Genealogy Reviews

Get to grips with Graves

Tracking down your family history isn't always about combing through documents and official records. Gravestones can be a major source of information, often linking several generations of a family, and finding them is of course a good excuse to get out an... Read More

Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Make the most of Parish Registers

Family-run website TheGenealogist has made it a mission to bring more parish records together online than ever before.... Read More

Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Make Your Research Mobile

A new app – working on all iOS and Android smart phones and tablets – means you can always have your family tree with you.... Read More

Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Track Down Tithe Records

More than 11 million tithe records have been released online this year - a major source of information for family historians. They reveal a wealth of information about people, places and landmarks.... Read More

Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Making the censuses crystal clear

We explore how the latest technology can improve your research... Read More

Issue 122 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

‘Murderer’ in the margins

Nick Thorne uses the latest enhanced census images to help trace the Eltham Murder victim and the accused, both recorded under the same roof.... Read More

Issue 121 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

The Greats of Greetings Cards

Nick Thorne explores the records of the Jewish family responsible for many of our ancestors’ greetings cards... Read More

Issue 93 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

250,000 Educational Records Added

TheGenealogist has released more college and university registers into its expanding Educational Records collection... Read More

Issue 93 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

London

London has always been a city of renewal – plagues and fires have decimated its population and scarred its buildings... Read More

Issue 93 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

A Life Spelt Out

Nick Thorne investigates the story of an Extraordinary Welsh Woman, Spelter-making Industrialist, Novelist and Suffragist Amy Dillwyn... Read More

Issue 92 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Additional RAF Operations Books Online

TheGenealogist has released additional new RAF records that are fully searchable... Read More

Issue 92 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Listen to Family Stories... and Then do the Research

Nick Thorne builds his family story on firm ground using records readily available online... Read More

Issue 91 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Parish Records for all of Wales Launched

TheGenealogist has launched the complete set of all Anglican records for Wales... Read More

Issue 91 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

One Ring to Bind Them

Nick Thorne uses online map tools to search for a stone burial chamber which moved 170 miles away from where its Neolithic builders originally put it... Read More

Issue 90 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Explore thousands more Tithe Maps at Map Explorer

TheGenealogist has doubled the number of tithe maps available on its unique Map Explorer service... Read More

Issue 90 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

The Soldier, the Priest and the Count

Nick Thorne looks at one family with three leaders of men – a brave soldier, a Catholic priest who risked capture by the enemy and a one-time prime minister of a European state... Read More

Issue 89 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

More than 260,000 Poll Book Records go Online

TheGenealogist has just released over 260,000 records into its ever growing Poll Book Record Collection.... Read More

Issue 89 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

A Stained Character?

Nick Thorne roots out the hidden past of an expert on stained glass windows... Read More

Issue 88 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

New Online Records to help Find your Australian Cousins

TheGenealogist has added to its Australian records a set of new resources which can be used to find ancestors who lived in this country in the past.... Read More

Issue 88 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Wolverhampton

The settlement of Wolverhampton was founded in 985 by King Ethelred granting lands to a Lady Wulfrun.... Read More

Issue 88 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

The Road to Butlin’s

From drapers who became bankers and bakers who became showmen, Nick Thorne traces the family of a holiday camp impresario... Read More

Issue 87 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Throne

Thousands more Worcestershire Parish Records Online

TheGenealogist has added over 85,500 individuals to its parish records for Worcestershire to increase the coverage of this English county.... Read More

Issue 87 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Radnorshire

Radnorshire is one of the 13 historic counties of Wales, a sparsely populated and rural region throughout history.... Read More

Issue 87 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

A Day in the Life of an Expert

Social and family historian Keith Gregson takes a wry yet informative look at the part he has played in recent Family History Shows... Read More

Issue 86 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Keith Gregson

More than 1m RAF Operations Record Books released Online

TheGenealogist has expanded its unique collection of searchable RAF Operations Record Books with the addition of 1.2 million new records for aircrew operations.... Read More

Issue 86 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Leicester

Leicester’s history dates back to an Iron Age settlement clustered along the east bank of the Soar above its confluence with the Trent.... Read More

Issue 86 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Unconventional Lives

Nick Thorne delves into the archives to demonstrate that our forebears had complicated lives just as we do... Read More

Issue 85 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Newly Released Property Records for parts of Surrey

