New on the site this week are over 96,000 occupation records from the UK.

The UK, Mechanical Engineer Records, 1870-1931 contain documents relating to membership in the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, 1870–1930. They include details such as age, birth date, birth place, education, apprentice details and work experience details.

Similarly, the UK, Civil Engineer Records, 1820-1930 detail records of members of the Institution of Civil Engineers, 1820-1930. You can find information such as name, birth date, residence, nationality and summary of education in these records.

The UK, Civil Engineer Photographs, 1829-1923 collection showcases over 1600 photographs of members of the Institution of Civil Engineers, so you may even get to see a photograph of your ancestor. The photo shown above even notes that it was taken on this engineer’s 80th birthday!

Have a look and let us know on Facebook if you find your ancestor!

If you use Internet Explorer

Go to www.ancestry.com.au and click on the star icon in the top right corner of your Internet Explorer browser, click Add to Favourites and then click Add.

The next time you want to visit Ancestry, simply open your Internet Explorer Browser, click on the star icon and you will see a link to the Ancestry site. Simply click on the link and begin your family history research.

If you use Google Chrome

Go to the Ancestry website using Google Chrome, click on the star icon and give your bookmark a name, like Ancestry.com.au for example. Choose the folder as “Bookmarks Bar” and click done. Next time you open Google Chrome, there will be a link to Ancestry in your bookmark bar. The name will be whatever you chose to call your bookmark. Simply click on it to visit the site and get started on your research.

If you use Firefox

Go to www.ancestry.com.au, click on the star icon and name your bookmark e.g. Ancestry.com.au. Choose the folder “Bookmarks Menu” and click Done. Next time you open Firefox, click on the Bookmarks Menu and there will be a link to Ancestry saved there. The name will be whatever you chose to call your bookmark. Simply click on the link and go to Ancestry.com.au to begin your research.

If you use Safari

Find out more about adding Favourites using Safari here.

Do you have a burning question for Ancestry.com.au? Perhaps you’ve hit a brick wall with your research and are not sure what to do next? Ancestry’s Brad Argent will be answering your questions in a new family history Podcast.

Simply submit your questions on our Facebook Wall, through our Sticky Notes blog or by emailing editor@ancestry.com.au. We’ll do our best to answer as many as possible.

If you are on Twitter, simply post your question on Twitter and use the hashtag #AskAncestryAU. You can also follow Ancestry on Twitter.

We look forward to helping you with your research!

It’s a family history conundrum. You don’t like to imagine your ancestors having difficult lives. But every time they hit tricky times they seem to be really well documented, and provide some of your most fascinating discoveries.

This is true of Poor Law records. It’s definitely the case with criminal records. And it crops up again with our new divorce records.

UK, Civil Divorce Records, 1858-1911  are legal records that were made as part of each divorce case. They provide a blow-by-blow account of all the claims and counter-claims that led up to the split. For example, you could find out exactly where and when your great-grand-uncle started an affair – and even who with!

On top of that, the records include an entire history of the marriage before it all went wrong. This could include the date and place of the wedding, details of any children, and even the couple’s different addresses.

That means that not only can you read about your family’s scandals, but you can use all that extra detail to find more of their birth, marriage and death records, and build up your timeline of their lives.

It almost leaves you wishing more of your ancestors had marriage problems!

Search our new divorce records

See all our birth, marriage & death records

Every year Google reviews thousands of apps and selects their top picks—we’re pleased to share that our Ancestry app for Android is one of Google’s top picks of 2012!

A recent update to the Ancestry app for Android introduced hints so members can make new family discoveries from the convenience of their phone or tablet. The app automatically syncs with members’ trees on Ancestry.com.au so they can view or update their tree anywhere.

It’s an honor to be one of Google’s top picks, but we’re not finished yet. We still have a lot of plans to improve the mobile experience and a list of feature requests from our members to work through.

A big thanks to the product and development teams who played a part in the apps making.

Download our FREE app today.

A lot of people have asked over the years how to clean up duplicates in their Ancestry Member Tree.  If you are one of the people who discovered that your mysterious distant cousin Mary was really the same person as Uncle George’s wife Mary, then you’ll be happy to learn that we have a solution that makes it simple to merge two duplicate people without losing any of the relationships, facts, photos, or stories you’ve entered.

How does it work?

Select one of the duplicate people in your tree

Go to the person’s overview or profile page and from the “More options” menu, select “Merge with duplicate.”

Select the other duplicate person

On the left side of the page, you’ll see the person you’ve already selected. On the right side of the page, you can select the person’s duplicate in a few ways.

