Federation Of Family History Societies

Research Tips

Some Useful Websites

 

Access to (English) Archives <www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/>

Currently contains over 10 million catalogue entries from 418 record offices and other repositories across England.

Adoption Search Reunion <www.adoptionsearchreunion.org.uk>

The site contains two searchable databases: a directory of agencies offering support, counselling and intermediary services, and a database to help people find out where adoption records are held.

AIM25 < www.aim25.ac.uk>

Provides electronic access to collection level descriptions of the archives of over ninety higher education institutions and learned societies within the greater London area.

Ancestorsonboard (some pay-per-view) <www.ancestorsonboard.com>

Features BT27 Outward Passenger Lists for long-distance voyages leaving the British Isles between 1890 and 1960.

Ancestry (some pay-per-view) <www.ancestry.co.uk>

includes 1841 - 1901 censuses plus a large variety of other data.

The Archives Network Wales <www.archivesnetworkwales.info>

contains standardised descriptions of the extent, type and scope of collections of documents held by Record Offices, universities and other bodies in Wales.

BMD Certificates England & Wales, Buying online <www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificate/index.asp>

British History Online <www.british-history.ac.uk>

Digital library from medieval and early modem period.

British Library <www.bI.uk>

Main Integrated Catalogue of over 12 million books, serials, printed music and maps, Newspaper Catalogue of over 52,000 newspaper and periodical titles and India Office Select Materials.

British Origins (some pay-per-view) < www.britishorigins.com>

Census, marriage index, marriage licence, will indexes, burial index, Militia Attestations Index.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission <www.cwgc.org>

Debt of Honour Register of Commonwealth forces who died in WWI or WWII.

Cyndi's List of genealogical websites <www.cyndislist.com>

Probably the largest family history portal site with links to thousands of other sites.

Deceased Online<www.deceasedonline.com>

A central database of statutory burial and cremation registers for the UK and Republic of Ireland.

Ellis Island (some pay-per-view)<www.ellisislandrecords.org>

Searchable database and copies of passenger manifests of ships arriving at Ellis Island from 1892 through 1924.

FamilyRecords.gov.uk <www.familyrecords.gov.uk>

Partnership consortium of govt and public sector bodies.

Familyrelatives (some pay-per-view) <www.familyrelatives.org>

BMD entries from GRO indexes 1837-2004 (pay-per-view) Parish Registers, Military Records WW1 & WWII, Soldiers who died in the Great War, Overseas and USA Records.

FamilySearch <www.familysearch.org>

LDS Church's IGI, Ancestral File, FH Centres, 1881 Census, etc.

FindMyPast (some pay-per-view) < www.findmypast.com> (formerly 1837online.com)

BMD entries from GRO indexes 1837 - 2004, Cencus, Death Duty Indexes 1796-1903, BMD at Sea, Divorce Indexes, Army lists & rolls, etc (England & Wales) living people search.

Free BMD <freebmd.rootsweb.com>

Search GRO Indexes for England & Wales (ongoing).

FreeCEN <freecen.rootsweb.com>

Search UK census online (ongoing).

Gazetteer of British Place Names <www.gazetteer.co.uk>

Gazettes, London, Edinburgh or Belfast <www.gazettes-online.co.uk>

These contain a wide range of official notices including state, parliamentary and ecclesiastical notices, transport and planning notices as well as corporate insolvency and personal bankruptcy notices to name a few. In addition, a number of Supplements are published covering honours and awards, premium bonds, armed forces promotions, and company information.

Genes Reunited (some pay-per-view) <www.genesreunited.co.uk>

Online family tree linking website, 1841-1901 census, BMD entries from GRO indexes 1837 - 2004.

GENUKI <www.genuki.org.uk>

UK & Ireland Genealogy, including forthcoming genealogical events on Geneva.