TheGenealogist has just released data for the Kingston upon Thames, Hook and Malden areas into its Lloyd George Domesday Survey Records collection... Read More

Issue 85 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Yorkshire

After the Romans left, small Celtic kingdoms arose in Yorkshire.... Read More

Issue 85 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

The Finder of Wonderful Things

Nick Thorne discovers the records for the artist’s son who discovered a pharaoh, Egyptologist Howard Carter... Read More

Issue 84 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Early Directories go Online

TheGenealogist has released a collection of searchable early trade and residential Directories that cover the years 1816–1839... Read More

Issue 84 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Kingston upon Hull

Located in the East Riding of Yorkshire, the city of Kingston upon Hull lies on the River Hull – hence the name it is usually known by.... Read More

Issue 84 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Educate yourself on the records!

Keith Gregson has recently discovered the usefulness of TheGenealogist’s Education search engine and shares some of his discoveries with readers... Read More

Issue 83 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Keith Gregson

RAF Operations Books become Fully Searchable Online for the First Time

For the first time, RAF operations books are fully searchable by name, aircraft, location and many other fields.... Read More

Issue 83 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Merionethshire

Merioneth, or Merionethshire (Sir Feirionydd in Welsh) is one of the 13 historic counties of Wales.... Read More

Issue 83 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

There's no business like show business!

The Discover Your Ancestors Family History Shows offer something for everyone involved with genealogy... Read More

Issue 9 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Andrew Chapman

Gather ye Records while ye May!

Nick Thorne finds out about the Herricks of Leicester... Read More

Issue 82 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

New Norfolk Parish Records Online

TheGenealogist has just added over 500,000 individuals in a new release of Norfolk parish records with images of the original records in association with the Norfolk Record Office.... Read More

Issue 82 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Winchester

The area around Winchester has been inhabited since prehistoric times.... Read More

Issue 82 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Tales of the Cartaret Dynasty

Nick Thorne follows up a chance finding in the tithe records, leading him to the story of a Royalist privateer commemorated in America... Read More

Issue 81 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

New Searchable War Memorials

TheGenealogist has just released over 12,000 records from 138 war memorials.... Read More

Issue 81 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Monmouthshire

Monmouthshire is one of 13 historic counties of Wales and a former administrative county.... Read More

Issue 81 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Sky High Progress

Nick Thorne tells the story of the son of a ladies underclothing manufacturer who pioneered long-distance flight in a flimsy biplane... Read More

Issue 80 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Colour Bedfordshire Tithe Maps

TheGenealogist has released a collection of colour tithe maps for Bedfordshire to join the previously published greyscale maps in its National Tithe Records collection.... Read More

Issue 80 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Banbury

The name ‘Banbury’ derives from Banna, a Saxon chieftain said to have built a stockade there in the 6th century, and ‘burgh’ meaning settlement.... Read More

Issue 80 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

A Rich Resource for the Regiments

Nick Thorne uses the Regimental Records on TheGenealogist to learn more about a brave officer’s war... Read More

Issue 79 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Throne

Full Colour Warwickshire Maps

TheGenealogist has just released additional sets of colour tithe maps to join the previously available greyscale maps in their National Tithe Records collection... Read More

Issue 79 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Buckinghamshire

The historic county of Buckinghamshire has been in existence since it was a subdivision of the kingdom of Mercia in the 10th century.... Read More

Issue 79 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

A walk through the history of Eel Pie Island

Nick Thorne takes a ramble through records relating to the island in the Thames... Read More

Issue 78 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

More school records online

TheGenealogist has released a diverse batch of school and university records to join its ever-growing education collection.... Read More

Issue 78 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Peterborough

The original name of Peterborough was Medeshamstede... Read More

Issue 78 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

The Wrong Side of the Blanket?

Nick Thorne finds new Norfolk parish records on TheGenealogist can reveal illegitimate children and who their parents had been.... Read More

Issue 77 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Charles Booth poverty maps added to TheGenealogist

TheGenealogist’s innovative Map Explorer, which allows family history researchers to trace an ancestor’s property and then view the changing environment over time, now boasts another powerful new feature.... Read More

Issue 77 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Carmarthenshire

Before the Romans arrived in Britain, the land now forming the county of Carmarthenshire was part of the kingdom of the Demetae, who gave their name to the county of Dyfed.... Read More

Issue 77 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Finding my earliest home

Keith Gregson reports on a personal discovery made thanks to TheGenealogist’s land-related records... Read More

