Ten Free Family History Websites

 

Here are some website recommendations for you to try out over the festive break, or to put in your notebook for 2021.  Although some may have additional services which cost, these websites are all free to use – or they were at the time of writing, so please do contact me if you find any of them want to charge just for access.  I’ve tried to list websites that aren’t mentioned in any of my previous blog posts, but am aware that one or two have sneaked in under the radar because they are SO GOOD. 

Next month, for Burns’ Night, I’ll be posting my recommendations for some great Scottish online resources (free, naturally), which is why there are not many Scots-specific websites listed in this post.  And later next year, just for fun, I’ll pick another ten free-to-use sites; subscribe to this blog or follow me on Facebook or Twitter so you don’t miss them.

The sites below are in no particular order, and those marked * indicate that their administrators welcome contributions of additional information or volunteers for their projects.  If you can, give back a little to help other genealogists.  It won’t cost you anything but a bit of your time.

Am Baile *

This site allows you to “explore the rich history of the Scottish Highlands and Islands through images, maps, documents, audio and video”.

 

Army Children Graves Register  

Part of The Army Children’s Archive, hosting historical records relating to the young people whose parents served in the British armed forces.

 

Convict Records *

Search for convicted Britons who were transported to Australia between 1787 and 1867.  Included in the data are known aliases, place of conviction, point and date of departure, and arrival port.

 

Lord Baden Powell Papers  

Personal papers of the Scouting movement founder, including correspondence, photos, and scrapbooks.

 

The Gazette  

The archive of the official UK government newspaper for birth, marriage and death announcements, as well as probate, military, insolvency notices.  Search and download its digital images.

 

Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild *  

Thousands of indexed passenger lists from across the world and throughout the centuries.

 

One-Step Genealogy – Steve Morse

Some amazing tools that manipulate data from other online sources - for instance, the Ellis Island records - and allow you to search them more creatively.

 

Online Parish Clerks – England & Wales * 

Volunteer-compiled information and links relating to individual English & Welsh parishes.  Extremely useful if you have a specific parish in mind to search for your ancestors.

 

Historic Hospital Admission Records Project (HHARP)  

Four UK children's hospitals are included in this project: GOSH, the Evelina, and the Alexandra Hip Hospital in London, and the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Glasgow.  Included are well over 100,000 records from 1852 up to 1921.

Online Genealogical Index

It's not the International Genealogical Index, but it is a handy site to try when you have no idea which website holds your ancestral records.  The OGI checks more than 400,000 datasets and then lists the results according to your requirements.