Society of Genealogists - Genealogy Links

Essential Genealogical Links

General Genealogical Sites

GENUKI Details of County Record Offices can be found on the county pages
Cyndi's List
John Fuller's list of Genealogy Mailing Lists
LookupUK The Resource Centre for finding that Lost Friend or Relative in the UK. Provides links to free and paid for data.

Governmental repositories

Libraries & other National Repositories

Libraries & Learners in London provides the key to unlock many previously restricted libraries, opening the doors of these rich resources through an agreement between academic and public libraries in the city.
British Library for Family Historians
National Library of Scotland
National Library of Wales
National Library of Ireland
National Register of Archives (Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts)
Familia Details of genealogical holdings in public libraries in Britain & Ireland.
College of Arms
National Maritime Museum, PORT is an online catalogue of high quality maritime-related Internet resources. Services and materials developed by the Museum's Centre for Research are also available on the site.
ArchivesHub Archives Hub service, available free of charge at which now has collection-level descriptions for nearly 10,000 archives held in the UK's universities and colleges. This figure will reach 20,000 by July 2003.
ARCHON (Archives On-line) Information about other repositories (addresses, opening times, links to Web pages).
British History Online is a digital library of British historical sources for historians of Britain located worldwide seeking access to, and cross-searching of, an interconnected range of historical sources including text and information about people, places and businesses from the 12th century to the present day. Built by the Institute of Historical Research and the History of Parliament, it aims to provide a particular range and a unique configuration of historical sources whose availability and format will help to devise and develop new research strategies and methodologies.
Moving Here is part of a National Archive initiative and contains about 150,000 free images. It predominantly covers people from four communities coming into Britain over the past 200 years Jewish, Irish, Caribbean and South Asian.

Other Organisations

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Addresses of LDS Family History Centres in the British Isles on the official LDS Web site.
Federation of Family History Societies. Details of Family History Societies which are members of the Federation
Scottish Association of Family History Societies
An index of Family History Societies can be found on the GENUKI Family History Societies page.
New England Historic Genealogical Society, oldest and largest genealogical society in the USA. One of the richest sources on family history, with particular emphasis on local family history. Excellent for genealogists.
Institute of Heraldic & Genealogical Studies
The Heraldry Society exists to increase and extend interest in and knowledge of heraldry, armory, chivalry, genealogy and allied subjects. The Society is nonprofit making and is registered as an educational charity. Membership is open to all. As well as enjoying the privileges and advantages of membership, subscriptions help to further the aims of the Society
The Heraldry Society of Scotland was founded in 1977 with the objective of promoting the study of heraldry and encouraging its correct use in Scotland and Overseas. The Society encourages people to join whether they have their own arms, intend to procure arms, or have a general interest in Scottish Heraldry. Our membership is made up of people from around the globe with many meeting regularly in the Society's very active Community Forum. Meetings are held several times during the year for lectures or visits to places of historic and heraldic interest, both in Scotland and in other countries. The Society is privileged to number many of Her Majesty's Officers of Arms among its members and a close liaison is maintained with The Court of the Lord Lyon.
Association of Genealogists and Researchers in Archives AGRA

Major On-line Data Collections

findmypast.com. On this site you will find an entire copy of the indexes of Births, Marriages and Deaths for England and Wales from 1837 to 2001 and many other records covering migration and occupations. Images of original documents are available to search, view (including zooming in on those awkward-to-read names), save to disk and print for a modest charge. This site will be most useful to you if you are already familiar with these indexes and wish to have the opportunity to search them in your own time, without having to physically visit a library or a register office.

The LDS Church's Family Search site is the largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world

The Origins Network - database which currently includes over one million names, covering the period 1568 to 1850, and including the Vicar-General Marriage Licence Allegations Index, 1694-1850; Faculty Office Marriage Licence Allegations Index, 1701-1850; Bank of England Will Extracts Index, 1717-1845; London City Apprenticeship Abstracts, 1568-1850; London Consistory Court Depositions Index, 1703-13; Archdeaconry Court of London Wills Index, 1700-1807; Boyd's Marriage Indexes (East Anglia & Yorkshire as as 1 April 2002)

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission's Debt of Honour Register provides personal and service details and places of commemoration for the 1.7 million members of the Commonwealth forces who died in the First or Second World Wars.

Other On-line Data Sources

Old Bailey Online Project. The Proceedings of the Old Bailey London 1674 to 1834 A fully searchable online edition of the largest body of texts detailing the lives of non-elite people ever published, containing accounts of over 100,000 criminal trials held at London's central criminal court. Currently available (March 2003): 22,000 trials, December 1714 to December 1759.
Burke's Peerage and Gentry - the online source for authentic genealogical records of Britain's titled and landed families throughout the centuries. A free resource to the Burke's Peerage and Gentry web site which will be expanded over time, aims to help people find information, definitions and links on a host of terms related to British history, society and tradition. A-Z Resources
The Royal Welch Fusiliers Museum at Caernarfon.
The Monumental Brass Society website has information about brasses and the MBS's activities and it includes a very extensive bibliography, themed picture library, access to an index of MBs publications and other aids to research on brasses and slabs.
Police Orders specialises in police orders of police officers serving in London's Metropolitan Police Service. At present the on-line database hold over 420,000 records from between 1891-1895 and 1899-1932. The information supplied includes joined, resigned, retired, died, transfers and medals.
Every Generation. Empowering and influencing the black community through history, family genealogy and heritage.
The Bookplate Society, founded in 1972, is the direct descendant of the world's first such organisation, the Ex Libris Society, 1891-1908, and its creation and successor, the Bookplate Exchange Club. Our purpose is to encourage the production, use, collecting, and study of bookplates. We achieve this through our publications, lectures, visits to collections, members' auctions, social meetings, and exhibitions.
Naval Biographical Database. People and ships associated with the Royal Navy since 1660. The database can be searched for name of individual or ship for free but there is a charge for specific data.
Vision of Britain is a free-to-use website, invaluable to anyone interested in finding out more about the places where their British ancestors lived or about changing history of British places generally. The website has been developed by the Great Britain Historical Geographic Information System (GBH GIS), a research project based at the University of Portsmouth, UK. Keying in a British place-name or postcode will give instant access to information on a particular area, from 200 years of UK Census statistics, assorted historic maps and gazetteers and the observations of travel writers from as early as the 11th century.