Findmypast Friday September 14th

There are over 53 million new records and newspaper articles available to search this Findmypast Friday, including;

England & Wales Electoral Registers 1920-1932

Over 53 million indexed England and Wales Electoral Registers covering the 1920s and early 1930s are now available to search. Improved access to these important documents will enable you to bridge the vital gap left by the destruction of the 1931 census of England & Wales. Combined with the
1911 Census and 1939 Register, today's release means that Findmypast is now able provide you with unrivalled record coverage for early 20th century Britain, helping you to trace ancestors across a period of history that has traditionally been problematic for many researchers.

The new collection, England & Wales Electoral Registers 1920-1932, has been created by reprocessing the original documents in order to improve image quality. Findmypast has also developed a new process for picking out individual names, allowing this vast bank of records to be searched with greater accuracy than ever before, in a similar way to other indexed collections currently available on the Findmypast.

Searches now also cover all of England and Wales and matching records from the registers will feed into hints for anyone with a Findmypast Family tree.

Electoral Registers are listings of all those registered to vote in a particular area. The lists were created annually to record the names of eligible voters and their reason for eligibility, such as their residence or ownership of a property. Registration for voters in England has been required since 1832 and registers were typically published annually, making electoral registers and excellent resource for tracking ancestors between the census years or for uncovering the history of your home or local area.

These newly indexed records were taken from Findmypast's wider collection of
British Library Electoral Registers, over 220 million of which are also available to search in PDF format.

Jersey, German Occupation Identity Cards 1940-1945

Did any of your relatives live on the island of Jersey during the Second World War German occupation? Discover details of their identity and life with this collection of over 62,000 transcripts taken from originals documents housed at Jersey Archives.

These records were created under instruction from the German occupying authorities, through the Registration and Identification of Persons (Jersey) Order, 1940. This instruction decreed that all over the age of 14 must be registered and issued with an identity card to be kept with them at all times. An official index to these cards was kept, and is now housed at Jersey Archives. With no 1939 identity register taken in the Channel Islands, this collection forms the most comprehensive census substitute available to a family historian.

These records have two forms, a comprehensive sheet of information that includes physical descriptions, military service and any known disabilities, and a card that usually contains a photograph of the individual. The original images of these records, which contain more information, are available through the accompanying link with each record.

Jersey, German Occupation Prosecutions 1940-1945

Did any of your relatives fall foul of the harsh German occupation authority during the wartime occupation of Jersey? Discover details of their accused crimes and sentences in this collection of more than 800 transcriptions from original court documentation.

The Channel Islands were the only part of the British Isles to be occupied by Nazi forces during World War Two. During this occupation, an increasingly strict set of laws and decrees was passed to regulate the life of islanders. These records were transcribed from original documents housed at Jersey Archives. Punishment varied and was undertaken by the German military authorities. Many who were given long sentences were deported to the continent, some of these people never returned.

British Newspaper Update

This week we have added 24,516 new pages to our British Newspaper Collection. We have augmented our holdings of the
Liverpool Echo by adding further pages from the 1960s.