Link Up
All these websites are free to access unless specified.
Rootsweb: The first port of call for family historians. Hosts mailing lists, websites, databases and the WorldConnect family tree. Although originally run on a not-for-profit basis, Rootsweb is now owned by Ancestry.com, a commercial organisation which advertises heavily.
Ancestry.com: A commercial site (the first of many) which provides access to an impressive range of sources mostly on a subscription basis. Information is mainly North American at present but Ancestry are rapidly building their overseas archives. Provides a range of articles on and how-to guides.
GenUKI: Particularly valuable for people researching British ancestors from overseas. Provides details of the history of the nation down to parish level: useful links. Run by volunteer coordinators, some counties have better coverage than others.
Cyndi's List: When a Google search returns too many hits, Cyndi's List of genealogical websites will have the answer.
FreeBMD: This is a volunteer project which aims to transcribe the 19th-Century Civil Registration Indexes for free online access. Here you can find births, marriages and deaths from the start of civil registration in 1837 right through to 1901, instead of trawling through the fiche in a library. With over 40 million records online at time of writing the project is a third complete, but volunteers are desperately needed - easy-to-use software and scans of the Index are provided.
GRO: The General Register Office in Southport is the repository for all the birth, marriage and death registers in England and Wales since 1837. The general public are not allowed access to the original registers but you can now order copies online from this site. Subject to conditions, you can obtain information about stillbirths and adoptions. There are links to the Register Offices for Scotland and Northern Ireland, useful research guidance and details about how to use the Family Records Centre at Kew.
FreeCen: The sister project of FreeBMD which aims to transcribe censuses for online access. Due to the enormous amount of information recorded in censuses and the difficulties associated with reading 19th-Century copperplate, this project has not got off to the start of FreeBMD but this is a site worth watching and, again, if you have some spare time your help would be greatly appreciated.
Family History Online: 52 million vital records transcribed by members of the Federation of Family History Societies. Pay-per-view but very good value (from 2p), minimum credit £5 but lasts for 6 months. Profits are returned to the FHS which did the transcribing.
Automated Genealogy: If your British ancestors seem to have disappeared, try looking for them in Canada. This volunteer project is transcribing Canadian censuses. Not only is there a searchable surname index, you can also view the images for free to discover those valuable extra details. One of the boons of the Canadian census is the "date of birth" column - no more tricky subtractions!
The National Archives online: brings together the resources of the Public Records Office and the Historical Manuscripts Commission. The vast majority of resources are not available online, although its holdings are catalogued in PROCAT, which is indexed and can be searched online. however new databases are being digitised as funding becomes available: future features can be found under "Search Our Collections"|"Future Developments. The major digital collections, such as the 1901 UK Census and Wills Online, are hosted within the "Documents Online" section. Wills costs £3 per document, census images are 75p each (min £5 per session): download documents to your PC. This site hosts the PROCAT database which
FamilySearch: Produced by the Church of the Latter-Day Saints, the most useful part of this website is the online IGI (International Genealogical Index) which is a transcription of many millions of baptisms and marriages (mainly prior to the start of British Civil Registration in 1837). The LDS has produced a fully-functional family tree program, Personal Ancestor File (PAF) which can be downloaded for free. The site also holds details of the vast library of filmed resources held at the Mormon Temple in Utah, but which can be viewed for a very small cost in LDS Family History Centres around the world. New additions to the website are a reduced version of the 1881 Census, and the 1881 Canadian Census and the 1880 US Census.
Hugh Wallis: Hugh has devised two finding aids which are very useful when searching the IGI, particularly when your name is a very common one. One aid is an index of middle names which are possibly surnames (a common naming practice in the 19th century) and the other is a search engine which uses the LDS's own batch numbers.
1851 Census (2% Sample): Text files of the 2% sample of the 1851 census by county, together with an index. Downloadable as zipped files.
Archive CD Books Project: Sells reproductions of rare books useful to family and local historians. Non-profit making organisation.
