Old-maps.co.uk. with access to a digital Historical Map Archive for Britian. The County Gazetteer features historic county and town names.
Ordnance Survey, Britain's National Mapping Agency. This site offers a free search and download service and access to historical maps of Britain.
A Vision of Britain through Time (1801-2001). A unique site that uses census and other records to present the history of Britain through places. It includes maps, statistics and historical descriptions.
Mapco: Map and Plan Collection Online provides free access to rare and beautiful antique maps and views. A variety of 18th and 19th material for London and the British Isles is available.
Gardiner's Atlas of English History. A series of over eighty five historic maps dating from Roman Britain circa 400 are available online. This site is worth checking out.
Streetmap.co.uk. This site provides address searching and street map facilities for mainland Britain.
Curious Fox is a village by village contact site for UK and Ireland villages, towns and counties. Family history, local history, surname and genealogy contact messages are arranged by place and can viewed and submitted. This site is free to use but the modest fee offers more privileges.
Military and Naval RecordsThe National Archives (UK) Digital Microfilm Project is piloting a new way to deliver records online. The following series of military and naval records on microfilm have been digitised and are available to download as pdf files for free. The average size of the files is 400MB so a broadband connection is necessary. Updated
ADM 139: Royal Navy Continuous Service Engagement Books. View indexes of the service records of ratings (not officers) who served in the Royal Navy 1853-1872
ADM 142: Navy Board, Navy Pay Office and Admiralty, Accountant General's Department: Registers of Seamen's Wills 1786-1909
ADM 175: Records of service of the Coastguard 1816-1947
ADM 188: Royal Navy Registers of Seamen's Services. View selected indexes of the service records of ratings (not officers) who served in the Royal Navy 1873-1923
ADM 196: Royal Naval Officers' Service Records. View indexes of the service records of officers who joined the Royal Navy 1756-1917
WO 144: War Office: Inter-Allied Armistice Commission: War Diary, and Despatches of Chief of British Delegation 1918-1920
WO 338: War Office: Officers' Services, Index to Long Number Papers, 1870-1922. This series contains the indexes used to identify the Long Number by which the First World War army officer's service records are organised in WO 339 and also some files in WO 374
WO 373: Recommendations for Honours and Awards 1935-1990. View whole pieces from WO 373, which contains recommendations for honours and awards, 1935-1990.
DocumentsOnline Selected First World War and Army of Occupation War Diaries offers access to digitised copies of selected War Diaries for British and colonial units serving in theatres of operations 1914-1922. An online guide to these records is available.
Ancestry.com offers access to
the following British Military Records. There is a free name search with subscription or pay to view options available
to access further information or digitised records. Updated
British Army WWI Pension Records 1914-1920 (WO 364). This database contains service records of non-commissioned officers and other ranks who were discharged from the Army and claimed disability pensions for service in WWI. These were also men who did not re-enlist in the Army prior to World War II.
British Army WWI Service Records, 1914-1920 (WO 363). This database contains the surviving service records of non-commissioned officers and other ranks who served in WWI and did not re-enlist in the Army prior to World War II. A large portion (approx 60%) of the 6.5 million records was destroyed by fire during a WWII raid in 1940. The surviving service records are known as WO 363 or the Burnt Documents.
The National Roll of the Great War, 1914-1918. This database contains 11 volumes of The National Roll of the Great War as well as the Birmingham Roll of Honour. This series offers short biographical sketches of British soldiers who served, including some who died, in World War I. The volumes are arranged geographically.
De Ruvigny's Roll of Honour, 1914-1924. This data collection contains biographies of over 26,000 casualties of the Great War. Casualties include men (both officers and ranks) from the British Army, Navy, and Air Force. 7,000 of the biographies include photographs.
Indian Army Quarterly List for 1 January 1912. This book lists 40,000+ names of British and Indian troops during the British control of India.
