The National Archives

The National Archives are a non-ministerial department, and the official archive and publisher for the UK Government, and for England and Wales. They are the guardians of over 1,000 years of iconic national documents, and collect and secure the future of the government record, from Shakespeare’s will to tweets from Downing Street, to preserve it for generations to come, making it as accessible and available as possible. https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ The National Archives has a comprehensive research guide section and can help with many types of research. Popular collections include: A good starting point would be their Discovery section: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

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Institute of Historical Research – Collections

The Institute of Historical Research was founded in 1921 and is one of eight institutes that comprise the University of London’s School of Advanced Study. The IHR is dedicated to training the next generation of historians, and to producing and facilitating ambitious, innovative historical research. https://www.history.ac.uk/ This was quite a new source to me, and while its contents are mainly for students of the institute and only available onsite. there are quite a few links to potentially useful websites. I would recommend starting with the Online Resources page. Well worth bookmarking!: https://www.history.ac.uk/library-digital/collections/online-resources

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BHO – British History Online

British History Online is a collection of nearly 1300 volumes of primary and secondary content relating to British and Irish history, and histories of empire and the British world. BHO also provides access to 40,000 images and 10,000 tiles of historic maps of the British Isles. https://www.british-history.ac.uk/ BHO is a fascinating website and a useful resource for genealogists, and history lovers alike. It is is a not-for-profit digital library based at the Institute of Historical Research bringing together material for British history from the collections of libraries, archives, museums and academics. These primary and secondary sources, which range from the medieval to the twentieth century, are easily searchable and browsable online. Much information is freely available, but some records require a paid submission.

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Library & University Archives

Historical Collections A valuable resource of information can be obtained from library and university archives and collections. Here is an example of how I was personally able to use such collections and shows how perseverance can reap results. I was conducting a Google search when I came across a reference to a person with the surname I was researching who was said to be a Director of the East India Company. It was found in a record within the British Museum Collection but there was little more information than that. I did another web search for “Director of the East India Company”. The results gave me several resources to investigate. Wikipedia was the first on the list and a page search immediately found the name I was looking for, but only confirmed what I already knew. Returning to the search engine results there were two other sources. JSTOR and FIBIS. The first of these gave me a preview of a title: “Alphabetical List of Directors of the East India Company from 1758 to 1858” which seemed possibly worthwhile. It did however question the accuracy of the list. I would need to pay to view this document in full, so being averse to spending money when I don’t need to, I investigated the other link. This took me to the FIBIS Wiki Page for the East India Company. Whilst interesting and worthy of a bookmark, the main entry was of little help. Of more interest however was the FIBIS Resources, Related articles, and External Links, so important in these cases. This led me to the ERA (the Edinburgh Research Archive) and a downloadable PDF. Within was the information I sought. This is an example of how with persistent research and an open mind, you can often find valuable information even if it relates to something different to what you were searching for in the first place! The Edinburgh Research Archive: ERA is a digital repository of original research produced at The University of Edinburgh. The archive contains documents written by, or affiliated with, academic authors, or units, based at Edinburgh that have sufficient quality to be collected and preserved by the Library, but which are not controlled by commercial publishers. Holdings include full-text digital doctoral theses, master’s dissertations, project reports, briefing papers and out-of-print materials. JSTOR JSTOR is a digital library which provides access to more than 12 million journal articles, books, images, and primary sources. JSTOR’s mission is to improve access to knowledge and education for people around the world. As a not-for-profit, we partner with libraries, museums, and publishers to reduce costs, extend access, and preserve scholarship for the future [ Link ] FIBiS This is rather a niche source of information, but in my case, it is a very useful one. FIBiS is the website of the Families in British India Society and has a freely accessible database and Wiki pages. Whilst it may not be useful for everyone’s research, other such sites probably exist for other areas.

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Collectanea Cornubiensia

Collectanea Cornubiensia – A Collection of Biographical and Topographical Notes relating to the County of Cornwall. (George Clement Boase, printed 1890).  The pages listed refer to the Cornish Milletts of Marazion.There is a possible connection with our family tree drawn up by RO Millett in c1889. It could be he obtained the information through a friendship with George Clement Boase, or the flow of information might have been the other way round. Rather less romantically, he purchased the book! As is often the case when obtaining information of this age it does throw up some discrepancies, but then that’s genealogy for you.  l0507-00-boase-george-clement-collectanea-cornubiensis-400×583 567a-573×832 569a-543×804 571a-543×790 573a-543×796 575a-2000×2931 577a-2000×2994-800×1197 579a-2000×2832 581a-2000×3020

