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| Matthews Irish Name Files |
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| Matthews Abbreviations Guide |
| Matthews fonds |
The Irish Name Files is a collection of data on individuals, families and businesses with Irish surnames that were involved in the settlement, fisheries and trade of Newfoundland from earliest settlement to 1850. They consist of over 20,000 records extracted from the Keith Matthews Name Files. Each record has 8 fields of which the four most important are First Name, Last Name, the Original Entry from Matthews, and the Intrepretation of that entry.
The visitor is encouraged to make use of the Search Everything search option, as there are many names that appear in the Interpretation field that do not appear in either of the name fields.
This database has not been edited (see background information below), but because it contains valuable information it has been added to this section of the MHA site.
In 2001 the Maritime History Archive, in partnership with the Regional Economic Irish Loop Development Board, received funding from the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) to create a database of residents extracted from the Matthews Name Files with Irish surnames, and who had resided on Newfoundland's Southern Shore before 1850.
During that year MHA personnel added over 20,000 records to the database. However, surprisingly the project was not renewed. Because of its unexpected ending, the MHA did not have time to edit the entries. Without further funding the database was stored on several back-up files, where it quietly laid forgotten for over 20 years.
In November 2024 while updating the Matthews Names Files, the MHA decided to resurrect the Irish Name Files database. Although it did not have the resources for editing, the staff felt the data had value as it is, and therefore added here.
