Sunday 7 August 2011

A flurry of activity at Emerald Ancestors

The subscription site Emerald Ancestors, which specialises in genealogy records for Northern Ireland counties, has been busy recently with a spate of new additions to its databases.

Baptismal records for Moneymore First Presbyterian Church in the parish of Artrea, co Londonderry have been added. They cover the period 1844 to 1865 inclusive and include the names of the child and parents (including mother's maiden name), dates of baptism and birth and, in most cases, details of the family residence.

Nearly 4,000 baptismal records for Ballyeaston First Presbyterian Church in the parish of Ballycorr, co Antrim have also been added. They cover 1820 to 1865 inclusive and include the names of the child and parents (including mother's maiden name), dates of baptism and location of the family home. Date of birth is not included.

A whole century of baptismal records, starting in 1820, for Markethill Second Presbyterian Church in the parish of Mullaghbrack, co Antrim are also now in the birth database. Details include the child and father's names, date of baptism and location of the family residence. Mothers' maiden names were not recorded in the original registers.

With an additional 100+ new civil marriage records for Comber Church of Ireland, most of them from 1856 to 1882, the listing of marriages recorded at this co Down church is now complete from 1845 to 1921. Entries include the names of bride and groom and date of marriage. Further details available in most cases include the fathers' names and occupations and the residences of the bride and groom at the time of the marriage.

Recording more than 25,000 individuals, remnants of the 1851 co Antrim census returns can now be searched at Emerald Ancestors. The database includes complete listings of households in the parishes of Aghalee, Ballinderry, Carncastle, Dunaghy, Grange of Killyglen, Kilwaughter & Larne. In addition, some townlands in the parishes of Aghagallon, Ahoghill, Killead, Newtowncrommelin, Rasharkin & Tickmacreevin are also included. Original spellings have been preserved in the transcription and indexing.