historical records and uniting communities provides the tools to help people connect with their past and present.

To learn more about findmypast.com or to get started on your own family history search:

• Like findmypast on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/findmypastus
• Follow findmypast on Twitter at https://twitter.com/findmypastus
• Follow findmypast on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/findmypastus/

EPISODE CONTENTS (time-stamps)

• 0:58 Josh talks about what to expect at Rootstech
• 1:34 Why you should attend family history conferences in general
• 2:07 Why any person with any level of experience doing family history should attend a conference –  The ‘Getting Started’ track at Rootstech
• 2:34 Come by the findmypast booth at Rootstech for a chance to win an iPad Mini, try out our new collection of British newspapers
• 2:59 Various findmypast speakers at Rootstech
• 3:28 D. Joshua Taylor to do Keynote at Rootstech
• 3:49 Advancing genealogy technology through Rootstech’s developers challenge

Rootstech

March 21-23, 2013
Salt Lake City, Utah
RootsTech is an opportunity unlike any other to discover the latest family history tools and techniques, connect with experts to help you in your research, and be inspired in the pursuit of your ancestors. Learn how to find,organize, preserve and share your family’s connections and history.

Ever participate in – or even hear about – ‘A Pigeon Eating Wager’? Odds are, most likely not, but that is just one of the strange headlines you can read about in the collection of British newspapers on findmypast.com.

Through an exclusive partnership with the British Library, brightsolid is digitizing 50 million pages of British newspapers, from 1700 to 1950, over the next 10 years. Prior to this project researchers would need to visit London, search the archives and read the text to find what they wanted. Now people can search 12 billion words in seconds.

Out of more than 65 million articles, findmypast.com has selected the top ten strangest stories form the past, dating back to 1838. A feat of technology and historical preservation, the British Newspapers are also a unique look at local culture, the way news was reported and linguistics.

TOP TEN Strangest Headlines from the British newspapers*:

1. ‘Squirrel Became a ‘Living Torch’

   – 16 February 1950, The Press and Journal, Aberdeen, Scotland

   • Three youths were “remanded for a fortnight” for soaking a squirrel in paraffin and lighting it on fire.

2. ‘Lived for Years Under Hedge, A Woman’s Contempt for Men’

   – 24 April 1927, The Sunday Post, London

   • A woman, known to the locals as “Old Betty” was removed from her shanty-tent in the bushes after having lived there for four years. She declared it is her intense contempt for men that has led her to take up this solitary way of living in a home made of old socks and rags….with her cat.

3. ‘Man found Asleep In Bed’

   – 10 December 1912, Hull Daily Mail, Kingston upon Hull, England

   • While the headline appears to be newsworthy enough, the crux of the story is that he was an escaped prisoner that broke into his sister-in-law’s house to have a nap.

4. ‘Naked Travellers, An Awkward Dilemma’

   – 1 June 1903, The Evening Telegraph

   • Thieves broke into the sleeping saloons on a train from Moscow and stole all the clothing of the passengers as they slept.

5. ‘Man Eats Eighty Ducks’

   – 4 August 1902, Hull Daily Mail, Kingston upon Hull, England

   • After his neighbors complained of constant loud quacking, a man was ordered to get rid of his eighty ducks. He did so by eating them.

6. ‘Packet of Vipers Sent By Post’

   – 2 September 1899, Hull Daily Mail, Kingston upon Hull, England

   • A bishop had received a package mislabeled as “dried fruit.” His enemies had sent him 8 deadly vipers “ferocious and hungry” that were “only killed with a great deal of difficulty. #OldWorldProblems

7. ‘Living Ornaments; bejeweled living tortoises’

   – 22 January 1898, Edinburgh Evening News, Edinburgh, Scotland

   •  Reports of a new Parisian fad of bejeweling tiny turtles with Jewels and wearing them “among lace and flowers on an evening corsage” by attaching them with a safety. It says the tiny turtles “bear the weight of wealth without the least inconvenience.”

8. ‘Smuggling By Pigeons’

   – 11 July 1896, Worcestershire Chronicle, England

   • A tired pigeon fell from the sky with a cargo of diamonds attached to it. “The pigeon had been released from the deck of an ocean steamer by someone who wished to bring the diamonds in the US without payment of duty.”

9. ‘Vagaries of an Elephant’

   – 8 May 1885, Royal Cornwall Gazette, Cornwall, England

   • A description of the trials and tribulations of a circus elephant in the 1800′s.

10. ‘Theory of Cats’

    – 15 September 1838, Reading Mercury, Reading, England

    • The article takes a revealing journey through the psyche of the common house cat.

*Subscribers can view these articles. Not a subscriber? View them for free with a 14-day FREE trial

Today we launched our ‘Bad Boys’ collection – the largest collection of historical criminal records from England and Wales to be published online, in association with the National Archives (U.K.).

Use the promotional code ‘criminal‘ for 20 free credits to test this amazing collection out.

Over 2.5 million records dating from 1770-1934 will be easily searchable and provide a wide variety of color, detail and fascinating social history, chronicling the fate of criminals ranging from fraudsters, counterfeiters, thieves and murderers and their victims.

