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LATEST NEWS
- 3 July 2008
- GRO Index Update
more..... - 22 May 2008
- GRO Index Update
more..... - 20 May 2008
- More from Ancestry.com
more..... - 19 May 2008
- Ancestry.com Update
more..... - 14 May 2008
- GRO Open Days
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- More records to go online
more..... - 27 Apr 2008
- The April edition of the FFHS Ezine is now available
more..... - 11 April 2008
- Don Steel dies
more..... - 4 April 2008
- GRO transfers to IPS
more..... - 7 Feb 2008
- Free online access to GRO indexes
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- Scotland Online buy Findmypast.com
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Projects
One of the greatest influences that member societies in the Federation has had, and continues to have, is the promotion and encouragement of active participation in record transcribing and publishing for the benefit of family / local historians throughout the UK and overseas. Further benefits of these activities are to assist in the preservation of fragile records, and give open access to these original sources held mainly in local county record offices and other repositories.
Starting with interests on a county basis, the development of FFHS project work provided the opportunity for member societies to combine efforts and publish their transcriptions and indexes at a national level. Co-operation between family historians, archivists, social and local historians, and many others is essential in project work as more and more people become interested in discovering their roots and heritage. The Federation is the ideal leader in such co-operation.
FFHS National Projects have included:
1881 Census Project
In conjunction with the Genealogical Society of Utah and The National Archives.
The entire database of 30+ million names was published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) as a set of 25 CD-ROMs for the whole of Great Britain. These can be ordered via FamilySearch™ Online Distribution Centers. However, it can be accessed free on the FFHS website www.familyhistoryonline.net or the LDS website www.familysearch.org
The 'Big-R'
The British Isles Genealogical Register created three editions of listings of surnames being researched in the UK by over a million family historians world-wide. Due to the growth of internet facilities this ten year project was discontinued.
The National Burial Index (NBI) for England and Wales
A finding aid for burial records complementing the International Genealogical Index (IGI) which contains mainly baptisms and marriages. For full details, please see the separate page for the NBI.
The 1st Edition in 2001 contained 5.4 million records and the 2nd Edition, published in 2004, over 13.2 million entries.
The latest copy of the NBI can be ordered from GENfair.
FamilyHistoryOnline
The Federation's FamilyHistoryOnline web site enables family history societies, other organisations and individuals to make family history data available to researchers on a minimum pay-per-view basis. Any surplus generated is returned to participating societies to help them fund further work.
Launched in 2002 with some 5 million records from 4 societies, it has now grown to over 66 million entries from societies country-wide, overseas, and from individuals. It also includes (by courtesy of the LDS) the 1881 Census Index for England & Wales free access database.
To help our site continue to expand rapidly we would welcome more data especially from overseas member societies and from people who hold indexes of specialist interests. Please visit the site for more details.
The Federation has recently announced that these databases are to be gradually hosted by findmypast.com - read more
Currently, member societies are encouraged to participate or continue with the following projects:
- National Burial Index on a county and national basis by submitting new and checked records for inclusion in the Third Edition. This is an ongoing project, for which member societies would appreciate donations of data or volunteers to assist with recording further records. (See listing of member societies)
- Monumental Inscriptions transcription for all church & chapel yards, and public cemeteries on a county basis - now in its 30th year!
- National Inventory of War Memorials (in conjunction with the Imperial War Museum) on a county basis. FFHS has donated a massive amount of information towards the 53,000 total of memorials (including personal names). Work is still in progress to record the remaining memorials and, where appropriate, to update and verify the existing information. See http://www.ukniwm.org.uk/server/show
- Marriage Indexes on a county basis, particularly for the period 1754-1837
- Specialist Listings such as settlement and removal records, trades and occupations, school admission books, Wills. (See FamilyHistoryOnline)