Explore new records from Coventry to California this Findmypast Friday
United States, California Immigration Office Special Inquiry Records
During the early 1900s, not all immigrants were granted immediate access to the United States upon arrival. Some were held for a “special inquiry,” for a variety of reasons. Explore these unique stories from the port of San Francisco.
After the turn of the century, immigrants coming to the United States faced a “primary inspection” to determine their status and whether they would be permitted entry into the country. This process typically involved questioning by a single immigration official, or inspector. Questions included age, birthplace, occupation, amount of money being carried, status of US citizenship and any previous US residency. At the conclusion of this inspection, the person was then either declared permissible or inadmissible. When it was the latter, they were turned over to a board of special inquiry.
These cases usually included suspicion of infectious disease, suspicion of travelling as a stowaway, those considered likely to become a public charge, having the wrong travel documents or being a Japanese “photo bride”
Containing over 66,000 images and transcripts, these records will usually reveal the “inadmissible” individual’s name, the vessel on which they sailed, their date of arrival, the cause of their detention, the name of the inspector conducting the primary inspection, the actions taken by the Board of Special Inquiry and, when applicable, the date and ship upon which the individual was deported.
Warwickshire, Coventry Workhouse Deaths 1845-1943
Explore the Coventry Workhouse deaths and discover is your ancestor unfortunately died in a workhouse. The records provide you with your ancestor’s age at the time of death as well as your ancestor’s burial arrangements.
The Death Registers that were meticulously kept by the various Masters of the Workhouse have been transcribed and are now available to search on Findmypast. There are about 8,300 names of men, women, children and infants who died at the Coventry Union Workhouse, recorded in transcripts that will reveal their birth year, death year, age at death, address and burial agreements.
Warwickshire Baptisms
New and exclusive records from the Coventry Union Workhouse have also been added to Findmypast’s existing collection of Warwickshire Baptisms. These records detail births that occurred inside its walls, including whether or not the child was legitimate. Tragically, but perhaps unsurprisingly, many of these births were documented as stillborn.
Newspapers
This week’s update also sees eight new titles added to Findmypast’s ever expanding newspaper collection along with updates to 15 existing titles.
New titles:
- Cork Weekly News, 1883-1904, 1906-1907, 1910-1912, 1914-1923
- County Tipperary Independent and Tipperary Free Press, 1882-1896
- Dublin Weekly News, 1860, 1865, 1870, 1875, 1879-1888
- Irish Weekly and Ulster Examiner, 1891-1899, 1901-1926
- Kerry People, 1902-1914, 1917-1922
- Lurgan Times, 1879-1885, 1887-1915
- Ulster Echo, 1874-1879, 1881-1890, 1897-1908
- Western People, 1889-1891, 1893-1912
Updated titles:
- Bromley & West Kent Mercury, 1920, 1922-1926, 1931-1932
- Essex Times, 1908
- Folkestone Chronicle, 1860-1861, 1890
- Hinckley News, 1864-1866, 1872, 1876, 1878
- Hucknall Morning Star and Advertiser, 1891-1892, 1895-1896, 1898
- Lancashire Evening Post, 1911-1912, 1914-1915
- London & Provincial News and General Advertiser, 1862
- Newark Advertiser, 1862, 1864-1865, 1868-1869, 1871, 1876, 1878
- Peterborough Express, 1910
- Porthcawl Guardian, 1953
- Pue’s Occurrences, 1704-1706, 1714
- South Gloucestershire Gazette, 1918, 1921, 1923
- South London Journal, 1856-1857, 1893
- Sutton Coldfield and Erdington Mercury, 1893, 1900
- West Ham and South Essex Mail, 1891, 1925, 1940
With Thanks to Findmypast