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We'll look at where to track down all these records in turn. A lot of the data you'll have to pay for. However, some sites are maintained by volunteers, including those from family history societies, and so their resources are free. We will make it clear which websites provide free details, and specify what you need to pay for.

Births, Deaths and Marriages

In a genealogical context, vital statistics are the dates and locations of life's vital events: birth (and baptism), marriage and death, usually abbreviated to BMD. These are the necessary basic components on which your family history will rest. In other words, you need these facts to be able to identify the people you find.

Before you even go online, you will need to assemble as much information from family sources as you can, starting with your parents and working backwards. Most families will be able to produce reliable BMD dates for two or three generations. For any dates not supported by certificates, you'll need to go online. Your online search may start with likely assumptions rather than hard facts, but it's worth getting as many details as possible to help you narrow down the search before you reach the point where you must pay for information.

A good place to start online is FreeBMD (www.freebmd.org.uk), mainly because it's free. The national recording of births, marriages and deaths only goes back to 1837 and this index, extending to 1983, is being transcribed by volunteers so the 136,846,116 records

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currently available may not include yours yet. Genealogists make a distinction between original (primary) BMD indexes held by the local register offices and the secondary indexes created and held by the General Register Office (GRO, www.gro.gov.uk). The FreeBMD index uses the GRO records.

Cheshire's Registration Services, working with volunteers from the county's family history society, has put its own BMD records online at www.cheshirebmd.org.uk. Other counties have followed, and several use the same features as Cheshire so they have a consistent look and feel. There are 18 other places taking part and all are free to view, though the sites don't all have full coverage yet. They are Bath, Cambridgeshire, Darlington, Derbyshire, Durham County, Isle of Wight, Kent, Lancashire, Newcastle, North East, North Wales, Staffordshire, Sunderland, Tees Valley, Warwickshire, West Midlands, Wrexham and Yorkshire.

In most cases, transcripts on these sites include year of birth rather than year of registration. Also, both spouses are listed in the search results for marriages. The transcripts will give a bride's maiden name and, if she was married before, her former married name. This sort of information is usually found only on these types of transcripts, so it is invaluable.

You can access these websites individually or through UKBMD (www.ukbmd.org.uk), which provides links to over 400 websites that also offer transcribed BMD data, parish records, bishops transcripts and censuses. Some of the sites listed are free, while others provide services you have to pay for. Its Local BMDs lists give access to the sites with original registrars' indexes and its National link gives access to secondary GRO indexes such as FreeBMD.

Findmypast.com and Ancestry.co.uk claim to provide the complete online indexes to all BMDs in England and Wales from 1837 to 2004. The records covering 1837 to 1983 are scanned pages of the indexes. From 1984 to 2004, the information is in a database format.