S&N Genealogy Supplies: Sells many items useful to genealogists. The first company to digitise census images.
Stepping Stones: A commercial supplier of sources for genealogists.
A Comedy of Errors: This notorious piece of research by Mike Foster has now been published and provides an in-depth account of the errors and omissions of the Civil Registration system. Ever wondered why you can't find your ancestor? This book will explain how people can slip through the net.
Norfolk Transcription Archive: Dedicated to transcribing Norfolk documents and putting them online for free.
Family Records.gov: A useful site which gives details of the locations of various resources within the UK. Also provides basic guidance for beginners.
Suffolk Records Office: Details of archival holdings, PR fiche publications, very useful "Parish Packs" for £5.
1837 Online: A commercial website set up by a firm of professional genealogists, this website stores all the UK Civil Registration Indexes (BMDs) from their commencement in 1837 right through to 2001. £5 buys 50 views, which is good value for the later indexes where there are three columns of printed names, but which works out quite expensive for the earlier records which were hand copied. It can still work out cheaper and easier than a visit to a major library, though, and the company have pledged to index the images by name soon.
Familia: Database of the genealogical archives of British public libraries.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission: Details of the memorials maintained by the CWGC to the servicemen who died during World Wars I and II. Also records 600,000 civilian casualties.
Maritime Memorials: 4000 memorials of maritime disasters, collated by the National Maritime Museum.
OnWar.com: For those with ancestors in the militia, this fascinating website provides details of political events worldwide: useful when your relative was not at home on census night!
Second World War Experience Centre: "Our Mission: to collect, document, preserve, exhibit and encourage access to the surviving material evidence and associated information of the men and women who participated in the war in whatever capacity whether military, civilian or conscientious objector." A remarkable charitable organisation which needs our support.
Direct Resources: Although these Trade Directories have been transcribed for sale, it is possible to dig a lot out of this site for free.
Mariners-L: The website of the extremely knowledgeable Mariners List.
Find-A-Grave: Rapidly expanding cemetery website. Search by name or locality: research graves of famous people: submit your own family, leave flowers, dedications, etc (particularly useful if you have found relatives' graves which are close to illegibility).
Pubs, Inns & Taverns Index: Database under construction. Not searchable yet but Stan and Bob do respond to look-up requests as quickly as they can and they do have a lot of information. Please donate any pub-related material you might have in your archives!
UK Schools History: Searchable database of schools' records and indexes. Contributions required.
British History Online: A whole library of historical sources being digitised by the Institute of Historical Research and the History or Parliament Trust. Loads of sources, such as taxes, directories and gazeteers. Searchable by name. Still mainly London-centred but this site looks like being a hugely important database of early records.
Simon's Suffolk Churches: "For Knott, a medieval church is not simply an old building: it is a window into the lives and aspirations of our ancestors. His elegant site is, therefore, a precious reminder of the history on our doorsteps, which is slowly crumbling to dust. Many of these ancient places are locked and condemned for lack of funds. Indeed, Knott’s rich and resonant catalogue of these venerable buildings may soon be all we have left of some of them." Sunday Times, 29 Sept 2002.
JewishGen: The place to start tracing your Jewish ancestors. Also contains features useful for other European research, such as ShtetlSeeker.
Suffolk_L: The mailing list for genealogy in Suffolk. Search/browse the archives or subscribe from here. Similar lists exist on Rootsweb for all the UK counties and for most surnames
Ellis Island Database: An extraordinary website which holds the records of the more than 22 million immigrants who passed through the New York Immigration Centre during the years 1892 - 1924. Search the transcribed index by name and then view the original ship's manifest, details of the voyage and even photographs of the vessel. Often it is possible to discover your ancestor's physical appearance, name of next of kin and place of last residence. Crew and non-immigrant passengers are also recorded.
Immigrant Ships Transcibers Guild: A project dedicated to transcribing passenger lists from ships carrying emigrants around the world.