“We are delighted to launch these incredible records in the United States,” said D. Joshua Taylor, lead genealogist for findmypast.com. Our teams have worked to ensure the collection’s rich details are available online, including descriptions of appearance and demeanor, identifying marks and mug shots.”

“This set includes both the accusers and the accused, providing details on criminal acts and convictions within the United Kingdom across multiple centuries. Combined with our recently released British newspapers, this collection enables findmypast.com to provide a unique and personal glimpse at historical crime and punishment in the United Kingdom.”

Paul Carter, Principle Modern Domestic records specialist at The National Archives added, “These records span several government series and show the evolution of the criminal justice system in the nineteenth century as the country dealt with the impact of industrialization, urbanization and population growth.

“They record the intimate details of hundreds of thousands of people, beginning with judges’ recommendations for or against pardons, to petitions through which criminals and their families could offer mitigating circumstances and grounds for mercy, and later, licensees containing everything from previous convictions to the state of a prisoner’s health.”

The information in the records comes from a variety of Government departments including the Home Office, Prison Commission, Metropolitan Police, Central Criminal Court and the Admiralty. The records from 1817-1931 will be published first followed by the period 1770-1934 in the coming months.

Register now and start watching!

Episode 8: The Battle of Trafalgar

The victory of the Battle of Trafalgar in October 1805 ensured Britain’s mastery of the seas over the French and the Spanish for the next 100 years. Our three participants will find out how they are related to the people who helped Admiral Nelson in his defeat of Napoleon’s fleet at Trafalgar.

View two minute preview

Episode 9: Scott of the Antarctic

Robert Falcon Scott, Britain’s most famous and celebrated explorer, died in March 1912 in the icy wastes of the Antarctic, having failed to become the first man to reach the South Pole. This controversial figure’s reputation has recently undergone reassessment and this timely episode looks at his legacy and that of the men who followed him

View two minute preview

Episode 10: Abdication Crisis

Within a few months of Edward VIII becoming new ruler of a vast empire in 1936, he brought about a constitutional crisis that threatened the future of the British monarchy. He proposed to marry American socialite and divorcee Wallis Simpson. Both Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin and Archbishop of Canterbury Cosmo Lang opposed the marriage as they argued it would compromise Edward’s role as head of the Church of England.

View two minute preview

Tune in to findmypast.com to view episodes from the hit UK television show, Find My Past, now entering its second season. Each episode links living individuals to real historical events found in their family tree. Findmypast.com is the only US site where you can watch this show!

Register on findmypast.com for free and watch Find My Past episodes that aired in the last 30 days at no cost.  Missed an episode or want to watch your favorites again? Findmypast subscribers can watch the all episodes for an unlimited time. Every episode will be available to watch on findmypast.com a week after it airs. We’ve recently posted ‘Episode 6: Great Escape’ and ‘Episode 7: Dickens’ Double Life’ for your viewing pleasure.

Register now!

Find My Past the TV show is an exciting series which unites ordinary members of the public with their ancestors.
Each week in the new 10-part series, we reveal how three people are related to someone from a significant historical event by searching the ancestry records on findmypast. We follow their journey as each person discovers which of their ancestors played a role in modern history.

At the end of every episode, we unite the participants and reveal how each person’s family history is connected to monumental world history– such as the sinking of the Titanic, the WWI Christmas Truce, and the Great Fire of London.

Hosted by Chris Hollins of BBC Breakfast, Watchdog and winner of Strictly Come Dancing 2009, the hit UK Television series is now available for the first time to watch online, exclusive to findmypast registered users.

“The addition of 21 million new birth, marriage and death records to our website means we will now have more than 60 million Irish records on our website, including census and parish records,” said Cliona Weldon of findmypast Ireland. “There has never been a better time for people to explore and discover the details of the lives of their Irish ancestors.”

Births, marriages and deaths are central events in peoples’ lives and these types of records are essential in developing the framework of a family tree. Findmypast carries the most detailed and thorough collection of Irish records ever seen in one place – providing a fascinating insight into Ireland’s history and making Irish family research easier and more accessible than ever before. Check out the full list of records on findmypast.com.

Irish Family History Day will be celebrated on January 24 in countries around the world, including the USA, Ireland, the UK, Australia and Canada.

Findmypast is a proud partner of The Gathering Ireland, a year-long celebration in 2013 of Ireland and all things Irish.

The Ireland BMD collection is also available across all international findmypast sites as part of a World subscription:

www.findmypast.com.au

www.findmypast.ie

www.findmypast.co.uk

· More than 200 newspaper titles for the period 1710-1950 with more added over time.

· Easy searching capabilities of the collection by keyword, surname, subject or location in a matter of seconds.

· Nearly 8,000 new pages added every day. The British library and brightsolid are digitizing nearly 40 million pages over the next 10 years.

· Added depth and color for your family tree. In seconds, the newspapers can provide a vivid window into the past: From a man who decided one day to walk round the world in an iron mask, to bullet-stopping corsets and the art of wide-sleeved shoplifting – this is a digital Aladdin’s Cave. The British have always had a voracious appetite for newspapers – never more so than in the 19th century, when almost every town in the country had its own newspaper, capturing every aspect of people’s lives.

Happy searching,

The findmypast.com team