The following announcement was written by Findmypast:
This week’s Findmypast Friday features new court records that are essential for anyone exploring their Irish heritage. This includes over 2.3 million bill books and court registers that are now available to search for the very first time, only at Findmypast.
These latest new additions join the largest collection of Irish family history records available online. Read on to find learn more about what's new this week.
Uncover family disputes and more in this vast collection of court records spanning over 250 years of Irish legal history.
Containing over 1.2 million new records from the National Archives of Ireland, each transcript will reveal the date and locations of proceedings as well as the names of those involved. Images will provide further information on your ancestors and their dealings with the court.
The Court of Chancery was an equity court of Ireland, presided over by the Lord Chancellor of Ireland. It existed until abolition as part of the 1877 reform of the court system and was based in Dublin.
The Lord Chancellor was originally considered to be "keeper of the king's conscience", charged with giving relief in any case where common law courts were unable to provide remedy, though over time it developed into a legal system of its own called 'Equity', that stood parallel to common law.
Did your ancestor have their day in one of Ireland’s busiest courts? Delve into over a million new transcripts and images to find out.
The Court of Exchequer was one of the senior courts of law in Ireland (one of the four royal courts of justice), and served as a mirror of the equivalent court in England, dealing with matters of equity.
As one of Ireland's most senior courts, it mainly dealt with cases concerning equity. As such, you'll find the records full of land holders, business owners, merchants, professionals and farmers with large estates.
Over 62,000 new court records from Donegal County Archives have been added to this important Irish collection.
Digitised and published online for the first time, these new additions cover the courts of Ballyshannon and Newtowncunningham between 1828 and 1855. Often nicknamed 'the forgotten county', Donegal is underrepresented when it comes to genealogical sources, so this latest release could be key for taking your family tree research further.
The Petty Sessions handled the bulk of lesser legal cases, both criminal and civil. The entire collection now contains over 22 million records, making them an essential resource for those with Irish roots.
Each record includes both a transcript and image of the original document. The information contained varies considerably but most transcripts will provide your ancestors name, address, court dates and whether they were a witness, complainant and defendant. Images often provide a great deal of additional information including details of the offence, verdict and sentencing.
Proceedings were usually covered by the local press so searching Findmypast’s unrivalled collection of Irish newspapers may help you uncover the full story.
Discover Scottish ancestors, their birth years and addresses in these early local census documents from Annan and Balmaclellan.
On Findmypast, you'll also find early Scottish census fragments from Ayrshire, Edinburgh, Midlothian and beyond.
This week’s newspaper update includes three new titles as well as updates to six others. Brand new this week are:
While additional pages have been added to: