Family History

Would you like to find out more about your family history?

These pages provide resources for people researching their family tree and includes a useful guide specially created by the Record Office.

Useful Information when researching your family tree.

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Trace your family history by using UK Census records from 1851 to 1901; birth, marriage and death records and UK parish and probate records.

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Starting Out

Family history demands a step by step approach, working back in time. Begin by finding out what your family already knows. Who is your earliest known relative? Do you have the date and place of that person's birth, marriage or death?

Draw up a family tree showing the known people in your family, their dates, and how they relate to each other, starting with yourself at the bottom. Then you can see where there are gaps.

Is anyone else researching your family?

British Isles Genealogical Register (BIG-R 2000), published by the Federation of Family History Societies, on CDROM and in separate county sections on microfiche, lists more than 155,000 surnames, recording the places, counties and dates of families currently being researched, with the names and addresses of contributors. Copies of the microfiche editions for 1997 and 2000 are held at the Family Records Centre (FRC), 1 Myddelton Street, Islington, London EC1R 1UW (020 8392 5300; www.familyrecords.gov.uk.

Genealogical Research Directory, National and International, edited by K A Johnson and M R Sainty (Sydney, annual, 1981-) contains similar information about world-wide ancestral researches, and includes a section on one-name studies. This indicates collectors of every reference to particular surnames. You can search a consolidated list of entries between 1990 and 1999 on CD-ROM at the FRC.

The Guild of One-Name Studies, Box G, Society of Genealogists, 14 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, London EC1M 7BA guild@one-name.org, regularly publishes its Register of One Name Studies. This is also available online at www.one-name.org

Records of Births, Marriages and Deaths From 1 July 1837

Civil registration of births, marriages and deaths began in England and Wales on 1 July 1837. Copies of the register entries are kept by the Office for National Statistics and have been indexed. The indexes are organised alphabetically for each year in quarterly volumes to 1983, thereafter annually. They can be inspected free of charge at the Family Records Centre. Microfiche copies of the indexes are also available at The National Archives and in many local libraries and record offices. Microfilm copies of the indexes can be searched at Family History Centres of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (to find the nearest one to you, contact the British Isles Family History Service Centre, 185 Penns Lane, Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham B76 1JU: 0121 384 2028, or visit www.familysearch.org.

Although you can look at the indexes for free, you will have to purchase certified copies of the actual entries in the registers. You can complete an order form at the Family Records Centre, or you can buy copies by email or by post if you have the reference from the index. Postal applications should be sent to the General Register Office, PO Box 2, Southport, Merseyside PR8 2JD (Telephone 0845 603 7788, or for international callers: +44 151 471 4200; fax 01704 55 00 13); emails certificate.services@ons.gov.uk. Don't buy the cheaper short certificate: it does not give the names of parents. If you already know in which district an event took place, you can buy the certificate direct from the relevant local register office. You can find their addresses in The Family and Local History Handbook, by R Blatchford (York, 6th edn 2002).

Information in a birth certificate
date and place of birth	full name and maiden surname of the mother
forename(s) and sex of the child	the informant's name, address and relationship to the child
full name and occupation of the father if married to the mother(or if he attended with the mother and signed the registration entry	from 1969, the place of birth of both parents

Information in a Marriage Certificate
date and place of marriage	marital status of the bride and groom
whether by banns, licence or certificate	current address and occupation of the bride and groom
names and ages of the bride and groom	names and occupations of their fathers
('full age' indicates that the person was over 21)	names of witnesses

Information in a death certificate
name of the deceased	occupation, or the name and occupation of the husband if a married or widowed woman
date and place of death	name, address and family relationship if any of the informant
given age	date and place of birth, usual address and maiden name if a married or widowed woman (but only from 1 April 1969)
cause(s) of death

Tips: try the indexes of birth, marriage and death registrations in England and Wales between 1837 and 1901 at http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/. This database is not yet complete and more entries are being added all the time. Look at the progress charts at this site for more information. You can download, for a fee, copies of the indexes, 1837-2002, at www.1837online.co.uk.

