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URL: http://www.ianatkinson.net/genealogy/links.htm
Date: 07 Sep 2010 0:17
All content © Ian Atkinson 2000–2010, not to be re-used without permission
Links
As discussed in the Your Family History section, to be sucessful with your research you should ideally use a mixture of both on-line and off-line resources.
These are links to some of the most useful on-line resources as well as explanations of what you can use the sites for.
Umbrella Sites
These large sites contain various different functions and you should find that they are the most useful for your day to day research. Bookmark these few sites if nothing else!
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A records site such as Ancestry is a must have resource if you’re serious about your research. It has an annual fee but for that you gain access to all released UK cencus returns, the St. Catherine’s Index, some parish records, forums, other members’ trees and much more.
There are various other sites which offer similar services to Ancestry such as The Genealogist and Genes Reunited. Prices and features will vary so it may be best to trial a few sites before making a commitment. Personally I have always used Ancestry and am very impressed with the site.
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Family Search is the site run by the Church of Jesus Christ and the Latter Day Saints (the Mormons) and contains a wealth of information gleaned from parish records over the years by the Church’s researchers. It also links in to some cencus information both from the US and the UK. This information is referred to in its microfiche format as the IGI (International Genealogical Index) and people often still refer to this site as the IGI.
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The GRO site allows you to order birth, marriage and death certificates on-line provided you have looked up the relevant reference from the St. Catherine’s Index.
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Free BMD allows you to search for indexed BMD information from around the country. If you find what you’re looking for then you can print off a form to send straight to the correct register office. This is often much faster than using the St. Catherine’s Index and the GRO website so this is the best place to check first. Be aware though that not all information is currently indexed so you may have to go to St. Catherine’s if you’re not successful.
There are region sites which search the same database but help to narrow your search, for example if you know you’re looking for an event in Yorkshire you may as well go straight to Yorkshire BMD.
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This is the website of the National Archives, the physical home of which is in Kew in London (your research may take you there one day!). There is all sorts of information on this site include some probate (wills) and military records such as medal rolls. Some of the information you have to pay for but this is on a per-item basis rather than as a subscription.
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GENUKI is a sprawling mess of a site which is in dire need of re-organising and re-designing, however, it does contain a mass of information both published and in the form of archived mailing lists. It’s useful for things like trade directories which people have typed out and grave transcriptions. Much of the information is organised by region so if you happen to be researching an area in which a GENUKI contributor has been active it can be a gold mine.
Mapping
Mapping is very important when researching your family history. Being able to check the spelling and existance of place names, how close places are to each other, locations of churches, historical maps and so on is very useful.
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Google’s map service is one of the best available for contemporary maps. It has both vector and satellite mapping and the driving directions feature can be used to quickly gauge the distance between two places. Be sure to add the county when searching in order to find the right place, e.g. ‘Garforth, Yorkshire’ as the site will not always show a list of choices where there are duplicate place names.
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This site allows you to view historical OS maps which can be useful for locating buildings or roads which no longer exist. It’s a shame that the site is a bit of a chore to use as it doesn’t provide the panning functionality that Google and other modern sites do.
History
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Genealogical Terms and Genealogy Glossary
Lists of genealogical terms, very useful for looking up occupations found on cencus returns and certificates that you may not otherwise have heard of.
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General British historical volumes and information.
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A powerful resource for many topics, history included!
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Allows you to calculate the relative worth of amount of money today, useful for seeing how much was left in wills or how much houses were worth and so on by modern standards.
Military
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Database of George Cross recipients.
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Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Search for military graves.
Regional Interest
Yorkshire
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A site relevant to people researching families from York.
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An archive of historical photographs of York from York Library Services.
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An archive of historical photographs of Leeds from Leeds Library and Information Services.
North East
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Search for and order birth, marriage and death certificates registered in the Tees Valley area including Redcar and Guisborough.
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The Joiner Marriage index allows you to search for marriages from parish records in the North of England (coverage varies from area to area). Searching is free but if you wish to retrieve a full entry there is a charge.
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Search for and order birth, marriage and death certificates from the Durham area.