Ancestry have added a number of interesting new databases to their website recently. Of most interest to Australian researchers are the following new birth, death and marriage indexes:

  • Australia Birth Index, 1788-1922
  • Australia Death Index, 1787-1985
  • Australia Marriage Index, 1788-1949

This new database was compiled from microfilm from publicly available sources across Australia. It contains over 15 million records and is very easy to use instead of having to search separate indexes online, on CD-ROM or microfiche to find your ancestors. However, the database does not cover all the index years published by the Registries of Births, Deaths and Marriages. Nor are the search features as powerful as the indexes that are widely available on CD-ROM across Australia. However, it is handy for a quick, nation-wide search.

Other updated Australian content includes the Australian and New Zealand Obituary collection. While the website does not say which newspapers are included in this collection, it does state that it is complied using an “automated finding and extraction system” and that most records have not been reviewed individually before publication. It is certainly one database to watch as obituaries can be a gold mine of information about an ancestor’s family and work life.

A large number of databases for Germany have been added to Ancestry recently which is terrific if you can read German! Other new overseas content includes:

  • UK, Casualties of the Boer War, 1899-1902
  • London, England, Non-conformist Registers, 1694-1921
  • Ontario, Canada Births, 1869-1911
  • Potenza, Basilicata, Italy, Civil Registration Records, 1861-1938 (in Italian)

Ancestry Library Edition is available to visitors to the State Library at 328 Swanston Street Melbourne and at local libraries across Victoria.

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