Try the International Genealogical Index (IGI) at www.familysearch.org for details of marriages extracted from parish and vital records. This will save you time searching the GRO indexes, and you can then go straight to these to find the GRO reference so that you can buy a certificate containing all the information you need. The IGI is not complete and no living people are included in it, so the entries are likely to end over a hundred years ago. You could also try the British Isles Vital Records Index (BIVRI), on CDROM, at the Family Records Centre, National Archives, and many other libraries and record offices, and in Family History Centres of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Divorces

From January 1858, it became possible for people to obtain a civil divorce, freeing both partners to remarry. You can search microfilm copies of the indexes to matrimonial causes between 1858 and 1958, in series J78 at the Family Records Centre and The National Archives. Each cause was assigned a number matching up with the files between 1858 and 1937 in series J77 which you can search at The National Archives. The indexes from 1928 to 1958 relate to causes filed in the Principal Registry only, and only a representative sample of files has been preserved for the period 1938 to 1954, listed in J77 by surname. If you want to buy a copy of a decree of divorce granted elsewhere after 1928, or filed in the Principal Registry later than 1937, you will need to visit the Decree Absolute Search Section, Principal Registry of the Family Division, First Avenue House, 42-49 High Holborn, London WC1V 6NP (020 7947 7017). This is open Monday to Friday from 10.00am until 4.30pm.
For more details about records on divorces see The National Archives research guides: Divorce Records before 1858 http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ExternalRequest.asp?RequestReference=ri2288and Divorce Records after 1858 http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ExternalRequest.asp?RequestReference=ri2289.

Records of Births, Marriages and Deaths Before 1837

The Genealogical Society of Utah has compiled an International Genealogical Index (IGI), drawing on parish, chapel and vital records of births, baptisms and marriages throughout the world. The latest edition is accessible at www.familysearch.org , which is regularly updated. You can inspect the 1993 edition with later addenda up to 2000 on CD-ROM in many local libraries, record offices and Family History Centres. This is available at the Family Records Centre as one of the online family history databases. You can search the 1992 edition on microfiche at the Family Records Centre, The National Archives and many libraries, record offices and Family History Centres.

The IGI can be searched for individual births or baptisms, the recorded children of a specific marriage, or for a particular wedding entry, by region or country. There are Parish and Vital Records Listings of places, events and periods for each edition. You can discover what places, events and dates are covered by the IGI by scanning the Family History Library Catalog at www.familysearch.org . References in the IGI to events in England and Wales before 1837 will be to parish registers (kept locally) or to non-parochial (usually non-conformist) registers, kept at The National Archives and also available at the Family Records Centre. Many parish registers have been filmed and copies of these and of non-conformist registers in the National Archives can also be viewed in Family History Centres. Search the above catalog for information about these microfilms and their whereabouts.

Whilst since 1992 the IGI has included a mixture of entries extracted from official sources worldwide and compiled family records deposited with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the 12.3 million names in British Isles Vital Records Index (BIVRI), issued in 2002, have been taken solely from vital records between 1538 and 1906. It covers England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and Isle of Man. Each entry contains a reference to a microfilm copy of the original source, which can then be searched in a Family History Centre. At present the BIVRI is available only on CDROM, at the Family Records Centre, The National Archives, and many Family History Centres, local libraries and record offices.

Tip: neither the IGI nor BIVRI is fully comprehensive. They do not contain everything that was written in a record about a particular person, so use them as a finding aid and then search the original source.

