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www.sog.org.uk Start family history with the SOCIET Y OF GENEALOGISTS ESTABLISHED 1911
Searching for your
ancestors must begin
with what you know...
ASK THE FAMILY START READING & RECORDING
Searching for your ancestors must begin with what you Record what you learn about each relative on a
know. Collect all the family documents you can and dedicated family history computer software package or
question your relatives: the older ones may know about else use separate cards or pages of a loose-leaf
letters, diaries, papers and dated photographs, while, if notebook. There are many books and websites that will
you are lucky, the Family Bible will have vital dates. give you advice and tips for your next steps.
They may be able to estimate ages and suggest www.genuki.org.uk or the FamilySearch research wiki
locations, even if they cannot give exact details of www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Main_Page are useful
births, marriages and deaths. Every fact and its source free resource guides as is the Genguide website
should be noted, as well as vague remarks which can www.genguide.co.uk. M. Herber’s Ancestral Trails (Alan
prove unexpectedly useful at a later stage (such as ‘that Sutton) is possibly the most comprehensive guide to
was before the war’, ‘she was grey at your aunt’s genealogy but titles in the My Ancestor was... series
wedding’, ‘I believe an elder brother lived on the south published by the Society of Genealogists are useful and
coast and went to Australia or New Zealand’). the imprint Pen and Sword publishes many useful
genealogy titles. You may want to buy at least one of
these, but they should all be available from a public
library and of course can be found in the SoG library.
In the modern internet age it would be difficult to
research your family history without a computer or
access to the internet. There are several family history
magazines available from good newsagents that have
excellent helpful articles and regularly review
genealogical software programmes, websites etc. so
you can find which software and website is right for
you. Online reviews are helpful, and most genealogy
software can be trialled for free before you purchase.
The Society of Genealogists’ online bookshop stocks
useful titles and software and the learn pages of the
Society’s website link to useful guides and education
resources.
2CENSUSES BIRTH, MARRIAGE & DEATH CERTIFICATES
If you know an ancestor that was alive a hundred or England and Wales
more years ago, you can consult the official census
returns working backwards from 1911, 1901, 1891, Births, marriages and deaths have been officially
1881, 1871,1861 and 1851. The censuses are a recorded by the General Register Office (GRO) for
snapshot of a family together on a particular night England and Wales since 1 July 1837. The certificates
recording the members of each household, their give details of names, dates, ages, addresses and
relationship to its head, ages, occupations and occupations. Each official paper certificate currently
birthplaces. The 1841 census is also available, but is costs £11 and takes four days to prepare and post out.
less informative. However, the GRO can also supply by email cheaper
non-certified PDF copies of certificates relating to Births
Census returns for England and Wales are generally 1837-1918 and Deaths 1837-1857 for the cost of £7.
made available to be searched online via the large
commercial genealogy websites such Findmypast, You will need the appropriate reference from the GRO
Ancestry, the Genealogist, My Heritage etc. All have indexes to order the certificate or PDF from the GRO.
name indexes and images of the census and are often
made available free in local libraries and at the Society The GRO online ordering service includes a revised and
of Genealogists. updated online index to births 1837-1918 and deaths
1837-1957: www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/
The Scottish returns for 1841 to 1911 are available from indexes_search.asp.
the National Records of Scotland /Scotland’s People
Centre in Edinburgh www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/. Indexed information for later births and deaths, and
marriage from older GRO paper quarterly indexes can
The first complete surviving Irish census is that for be found online on www.freebmd.org.uk, an ongoing
1901, which, with that for 1911, can be seen at the volunteer collaboration to transcribe the GRO birth,
National Archives, Bishop Street, Dublin D08 DF85, Eire marriage and death indexes entries from 1837 up about
and free online at www.census.nationalarchives.ie/. 1992 onto the Internet (though the latter years are not
yet complete).