The National Archives. Trafalgar Ancestors lists 18,000+ who served (on the British side) in the Battle of Trafalgar, 21 October 1805. This ongoing project is adding service histories and biographical details as they become available.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The online Debt of Honour Register lists the details and place of burial of 1.7 million Commonwealth forces members who died in two world wars and who are buried in over 150 different countries. Also details 67,000 civilian casualties of World War Two.Soldiers of the Queen in the Second Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902. This index to soldiers and nurses identifies the unit/regiment in which they served. Once the regiment is known further research can be pursued at The National Archives. This ongoing index currently covers under 50% of the 500,000 soldiers and nurses on the British side.
UK National Inventory of War Memorials. This site offers a search of the records of war memorials, commemorating all wars, located throughout the United Kingdom.
This extensive site by Peter Davis is dedicated to the naval surgeon William Loney RN. The Background section contains a vast array of information including a list of officers in command which details the Careers of 1500+ Royal Navy Officers who were in command of any vessel 1840-1860.
O
nline
Databases
DocumentsOnline offers access to the National Archives'
collection of digitised public records including the Domesday Book; ancient
petitions, Henry III to James I (1216-1625); PCC wills (1384-1858); Death duty
registers (1796-1811); French Muster Rolls (Battle of Trafalgar 1805);
Southwell Union (Nottinghamshire) workhouse (1834-1871) (free); Victorian
prisoners photographs (Wandsworth 1872-1873); aliens registration cards
(1876-1991) and Jamestown (USA) settlement 400th anniversary. New material
is added on a regular basis. Searches of the indexes are free with a fee of
£3.50 to access a digital copy of the original record
.
See
Military for details of
military records available
.
FamilySearch.org,
a non-profit service sponsored by The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, offers access to the largest collection of free
family history records in the world.
FamilySearch, Record Search,
Pilot site includes the following for the United Kingdom: New
• England and Wales Census 1841
and 1861. Indexes with link to paid images at FindMyPast.
• Index to
Non-conformist records held at the National Archives, London. Contains
3,920,183+ records. Indexes with link to paid images at The
Genealogists.co.uk
• Cheshire Bishops' transcripts 1598-1900. Index,
transcripts (no images)
• Cheshire Land Tax Assessments 1778-1832. Index
(no images)
• Cheshire Non-conformist records 1671-1900. Index (no
images)
• Cheshire Parish Registers 1538-2000. Index, transcripts (no
images)
• Cheshire Probate Records 1492-1940. Index (no
images)
• Cheshire School Records 1796-1950. Index (no
images)
• Cheshire Register of Electors 1842-1900. Index (no
images)
• Diocese of Durham Bishops' Transcripts c1700-1900. Browse
images only
• Norfolk, Church of England Parish Registers 1538-1900.
Browse images only
• Warwickshire, Church of England Parish Registers,
1538-1900. Index and images
(ongoing)
Ancestry.com databases cover census, birth, death and marriage, parish and probate, military, migration, newspapers, directories plus landed gentry and much more. The records are indexed with a free surname search. Subscription options offer access to information or digitised records. Use the Search button, choose Card Catalogue then Filter by Location - England to see what is available .
British Origins presented in association with the Society of Genealogists, offers online databases to 70+ million names (1209-1948). It includes marriage registers, census records, burial records, wills, passenger lists, militia, court and apprentice records plus more. There is a free name search and a range of subscription options .
Find My Past offers access to millions of family history records online. These include birth, death and marriage, census, military, migration and occupations. This site is free to search with a fee to view records and images. A range of subscription options are available.
The Genealogist offers online searches of census, birth, marriage, death & parish record indexes and directories. A range of subscription options offer access to the records and images.
Historical Directories offers free access to digitised local and trade directories for England and Wales (1750-1919). Searches are available by location, decade or keywords. Names, occupations, addresses and other key words can be located to their exact places on pages within the text of the directory .
UKGenScribe. This new site
aims to collect all that 'extra' information for England, Scotland, Wales and
Ireland that doesn't fit on other sites. It is searchable by surname with
information collected from banns, gravestones, war memorials, musters, poll
books, surveys, subsidy taxes, parish taxes, other taxes and hearth taxes.