Burials are not normally included in the above indexes, but in 2001 the Federation of Family History Societies published a National Burial Index (NBI) on CDROM, containing more than 5.4 million names of people buried over 4,300 churchyards and cemeteries in England and Wales between 1538 and 2000. Each entry includes the forename(s) and surname, date of burial, age (where given), the parish or cemetery where the event was recorded, and the family history group or society that transcribed the record. It does not include tombstone transcriptions. You can search this at the Family Records Centre as one of the online databases, and elsewhere on CDROM. At present coverage does not extend to every county, and the start and end dates vary from place to place, though it is particularly good for the period between 1813 and 1837. You can find out which places and periods are covered by visiting www.ffhs.org.uk/General/Projects/NBIcounties.htm .

Since 1538 clergy of the Anglican Church in England and in Wales have kept registers of church baptisms, marriages and burials. The local record office will be able to advise on their present whereabouts. The addresses of offices are included in Record Repositories in Great Britain (11th edn, 1999), and in Record Offices: How to Find Them, by J Gibson and P Peskett (Federation of Family History Societies, 9th edn 2002). You can also find details at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archon. The Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers, edited by C Humphery-Smith (2nd edn, Chichester, 1995), lists parishes before 1832 county by county, the whereabouts of the registers, and if there are copies. Neither the Family Records Centre nor The National Archives holds any parish registers.

A number of non-parochial registers of chapels and congregations outside the Anglican Church were deposited with the Registrar General in the nineteenth century. Microfilm copies of these and other non-parochial records, spanning the period 1567-1970, can be seen on microfilm at the Family Records Centre, and at the National Archives, in RG4 http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=RG+4&accessmethod=6and RG8 http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=RG+8&accessmethod=6, and in Family History Centres. Many county record offices have filmed copies of registers local to them. Very few registers extend beyond 1837, and they are predominantly those of Protestant dissenters, though some north-country Roman Catholic records, and registers of Foreign Protestant congregations in England are included. The IGI contains entries from registers in RG4 http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=RG+4&accessmethod=6. The local record office or denominational headquarters should be able to advise on the whereabouts of other dissenters' records.

If you are having no luck with chapel registers, try the birth registrations in the Protestant Dissenters' Registry (sometimes called Dr Williams's Library). This was set up in 1742 for Baptists, Congregationalists and Presbyterians. A similar Metropolitan Registry was established for Wesleyan Methodists in 1818. The records of both are indexed, contain births which occurred before the official start dates, and names of people born countrywide or overseas. The registers, running up to 1837, are in RG4 http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=RG+4&accessmethod=6, and 80% of the entries in Dr Williams?s Registry are embedded in the British Isles Vital Records Index. You can search the filmed duplicate certificates lodged with this Registry at the Family Records Centre and National Archives, in RG5 http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=RG+5&accessmethod=6. Copies of all of these films can be searched in Family History Centres, where you may have to pay a small fee to hire them.

Microfilm copies of records of births, marriages, deaths and burials of members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) are held at the Family Records Centre and National Archives, in RG6 http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=RG+6&accessmethod=6, including some for the Channel Islands and Isle of Man. County digests of the entries, arranged by initial index, can be searched on microfilm for a fee at the Religious Society of Friends Library, Friends House, 173-177 Euston Road, London NW1 2BJ (020 7663 1135, www.quaker.org.uk The Library is open Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 1.00pm until 5.00pm, and on Wednesdays between 10.00am and 5.00pm. You will need to book a seat in advance. You can also search these records on microfilm in Family History Centres, where a small hiring fee may be charged.

Registers of clandestine (secret) Anglican marriages conducted in and around London during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, before being made illegal except for Quakers and Jews after 25 March 1754, are in RG7 http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=RG+7&accessmethod=6. These can be examined on microfilm at the Family Records Centre and at The National Archives. Filmed copies of these registers can be inspected at Family History Centres. You may have to pay a small fee to hire them.

