IWFHS General Family History Research Websites

General Family History Research Websites

Listed below are some of the principal websites for genealogical and family history research. It is impossible to maintain a fully comprehensive list of the many thousands of websites, so users are urged to use the directory websites to keep up to date. Many sites also have facilities to e-mail news so it is worthwhile subscribing to these newsletters to keep abreast of the ever-changing world of family history.

Many of the sites below, even the official government sites, will require payment to supply records. Whether this is a one off payment, pay-as-you-go, or via annual subscription, users are strongly urged to check the payment rates before committing to any purchases or subscriptions.

You will find Websites with information about the Isle of Wight under "Isle of Wight Websites" and Websites created by members of the IOW Family History Society of families that have been researched by them under "Members' Websites".

The information on any of these sites cannot be guaranteed by the Society and anyone using them is urged to use them as a guide to research only. If you know of any other sites that would be useful for Isle of Wight research please feel free to send them to the Webmaster, Geoff Allan. E-mail contact : Click for email address

Source	Website	Comments
	Official organisations
The National Archives	http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/	Also now includes links to Access to Archives, the index of holdings at national archives in the UK
Access to Archives	http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/?source=ddmenu_search1	Now part of The National Archives site
BL Newspapers	http://newspapers.bl.uk/blcs/	The British Library Newspaper Archive is being digitised and made avaialable thorugh this subscription service. Some newspapers may be searched for free. Users who have access via library subscriptions may also enjoy free access, e.g. Open University students can access these pages through the OU Library \| Databases services.
GRO Certificate ordering	Directgov BMD Certificates	The GRO now use Directgov rather than their own website for this service. England and Wales certificates only.
Scotland's People	http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/	The official government source for genealogical data in Scotland
The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland	http://www.proni.gov.uk/	The official government source for genealogical data in Northern Ireland
The National Archives of Ireland	http://www.nationalarchives.ie/	The official government source for genealogical data in the Republic of Ireland. The 1911 Census of Ireland is being digitised and presented for free on this site.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission	http://www.cwgc.org/	Not just a searchable database of all WW I and WW II casualties, the CWGC website provides a great deal of historical information regarding warfare in the 20th Century. The CWGC has become associated with The War Graves Photographic Project to provide images of headstones and memorials in their care, throughout the world
	Directory websites
Cyndi's List	http://www.cyndislist.com/	The ultimate List of Lists - if you can't find a site that interests you on Cyndi's List, it probably doesn't exist!
"Find People From the Past: A Genealogy Resource Guide for Kids"	http://www.peoplefinders.com/article-find-people-from-the-past-genealogy-resource-guide-for-kids.aspx	Another List of Links - it may provide you with some further clues, the page is especially aimed at those websites which would attract the younger family historian
FFHS	http://www.ffhs.org.uk/	The Federation of Family History Societies is the umbrella organisation for societies in the UK. Find links to other Societies here.
GENUKI	http://www.genuki.org.uk/	The Portal to all the important Genealogical sites in the UK and Ireland
USA People Search	http://www.usa-people-search.com/content-big-list-of-genealogy-links.aspx	Another List of Lists - it may provide you with some further clues, especially for North American research
	Commercial websites
Genes Reunited	http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/home/	Post your family tree online and hope to match with other family members
Lost Cousins	http://www.lostcousins.com/	Post your family members from Census data and hope to match with your distant cousins
Lost Cousins Newsletter	http://lostcousins.com/newsletters/latest.htm	A monthly update on family history news and views (and other useful tips) from the founder of Lost Cousins
Ancestry	http://www.ancestry.co.uk/	This takes you to the UK Ancestry site - there is also the US site
Findmypast	http://www.findmypast.com/welcome.jsp	Provides an alternative set of data to Ancestry. Also now links to the 1911 England and Wales Census.
Origins network	http://www.origins.net/	Provides alternative sources to the mainstream sites - including arrangements with the Society of Genealogists to digitise their collections. SoG Members enjoy some benefits when subscribing to this organisation.
	Other organisations : educational, philanthropic, societies
Automated Genealogy	http://www.automatedgenealogy.com/	This site provides free access to transcriptions of the Canadian Census returns. It is a work in progress but provides a simple way of searching for emigrants to the Canadian provinces.
BBC Family History	http://www.bbc.co.uk/familyhistory/	The BBC's Family History website is an excellent start point for anyone with an interest in family history.
BI-Gen	http://www.bi-gen.blogspot.com//	This is a website with a blog giving news in the British and Irish genealogical and family history arenas - useful to check occasionally to see what's happening.
Foresters Heritage Trust	Foresters Heritage Trust	A useful start point for anyone with an interest in the Friendly Societies movement; this site concentrates mainly on the Ancient Order of Foresters, but has many other references to other Societies.
FreeBMD	http://www.freebmd.org.uk/	FreeBMD is a voluntary project to put all the Birth, Marriage and Death Index entries for England and Wales online. Covered is fairly comprehensive by area, and the transcribers have reached the 1930s as at mid-2009). Now also associated with Ancestry.
FreeCEN	http://www.freecen.org.uk/	FreeCEN is a voluntary project to put all the UK Census entries online for the 1841 to 1891 Census returns. Coverage (as at mid-2009) is patchy at the moment both in terms of counties covered and years covered.
FreeREG	http://www.freereg.org.uk/	Still in its early stages, FreeREG is a voluntary project to put all the Parish Register entries for England Wales online.
GOONS	http://www.one-name.org/	The Guild of One-Name Studies provides an umbrella organisation for individuals and groups undertaking one-name surname studies.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints	http://www.familysearch.org	The Church has long been associated with the IGI (the International Genealogical Index). The latest search features have nlatter ow been incorporated on the website
IHGS	http://www.ihgs.ac.uk/index.html	The Institute of Heraldic and Genealogical Studies (IHGS) was founded in 1961 and provides recognised academic qualifications in genealogical and family history studies.
Rootsweb	http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~engiow/	Rootsweb is part of Ancestry, and provides message boards and forums of interest to family historians. This link takes you to the Isle of Wight section. From here you can subscribe to the Lists posted by other correspondents, and link to the message boards.
Society of Genealogists	http://www.sog.org.uk/index.shtml	The forerunner of all the family history societies in the UK, te SoG is heavily committed to making its research sources available online both on its own site, and through Origins.