Wisdom Wednesday: PRONI Update

On 12 Sep 2012, I wrote a blog about the two main resources for Northern Irish research, GRONI and PRONI. The first is the General Register Office Northern Ireland, the place to obtain birth, marriage and death certificates. Today I’d like to update information on the second, PRONI (Public Records Office of Northern Ireland).

PRONI has a series of 2-4 page leaflets that give the basics for research in the country and can be downloaded as PDFs from their website. At the time I wrote the earlier blog post, these very helpful publications were almost hidden on the site. Now they are prominently featured.

Go to www.proni.gov.uk. Scroll down on the homepage until you find the question, “What Can I Do at PRONI? Click on the choice ‘Research Local and Family History.’ Under the photo, the first choice is ‘Browse our information leaflets.’ If you click, these are the first ten of the 28 titles in the series:

• How To Trace Your Family Tree
• 1901 and 1911 Census
• Church Records
• Valuation Records
• 19th Century Census
• 18th & 19th Century Census Substitutes
• Wills and Probate
• Landed Estates 
• Street Directories 
• Voters, Poll & Freeholders Records

As you can see, here is comprehensive genealogy information in small bites.

Besides the ‘Family Tree Leaflet’ series, there are series for local history and another for emigration. Print some and take them to the beach!