Britons Abroad

Indexes to the Registrar General's statutory returns of births and deaths of Britons at sea from July 1837 onwards, British Consular returns of births, marriages and deaths of Britons abroad after July 1849, United Kingdom High Commission returns of births and deaths from the date of independence of each Commonwealth country, and marriages there from 1981 onwards can be searched at the Family Records Centre. There are also various indexes to military, naval and Royal Air Force births, marriages and deaths of personnel and their families abroad (including deaths in the Boer War, First and Second World Wars), and to births and deaths on civilian aircraft from 1947. Microfiche copies of the indexes to 1992 are available at the National Archives. Applications for certified copies of the entries can be made in person or directed to the Overseas Section, General Register Office (PO Box 2, Southport, Merseyside PR8 2JD, 0151 471 4801, email overseas.gro@ons.gov.uk.

Other miscellaneous statutory and non-statutory returns of births, baptisms, marriages, deaths and burials of Britons at sea or abroad are held by The National Archives. The Registrar General's records are indexed (in a fashion), 1627-1960, in RG43
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=RG+43&accessmethod=6
microfilm copies of which are available at both the Family Records Centre and The National Archives, together with the registers themselves, in
RG32
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=RG+32&accessmethod=6 ,
RG33
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=RG+33&accessmethod=6,
RG34
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=RG+34&accessmethod=6,
RG35
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=RG+35&accessmethod=6 and
RG 36
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=RG+36&accessmethod=6 .
Few of the entries date before the nineteenth century. You can search some of these on microfilm in Family History Centres, where you may have to pay a small fee to hire them in. Consult the online Family History Library Catalog at www.familysearch.org for updated details of holdings.

Registers of births and deaths at sea between 1854 and 1891 of Britons and other nationals are available on microfilm in
BT158
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=BT+158&accessmethod=6,
BT159
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=BT+159&accessmethod=6 and
BT160
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=BT+160&accessmethod=6,
at The National Archives. Later registers, from 1891 to 1972, are in
BT334
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=BT+334&accessmethod=6.
For more information see our research guide Births, Marriages and Deaths at Sea
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ExternalRequest.asp?RequestReference=ri2168.

There are many other National Archives series in which births, marriages and deaths of Britons abroad may be found. Look first at A Bevan, Tracing Your Ancestors in the Public Record Office, chapter 4 (6th revised edn 2002), which cross-refers to The British Overseas (Guildhall Library Research Guide 2, 3rd (revised) edn 1994), or consult Dictionary of Genealogical Sources in the Public Record Office, by S Colwell (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1992).

Censuses of Population, 1841-1901

The returns of the ten-yearly census contain:

Ten yearly census contents
address	age (in 1841 rounded down to the nearest five if the person was over fifteen years of age)
name	occupation
relationship to the head of the household (not in 1841)	place of birth (in 1841 limited to the county where enumerated, or not, or in Scotland, Ireland or Foreign Parts)
marital status (not in 1841)

The surviving returns for 1841-1901 for England and Wale, including the Channel Islands and Isle of Man, can be searched on microfilm at the Family Records Centre; the 1901 census is available on microfiche at The National Archives. The 1841 and 1851 returns are in series
HO107http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=HO+107&accessmethod=6,

1861 in RG9
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=RG+9&accessmethod=6,

1871 in RG10
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=RG+10&accessmethod=6,

1881 in RG 11
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=RG+11&accessmethod=6,

1891 in RG 12
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=RG+12&accessmethod=6,

and 1901 in RG 13
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=RG+13&accessmethod=6.

Microfilm copies are also widely available in local record offices and libraries, and at Family History Centres. Census Returns 1841-1891 in Microform: A Directory to Local Holdings in Great Britain; Channel Islands; Isle of Man, by J Gibson and E Hampson (Federation of Family History Societies, 6th edn 1997, updated reprint 2001), lists the whereabouts of many local copies. www.familia.org.uk lists many library holdings in the United Kingdom.

Images and transcripts of the 1871-1901 censuses together with name indexes are available online at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/census/; there is a fee to download copies of the returns. The returns for 1861 to 1891 have been co-branded with MyFamily Inc. at www.ancestry.co.uk , who will gradually make available the returns for 1841 and 1851; there is a fee to download the images.