3Scotland
Such events in Scotland from 1855, are available at the
National Records of Scotland, Scotland’s People
Centre. The Scotland’s People Centre is the official
government resource for family history research. It
provides access to the Scottish birth, death, marriage,
divorce and census records, Catholic parish registers,
Some commercial organisations such as: Coats of Arms, valuation rolls, wills and testaments.
www.ancestry.co.uk, www.findmypast.co.uk, The Centre is located in central Edinburgh with search
www.thegenealogist.co.uk and free sites like rooms in historic General Register House and New
www.familysearch.org and www.bmdindex.co.uk have Register House.Details of opening hours and planning a
launched digital images or databases compiled from all visit are found on: www.nrscotland.gov.uk/research/visit-
the old GRO quarterly paper indexes for England and us/scotlandspeople-centre.
Wales up to 2006 to use on a pay per view or
subscription basis. All these sites will give the reference There are copies of the Scottish GRO indexes 1855-
needed to obtain a birth, marriage or death, certificate. 1920 on microfilm at the Society of Genealogists in
Prices to view the indexes vary. Some of these sites can London. Digital images of the Statutory Scottish GRO
be viewed free of charge at the Society of Genealogists. certificates can be found on the Internet (births over 100
years, marriages over 75 years and deaths over 50
Indexes for events after 2006 are not on line. Microfiche years only) along with online indexes up to 2018 via the
copies of GRO indexes for event from this date to the pay-per-view website: www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk.
present time are made available at 7 libraries in Later documents can be ordered but not viewed online.
England and Wales. Information about these libraries
can be found on the GRO website: Northern Ireland
www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/most_
customers_want_to_know.asp#FamilyHistory1. The General Register Office for Northern Ireland
(GRONI) was instituted after the creation of Northern
Once the appropriate index entry is found, official paper Ireland in 1922. However the GRONI in Belfast has
certificates and/or PDFs of birth, marriage and death computer indexes of births, Catholic marriages and
can be ordered online: deaths that occurred in the Province from 1864 and
www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/. Protestant Marriages from 1845. The General Register
Office for Northern Ireland is within the Northern Ireland
Certificates can also be ordered by post and by Statistics and Research Agency and administers
telephone. You can telephone the Certificate Services marriage law and the registration of births, deaths,
Call Centre on +44 (0)300 123 1837 to place your order marriages, civil partnerships and adoption in Northern
or write to Certificate Services at PO Box 2, Southport, Ireland. The public search room can be found at:
Merseyside, PR8 2JD. NISRA, Colby House, Stranmillis Court,
Belfast BT9 5RR. Tel: 0300 200 7890.
Email: gro_nisra@finance-ni.gov.uk.
4Online searches of the indexes and images of birth WILLS
records in Northern Ireland over 100 years old,
marriage records over 75 years old and deaths records Much useful information can be gleaned from wills and
over 50 years old can be made at GRONI online: administrations, copies of which for England and Wales
https://geni.nidirect.gov.uk/. back to 1858 may be obtained online the Court Service’s
Find a Will Website: www.gov.uk/search-will-probate.
Eire
The Find a Will website currently consists of three
The Irish Genealogy website www.irishgenealogy.ie/en searchable databases:
makes available free online indexes to births over 100
years old, marriages over 75 years old and deaths over • Wills and Admons probated from 1858-1995
50 years old. Having obtained the index entry full • Wills and Admons probated from 1996 to date
certified copies can be ordered in person or by post • Soldiers Wills
(see below) or via a downloaded application from the
Irish genealogy website or online from Images of the probate indexes from 1858 up to 1995 can
www.hse.ie/eng/services/list/1/bdm/Certificates for €20. also be searched online at www.ancestry.co.uk and on
other commercial website but they do not themselves
Certificates for of Ireland from 1864 (and Protestant make copies of the wills and administration available.
marriages from 1845) can be obtained in person from the
search room of the General Register, Werburgh Street, Having found an index entry for an appropriate will or
Dublin 2 Ireland. See: www.groireland.ie for information administration you can order a PDF of the will from the
about fees, opening times and search facilities. Court Service site to be made available to download at
cost of £1.50. This can take up to ten working days.
