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Family and local history researcher

(Please note that Zena Grant is not responsible for the content or reliability of external internet sites)

Part One - Family History

My Blog - family history news, views and recently released sources

Organisations

• The National Archives
• The Federation of Family History Societies
• The Society of Genealogists
• The Guild of One-Name Studies
• Genes Reunited - over 5 million members have registered their family trees
• Ancestry or Rootsweb - free message boards for family history contacts
• AGRA - The Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives
• The College of Arms - for heraldry

General information

• Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet - thousands of very useful links
• Genuki - genealogical information, advice and links
• Family History Centres - where to find them
• Parishes - where they are
• Parish churches - where they are

Archive Catalogues

• National Archives catalogues
• Countrywide Archives catalogues
• Genuki - county pages for links to individual local archives

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Civil Registration (indexes and certificates of birth, marriage and death)

• Civil Registration indexes - free indexes
• General Register Office (GRO) - ordering certificates

Censuses

• The National Archives - census pages
• Ancestry website
• Family History Online - free census indexes
• Familysearch - free 1881 census search
• Findmypast - for a fee or subscription, censuses including 1911

Parish registers

• The International Genealogical Index - the Familysearch website
• Federation of Family History Societies' collection by county

Wills

• PCC wills
- 1384-1858: information and how to find them. National Archives guide
• National Archives guide - after 1858: research guide to wills and death duty records

Trade and Street Directories

• National Directories - searchable digital library, a University of Leicester project

Manor Court Rolls

• Manorial documents register - where to find existing manor court rolls

Prison Records

• Prisons - List of all prisons in Britain
• The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, London - 1674 to 1834

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Non-Conformist Records

Roman Catholics

• Roman Catholic history
• The National Archives - Catholic recusants

Society of Friends (Quakers)

• Quaker Family History Society

Baptists

• Baptist History Society

Methodists

• John Rylands Library - University of Manchester Methodist collections
• Dr Williams Library - non-conformist records

Jewish Ancestry

• Jewish Gen - British Jewish ancestry links and database
• Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain - links and datafiles

Huguenots

• Surnames index - created by Australian Family Tree Connections magazine

The Armed Forces

• Commonwealth War Graves Commision - war dead
• War Memorials - Roll of Honour, photos of memorials, lists of those killed
• Imperial War Museum
• Royal Navy - website
• National Maritime Museum - research
• Battle of Trafalgar - 18,000 names
• Merchant seamen - National Archives introduction to records
• Merchant vessels - indexed list and descriptions of vessels compiled by Michael P. Palmer, with images
• Navy Vessels - photos
• British Army - National Archives advice on resources
• Regiments - army website with links to individual regiments
• The RAF - units, stations, histories and badges
• The RAF Museum

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Immigration and Emigration

General

• Emigrants - National Archives records
• Immigrants - National Archives records
• Passenger Lists - by the Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild (ISTG)


Sons of the American Revolution application for membership

North America

• US Immigration - US National Archives records
• US Naturalisation - US National Archives records
• The Olive Tree Genealogy - Passenger lists, Naturalization records, tips, Palatine genealogy and much more

Canada

• Immigrant resources - information and hundreds of links by Marjorie P. Kohli

Gypsies

• Romany & Travellers Family History Society

The Monarchy

• British Monarchs - the official website of the British Monarchy, with royal family trees to download

General Reference

• Old Occupations and Latin names on The Olive Tree Genealogy site
• Christian names and their diminutives, by Anne Johnston
• Latin name equivalents
• Rudy's list of Archaic Medical terms
• Hall Genealogy website, illnesses encountered in genealogy

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Part Two - Local History

National Resources

• Englandpast - Victoria County History
• British History - digital library of printed sources for the British Isles
• Vision of Britain - 1801 to 2001. Includes maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions of almost every town
• Old Maps - to look at or buy
• London Maps - 18th & 19th centuries, on the London Ancestor website
• Local history associations - mainly county level
• The British Museum
• The National Virtual Museum - news of exhibitions from over 3,000 museums nationwide
• The Institute of Historical Research - resources for historians, and online articles

History Local to North Hertfordshire, England (where I live)

• Towns and Villages in Hertfordshire - names, Hundreds, churches, Unions, boundaries
• Hertfordshire Family History Society
• Letchworth Museum and Art Gallery
• Letchworth Family History Group
• Hitchin Historical Society
• British Schools Museum - Hitchin
• Hitchin Museum and Art Gallery
• Hitchin Band - includes a history of the brass band
• Baldock Museum - and Local History Society
• Royston and District Local History Society

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Last modified 26th January 2010