Features

Some websites offer a compendium of services and data, with links to other websites or their own databases, so you can explore BMDs, censuses and parish registers from the same site. Some also offer a single search facility, so entering a name searches all databases on that site. Here we take a closer look at some of the most useful of these sites.

Findmypast.com

If you visit www.findmypast.com, you will find a comprehensive number of BMD indexes such as England and Wales from 1837 to 2004, overseas BMDs 1761-1994 and BMDs at sea from 1854. More unusual types of records include a register of passport applications 1851-1903, the National Roll of the Great War, Army Roll of Honour and Commemorative Scrolls. Census records are available, but not as many as you'll find on the Ancestry site.

Findmypast.com also hosts www.ancestorsonboard.com. This is a searchable database of outward passenger lists from Britain to Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, South Africa and USA covering 1890 to 1960.

The site has six ad-hoc pricing plans for you to choose from, starting at £5 for 50 units, valid for 90 days.

Ancestry.co.uk

Ancestry.co.uk (http://ancestry.co.uk) is part of a network of genealogy websites in America, Australia, Canada, and Germany, as well as the UK. As far as the UK operation is concerned, it has all published censuses for England and Wales from 1841-1901, the 1841-1861 Scottish censuses, and the BMD index for England and Wales 1837-1983 (using data from FreeBMD). Slightly more unusual data is available, including a collection of historical British phone books from 1880 to 1984 and slave registers from former British Colonial Dependencies covering 1812 to 1834.

http://ancestry.co.uk is slightly more expensive than Find My Past. UK membership costs £9.95 a month, or £80 a year, and gives unlimited access to the complete Ancestry.co.uk collection. There is a 14-day free trial, but you'll still need your credit card to qualify.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormons) claims the largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world at www.familysearch.org. Data includes the International Genealogical Index (IGI), which may have been contributed to by inexperienced church members, and should be treated with caution.

RootsUK

The RootsUK website at www.rootsuk.com contains census and BMD information. Of particular interest is the surname distribution map. For a particular period, such as 1920 to 1940, you can see where people with a specific surname were living in England and Wales. Standard searches are free, but to see a person's full details you'll need to subscibe. The minimum is £5 for 100 credits. A surname distribution map will cost 10 credits, while a full birth record costs two credits.

RootsChat

RootsChat (www.rootschat.com) is a messaging forum for everyone who is researching their family or local history, with message boards for every county in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. Visitors are welcome to log in free and post questions or answers on the relevant message board.

BBC Family History

These pages at www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory include information from the series Who Do You Think You Are? There's lots of advice, but little hard information.

World Vital Records

Although www.worldvitalrecords.com is American, it does have some British databases. These include the Canterbury Catholic Register, with nearly 28,000 records such as christenings and burials after 1812, and marriages after 1756. There's also a listing of UK Parish baptisms, burials and marriages with a UK marriage list covering 1655-1992 and Scottish deaths for 1747-1868. The genealogy search pages for England, Scotland and Wales are useful though some just link to UK sites, anyway. If you have American relatives to track down, this is an ideal starting point.

Cyndi's List

Also of interest for those whose family history takes them across the Atlantic is Cyndi's List (www.cyndislist.com). This is a huge US-based website run by Cyndi Howells. It has seemingly endless topic-based links to other sites, including some that are also relevant to the UK.

UK & Ireland Genealogy on the Web

The UK GenWeb Site (www.ukgenweb.com) describes itself as the home of UK and Ireland genealogy on the web. Its free content consists principally of links to online databases and resources, some of which are free while others are commercial sites organised by country. For England, the site identifies genealogical societies and groups, and provides links to search the current Electoral Roll for living people, and post messages on the England Genealogy Message Board and Rootsweb.