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RESEARCHING FROM HOME

Introduction

Internet Sources

Subscription Sites

CD/DVDs

Microfiche

Books

Copy Documents

• The complete index as published by the GRO from 1837 to 2005 can be viewed on a subscription basis at either the Genealogist web site or the ancestry.co.uk web site (choice of site tends to depend on the relevance of the other online databases on offer within their respective subscription packages) - for the years 1837 to 1983 the index is held in digitised image format - for the years 1984 to 2005 it is held in readily searchable text format
• A high proportion of the GRO index for the years 1837 to the early 1900s has been transcribed and can be searched for free on the FreeBMD site - for most years up until 1912 for births, 1915 for marriages and 1916 for deaths, the coverage is 100% or very close to - check the site's coverage charts for the latest progress

• The complete Boyd's Marriage Index can be searched online at the Origins Network subscription web site - this index contains over 7 million names from parish marriage registers, Bishop's Transcripts and marriage licences for the period 1538 to 1840 - all English counties are covered, although none completely - the index is particularly important to anyone researching East Anglian ancestry for not only is the coverage almost complete (over 95% of all the ancient parishes are included), but little of this data is available anywhere else

• W.P. Phillimore was a genealogist who started the job of publishing marriage transcripts from early parish records - in total around 1500 parishes were covered in more than 200 volumes - these transcripts can be searched and viewed online at the Genealogist subscription web site

• This index includes over 1.5 million marriage entries from 1780 to 1837 for over 2,500 parishes - it is particularly useful for London marriages since it covers all but a couple of the 103 ancient parishes of the old City of London - the index can be searched at the Institute of Heraldic Genealogical Studies Achievements web site - searching the index is free - genealogical abstracts of content cost £5

• Entries for burials in London between 1538 and 1853 can be viewed online at the Origins Network subscription web site - entries contain the name, age, date of death and burual ground

Census Returns

• The 1901 Census can be viewed at the Genealogist web site - the majority of transcripts are available on a subscription basis, the complete set is available on a pay-as-you-go basis - the indexing of this census is currently being undertaken by over 8,000 members of the Census Name-Indexing Project who enjoy free subscription and other benefits

• The fully indexed 1881 Census can be freely viewed online at the www.familysearch.org web site operated by the Latter-day Saints (i.e. the Mormons) - this excellent free site provides name indexed access to transcripts of all household records held in the 1881 Census

• It is worth checking out FreeCEN which is a site providing free access to census records with several counties now 100% complete (this project is now manned by over 2,000 volunteers transcribing census records)
• Fully indexed 1841, 1851. 1861, 1871 and 1891 Censuses can all be viewed on a subscription basis at ancestry.co.uk - the index links to partial transcripts of census entries together with digitised images of the original handwritten entries
• Complete transcripts with linked images of the original census pages for the 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871 and 1891 Censuses can be viewed at the Genealogist subscription site - the indexing of these censuses is currently being undertaken by over 8,000 members of the Census Name-Indexing Project who enjoy free subscription and other benefits
• A full index to and digitised images of the complete 1841 and 1861 censuses can be viewed at the Origins Network subscription site
• An index to and digitised images of the 1871 census for Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Glamorgan, London-Kent, London-Middlesex, London-Surrey, Middlesex, Norfolk, Staffordshire, Surrey, Wiltshire and Worcestershire can be viewed at the Origins Network subscription site

• The complete International Genealogical Index (IGI) can be accessed online at www.familyseach.org. This excellent free web site run by the Latter-day Saints provides both general guidance on tracing your ancestors and more specific advice on using the online version of the IGI.

• The Manorial Documents Register for Wales, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Norfolk, Surrey, Middlesex and Yorkshire has been computerised for searching online

• A web site worth checking out is www.blaxland.com/ozships which covers the period 1788 to 1968 and contains over 70,000 passenger entries

• Lists of transatlantic passengers to Canada in the period 1865 to 1908 have been microfilmed by the National Archives of Canada - see their web site for a catalogue of these microfilms which can be viewed at any LDS Family History Centre
• Lists of over 100,000 passengers who sailed from the British Isles to North America in 1890 can be viewed online at the Origins Network subscription web site - entries contain the name, occupation, nationality, age and marital status of each passenger together with the ship's name, date of sailing, name of ship's master and departure and destination ports
• For the period 1925 to 1935, the National Archives of Canada maintain an online database of immigration records which can be searched by surname/forename.

