Free records on Ancestry until midnight on Saturday

[SarahND]

Hi all,
There are a series of records that are free on Ancestry from now until midnight (Eastern U.S. time) on the 29th. These include some Australian records and some UK records, as well as US & Canada ones. Some of them (like the 1940 census) are free anyway, but others are only for these few days. These are the databases included, found here: http://www.ancestry.com/cs/us/ancestry-2012

Occupation & Education
California Railroad Employment Records (1862-1937)
London, England, School Admissions and Discharges (1840-1911)
U.S. World War II Cadet Nursing Corps Card Files (1942-1948)
Census
1940 United States Federal Census
1892 New York State Census
Early Vital Records
Pennsylvania Church and Town Records (1708-1985)
Massachusetts, Town and Vital Records, 1620-1988
Special Collections
U.S., Buffalo Soldiers, Returns From Regular Army Cavalry Regiments, 1866-1916
Galveston, Texas, Jewish Immigration Records (1901-1917)
International Records
London, England, Land Tax Records (1692-1932)
UK and Ireland Masters and Mates Certificates (1850-1927)
New South Wales, Australia, Convict Indents, 1788-1842
Canada Voters Lists (1935-1980)
New South Wales, Australia, Police Gazettes, 1854-1930
Birth, Marriage & Death
Lancashire, England, Births and Baptisms (1813-1911)
Lancashire, England, Deaths and Burials (1813-1986)
Lancashire, England, Marriages and Banns (1754-1936)
Washington Marriage Records (1865-2004)
Military Records
Canada Nominal Rolls and Pay Lists for the Volunteer Militia (1857-1922)
U.S. Marine Corps Muster Rolls (1798-1958)
U.S. National Cemetery Interment Control Forms (1928-1962)
U.S. Burial Registers, Military Posts and National Cemeteries (1862-1960)
Arrivals & Border Crossings
U.S. Records of Aliens Pre-Examined in Canada (1922-1954)
Atlantic Ports Passenger Lists (1820-1873 and 1893-1959)
Border Crossings: From Canada to U.S. (1895-1954)
Border Crossings: From Mexico to U.S. (1895-1957)
Naturalization & Immigration
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Immigration Records, Special Boards of Inquiry (1893-1909)
New York Naturalization Records (1897-1944)
Military Pensions
War of 1812 Pension Application Files Index (1812-1815)
U.S., Confederate Pensions, 1884-1958

[trish1]

Hi Sarah

I have an ancestry sub - but often seem to miss when new items are available - so many thanks for the list - it reminds me I haven't found all my family in the 1940 census - that I should check Pennsylvania as some folks went there & I did much research for a friend from Lancashire so should check those records.

Trish

[SarahND]

Hi Trish,
Hope you have better luck finding people in 1940 than I have Have gone page by page in some localities and the address where I KNOW these people are was simply missed in the enumeration! So it's not the fault of the indexers this time.

Not sure how they chose which records are free-- seems like a random list, but maybe it is just what is relatively new on the site.

All the best,
Sarah

[Currie]

Thanks Sarah, it sounded like the answer to my Christmas prayers.

But no, the 1892 NY Westchester census didn’t survive. But it didn’t matter, because I just found what I wanted plastered all over the newspaper pages at http://www.fultonhistory.com/Fulton.html

As for the NSW Police Gazette, all I could find in that were policemen. My lot must have been a bunch of law abiding wimps.

And, unfortunately, my lost Master Mariner wasn’t the one who sent the Royal Adelaide to a watery grave in 1872. That was the ship where some onlookers on the beach recovered some of the cargo and drank themselves to death with it. Almost as many people died on the beach as did in the water.

Maybe better luck next time,
Alan

[SarahND]

Hi Alan,
Sounds like you had an entertaining time of it anyway. I have also found things before in fultonhistory.com Despite what it sounds like, there are newspaper items involving people from all over, not just New York state. It's a fascinating site.

Cheers,
Sarah

[SarahND]

Here is an example of an obituary I found on the Fulton site. It is a genealogist's dream! Don't you wish they were all this detailed?

Salem Review-Press July 19, 1888

Thomas M. Hopkins, Esq., born in this town, departed this life at his residence in De Kalb, Illinois, on June 16, 1888, aged seventy years. He was a son of Hiram Hopkins and his wife, Sarah, who was a daughter of Thomas M'Cleary, and his wife, Sarah, who was a daughter of John Montgomery, of Andover, Mass. Hiram Hopkins, the father of Thomas, was a son of Robert Hopkins, of Salem, and his wife, Grace Oswald... "

Best wishes for more like this in 2013,
Sarah

[Currie]

That one's a beauty Sarah, almost as good as a Spanish birth certificate.

All the best,
Alan