Following the recent launch of the Manchester Collection on findmypast.co.uk, we’d like to share a useful resource which adds helpful background and context to the collection.

Gerard Lodge’s website is essential viewing for anyone who wants to know more about their Manchester ancestors: Manchester Family History Research

Search the Manchester Collection now to find your Manchester ancestors.

We have added a total of 204,501 new baptism and burial records for Wiltshire, Manchester and Dorset to findmypast.co.uk.

These records were provided by the Wiltshire Family History Society, the Manchester and Lancashire Family History Society and the Dorset Family History Society.

See the table below for a breakdown of the records:

Visit our parish baptisms and parish burials pages to search these records.

We’ve just added transcriptions and reconstructed images for around 180,000 individuals – available online for the first time – which have been retrieved from severely damaged 1851 census pages.

The records for the Manchester, Chorlton, Salford, Oldham and Ashton-Under-Lyne registration districts were water damaged many years ago due to flooding.

As a result many were too fragile to be filmed or no writing was visible, but a 14 year project by the Manchester and Lancashire Family History Society (MLFHS) has recovered information from around 82 per cent of the damaged records.

The reconstructed images follow the same layout as the originals, and where relevant include details of neighbouring households.

Read more about the restoration project

Search the reconstructed images and transcriptions for the first time now