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Genealogical Websites

Humberger Toggle Menu In undertaking my own research I have discovered a large number of resources, some of which are free and some for which there is a fee to access some or all of its content. I have broken down the list of websites into categories. Those which are published for family history research, those which are more specialist research websites, and those which contain records of residency, etc. Some of the links may appear rather random, but they are all links which I have found some use for in my family history research while others appear may contain information useful to your own family history research.     Family Tree Sites | Other Resources | Transcribed Records | Newspaper Archives | General| Specific Topics | Library & Institute Collections | Official Records | Military Records | Pre-1500 Records | General UK History Family Tree Websites: These websites allow you to create your family tree and receive hints and tips based on the records you add. I list them in each section for their potential usefulness and UK. familysearch.org Free  Ancestry.co.uk findmypast.co.uk myheritage.com Genes Reunited Geneanet Rootsweb Transcribed Records Countless genealogy enthusiasts give up their spare time transcribing historical records in counties across the UK. The most useful of these are organised into databases of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, taken from church records and the like.  Many are available free of charge. FreeREG  FreeFreeREG aims to provide free internet searches of baptism, marriage, and burial records, transcribing records from parish registers, non-conformist records and other relevant sources in the UK. FreeCEN FreeFree access to many of the UK census records for the years 1841 – 1911 FreeBMD  FreeFreeBMD is an ongoing project, the aim of which is to transcribe the Civil Registration index of births, marriages and deaths for England and Wales, and to provide free Internet access to the transcribed records. UK Genealogy Archives Provides access to Parish Records, Marriages, Biographies and Burkes Peerage. General Registry OfficeMaintains the UK national archive of all births, marriages and deaths dating back to 1837. Other Genealogical Research Family History Federation This organisation supports family history groups and family history researchers in general. It lists regional family history societies. Online Genealogical IndexA simple, free and efficient way to find genealogical data online. The Society of Genealogists The Society of Genealogists is a charity with a unique purpose – to help people discover their place in history. It is a hub for finding records of all types (subscription-based), and you can sign up for the free The Genealogy Gazette, a monthly newsletter packed with family history news from around the community, hints, tips, and more.  The Peerage:  A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe. Family History.co.ukThis website has a well-organised list of resources and information. Resources for Victorian ResearchThis is essentially a website for researchers from the USA looking to research the Victorian period.  There are some links which may prove useful to researchers in the UK. Find a GraveThis website proclaims to be the “World’s largest gravesite collection”, and it is certainly a handy database.  Connected Histories … brings together a range of digital resources related to early modern and nineteenth century Britain with a single federated search that allows sophisticated searching of names, places and dates. Newspaper Archives Newspapers by AncestryAn Ancestry website with access, at a fee, to thousands of newspapers. The British Newspaper ArchiveThis is mostly a subscription website though they do have a pay-as-you-go service. Some records are available free of charge. General The Internet ArchiveAKA the WayBack Machine, the Internet Archive is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more. Google Online BooksGoogle Books is a service from Google that searches the full text of books and magazines that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical character recognition, and stored in its digital database. National Archives Palaeography Palaeography is the study of old handwriting. This web tutorial will help you learn to read the handwriting found in documents written in English between 1500 and 1800. ARCHI – Old Maps ARCHI is a unique interactive mapping system and worldwide database of archaeological, historic, and cultural site GPS location data. The revolutionary ARCHI search engine features a variety of visual historical and geographical research aids, including old maps. Specific Topics The Ship’s ListThe ShipsList website will help you find your ancestors on ships’ passenger lists. We also have immigration reports, newspaper records, shipwreck information, ship pictures, ship descriptions, shipping-line fleet lists, as well as hundreds of passenger lists to Canada, USA, Australia and even some for South Africa. The East India Company ShipsRecords of the ships, seafarers and voyages of the Honourable East India Company (HEIC). Three Decks – EIC HEICS Ship’s LogsShip Logs and Journals of some of the Honourable East India Company (HEIC) vessels. UK Institute of Mechanical Engineers:The Institute has a freely accessible archive of records relating to the history of mechanical engineering, including IME membership records. Europeans in East AfricaThe database holds information on people of European origin who lived and worked in East Africa from about 1880 to 1939. Listing of Clergy of Englandfrom the 12th century to 1500. A small selection. The Clergy of the Church of England Database 1540-1835Includes links to other clerical records websites. Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History.Includes several obituaries and information about early engineers. Library and Institution Collections The National Archives: Explore 1,000 years of UK history. It holds more than 37 million descriptions of records held by The National Archives and more than 3,500 archives across the country. Over 9 million records are available for download. JSTOR:Explore millions of high-quality primary sources and images from around the world, including artworks, maps, photographs, and more. FIBIS – Families in British India Society Helps individuals research their ancestors in India. University of Leicester – Special Collections Online:A fascinating collection of historical information including trade and street directories for England and Wales Qatar Digital Library: The Qatar Digital Library (QDL) is a…

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