The following web sites provide genealogical information and are
intended as a brief guide to just some of the vast number of sites
which are available for the family historian.
Census Returns
1901
Census - contains the census returns for England and Wales
and it is free to search the index. However to obtain the full
details regarding your ancestors (including a digital image of the
original census) a charge is incurred. This can be paid for via
census vouchers (available from the Record Office) or by using a
credit card.
1881 Census
- available online via the Church of Jesus Christ of the
Latter Day Saints website and full access is free. Also available
at the same link for those with overseas family are the 1880 census
returns for the USA and that of 1881 for Canada. This site does not
currently provide access to digital images of the census.
1871, 1891 & 1901
Census* - contains searchable indices to the above census'
for England, Wales, Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
Civil Registration
Suffolk
Register Offices - provides details of how to obtain
copies of certificates for Suffolk including costs and methods
of payment etc.
General Register Office for England - provides
details of how to obtain copies of certificates for England
and Wales including costs and methods of payment etc.
General Register Office
for Scotland - provides details of how to obtain copies of
certificates for Scotland including costs and methods of
payment etc.
General Register Office for
Northern Ireland - provides details of how to obtain
copies of certificates for Scotland including costs and
methods of payment etc.
Free BMD - an
incomplete index to births, marriages and deaths in England and
Wales and as the name states is free.
Births, marriages &
deaths at sea, 1854-1890* - a free
searchable index to the above events.
County Record Offices
Your local Record Office will provide a wealth of material for
family history research and details of the local offices, opening
times, locations, holdings etc. can be found.
Cambridge Record Office
Essex Record Office
Norfolk
Record Office
Suffolk Record Office
Family history societies
You may find it useful to contact the relevant local family
history society and exchange ideas with like-minded people who may
well be tracing the same family.
Cambridge Family History
Society
Essex Society for Family
History
Federation of Family History
Societies
Guild of One-Name
Studies
Norfolk Family History
Society
Society of Genealogists
Suffolk Family History
Society
Military databases
Army
Records Centre - provides the appropriate addresses for
enquiries regarding information from Army personnel records.
Commonwealth War Graves
Commission - covers both military and civilian deaths of UK,
Australian, Canadian, Indian, New Zealand and South African forces
in WWI and WWII.
WWI
Campaign Medals*
WWII
Merchant Seaman Medals*
National Archives
Family Records
Centre - the centre in London is run jointly by the
General Register Office and
The National
Archive.
The National
Archives - formed in April 2003 as a result of the merger
of the Public Record Office and the Historical Manuscripts
Commission. It contains millions of documents. Their
holdings are searchable via their website. The leaflets compiled by
the National Archive on subjects from A – Z; commencing with
Admiralty Charts through to Zimmerman Telegram; are extremely
useful in explaining a diverse number of genealogical topics.
Wills and probate
Wills
of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury* - prior to 1858
the PCC was the senior probate court for the whole of England and
Wales and this site contains more than a million wills covering the
period 1384-1857.
General web sites
Ancestry.com* - the
worlds largest commercial genealogical web site.
Ancestry
Library Edition
Provides genealogical information with more than five billion names
in over 4000 collections.
Please note: this service is available in Suffolk libraries and
Suffolk Record Office only.
Black History ( pdf 58Kb) Useful web sites for Black History
research.
BBC family
history - a very comprehensive site for the
beginner providing guidelines as to how to undertake research as
well as providing numerous links to other sites.
British Origins*
- contains various searchable databases, particularly Boyd’s
Marriage Index, 1538-1840.
Cindy’s list
- provides links to genealogical web sites worldwide.
Family History
Online* - contains the National Burial Index, various
baptism, marriage and burial indices, Suffolk probate index (an
index to testators and beneficiaries) and an index to the Freemen
of Ipswich.
The International
Genealogical Index (IGI) - compiled by the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is an index to millions of names
gathered from records worldwide. It contains mainly baptism and
marriage entries and is a very useful tool for family research. It
is not complete and many parishes are either partially cover
or even not covered at all.
Genuki - a reference
site for family history in the UK.
Helpers - contains
descriptions of archival and manuscript collections held in
Senate House Library,
University of London and other libraries in the University of
London which are of particular interest to family and local
historians. There are also special tutorials and introductions
to higher education, libraries and archives, details of access
arrangements, digitised examples of the material
described.
Scottish
Ancestry (BBC) - contains numerous links for Scottish
ancestry.
Society of Genealogists
- runs courses in genealogy for beginners and publishes a
quarterly magazine and a wide range of books on family history to
help you further. The library has the largest collection of copies
of parish registers in the UK and has an extensive collection of
family histories and one-name studies.
Welsh
Ancestry (BBC) - contains numerous links for Welsh
ancestry.
* indicates that either membership or a fee may be payable to view
the full details contained on the relevant
site.