Hide

Genealogy Guides

hide
Hide

 Help and Guidance 2021: Modified Page: Version 1.1

Hide

Introduction

This page gives details of guides and textbooks on genealogy and family history. Sources for genealogical information on UK and Ireland are here.

What's here

 

 

  • Here is a selected set of recommended general textbooks on UK and Ireland genealogy and family history. (Books relating to particular regions and topics will be found listed on other appropriate GENUKI pages under the relevant headings, elsewhere in this information service.)
  • The British Isles section of the LDS Family History Research Wiki contains extensive advice, and much detailed research guidance, concerning UK & Ireland genealogy. 
  • The Genealogist's Internet - based on the 5th edition (originally published in 2012) of Peter Christian's best-selling book, a copy that is freely available here under a Creative Commons Licence, so can be downloaded, edited  and re-distributed as long as no charge is made for it, and the original title and authorship are preserved.  
  • Lost Cousins' "Tracing Your British Ancestors" - a very useful beginner's guide.
  • One very useful concise guide to researching British ancestry at a distance, A-Z of British Genealogical Research, whose text was prepared for the Compuserve Genealogy Forum, has been edited for inclusion here by permission of the author, Dr Ashton Emery. (It is however rather dated.)
  • The series of Gibson Guides are a valuable guide to the various different types of genealogical record source.
  • The Chapman Record Cameos are another very useful and authoritative set of guides for both beginners and more experienced researchers tracing their roots in England, Scotland, Ireland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.
  • The Society of Genealogists' Learning Hub "We understand what it's like to want to know where you are from, to yearn to solve the mysteries of the past, and to connect with the people whose lives lead to ours. At the SoG we aim to give support and guidance to anyone wanting to learn how to trace their family history, no matter their skill or experience level.Discover free resources, guides, and tips to help you on your journey to discover your ancestors."
  • Understanding Sources, Citations, Documentation And Evaluating Evidence In Genealogy, by Richard A. Pence.
  • Is the Answer in your Genes? - an an expanded version of the article by Debbie Kennett first published in Berkshire Family Historian in September 2008.
  • Chris Pomery's DNA & Family History pages (archived copy).
  • Genetic Genealogy - an annotated bibliography
  • Websites for DNA Research and DNA Projects for Genealogy  - from UK BMD.
  • Really Useful Sources - "prepared for the benefit of newcomers to family history and to the Manchester and Lancashire FHS"
  • If you are researching British or Irish ancestors from beyond the British Isles, you may find GENUKI's Researching from Abroad page useful.

 

 