• See the Archives New Zealand web site for a guide on where to locate lists of migrants to New Zealand
• Passenger lists of migrants to New Zealand can be viewed by name or port of arrival at an excellent site that contains a wealth of other information on migrants (pioneer rolls, shipping arrivals, etc)
• New Zealand Bound is another site containing a large number of passenger lists - it also provides helpful guidance on locating New Zealand immigrant and vessel arrival information together with a comprehensive set of links to other passenger list sites
• The Welsh Interest Group of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists maintains a site listing Welsh migrants to New Zealand

• Rootsweb provides access to a very active mailing list on British migrants to South Africa prior to 1900 - the postings to this mailing list can be keyword searched
• Lists of passengers on various ships arriving in Cape Town between 1849 and 1951 can be viewed at the South African Genealogy site
• Lists of passengers arriving on ships travelling from England to Durban between 1845 and 1858 can ve viewed at the South African Passenger Lists site - this site also contains lists of passengers arriving at Cape Town between Sepetmeber and December in 1852
• 1820Settlers.com contains a wealth of information about the 3,800 plus British settlers (and their descendants) who migrated to South Africa in 1820

• From 1892 to 1924 more than 22 million migrants to the United States passed through Ellis Island - thanks to the efforts of the Latter-day Saints, the associated transatlantic passenger lists have been transcribed into a vast database which can be searched online to find an individual migrant
• Lists of over 100,000 passengers who sailed from the British Isles to North America in 1890 can be viewed online at the Origins Network subscription web site - entries contain the name, occupation, nationality, age and marital status of each passenger together with the ship's name, date of sailing, name of ship's master and departure and destination ports
• The US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) provides a helpful set of guides to archives held on migrants to the United States

• The Commonwealth War Graves Commission provides an online database giving details of the 1.7 million members of the Commonwealth forces who died in the First or Second World Wars

• The National Archives provides an online index to over 5 million World War 1 medals - images of the source medal index cards can be downloaded for a fee
• The National Archives also provide an online index to over 100,000 merchant seamen World War 2 medals - images of the source medal index cards can be downloaded for a fee

• Army Lists for 1806, 1842, 1863, 1881, 1904, 1915 and 1920 can be viewed online at the Genealogist subscription web site
• Service records of non-commissioned officers and other ranks who were discharged from the Army between 1914 and 1920 and claimed disability pensions for service in World War 1 can be searched and viewed online at the ancestry.co.uk subscription site

• Navy Lists for 1850, 1866 and 1888 can be viewed online at the Genealogist subscription web site
• Transcriptions of Royal Navy Census Crew Lists for 1861, 1871 and 1901 together with digitised images of the original pages can be viewed online at the Genealogist subscription web site

• An index to over 380,000 names contained within over 130,000 abstracts relating to apprenticeships with London Livery Companies between 1442 and 1850 can be searched online at the Origins Network subscription web site - the abstracts which can be viewed online show the name of the apprentice; his father's name, place of residence, father's occupation; the name of the master and the date of the indenture
• Abstracts of over 350,000 tax records relating to appenticeships between 1710 and 1774 can be viewed online at the Origins Network subscription web site - the abstracts (of which 20% are Scottish) contain the name of the apprentice, the father's name, the place the apprentice came from, his father’s trade, the name of the master to whom he was indentured, the master’s trade, the place where the master lived and the value of the taxable premium paid to the master for taking on the apprentice - the site contains a searchable name index to these abstracts

• Check out the Police Index which is an online database of over 70,000 policemen extracted from police magazines and local newspapers for the period 1860 to 1920

• Registration details of nearly 100,000 teachers who taught in England and Wales between 1870 and 1948 can be viewed online at the Origins Network subscription web site - the records contain the teacher’s name (and for married women teachers often their maiden name as well), the date of registration, their address, their qualifications, where trained and their experience (which schools they taught at, when and in what capacity) - these records are indexed by name

• It is often worth checking out the online Latter-day Saints Family History Library catalogue to see whether the parish register you are interested in (or its bishops transcript equivalent) has been microfilmed by the Latter-day Saints. Simply go into the Title Search facility and search on the parish place name.
• If it has been microfilmed you can ask your local LDS Family History Centre to book it out for subsequent viewing there
• The Genealogist subscription site has a fast growing number of parish registers (over 1,100 parishes covered at the last count) that can be viewed online
• Over 15 million entries of baptisms, marriages and burials transcribed from mainly parish records in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland can be searched online on a subscription basis at ancestry.co.uk
• Over 3 million baptism, marriage and burial entries transcribed from parish registers can be freely searched at the FreeREG web site - this is very much a work-in-progress project - check out the Parishes Included page to see if the parish you are interested in has been included yet

• Over 1700 phone books published between 1880 and 1984 and providing near full county coverage for England and Wales can now be searched and viewed online on a subscription basis at ancestry.co.uk - telephone books are very useful for pinpointing individuals in a particular place and time - while censuses are only conducted once every ten years, annualy published phone books provide a year by year record of individuals' geographic locations - this makes it possible to locate many individuals in between census years and especially to find family members post 1901 (the latest viewable UK census)

• The University of Leicester has set up a web site with online access to large collection of digitally imaged 18th, 19th and early 20th century trade directories
• The Genealogist subscription site also has a large collection of trade directories for viewing online

• You can search the complete index to all million plus wills proved at the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) between 1384 and 1858 at the National Archives Documents Online web site and then download images of your located will - there is no charge for searching but there is a fee for requested image downloads
• Indexes to many collections of wills can be searched online at the Origins Network subscription web site - collections include the Bank of England Will Extracts 1717-1845 (61,000 records), Archdeaconry Court of London Wills 1700-1807 (5,000), Prerogative and Exchequer Courts of York Wills 1267-1500 (10,000), York Province Peculiar Courts Wills 1383-1883 (25,000), Prerogative and Exchequer Courts of York Grants of Probate 1853-1858 (16,000)