If you have a date and index reference of a birth Alternatively, FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries such as
marriage and death then research copies of uncertified the Society of Genealogists hold copies of the wills from
documents suitable for research purposes can be 1858-1925.
ordered by post at a cost of €4. Otherwise and extra €2
is charged for a search. Postal enquiries should be p 5 If you do not wish to go online to obtain a will, then
addressed to General Register Office, Government postal applications for searches and copies can be
Offices, Convent Road, Roscommon. Tel: 090 6632900. made through the Leeds District Probate Registry using
the official PA1S application form. A PDF of the form can
Indexes for some civil birth, marriages and deaths be found on online: https://www.gov.uk/government/
registered in Ireland up to 1959 can be found on: publications/find-a-will-or-probate-document-form-pa1s.
www.familysearch.org, www.findmypast.co.uk and
www.ancestry.com. Postal search and copy fees include copies of the Will
and/or grant if a record is found. If you want the Probate
Registry to conduct a search for a period longer than
the standard four years additional fees are charged for
each four year period after the first search.
5They can be obtained from: CHURCH REGISTERS
The Postal Copies and Searches Department,
District Probate Registry, York House, Before general registration started (1837, 1855, 1864)
31 York Place, births and deaths were not recorded as such, but
Leeds LS1 2BA baptisms, marriages and burials were entered in the
Tel: 0113 3896133 registers of the appropriate churches or chapels. Some
Probate helpline: 0300 123 1072. parish (Church of England) registers date from 1538.
Most over a hundred years old are now deposited in
Wills before 1858 were under the jurisdiction of church local County Record Offices, though a few remain in
courts and are mostly in local repositories, described in parish churches. Access to original registers in public
J. Gibson and Stuart Raymond, Probate Jurisdictions: hands is mostly free; for those still at the church
Where to Look for Wills (FFHS, 6th edn. 2016). The the clergy are allowed to make a charge. The
Society of Genealogists has indexes for wills proved in whereabouts of any register may be determined from
most church courts and microfilm copies and abstracts C. R. Humphery-Smith, The Phillimore Atlas and Index
of wills amongst its collections. of Parish Registers (Phillimore 2003). Links to all
record office websites can be found via The National
Alternatively, FamilySearch Affiliate Libraries such as Archives’ Find an Archive facility:
the Society of Genealogists have digital and/or film http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/find-an-archive.
copies of the pre 1858 church court wills and
administrations. Over the years a great many parish registers have
been copied (perhaps to 1812 or to 1837 or later) and
The records of the highest church court known as the the largest collection of these copies is at the Society
Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC) from 1384-1958 of Genealogists. Hundreds of millions of baptisms and
can be searched on line via the National Archives marriages from parish registers between 1538 and
Website at: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with- 1875 have been collectively indexed, by the
your-research/research-guides/wills-1384-1858/. They Genealogical Society of Utah (Mormons) and are
are also on Ancestry and other commercial websites. available free online at www.familysearch.org and
many of the commercial genealogy websites are
At present no one website has all wills. Many local developing contracts with local archives to digitise and
record offices are beginning to index and digitise the make local registers available online. Most surviving
wills from lesser courts in their collections and make nonconformist registers in England and Wales before
these available on commercial sites. The National Will 1837 are at The National Archives and the majority
Index on www.findmypast.co.uk is making good (other than Quaker) have been indexed into the
progress in indexing wills for many church courts. FamilySearch website. Most nonconformist records
and some Catholic records are also available on the
Internet on www.bmdregisters.co.uk, Findmypast and
Ancestry. Guides to the history and genealogical
sources relating to various nonconformist
denominations have been published by the Society of
Genealogists as part of the My Ancestor... series and
are available from the Society’s online bookshop
6 www.sog.org.uk or as eBooks on Amazon.LOCAL RECORDS
When you have exhausted the records of civil
registration and have begun to look at the parish
registers of the area from which your family came you
will need to consult the other sources available in the
County Record Office. Here you will find other parish
records such as accounts, rate books and poor law
All Scottish parish registers are at the Scotland’s People records along with local wills proved before 1858, the
Centre in Edinburgh. Few begin before 1750 but all the records of the administration of the county (including the
baptisms and marriages prior to 1855 have been Quarter Sessions or Magistrates Courts, Land Tax
indexed by the Genealogical Society of Utah and again records, at least from 1780 onwards), and the records
are available on microfiche at various libraries and of local land or estate owners.
