Genealogical Websites

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  Free
  FreeREG 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 Free
  Free access to many of the UK census records for the years 1841 – 1911
• FreeBMD  Free
  FreeBMD 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 Office
  Maintains 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 Index
  A 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.uk
  This website has a well-organised list of resources and information.
• Resources for Victorian Research
  This 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 Grave
  This 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 Ancestry
  An Ancestry website with access, at a fee, to thousands of newspapers.
• The British Newspaper Archive
  This 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 Archive
  AKA the WayBack Machine, the Internet Archive is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more.
• Google Online Books
  Google 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 List
  The 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 Ships
  Records of the ships, seafarers and voyages of the Honourable East India Company (HEIC).
• Three Decks – EIC
• HEICS Ship’s Logs
  Ship 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 Africa
  The database holds information on people of European origin who lived and worked in East Africa from about 1880 to 1939.
• Listing of Clergy of England
  from the 12th century to 1500. A small selection.
• The Clergy of the Church of England Database 1540-1835
  Includes 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 vast archive featuring the cultural and historical heritage of the Gulf and wider region freely available online for the first time. It includes archives, maps, manuscripts, sound recordings, photographs and much more, complete with contextualised explanatory notes and links, in both English and Arabic.

UK Government Websites

• General Register Office England and Wales
  The General Register Office holds a central copy of all birth, adoption, marriage, civil partnership and death registrations for England and Wales.
• The British Library
  The National Library of the UK collects everything published today, tomorrow and decades into the future. They have millions of books, newspapers, maps, sound recordings, patents and stamps.
• National Library of Scotland 
• National Library of Wales 
• The Gazette – Official Public Record
  The Gazette is one of the official journals of record or government gazettes of the Government of the United Kingdom. It contains records such as Wills & Probate notices, and Company Profiles.

Military Research

• The Imperial War Museum:
  This website links to a range of resources allowing you to trace your family service records.
• Fold 3 – UK Forces Records
  This is an Ancestry website allowing searches of over 670 million military records.
• Royal Airforce Commands
  This is a well-organised website providing lists and brief details of RAF Casualties, POWs, and other details during the Second World War.
• Royal British Legion – Every One Remembered
  A database of those who gave their life diring the First World War.
• Commonwealth War Graves Commission
  The Commission’s mission is to ensure those who died in service, or as a result of conflict, are commemorated so that they, and the human cost of war, are remembered forever. Their website has a search facility to find individual graves.

   

  
  
  

Pre-1500 Records (Medieval)

• Medieval Soldier
  This database contains the names of soldiers serving the English crown between 1369 and 1453.
• Medieval English Genealogy 
  Information and links relating to early family history research.
• The Foundation for Medieval Genealogy
  FMG promotes the study of genealogy for the period before 1500 and includes a searchable database.
• England’s Immigrants 1330 – 1550 
  A fully searchable database containing over 64,000 names of people known to have migrated to England during the period of the Hundred Years’ War and the Black Death, the Wars of the Roses and the Reformation

General UK History

• 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.
• Historic England 
  Historic England is the public body that records and lists historic buildings, landscapes, etc.

Website Under Review

• Family Tree Magazine
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