Great places to find answers
There is now so much information on the internet and there are just too many to mention, here are some of my favourites, most have been around for ages. Ancestry and FindMyPast (FMP) have been acquiring some of the records over the years, and some favourite resources have long gone.
Free
General
- GENUKI – pretty much every town covered on this site, some better than others each pages has a different author, and some towns are covered better with records.
- Directories – a set of trade directories covering various parts of the country, these are now also on Ancestry.
- British History – Quite lengthy history, can be a bit heavy going, but worth a look.
- Old Maps – lots of old maps, can even view with new maps.
- Family Search – records, images and a wiki, all for free.
- Family Tree Forum – there are quite a few active forums out there, with great people to give you advice and help you break a few brick walls, another very busy place is Rots Chat.
- FreeBMD, FreeCEN & FreeREG – 3 amazing free databases, that are growing all the time.
- Google search builder – This one is a bit different it helps you build search criteria to ‘Google’ your ancestor.
- National Archives – What it says really, lots of information, and some records to buy.
- GRO – The index is searchable for births including mothers maiden name from 1837 to 1918. Also deaths with age included.
Specific areas
- Helston, Cornwall history – including photos of the area.
- History of Harlow – a History put together by Canada’s Newfoundland and Memorial university, as they have a campus in Harlow.
- Cornwall OPC – Cornish parish records search for various Parish records “online Parish Clerks”
Other useful stuff
- Worth today? – wonder what they had left in a will – in current value.
- Archive.org – Amazing archive of published documents/books from all over the world
Subscription/payment required
General:
- British Newspapers – extensive site that is continually growing, also available on FindmyPast
- Ancestry – one of the main commercial sites out there.
- FindMyPast – another large commercial site, you can use the births to search by mother maiden name without a subscription.
Specific regions
- Essex Records Office – various records in Essex, might get lucky for your Essex ancestors.