Family History Centres. They are also available through
the website www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk. THE SOCIETY OF GENEALOGISTS
Many Irish registers have not survived. Those we do Anyone starting their family history should consider
survive are mostly from rural areas and date only from visiting the Society of Genealogists at 14 Charterhouse
the early 19th century. In the Republic of Ireland many Buildings, Goswell Road, London EC1M 7BA (open
Church of Ireland Registers have been deposited at the Tues, Wed, Sat, 10am-6pm; Thur 10am-8pm). Its
Representative Church Body Library, Braemor Park, remarkable library of over 140,000 books, CDs,
Rathgar, Dublin 14 and most of those of the Roman databases and microform holds many local sources for
Catholics are on microfilm at the National Archives, the places where your ancestors lived. It collects
Bishop Street, Dublin D08 DF85. Free digital but research notes and published family histories and
unindexed images of Catholic Registers from the biographies along with special collections of
National Library are online http://registers.nli.ie/ while genealogical research compiled over the last century.
indexed images can be found on the commercial Free Internet access is given to certain genealogical
Ancestry and Findmypast websites and it is understood pay per view or subscription sites. There are sources
that the digitisation of Church of Ireland (CoI) registers for the armed services, professional and trade
will commence soon. A PDF list of extant CoI registers directories; apprenticeship records, school and
with notes on copies, transcripts and some online university lists, will and marriage licence indexes and
indexes is available from the Ireland.Anglican website: much, much more. Information on using the library can
www.ireland.anglican.org/cmsfiles/pdf/AboutUs/library/ be found on the Society’s website where you can also
registers/ParishRegisters/PARISHREGISTERS.pdf. find links to its free online library catalogue and
information on the Library search/copy service. Internet
Records from parishes in Northern Ireland, which are access to many SoG indexes and databases is
not retained in parish custody, are deposited in the available exclusively to its members as SoG Online
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Belfast. For Data which is part of the website: www.sog.org.uk.
further details about research in Scotland and Ireland,
consult the SoG titles My Ancestor was Scottish and My
Ancestor was Irish both by Alan Stuart.
7You need not be a member of the Society of Family History Federation website
Genealogists as the collection is open to all searchers www.familyhistoryfederation.com/. The Federation has
on payment of hourly or daily search fees, which are no library and does not undertake research. The
outlined on the Society’s website. If, however, you join Society of Genealogists hosts the Jewish Genealogical
(details available on the SoG website) you also benefit Society of Great Britain (JGSGB) and the Irish
from the online quarterly Genealogists’ Magazine, Genealogical Research Society (IGRS) within its
access to SoG data online, discounts on some premises.
publications, lectures and seminars, courses for
beginners and for more advanced searchers. Free The World Wide Web is the most popular means of
tours and family history advice sessions are held on communication between family historians. Two
alternate Saturdays in the Library. Details of the SoG’s useful genealogical reference sites are GENUKI
telephone family history advice line can be found on www.genuki.org.uk and Cyndi’s List
the SoG website www.sog.org.uk. In light of the current www.cyndislist.com. The Society of Genealogists has
COVID restrictions services offered by the SoG may be its own website www.sog.org.uk and its members’
subject to alteration. See website for details. forum is a useful way of seeking support and help from
other SoG members. The SoG website also has useful
THE GENEALOGICAL COMMUNITY information leaflets and learning resources. News from
and about the Society and the genealogical community
In addition to the Society of Genealogists there are can also be found on www.sog.org.uk and also via the
many local family history societies and membership of Society’s Face Book Page or Twitter account
those in your area and where your family came from @SoGGenealogist. You can also sign up to receive the
may be helpful. A full list can be obtained form the SoG newsletter via our website.
If you are not in a position yourself to trace your family, or
if you need help in distant parts of the United Kingdom, or
with documents in Latin or difficult handwriting, there are
professional searchers who undertake such work. The
Association of Genealogists Researchers in Archives
(AGRA) was founded to promote high standards among
genealogists and publishes a list of members who
undertake research. This is available from the AGRA
website: www.agra.org.uk.
© Society of Genealogists
14 Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road,
London EC1M 7BA | Tel: 020 7251 8799
www.sog.org.uk
Registered Charity No. 233701. Company limited by guarantee.
Registered No. 115703. Registered office, 14 Charterhouse Buildings,
London, EC1M 7BA. Registered in England & Wales.You can also read
