Up to four million Hertfordshire baptism, marriage and burial records dating back to 1538 are to be made available online later this year.
The subscription/pay-per-view family history website Find My Past UK has today announced at the Who Do You Think You Are Live Show at Olympia in London the award of a digitisation contract by Hertfordshire Archives & Local Studies (HALS).
Find My Past says: “This significant new project will lead to the publication online for the very first time of between 3.5 and four million historic records from the Archives. The fully-searchable records are expected to launch later this year.
“Spanning the years 1538 to 1990 (1910 for baptisms and 1928 for marriages), the records cover parish churches and bishops’ transcripts from the whole of Hertfordshire, including:
- historic Hatfield, childhood home of Elizabeth I and the birthplace of the jet airliner;
- the garden cities of Letchworth and Welwyn;
- Ayot St Lawrence, home of writer Sir George Bernard Shaw;
- Hemel Hempstead, Watford, Cheshunt and Barnet [now in Greater London].”
The joint announcement by Find My Past UK and HALS was one of a number made at the three-day Who Do You Think You Are Live Show, where Find My Past has a major presence. There the company will be showcasing the many record collections on its website, including parish records from Manchester Archives, Cheshire Archives and over 40 million parish records from family history societies throughout the UK (in partnership with the Federation of Family History Societies).
About Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies
HALS at County Hall, Hertford preserves and promotes archive and library resources for the discovery and enjoyment of Hertfordshire’s diverse heritage. HALS holds over 7,000 individual archive collections dating from 1060 to the present day, over 30,000 books and 40,000 photographs on 5 miles of shelving.
HALS says: “Our documents cover many aspects of life in the county, including the environment, businesses, institutions and societies. Over 11,000 people visit HALS every year and in 2011, volunteers contributed 6,271 hours on a variety of archive and conservation projects.”
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