Best internet sites

[Biggles99]

Hi everyone,

Would it be possible for some of the more experienced people on here to post a list of websites which offer genealogical sources online together with the pros and cons of each?

I currently subscribe to ancestry.co.uk and I find it very useful for census returns.

Are there any free sites?

If something like this already exists I'd appreciate directions.

Best wishes,
Michael

 

[b00kie]

Hi Michael,
And welcome
There are several free sites & they are pretty good- as with any info you find, you need to verify it.
familysearch.org (LDS site) they have an original data base & a new one they are working on. On the home page, bottom left it says "see millions of records" click on that & it will take you to the new prototpye they are working on.
There's freeBMD, freecen (census), freereg(parish records). There is also gatewaytogenealogy which has alot of info & free stuff.
These are a few that will get you started.
Good luck
b00kie

 

[woodlander]

This may/may not be of use - having predominently Lancashire ancestors in my tree I find it invaluable :-

http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/indexp.html

You can also have limited results from Find My Past and Scotland's People
before having to pay to view.

http://www.findmypast.co.uk/home.jsp

http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/welcome.aspx?x=633927432654091961.574670

 

[DaveHam9]

Hello Michael,

There are a huge number of general and specialist sites and most can be found by 'Googling.' Here is one list:

http://www.cyndislist.com/

Regards,

Dave

 

[Strawman]

Hi Biggles99

Here are a few website for genealogy research:

http://tribalpages.com/

http://www.geneanet.org/

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/

http://www.free-genealogy.co.uk/chats_and_forums.html

This last addy can be used in conjunction with ancestry.co.uk where you know the family name you're looking for. Tribal pages is great for family trees from all over the world, including the uk. You just need to sign up and you can use their site for your own family tree. There are free and advanced versions.

The NA of Ireland is more than handy for looking up those Irish members of one's family, and it's free to use. Geneanet is a French run site, but it also caters for British families too. You just need to sign up to make full use of what's on offer.

Good luck!

 

[Strawman]

I've just remembered another very good free site, but it does rely on the researcher knowing at least something about the family being sought. It could help fill in some of those blank spaces too.

http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/

They claim to have over 575 names on their files.... Impressive!

 

[astwood]

Hi Biggles99

Here are a few website for genealogy research:

http://tribalpages.com/

http://www.geneanet.org/

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/search/

http://www.free-genealogy.co.uk/chats_and_forums.html

This last addy can be used in conjunction with ancestry.co.uk where you know the family name you're looking for. Tribal pages is great for family trees from all over the world, including the uk. You just need to sign up and you can use their site for your own family tree. There are free and advanced versions.

The NA of Ireland is more than handy for looking up those Irish members of one's family, and it's free to use. Geneanet is a French run site, but it also caters for British families too. You just need to sign up to make full use of what's on offer.

Good luck!

Hi strawman Ive just tried tribal pages there are loads of my rellies on there
should have tried it years ago nice one mate>

 

[Strawman]

Hi Astwood,

Glad to find something useful that can give you a helping hand. I have a few more, but first I've got to see where I put them.

 

[Strawman]

Hi all, I'm back again with a few more helpful websites.

http://uk-genealogy.org.uk/index.html

This is a useful website that is linked to Ancestry.com and makes some county census research a little easier to handle. It allows you to visit any given county city, town, village and hamlet, which has to be good. This means that you don’t always need to plough through thousands of census records, just to reach the people you are looking for.

This project is ongoing and therefore it doesn’t have the records of every county just yet.

http://www.findmypast.co.uk/home.jsp

Even this site has the means to give some free information, even for census material. Like most websites for the researcher, they can be used in tandem with others such as freebdm for cross-checking results.

http://www.rogerco.freeserve.co.uk/

Not a site for researching ancestors, but if you have many ancestral photographs that are undated, but show the clothing fasions of the day, this very useful site may just help you to solve a mystery or two.

Enjoy!