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On April 6, 2016 we launched our new database for vital events records. We have uploaded the 1939 and 1940 marriage records, and the 1836-1888 baptism data. Included with the launch were corrections to the index provided by the Vital Statistics Agency. We will introduce further updates to the genealogy data in the near future. Please check back here for any updates. Legislation affects the future release of birth information, so no new data will be added for births.
We will continue to improve the functionality of our new search page. To find your ancestor, you may want to use the wildcard function (*).
Genealogy – General Search
Wildcards
gray : Equals (“gray”)
*gray* : Contains (“gray”)
gray* : Starts With (“gray”)
*gray : Ends With (“gray”)
gr*ay : Starts With (“gr”) & Ends With(“ay”)
Examples of search results using “Lena” in the First Name field, with and without the wildcard:
Lena – will result in records where Lena is the first name and there is no middle name(s). E.g. the name “Lena Reid” will be displayed, but NOT “Lena Mary Reid” or “Lena Susan Dixon”
Lena Susan – will result in a record with any first and middle names with “Lena Susan” – in that specific order. E.g. the name “Lena Susan Dixon” will be displayed, but NOT “Susan Lena Smith”
Lena* – will result in a record where Lena is the first name; it will include records both with and without a middle name(s). E.g. the names “Lena Belle Freeman” and “Lena Reid” will be displayed
*Lena* – will result in records with Lena as first name, middle name or portion of a name. E.g. the names “Lena Reid”, “Annie Lena Holly”, “Lena Belle Freeman” and “Magdalena Sansregret” will be displayed
Le*na – will result in names that start with “Le” and end in “na”. E.g. the name “Leandina Hartnage” will be displayed
As the Keyword Search currently has limited functionality, we suggest researchers use the General Search. There is no wildcard functionality in Keyword Search.
For example, a Keyword Search for “Yale” will provide results for a first or last name (e.g. John Yale) and will provide results for Yale as an event place, but will not show results for more complex terms like John Yale-Smith or Yale St Johns (event place).
Additionally, a search for “John” (first name) “Yale” (last name) will result in no hits, as the keyword search only functions with one name.