National Archives of Australia: Includes a searchable database of military records.
Genes Connected: From the people behind the enormously successful "Friends Reunited" comes this database of family names. Genes Connected is a lot more than a message board, however, enabling researchers to upload their gedcoms and match to names already contained within the database. When a connection is made, it is possible to permit other researchers to view your tree. Already containing more than 5 million names, this site looks set to become an invaluable resource for making contact with long-lost branches and for sharing information. Free to search, registration (enables upload of gedcom, contact with others) costs £5 per month but is currently discounted at £5 for one year.
Friends Reunited: For those of you who don't know (where have you been?!) this site exists ostensibly to put old school chums back in touch with each other. For family historians it is an excellent way of making contact with people who share your surname. Free to search, £5 per annum for unlimited contacts.
Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation: Organisation which aims to map global human relationships through DNA analysis. Donations are made using a non-invasive mouthwash technique and are entirely voluntary: genealogical information must also be supplied. Research is being conducted on migratory patterns, disease evolution, etc. Feedback to donors is only given under unusual circumstances.
Oxford Ancestors: Highly commercialised DNA analysis spin-off from Brian Sykes' (author of The Seven Daughters of Eve, etc) DNA research. Buy a report on your MatriLine (maternal ancestry), Y-line (paternal ancestry, surname distribution map, mother's day gifts, etc, etc... Very expensive, but discounts are given for bulk orders. Funnily enough, Viking analysis is the first comparison available!
Your Maps: Scans of old maps and engravings, free to view and download. Searchable. Also collects out-of-copyright images.
Old Maps: Historical Ordnance Survey maps. Free to view. Decorative maps for sale.
Ancestral Villages: Site organised by villages. Add your ancestors to your ancestral home and find cousins. Free to register, but would benefit from being searchable by name. Seems to be lacking submitters, possibly due to the need to add data manually.
Your Past Connections: free service listing surname-related articles discovered in junk shops around the world.
Dead Fred: Photographs rescued from junk shops.
Old-Maps: View and print off a 19th-century map of your ancestor's home.
Parish Locator: Strange but true: people did get about before the invention of the horseless carriage. If want to find out where your ancestors might have been hatched, matched and dispatched, ParLoc is a free program which provides information about 15000 UK parishes and their proximity to each other.
Get 1901 Data: This software downloads the results of your 1901 search straight to your desktop and sorts the records by person number ready for export to your database or spreadsheet. The results are therefore organised into households and ensures you do not waste your money on erroneous print-outs. Very simple to use and invaluable if you are having trouble finding the right individual.
IGI Extractor: As above, this program extracts information from the IGI (International Genealogical Index) into a spreadsheet or database ready for you to analyse in any way you please. Not as neat and tidy as 1901, but it is completely free.
Personal Ancestor File (PAF): the family tree program developed by the LDS. Free.
Ray Rumsby, Well Being Services Manager of the Teacher Support Network: formerly the Teachers' Benevolent Fund, the TSN is a registered charity which offers support of all kinds to teachers in the belief that the well-being of teachers is vital to us all.
Rumsby Wines at Millie Park Vineyard, Barraba, New South Wales, Australia: "Barbara and William Rumsby were brought up in Barraba on a property held in the family since 1915. They became the owners in 1977, and planted their first grapes in 1994, though the main plantings were in 1996, making the Vineyard one of Barraba's most exciting new ventures." There is no e-mail address on this webpage so I have not been able to ask the owners' permission to link from this page, but as I suspect they are the descendants of the emigrant Rumsbys detailed in "The Fatal Quarrel" and as their produce sounds really good I'm going to do it anyway!
Chemin Rumsby: not a person, but a street called Rumsby. This place is in Montreal, Canada, and I believe is the location of a famous family of equestrians who trained the Candaian national team for the 2000 Olympics.
Martin Rumsby: NZ independent filmmaker and writer.