Introduction
Much of my research took place before the Internet and the multitude of online resources available now. It was hard-won bit by bit over months and years, but without any of the modern indexes many individuals and families could not be found. Online sources have changed all this, but they vary greatly in content, price and usability. The list that follows includes my personal favourites. My interests are largely UK based and that is reflected in this list.
It is still true, however, that many of the most important resources for thorough family history research are to be found in county record offices. Their details are readily available online so they are not individually listed here.
One of our main national repositories, The National Archives
needs a mention, most of its records are not yet online, though
datasets available through partners are increasing. Start at the home page for the link to the comprehensive searchable catalogue. Select Guidance for access to a set of detailed and informative research guides on all manner of subjects, providing an historical background and introduction to the records available.
Selected online resources:
- FreeBMD is a free site with trancribed General Register Office (GRO) indexes of birth, marriage and death registrations from 1837 for England and Wales. Not yet complete, but entries up to mid-20th century are there.
- GENUKI brings together information for family historians on the whole of the UK down to parish level. A good place to start.
- LDS FamilySearch is a free site offering a vast array of mainly parish records, some with images of the original document. It is provided by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, more usually known as the Mormons. By no means all areas of the country are included and coverage stops at about 1880, but it is nevertheless one of the most useful and important collections, available both online and at their Family History Centres.
- findmypast offers paid access to all available English and Welsh census returns with images and to Scottish census transcriptions, the National Burial Index (c.1800-1837, done by UK Family History society volunteers) as well as many 19th century army records, passenger lists and more. A well-designed site with good search capabilities and clear presentation - though its new look has made it harder to find just what records are available.
- Ancestry UK also offers census returns, but has a unique collection of WWI soldiers' records and has digitised and indexed many of the Birmingham area parish registers held at Birmingham Archives and London parish registers
from the London Metropolitan Archives. It can, however, be a challenge to get the best from this site and access only relevant records.
- Scotlandspeople is essential for research into ancestors in Scotland as most of its records are unavailable elsewhere online. It is a pay-per-view site where credits are bought first. In addition to census records, they have the actual images of statutory birth, marriage and death records and these are much more informative then their GRO equivalents. They have also indexed Church of Scotland registers known as Old Parish Registers.
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