You can search a complete personal name index and transcripts of households recorded in the 1881 census returns online at www.familysearch.org . They are also available as part of the family history databases at the Family Records Centre, on CD-ROM at The National Archives, in Family History Centres, and many local libraries and record offices. The indexes are also offered on county microfiche and as a national surname index at the Family Records Centre and elsewhere.

You can find other personal name indexes in Marriage and Census Indexes for Family Historians, by J Gibson and E Hampson (Federation of Family History Societies, 8th edn 2000). A large number of them are available at the Family Records Centre, at Family History Centres, and in relevant local libraries and record offices. Otherwise, as the returns are arranged topographically, it is important to have an address near to a census year. The larger towns and cities have mostly been street indexed, making it easy to find the folio and page on which a specific address can be found.

Wills from 1858

Copies of all wills and administrations proved after 12 January 1858 can be inspected for a fee in the Probate Search Room, The Probate Service, Principal Registry of the Family Division, First Avenue House, 42-49 High Holborn, London WC1V 6NP (Telephone 020 7947 6000), and in local District Probate Registries. The Principal Registry search room is open from 10.00am to 4.30pm on weekdays, whereas the District Registries are open between 9.30am and 4.00pm. For details about local registries visit www.courtservice.gov.uk/wills_probate/menu_prob.htm or consult The Family and Local History Handbook. Provided the date of death is known, photocopies of registered wills can be ordered by post for a fee from The Court Service, York probate Sub-Registry, First Floor, Castle Chambers, Clifford Street, York YO1 7RG (Telephone 01904 666777). Microfiche copies of the indexes to wills and administrations, 1858-1943, are held at the Family Records Centre and The National Archives, and in local libraries, record offices and Family History Centres. The indexes reveal dates and places of death, as well as the date of probate or administration grant, the names and addresses of executor(s) or administrator(s).

See also The National Archives research guide Wills and Death Duty Records, After 1858.
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ExternalRequest.asp?RequestReference=ri2301

Wills before 1858

Before 1858 wills were proved in a variety of church and other courts. The location of a person's personal property, and its overall value, determined which court was appropriate. The two chief courts were the Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC, mainly concerned with personal estates of people roughly south of the Midlands, and those dying abroad leaving property in this country), and the Prerogative Court of York (PCY), with jurisdiction over the northern counties. The records of this court, 1388-1858, are held at Borthwick Institute of Historical Research, St Anthony's Hall, Peasholme Green, York YO1 2PW (Telephone 01904 642315, www.york.ac.uk/inst/bihr ). Published indexes, 1389-1688, are available at the Family Records Centre and The National Archives. From 1653-60 this court was the only functioning probate body.

Microfilm copies of wills and administrations in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, 1384-1858,
PROB11
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=PROB+11&accessmethod=6

and PROB6
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=PROB+6&accessmethod=6,

can be searched on microfilm at the Family Records Centre and The National Archives, and in Family History Centres. There are printed indexes of wills up to 1800, and 1853-58, of administration grants, 1559-1660, 1701-49, and 1853-58, whilst the remainder can be located via annual initial indexes.

All PCC wills from PROB 11 are also available to access on the internet via DocumentsOnline, (www.documentsonline.nationalarchives.gov.uk/) The National Archives' digital image delivery website. They have been indexed and are searchable by name, place, occupation and date. A fee is payable to download the images. Other probate material from this court (original wills, inventories of goods and chattels, and litigation papers) is held at The National Archives.