• Select a possible duplicate. We’ll suggest people who might be duplicates (for example if they have the same first and last names and their birth years and birthplaces are similar).
• Type the person’s name.  If you know the duplicate’s name, simply type it in the field and select the person from a list of individuals who match the name you’ve typed.
• Select from a list of people. You can browse a list of everyone in your tree and select the correct individual.

Select the facts you want to display

After you’ve chosen the duplicate individuals, they’ll be displayed side-by-side so you can compare the two and choose which facts you want to display for the merged individual.

• If facts are identical. A same label shows which facts are the same; they’ll be merged into one fact.
• If facts are different. Both facts will be included in the merge, but you can choose which fact is preferred (the default fact that displays). The other fact will be added as an alternate.
• If you’re not sure what to do. You can click the Compare button to see more details about the two individuals.

Already, I’ve been able to clean up some of the messiness that existed in my own tree by using this new feature and hope it helps those of you who have been looking for a solution for merging duplicate people in your own tree.

New research from Ancestry reveals that while ‘Elizabeth’ and ‘John’ are the most common boys and girls names in both family trees, there are several more unusual choices the young royals could opt for.

The royal family tree contains the most unusual names – with Boniface, Cyrian, Marmaduke, Slyvanus and Lancelot all featuring in the male line, while Eusebia, Honor, Thomasin, Ursula and Hyacinth appear for the females.

And while many of Kate’s female ancestors have more recognisable names, her ancestors weren’t without some interesting monikers as well. Among the boys are Garin, Lewen, Theophilus, Uriah and Elie, together with girls called Permelia, Albina, Edezer, Grissel and Jemima.

In today’s culture for celebrity baby names, Kate and William very well might decide to opt for a more unusual name themselves. With ‘Lancelot’, ‘Boniface’, and ‘Grissel’ among their forebears, they don’t need to look further than their own family tree.”

Interesting names aren’t just for those with royal blood.

What name do you think Prince William and Kate should choose? Let us know on our Facebook wall.

• The  Cyclopedia of New Zealand, 1897-1906 provides information about the colonization of New Zealand with details on businesses, residents and professions in the provinces.
• New Zealand Index, 1899, 1908, 1915 and 1939 are four books which contain detailed information about places in New Zealand including names of colonists, businesses, descriptions of local terrain and local histories.
• New Zealand, Registered Ships & Owners, 1840-1950 is an index of all ships registered in New Zealand from 1840-1950. They include passenger names, sjip descriptions, registration dates and the sailing history of the ship.
• While the first colony of NZ was officially founded in 1840, settlers felt there was far more relevant history contributing to the colonization of New Zealand previous to this time. The Early History of New Zealand, From Earliest Times To 1845 contains a history of early New Zealand beginning with the voyages of Captain Cook in the region.
• New Zealand, White Wings, 1924, 1928 (Volumes 1 & 2) has a history of fifty years of sailing in the New Zealand trade and contains information about the voyages of ships that brought immigrants to New Zealand.
• Datus, A Chronology of New Zealand from the Time of the Moa, 1931 is a book by George Finn and shows a history of important events in NZ beginning with the arrival of the Māori in the 14th century up to events of the 20th century. Details include names of prominent people and descriptions of notable events.

You can search all of our New Zealand records online.

You can find hints that have been generated in the last 90 days or focus on specific types of hints (from records, photos, story or member tree hints). You can also use filters to focus on the most interesting hints.

To view the new All Hints page, go to your tree view, mouse over the find a person in your tree text box and choose List of all people -

When you see all the people in your tree, click on “Hints” -

You will now see your All Hints Page.

If you click on Recent, you will see the latest hints we’ve found. If you want to focus on a specific type of hint, you can click on Record, Photo, Story or Member Tree.

You can also search and sort by first or last name -

Have a look at your own All Hints page and see what you can find.

Happy searching!

These stories will provide valuable support for an exciting media campaign which we are currently working on.

If you would like the chance to have your story told, then please send an email to Ancestry’s PR Team at mystory@ancestry.com.au.

Submissions must be received by Thursday 15th March 2012.

Please include the following information in your email:

• A brief summary of your family story and details of your ANZAC/military story – no more than 250 words
• In the subject line of your email please include ‘ANZAC Day collection’
• Please include your name and the state you are from
• Contact number and email address (please supply both)
• Indicate if you are willing to share this story in the media
• Please do not attach any images or files to your story

As an Ancestry member your privacy is always our first concern, therefore please be assured that even if you do respond to this email, nothing further will be done with the information you provide without your prior approval.

We look forward to hearing your story.