Guild of One-Name Studies <www.one-name.org>

Guildhall Library (London) Manuscript Section <www.history.ac.uk/gh/>

Historical Directories <www.historicaldirectories.org>

a digital library of local and trade directories for England and Wales, from 1750 to 1919

Imperial War Museum, London (WWI & WWII Collections) <www.iwm.org.uk>

Irish Origins (some pay-per-view) <www.irishorigins.com>

includes Griffiths' Valuation, Dublin City Census 1851, Census of Elphin 1749, William Smith O'Brien Petition, Index of Irish Wills 1484-1858, Militia Attestations Index 1872-1915.

London Metropolitan Archives <www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/corporation/family-research/>

includes Middlesex wills.

Mapseeker <www.mapseeker.co.uk/genealogy/>

Specialists in reproduction historical town and county maps of the United Kingdom. Includes free online access to detailed  17th, 18th & 19th Century Maps (project ongoing).

Moving Here <www.movinghere.org.uk>

Irish, Caribbean, Asian and Jewish immigrants, 1800-2000.

The National Archives, Kew, Surrey (some pay-per-view) <www.nationalarchives.gov.uk>

The National Archives has a number of searchable resources to help you find the records you require. Includes the catalogue, documents online plus census records.

National Archives of Ireland <www.nationalarchives.ie>

The National Archives has a selection of online catalogues and lists to help you find the records you require. 1911 and 1901 census (project ongoing).

National Archives of Scotland <www.nas.gov.uk>

Number of searchable sources (ongoing) of records created by Scottish government, as well as private records created by businesses, landed estates, families, courts, churches and other corporate bodies. Also see ScotlandsPeople website.

National Library of Ireland <www.nli.ie>

Online searchable catalogue includes, books and periodicals, Photographs, Prints and Drawings, Manuscripts and Newspapers.

National Library of Scotland <www.nls.uk>

Scotland's only legal deposit library, main catalogue of over 3 million records plus Scots abroad database.

The National Library of Wales < www.llgc.org.uk>

Online catalogue containing over 4 million printed volumes books, periodicals, newspapers, maps, music. Also houses manuscripts, archives, pictures, photographs, posters, ephemera. Radio and TV recordings, films, videotapes and sound recordings.

Naval-History.net <www.naval-history.net>

A very detailed site covering mainly 20th century British naval history, including Royal and Dominion Navy Casualty lists. There is also considerable supporting information on battles, actions, convoys, warships, merchant ships and ship losses.

Old Bailey 1674-1913 <www.oldbaileyonline.org>

A fully searchable edition of the largest body of texts detailing the lives of non-elite people ever published, containing 197,745 criminal trials held at London's central criminal court.

Old-maps.co.uk <www.old-maps.co.uk>

192.com people finder site (pay-per-view) <www.192.com/search/people.cfm>

includes comprehensive database of current UK residents.

Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection <www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/>

Portal site for everything to do with maps both historical and current.

Rootsweb.com <www.rootsweb.com>

Largest and oldest free genealogy information website. Host to mailing lists, news groups, message boards, volunteer projects, websites etc.

Royal Navy Biographical Database, since 1660 (some charges) <www.navylist.org>

S&N Genealogy <www.sandn.net>

Broad range of family history research material, software, books and related products, variety of online databases. Includes non conformist registers.

ScotlandsPeople (some pay-per-view) <www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk>

Early BMD indexes, early Parish Registers, censuses 1841-1901 and Scottish wills and testaments 1500-1901.

The Scottish Archive Network <www.scan.org.uk>

A single electronic catalogue to more than 20,000 collections of historical records held by 52 Scottish archives.

The Scottish Association of Family History Societies <www.safhs.org.uk>

UKBMD Project <www.ukbmd.org.uk>

FHSs, etc, computerising local Registrars' Indexes to publish on the Internet.

University Research Libraries (COPAC) <copac.ac.uk>

Merged catalogues of 24 of the largest university research libraries in the UK and Ireland, plus the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, and the National Library of Wales.

Valuations of British Money, 1264 to 2006 <www.measuringworth.com/calculators/ppoweruk/>

Workhouses in Britain <www.workhouses.org.uk>

This list is by no means complete but contains some of the websites considered to be of particular use to the majority of family historians .