Findmypast announces Dundee & Angus collection partnership

 

Leading British and Irish family history website, Findmypast, is proud to announce a new online collection spanning nearly five centuries of Dundee and Angus history. Published in association with Leisure and Culture Dundee, University of St Andrews Library and DC Thomson, this vast archive of historical documents and original photographs provides researchers worldwide with the opportunity to discover their connections to the City of Discovery in unprecedented detail, for the first time online.

Dundee based Findmypast has scanned in full colour from paper originals where possible, and created a full name index.  This new release brings together millions of complementary records from multiple institutions, which, when placed alongside existing Findmypast Scottish collections, forms one of the most comprehensive collections of genealogical records from any area of the UK online.

These records give names, dates, residences, occupations and document life events of the people of Dundee and Angus, also including photographic records of streets and people, a goldmine for social and family historians alike. They contain some of the oldest photographs in existence, taken in the 1840s and showing parts of the city long since lost to redevelopment. 

A particular highlight is a set of 50 images of ‘Dundee Old & New’ commissioned by the Dundee Police after the Improvement Act of 1871. This photographic album illustrates the changing landscape of a Victorian burgh in the firm grip of the Industrial Revolution through a unique ‘then and now’ perspective even at that time. When used alongside tenancy and electoral records of the people who lived in these streets released at the same time and going back to as early as 1823, a detailed picture of the people of Dundee can be seen, rich and fertile ground for tracing ancestors who stood on those cobblestones.

These exciting new records include:

• Fully indexed images of more than 23,600 Obituaries from local Dundee newspapers ranging from 1869-2018, added to a national Scottish collection of over 600,000.
• 2 million Valuation Rolls 1823-1938 for the county of Dundee & Angus 
• Almost 4 million Dundee & Forfarshire (Angus) Electoral Registers 1857-1939
• Hundreds of thousands of indexed records of baptism, marriage & burial from across Dundee & Angus 1562-1855.
• Portrait photographs of 318 male and female employees of DC Thomson who enlisted during the Second World War.
• Over 5,000 comprehensively indexed original photographs of Dundee & Angus dating 1844-2010.

Myko Clelland, Scottish Licensing Manager at Findmypast said ‘As a company with strong local roots, we’re thrilled to be working with partners to create one of the most comprehensive record collections for any area in the UK. We’re bringing so many different records together to give a detailed picture of the changing face of Dundee and Angus through its most transformative centuries, for the first time online. This is a unique chance to discover for ourselves the role that our ancestors played in history, allowing those connected to the area to uncover new stories, wherever they are in the world.’

Dr Erin Farley, Library & Information Officer at Leisure and Culture Dundee said ‘The Local History Centre at Dundee Libraries has been committed to helping people from Dundee and further afield discover their family histories for decades, and we are excited to offer library members access to this brilliant range of records, and new ways to search genealogical collections. We’re looking forward to hearing the stories that our members discover about their families, and finding out how our collections connect to others in Dundee and Angus.’

Rachel Nordstrom, Photographic Collections Manager of the University of St Andrews Library said ‘As the Home of Scottish Photography St Andrews played host to many great photographers over the past 180 years, and the University archives does indeed hold a great number of photographic images from across Scotland which we could draw from for this exciting and engaging initiative. We’re delighted to bring our collections to a new audience and give them new life through Findmypast for their local, national and international family heritage researchers. The images shared through this project are from some of the most notable photographers of the 19th century, and their portrayal of local life, landscape and architecture complements these newly published records while giving a view of what life was like for our forebears.’

David Powell, Archive Manager at DC Thomson said ‘DC Thomson share our Dundee Headquarters with Findmypast and we’re excited that holdings from our own corporate archives can contribute to such a comprehensive online collection. It’s fitting that the names and faces of those who walked through these same Meadowside doors are now having part of their own stories told online for researchers to link with other available records to broaden their knowledge.’

By improving access to these rich documents and making them searchable for the first time, Findmypast provides family historians from around the world with even more opportunities to discover their Dundee & Angus ancestors. Researchers can now uncover details of their families past and add new generations to their family tree with greater ease than ever before.

With today’s release building on existing records from The National Archives, Scottish Catholic Archives, British Library, Tay Valley Family History Society, and more from the area, together with the publication of almost 10 million records from Scotland since January, (many exclusive and nowhere else online), Findmypast is cementing their reputation as the home of British & Irish family history, creating one of the most useful genealogical resources online for Scottish research