Currently there is a lot of material for Co Norfolk
. New
Family Deeds offers free transcriptions from old deeds and documents. It is searchable by name and county indexes. It is also possible to order an original document or transcription for a fee .
Victorian Crime and Punishment searchable database of 20,000+ prisoners from Bedford, Huntingdon, Cambridge and Ely gaols. Digitised images of original archive material and photographs are included if available. There is background information on the gaols, life inside a nineteenth century prison and the justice system.
National Archive of Memorial Inscriptions (NAOMI) aims to provide access to UK memorial inscriptions. It currently lists 150,000+ inscriptions from Norfolk and Bedfordshire. New material is added regularly. A fee applies for access to the full inscription, a brief description of the memorial, a photograph of the church or chapel, a plan of the burial ground and historical information
British History Online digital library contains core printed primary and secondary sources for the medieval and modern history arranged by county. Online transcripts include Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae and Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs in England and Wales to 1516 plus county histories and ordnance survey maps.
Small and Special is a collection of resources for England's first in-patient children's hospital, the Hospital for Sick Children at Great Ormond Street. The admission records (1852-1914) are searchable online with basic details returned. Registration (free) is required to view the detailed results which can include digitised case notes .National Archives Hospital Records Database with information on the existence and location of United Kingdom hospital records. Searches are available by hospital or town name .
Royal College of Physicians searchable Index to Munk's Roll, more formally known as Lives of the Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians. This set of obituaries contains biographical details of Fellows of the College from 1518 to the present day. Some biographies are online.
ThePeerage.com by Darryl Lundy. This site is a genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain and the royal families of Europe. This ongoing site currently lists the details of 258,410+ persons. There is a site search engine available.Burke's Peerage and Gentry searchable database of one million+ names. Fees apply for access to the records.
Rootsweb United Kingdom and Ireland Records. This database currently contains 265,000+ contributed records with 47,000+ distinct surnames for selected counties and parishes.
Photographs and ImagesBritish Pathe.This digital news archive offers previewing of items from the entire 3500 hour film archive which covers news, sport, social history and entertainment (1896 to 1970).
Images of England with 300,000+ images of England's built heritage from lamp posts to lavatories, phone boxes to toll booths plus thousands of bridges, historic houses and churches.
Wills and Probate RecordsDocumentsOnline. Death Duty Registers (1796-1811). These registers hold details of wills and bequests for estates liable to death duties. They cover the 'country court' death duty registers (ie Courts other than the Prerogative Court of Canterbury). Searches of the index are free and there is a fee of £3.50 to access the original document.
DocumentsOnline
Wills of Royal Naval Seamen offers
searches and downloads of the wills of 35,000+ men who joined the Royal
Navy 1786 to 1882. Digital copies of the wills are £3.50 each.
London Signatures, the online database of the London Metropolitan Archives, offers a free online index to Wills from the Archdeaconry Court of Middlesex (1609 -1810). Digital copies of wills are available for £4 each.
Surrey Plus Wills Index lists 38,400+ names of all people appearing in wills of testators residing in County Surrey (and some other counties). Links are provided to will transcripts where available .
British Origins and the Society of Genealogists online databases include B ank of England will extracts index (1717-1845); Prerogative Court of Canterbury wills index (1750-1800); Archdeaconry Court of London wills index (1700-1807); York medieval probate index (1267-1500); York Peculiars probate index (1383-1883); Prerogative and Exchequer Courts of York probate index (1731-1858); Surrey & South London Will Abstracts (1470-1856) and inheritance disputes index (1574-1714). Copies of many of the original wills can be ordered online. There is a free name search and a range of subscription options available. Updated
Cambridgeshire Family History Society Cambridgeshire Wills Surname Index. This index has been compiled from submitted details and currently contains 2,833+ records.
The Cheshire (England) Wills Database Online This free index (130,000 entries) to probate documents proved at Chester mainly for Cheshire residents covers 1492-1940. Copies are available for £3 plus postage .