  • FindMyPast - Previously known as 1837Online, FindMyPast enables subscribers to perform online searches of "military records, census, migration, occupation directories, and current electoral roll data, as well as the complete birth, marriage and death indexes." (Lost Cousins provides a very useful "Masterclass" - How to get the Most From Findmypast."
  • Ancestry.co.uk - a subscription service offering online access to a very large collection of records: census, BMD, probate, etc.
  • TheGenealogist - claims to be "The Leading British Genealogy Research Website".
  • FreeUKGenealogy: a huge volunteer-run set of free search services - FreeBMD (Civil Registration Births, Marriages and Deaths), FreeCEN (Census Records - 1841 to 1891)  and FreeREG (Parish Registers), which provide access to some 350,000,000 records in total (as of April 2019).
  • FHS-Online - "brings together data from Family History Societies across the UK and makes it available to family historians and genealogists researching their family trees", provided by S & N.
  • DustyDocs provides a very useful and comprehensive set of links to free genealogical websites , for each UK parish, giving links into transcripts of parish registers, memorial inscriptions, etc., where available, and to maps, church photographs, and more.
  • Lost Cousins "offers 100% accurate automatic matching between researchers who share the same ancestors", based on these ancestors' census records. "Registration at LostCousins is free, and so is standard membership, which allows you to enter and edit information about your ancestors and search for cousins."
  • The Online Genealogical Index - "Enter the country, county, town and approximate year, and OGI will check its database of over  411,000  [as of 18 Jun 2021] online data sets and list those that hold data for the given town and year." - a free non-profit service.
  • There are a large number of listings of the surnames being researched by various Internet users. Details can be found under "Genealogy" on the appropriate GENUKI county pages, and there is also a listing of all the Surname Lists available.
  • The Origins Network - a subscription service, that, in cooperation with the Society of Genealogists, provides online access to "comprehensive and exclusive British and Irish record collections dating back to the 13th century, as well as rare and unique photos and books." (Now part of FindMyPast.)
  • GenGuide - a free (donations invited) service "information on UK and Irish genealogical sources, topics, finding aids and contacts relevant to family history", with passenger lists, seamen's registers, coroner's inquest records and more.
  • Pedigrees of the Peerage and Gentry of Great Britain & Ireland  on UK Genealogy Archives - "This free collection contains images and transcripts of the pedigrees contained in Burke's Peerage and Burke's Landed Gentry, for Great Britain and Ireland. We have indexed the volumes by both pedigree title and by family name. The search results are linked to the images in the image browser so you can also navigate from there.We have fully transcribed some of the pedigrees and these are also available to view."
  • Researchers may be interested in the Irish and United Kingdom GenWeb Project.
  • Resources for adopted children and birth parents wanting to contact each other, provided by ukbirth-adoptionregister.com .
  • Finding People - list of useful links from Bedfordshire Libraries.
  • The Encyclopedia of Genealogy is a "a free-content encyclopedia created by its readers" (i.e. a specialised, and as yet rather modest, equivalent of Wikipedia), which though general in its genealogical scope can be expected to grow to contain more content of particular relevance to UK genealogy.
  • Family History UK is "the latest FREE UK family tree, genealogy and ancestry community portal website, connecting ancestors and living relatives all over the UK".
  • Lookup UK - "Resource Centre for finding that Lost Friend or Relative in the UK"
  • The Original Record - a (subscription) search service based on 2500 "rare and Interesting genealogy sources . . . containing over 10 million entries relating to families in the British isles and colonies".
  • Prosopography of Anglo-Saxon England (PASE) - "a database which aims to cover all of the recorded inhabitants of England from the late sixth to the end of the eleventh century", provided by Kings Colege London and the University of Cambridge.
  • British Family Bibles - "Many bibles contain important genealogical material. However in Britain many of these bibles have been (and still are being) destroyed at an alarming rate, since booksellers can only sell them as bibles - not as genealogy. . . [The purpose] of this site: To transcribe and add to this site the records from British Family Bibles as they become available; To acquire unwanted British family bibles and transcribe their contents - we seek contact with booksellers and other people who happen across these bibles; To offer for sale family bibles as available."
  • UKGDL - "genealogical directories and lists on-line for UK family history and genealogy".
  • Familypedia - a large general semantic wiki for genealogy, now containing a growing amount of material related to the UK & Ireland.
  • Online Parish Clerk schemes - a listing.
  • According to the current Wikipedia definition "One-place studies are a branch of family history and/or local history with a focus on the entire population of a single road, village or community, not just a single, geographically dispersed family line"; the Register of One Place Studies provides a listing of OPS schemes in England and elsewhere, as does the Society for One-Place Studies.

 

  • Genes Reunited - "The UK's largest family tree and ancestry website" (subscription)
  • Family Search - from the LDS: "the largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world"
  • Ancestry OneWorldTree - "OneWorldTree takes family trees submitted by Ancestry members that were "stitched" together with family trees and historical records from other sources. OneWorldTree identified probable name matches between these sources and now displays consolidated results in a worldwide family tree that can help you with your family history research." (subscription)
  • WeRelate - "the world's largest genealogy wiki with pages for over 350,000 people" (as of June 2007)

 

  • Genealogy in Time Magazine provides comprehensive monthly compilations of newly-available online resources - these cover numerous countries. Separate cumulative listings, covering from 2008 up to June 2016, are provided for England & Wales, Scotland and Ireland.
  • The Lost Cousins Family History website publishes an informative regular free newsletter "full of useful tips and articles".
  • Here is a lengthy listing of Facebook pages and groups related to UK and Irish genealogy and history. GENUKI's own Facebook page is here.
  • A large number of Discussion Groups exist covering various parts of the country. If your research interests cover one of these areas, then joining the appropriate group is highly recommended.
  • Curious Fox - a "village by village contact site for anybody researching family history, genealogy and local history in the UK and Ireland"
  • MadAboutGenealogy - a blog by Linda Elliott "Helping UK & USA Researchers With their British Family History" (currently offline).