© Sandra M. Hewlett, certified genealogist May 2013
Researching Your English Ancestry from this Side of the Pond
Sandra M. Hewlett, CG

Websites for English Research (and Wales, Scotland and Ireland)
For general research, information, parish location, begin with: www.google.com, www.bing.com
search on surname+genealogy+location (parish or county); parish name + England, county name +genealogy

For inspiration; to see what websites are available:
www.cyndislist.com  click on Categories at top of page then scroll down to United Kingdom

For United Kingdom genealogy website links for visit GENUKI  [GENealogy in UK and Ireland] www.genunki.org.uk
links to English county websites and their record offices; also Wales, Scotland and Ireland Ordnance Survey maps for counties and parishes
Free BMD website – all volunteer website for index to births, marriages and deaths 1838-2005 incomplete, but over 228 million entries for England and Wales as of May 2013
www.rootsweb.ancestry.com

National Archives U.K.  www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
Prerogative Court of Canterbury wills - digitized 1384-1858
click Records>Online Records>Wills and probates

Research Guides and Informational leaflets
click Records>Browse our Guidance A-Z, click on alpha character>scroll
to topic.Example – British Army Muster Rolls and Pay Lists 1730-1898
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/army-muster-1730-1898.htm
Tutorials on Latin and paleography

Ancestry
both Ancestry.com and Ancestry.co.uk content include digitized English records
National Probate Calendar 1858-1966 – abstract of wills and administrations: Copies of probate can be ordered for £6 from the Principal
Probate Registry (download order form): www.justice.gov.uk/courts/probate/copies-of-grants-wills
Free BMD 1837-1915 [birth, marriage and death index]
England and Wales Death Index 1916-2006
England and Wales Birth Index 1916-2005
England and Wales decennial census 1841-1911
England Wales Christening Records 1530 – 1906
London area Baptisms, Marriages and Burials 1538 – 1812
London – Freedom of the City 1681 - 1925

FamilySearch Historical Records Digital Collection
www.familysearch.org  from the home page, click on historical records, then scroll down to Browse by Location, click on United Kingdom and Ireland
England and Wales decennial census 1841 – 1911
England births and christenings 1538 – 1975
Scotland decennial census 1841 – 1891
Scotland births and baptisms 1564 – 1950
Scotland marriages 1561 – 1910
Wales parish registers and probate abstracts
Ireland tithe applotment books 1814 – 1855
Several county parish registers, indexed and unindexed

FindMyPast
www.findmypast.co.uk
www.findmypast.com [for U.S. residents]
from findmypast.com home page, click on search records, scroll to list of records for the complete inventory of records on this website
highlights: British Newspaper Collection 1710-1963
Census 1841-1911
Military records
Parish registers for England and Wales [begin 1538]
Canterbury Cathedral Archives
Probate and wills collection 1462-1911
Index to Irish wills 1484 - 1858
Griffiths Valuation
Origins.net
www.origins.net
National Wills Index
Marriage records: Dorset, London, Middlesex, Surrey and York
London Apprenticeship Abstracts 1442 – 1850 [Records of the Livery Companies of
London, although titled London, cover apprentices from all of England]
Gazetteer maps of England and Wales (1895) – digitized images of original books

Maps
A Vision of Britain Through Time, Historical Map Library  www.visionofbritain.org.uk/maps
English Jurisdictions 1851 http://maps.familysearch.org
Historic Maps of the British Isles www.buildinghistory.org/maps.shtml

Wales – National Library, Wales
Wills and Administrations  www.llgc.org.uk

Scotland  Vital records, probate, census, parish registers  www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk
Maps, National Library of Scotland  http://maps.nls.uk

Ireland
Irish Genealogy  www.irishgenealogy.ie/en
National Archives of Ireland  www.nationalarchives.ie
Public Record Office Northern Ireland  www.proni.gov.uk
Irish Genealogical Research Society – excellent bimonthly newsletter with news of
Ireland and Northern Ireland  www.igrsoc.org
Belfast Newsletter Index 1737-1800  www.ucs.louisiana.edu/bnl/

GENUKI  www.genuki.org.uk