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Discover emigrant ancestors and much more this Findmypast Friday.

Swiss Emigrants to the American Colonies, 1734-1744

With newly-created indexes for easy searching, this publication records the details of over 3,000 Swiss immigrants to the New World. Translated and transcribed from an original manuscript held in the State Archive of Zurich, the records can reveal your Swiss ancestors’ names and ages, where they came from, settled and more.

The collection contains large numbers of emigrants who intended to travel to Carolina, as it was the most heavily advertised colony in Switzerland. In many cases, the circumstances around their departure is indicated. Most of these events and pieces of information were submitted by local priests.

Emigrant Ministers To The Americas

Spanning 1690-1811, this collection can be searched by name, year, destination and keywords to discover Church of England clergy working in the American colonies. Many Church of England ministers were given a bounty by the King of England to go and practice their faith in overseas colonies.

This list was compiled largely from records known as Money Books, King’s Warrant Books, Treasury Papers, and Exchequer of Receipt Papers, documenting the funds spent to send missionaries to the New World. However, most of the entries also include where the individual was intending to travel to, specific roles, such as clerk or lawyer, and frequently, additional genealogical information.

Winthrop Fleet Passenger List, 1630

A decade after the Mayflower, the Winthrop Fleet took hundreds more English settlers to America. Search this collection to discover the passengers and their amazing stories. The voyage saw 11 vessels, led by John Winthrop, and between 700 and 1,000 English settlers arrive in the New World.

The fleet included a large group of Puritan families, with a variety of skills, skilled labour, and family groups, to ensure a healthy and robust colony. The fleet itself was funded by the Massachusetts Bay Colony. These records, originally published in 1930, describe the background, the experience and the motivation for the fleet, as well as listing many of the participants by name with genealogical details.

Newspapers

Runcorn Weekly News (covering 1913-1933 and 1936-1970) and Clare Freeman and Ennis Gazette (covering 1855-1884) are brand new to the site this week.

Plus, more pages have been added to Evening Mail (from 1869-1872, 1874-1885 and 1892-1922) and Cork Daily Herald (from 1897-1899).