See also The National Archives research guides Wills before 1858:
Where to Start
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ExternalRequest.asp?RequestReference=ri2302
and Probate Pecords for further information
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ExternalRequest.asp?RequestReference=ri2241

Look in The Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers to see which probate courts served the area where your ancestors lived. The whereabouts and dates covered by surviving records of these courts can be discovered from Probate Jurisdictions: Where to Look for Wills, by J Gibson and E Churchill (Federation of Family History Societies, 5th edn 2002). Copies of many of the printed indexes to these are available at the Family Records Centre, The National Archives, local libraries and Family History Centres. Some indexes and images of locally proved wills are also available online; use a search engine to find out such coverage for your county of interest.

Death Duty Registers

If you are uncertain in which court a particular will was proved you may be able to locate it in the annual indexes to death duty registers, 1796-1903. Microfilm copies of the indexes to 1903 and registers up to 1857 are held at the Family Records Centre and The National Archives,
IR27
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=IR+27&accessmethod=6
and IR 26
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/DisplayCatDetailsGoto.asp?catref=IR+26&accessmethod=6.
The later registers (1858-1903) are off-site and three days' notice is required to inspect these at The National Archives. The registers complement wills and administration grants, because they were kept open by the Inland Revenue for fifty years. Each numbered entry gives the deceased's address, occupation and date of death, as well as probate details. Information about beneficiaries on whose legacies duty was payable include their names, relationship to the deceased, subsequent marriages, migration overseas, and deaths, how much they were to receive, the conditions of each gift, when and what duty was paid. Not every will or administration is mentioned, certainly in the early years, because duty was only payable on legacies over a certain value, but nonetheless it forms a unique centralised list embracing every probate court in England and Wales. You can also search copies of the filmed indexes to 1903 and registers to 1857 in Family History Centres. You may have to pay a small fee to hire them.

See also The National Archives research guide Death Duty Records from 1796 for further information
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ExternalRequest.asp?RequestReference=ri2164.

Other Sources in The National Archives

The National Archives contains a wealth of information for family historians. Many of the records of most genealogical value are described in Tracing Your Ancestors in the Public Record Office, Dictionary of Genealogical Sources in the Public Record Office, PRO Handbooks and Research Guides, and the Records Information research guides. You are well advised to read these before embarking on research, because they tell you which The National Archives series to look for, what periods the records cover, and highlight the sources most likely to be of help to you. All the research guides are available online at http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/researchguidesindex.asp.

Useful Information, Addresses and Web Sites, including those for Vital Records of the UK, Ireland and Isle of Man

The Federation of Family History Societies, PO Box 2425, Coventry CV5 6YX (email info@ffhs.org.uk , web site www.ffhs.org.uk )

Individual Family History Societies The contact details for member societies of the Federation of Family History Societies can be found at www.ffhs.org.uk/General/Members/index.htm . A more general, area sorted, list of societies (not restricted to Federation members) is available at www.genuki.org.uk/big#Societies

Society of Genealogists, 14 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, London EC1M 7BA (Telephone 020 7251 8799, email info@sog.org.uk, web site www.sog.org.uk ). Membership is by annual subscription, but non-members can use its library on payment of a fee.

Hyde Park Family History Centre, London, 64/68 Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London SW7 2PA (Telephone 020 7589 8561). This is run by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and microform copies of many civil registration indexes, census returns and parish registers can be searched here free of charge.

Other Family History Centres worldwide. Visit www.familysearch.org for information about opening hours and contact details.

National Archives and Register Offices. There is a UK government family history portal www.familyrecords.gov.uk with links to the web sites of the following institutions as well as to those of the Family Records Centre, General Register Office of England and Wales, and The National Archives:

National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth, Wales SY23 3BU (Telephone 01970 632 800, email holi@llgc.org.uk , web site www.llgc.org.uk ). This is the main centre for family history research in Wales, where you can inspect filmed copies of Welsh census returns, parish registers, nonconformist registers and probate records.