Issue 76 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Keith Gregson

Sunderland

Recorded settlements at the mouth of the River Wear date to 674, when an Anglo-Saxon nobleman, Benedict Biscop, founded the Wearmouth–Jarrow monastery.... Read More

Issue 76 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

More Than 500,000 Norfolk Parish Records go Online

TheGenealogist has added over half a million new parish records for Norfolk to its Parish Records collection.... Read More

Issue 76 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Number One London

TheGenealogist’s Map Explorer shows London landmarks in a changing environment, writes Nick Thorne... Read More

Issue 75 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Records of 100,000 Victorian prisoners launched online

TheGenealogist has released over 100,000 individuals into its expanding Court & Criminal Records collection.... Read More

Issue 75 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Huntingdonshire

The earliest English settlers in the district of what became Huntingdonshire were the Gyrwas, an East Anglian tribe.... Read More

Issue 75 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

From One Type of Bank to Another

Nick Thorne looks at the records for the Wind in the Willows author Kenneth Grahame... Read More

Issue 74 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Nautical Apprenticeship Records Released Online

TheGenealogist has expanded its occupational records with over 300,000 records of Masters and Apprentices included in a nautical set of apprenticeship records... Read More

Issue 74 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Truro

Today Truro is Cornwall’s county town and its only city, the southernmost in mainland Britain.... Read More

Issue 74 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

A Village Heroine

Nick Thorne traces the family records of a redoubtable Victorian woman, who nursed royalty and many others... Read More

Issue 73 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

New Update to Innovative Map Tool

TheGenealogist’s latest innovation, the Map Explorer, launched recently to help you find an ancestor’s property... Read More

Issue 73 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Glamorgan

Until the Roman conquest of Britain, the area that would become known as Glamorgan (or Glamorganshire) was part of the territory of the Silures... Read More

Issue 73 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

The Tale of a Family Tree

Nick Thorne uses online resources to explore the family history of Beatrix Potter, the creator of Peter Rabbit... Read More

Issue 72 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Map Explorer Launched

TheGenealogist’s latest innovation helps you find an ancestor’s property and watch the landscape change over time... Read More

Issue 72 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Bath

Although Bath has signs of pre-Roman origin, the settlement primarily developed in Roman times as Aquae Sulis... Read More

Issue 72 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Salt of the Earth

Nick Thorne uses resources at TheGenealogist to add flavour to the family story of manufacturer and philanthropist Titus Salt... Read More

Issue 71 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

1910 Domesday records for Kensington & Chelsea

TheGenealogist is releasing the field books and detailed annotated maps for Kensington and Chelsea as the next part of the exciting record set, The Lloyd George Domesday Survey... Read More

Issue 71 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Northamptonshire

In the 1st century BC, most of what later became Northamptonshire became part of the territory of the Catuvellauni, a Belgic tribe, conquered in turn by the Romans in 43 AD.... Read More

Issue 71 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

The Pilot, MP and Communist Pioneer

Nick Thorne discovers the early aviator and first British communist MP Cecil L’Estrange Malone... Read More

Issue 70 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

700,000 records of crime added to online collection

TheGenealogist has added almost 700,000 entries for prisoners to its Court and Criminal Records collection.... Read More

Issue 70 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

La Belle Sauvage

Nick Thorne visits a coaching inn where the printing presses disturbed the guests... Read More

Issue 69 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Westminster records for 1910 Domesday released

Colour tithe maps for Hunts and Rutland go online... Read More

Issue 69 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Bedfordshire

Bedfordshire stretches from the chalk ridge of the Chiltern Hills in the south to the broad drainage basin of the River Great Ouse and its tributaries.... Read More

Issue 69 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Coventry

It is likely that the first settlement at Coventry grew around a Saxon nunnery.... Read More

Issue 70 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

The search for Mr Nesbitt

Keith Gregson brings his extensive First World War research to a close with the help of online resources... Read More

Issue 68 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Keith Gregson

More Warks parish records and WW1 officer data released

TheGenealogist has added over 1.5 million individuals to its Warwickshire Parish Record Collection... Read More

Issue 68 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Newport

According to legend, in the late 5th century Saint Woolos church was founded by Saint Gwynllyw... Read More

Issue 68 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

The search for Mr Vinneycombe

Keith Gregson shows how he has used TheGenealogist and allied sites to solve one particularly challenging WW1 research problem... Read More