General Register Office for Scotland, New Register House, 3 West Register Street, Edinburgh EH1 3YT (Telephone 0131 334 0380, email records@gro-scotland.gov.uk web site www.gro-scotland.gov.uk ). The Registrar General holds records of civil registration of births, deaths and marriages from 1 January 1855 onwards, divorces, adoptions, decennial Scottish census returns, 1841-1901, and birth, baptism, marriage and burial registers of the Church of Scotland from about 1553 to 1854. the Family Records Centre has a computerised link to the GRO (Scotland) indexes to births, deaths and marriages, the birth, baptism and marriage registers, and to the 1881-1901 census returns. Full information can then obtained by sending a completed application form and fee to the above address. Scottish Link is available by appointment, on payment of a fee (Telephone 020 7533 6438). Alternatively you can search online indexes to registered births up to 1901, deaths to 1951, and marriages to 1926, at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk and then pay to view images of the birth (excluding 1855) and death records; images of the marriage entries are forthcoming. You can also search the indexes to the Church of Scotland (Old Parish Registers) births, baptisms and marriages between 1553 and 1854; indexes to the deaths and burials, and images of the registers are in the pipeline. Indexes and pay to view images are available for the 1891 and 1901 Scottish census returns at the same web site; those of the decadal census returns from 1841 to 1881 will also be searchable soon. You can order transcriptions of the births, baptisms and marriages in the Old Parish Registers between 1700 and 1854, the registered births, marriages and deaths between 1855 and 1990, and of the 1861 and 1871 census returns by visiting www.scotsorigins.com which offers a charged service.

Filmed copies of the birth, marriage and death civil registration indexes between 1855 and 1956, and of the registers between 1855 and 1875, 1881 and 1891, can be searched in Family History Centres, as well as microfilms of the 1841-91 census returns for Scotland; a small fee may be payable to hire them in.

The above Old Scottish Church Records are also available as part of FamilySearch, one of the family history online databases at the Family Records Centre, and on CDROM in many local libraries, record offices and Family History Centres. Try also the International Genealogical Index, and British Isles Vital Records Index.

National Archives of Scotland, HM General Register House, Princes Street, Edinburgh EH1 3YY (Telephone 0131 535 1314, email enquiries@nas.gov.uk, web site www.nas.gov.uk ). A wide range of public records is held here, including wills and testaments from the 16th century to the present day You can search indexes to Scottish wills and testaments between 1500 and 1875 at www.scottishdocuments.com and then purchase a copy of the digital images, which are in the process of being made available at the web site. Filmed copies of the indexes and testaments can be searched at Family History Centres, where a small fee may be payable to hire them in.

General Register Office (Northern Ireland), Oxford House, 49-55 Chichester Street, Belfast BT1 4HL (Telephone 02890 252000, web site www.groni.gov.uk ). The Registrar General holds copies of the statutory registers of births and deaths since I January 1864, and marriages on and after 1 January 1922. You can search indexes to these, to non-Catholic marriages from 1 April 1845 and to all marriages from 1 January 1864 at this address, though the marriage registers to 1921 are kept in District Registrars? offices. A computerised index to births registered in Northern Ireland since 1922 is available at the Family Records Centre. Extracts of birth registrations from 1845 until 1875, and non-Catholic marriages between 1 April 1845 and 1863 are included in the International Genealogical Index. Filmed copies of the indexes and registers from 1922 to 1959 can be searched at Family History Centres. A small fee may be charged to hire them in. For earlier filmed copies of indexes and registers see under the General Register Office, Dublin, below.

Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI), 66 Balmoral Avenue, Belfast BT9 6NY (Telephone 02890 255905, email proni@dcalni.gov.uk , web site http://proni.nics.gov.uk ). Most of the Irish census returns before 1901 were destroyed. You can search the 1901 census records of the Northern Irish counties, surviving fragments of the ten-yearly returns between 1821and 1851, census substitutes, church and other denominational registers of births, baptisms, marriages and burials, and wills proved in Northern Ireland from 1900 to 1994. There are annual indexes to wills covering 1858 to 1984. Although all original wills prior to 1900 were destroyed, filmed office copies entered in local registry will books are available. Indexes to Irish wills, 1484-1858, can be searched on CDROM at the National Archives, Family History Centres and elsewhere. The 1901 and 1911 census returns can be searched on microfilm at Family History Centres, where a small fee may be payable to hire them in.

General Register Office, Joyce House, 8-11 Lombard Street East, Dublin 2 (Telephone 003531 6354000, web site www.groireland.ie ). The Registrar General holds surviving indexed records of non-Roman Catholic marriages for the whole of Ireland from 1 April 1845 and of births, all marriages and deaths from 1 January 1864 up to 1921, and thereafter for Southern Ireland only. Copies of the indexes to 1958, birth registers for all Ireland up to the March quarter of 1881, 1900-13, and 1930-March quarter 1955, marriage registers from 1845 to 1870, and death registers 1864-70, can be inspected at Family History Centres.

National Archives of Ireland, Bishop Street, Dublin 8 (Telephone 003531 407 2300, email mail@nationalarchives.ie , web site www.nationalarchives.ie ). Holdings include the Irish census returns of 1901 and 1911, some transcripts for earlier years, whose returns were destroyed in 1922, some Church of Ireland parish registers of baptisms, marriages and burials to 1871, indexes to wills proved in church courts up to 1858, original wills lodged in the Principal Registry in Dublin since 1904 and in most District Registries after 1900, and registered copies of most wills proved in District Registries since 1858. Microfilm copies of the 1901 and 1911 census returns can be searched at Family History Centres, and a small fee may be payable to hire them in. Microfilm copies of most Roman Catholic registers up to at least 1880 can be searched at the National Library of Ireland, Kildare Street, Dublin 2 (Telephone 003531 661 8811, web site www.nli.ie ). The Irish Family History Foundation is the co-ordinating body of a network of genealogical research centres, one serving every county. Visit www.irishroots.net for details.

For Ireland, also read our research guide on Irish Genealogy.
http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ExternalRequest.asp?RequestReference=ri2063

Channel Islands. For an overview of research in records for each island visit http://user.itl.net/~glen/CIResearch.html.

The Greffe, Royal Court House, St Peter Port, Guernsey GY1 2PB (Telephone 01481 725277). Registers of births and deaths from 1840 and of marriages since 1919 are held here, with copies of wills. Although Alderney and Sark kept their own records, enquiries should first be made here. You can also search microfilm copies of the birth indexes and registers, 1840-1966, death indexes and registers, 1840-1963, and marriage indexes 1841-1966, and registers 1841-1901, at Family History Centres, where you may have to pay a small fee to hire them in.

Judicial Greffe (Jersey), 10 Royal Square, St Helier, Jersey JE2 4WA (Telephone 01534 502335). Registers of births, deaths and marriages date from 1 August 1842. There is an online index to Jersey wills at http://jerseyheritagetrust.adlibsoft.com/publicaccess/ . You can search microfilm copies of the indexes and wills in Family History Centres; you may have to pay a small fee to hire these.

Isle of Man, The Registries, Deemsters Walk, Buck?s Road, Douglas, Isle of Man IM1 3AR (Telephone 01624 687039, email civil@registry.gov.uk , web site www.gov.im/deptindex/ ). The registrar holds the statutory registers of marriages from 1883 onwards, and of births and deaths from 1878, plus earlier Anglican registers of baptism, marriage and burial. You can search microfilm copies of these from 1821 to 1964 at Family History Centres. You may have a pay a small fee to hire them in. Extracts of the births, baptisms and marriages are included in the British Isles Vital Records Index.

Oriental and India Office Collections, The British Library, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB (Telephone 020 7412 7873, email [link]oioc-enquiries@bl.uk[/link , web site www.bl.uk/collections/orientalandindian.html ). You will need a reader?s ticket to inspect the birth, baptism, marriage, death and burial records, and registered wills, spanning the seventeenth to twentieth centuries.

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