Issue 67 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Keith Gregson

Berkshire

At the time of the Norman Conquest, Berkshire formed part of the Earldom of Harold, and supported him staunchly at the Battle of Hastings... Read More

Issue 67 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

1950s passenger lists online

TheGenealogist has just released over four million outbound passenger list records for the 1950s... Read More

Issue 67 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Squaring the Stone Circle

With the centenary of Stonehenge being gifted to the public this October, Nick Thorne explores the families who had once owned it... Read More

Issue 66 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

1910 Valuation Office Survey records for Brent released

TheGenealogist has released the third part of its unique online record set, The Lloyd George Domesday Survey... Read More

Issue 66 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Hereford

Hereford became the seat of Putta, Bishop of Hereford, some time between AD 676 and 688... Read More

Issue 66 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Our survey says…

From diverted waterways to lead pencil drawings of major arterial roads to come, Nick Thorne shows how newly released records from the Lloyd George Domesday Survey can aid researchers... Read More

Issue 65 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

160,000 more crime records online at TheGenealogist

TheGenealogist has added to its Court and Criminal Records collection with the release of over 160,000 records of prisoners at the bar and their victims from the CRIM 9 records held by The National Archives... Read More

Issue 65 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Hampshire and the Isle of Wight

For several centuries Hampshire’s county town of Winchester was a more important settlement than London... Read More

Issue 65 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Murder in the rookeries

Nick Thorne investigates a gruesome death in St Giles, London... Read More

Issue 64 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Next set of 1910 Domesday Survey data now available

TheGenealogist has released the second part of its exciting new record set, The Lloyd George Domesday Survey... Read More

Issue 64 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Gloucester

The Romans began settling Gloucester in the first century AD on account of it being next to the lowest point where the River Severn could be crossed... Read More

Issue 64 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

The Wills Forgery Trials

Nick Thorne considers a case of forged records that had a lawyer wrongly transported for life... Read More

Issue 63 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

More records for 1920s research, change of names database plus further colour tithe maps released

With the 1921 census still some years away from public release, TheGenealogist has added further records to its 1921 census substitute collection... Read More

Issue 63 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Pembrokeshire

Pembrokeshire is a divided land in a unique way - straggling across the county, roughly from the upper inland corner of St Bride’s Bay in the west to the middle of Carmarthen Bay in the west is a phenomenon known as the Landsker Line... Read More

Issue 63 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Some Yorkshire Sporting Heroes

Yorkshire folk are ‘right proud’ of their sporting heritage and it is likely that our Yorkshire ancestors will have taken part in some form of sporting activity and that this activity may have been recorded... Read More

Issue 62 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Keith Gregson

Criminals and drunkards added online, and more than 1.2 million further parish records for Warwickshire released

TheGenealogist has added to its Criminal Records collections with the release of the Metropolitan Police Criminal Records Office: Habitual Criminals Registers and the Habitual Drunkards Registers.... Read More

Issue 62 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Durham

The small north-eastern city of Durham has its origins in late Saxon and Viking times... Read More

Issue 62 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

The colour mauve

Nick Thorne traces the Perkin family from apprentice leatherworkers in the 18th century to top scientists in the 20th... Read More

Issue 61 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Thousands more war memorial and headstone records released online

TheGenealogist has expanded its growing headstone and war memorial record collections with some interesting new additions to both.... Read More

Issue 61 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Cumbria

At the end of the Roman era in Britain (c410 AD) the inhabitants of this area were native Romano-Britons who spoke Cumbric, related to Old Welsh.... Read More

Issue 61 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Canterbury

In the first century AD, Canterbury became established as an important staging post for the Romans, situated between their port of Richborough and the growing city of London.... Read More

Issue 60 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

TheGenealogist celebrates RAF centenary with new data

To mark the centenary of the establishment of the RAF on 1 April 1918, TheGenealogist has released thousands of records of individuals who were recorded in a number of Air Force Lists... Read More

Issue 60 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

TheGenealogist adds more than 650,000 criminal records

TheGenealogist has added 651,369 quarterly returns of convicts from The National Archives’ HO 8 series of documents to its Court & Criminal Records collection... Read More

Issue 59 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Norfolk

Norfolk was settled in pre-Roman times. The Iceni tribe inhabited the county from the 1st century BC to the end of the 1st century AD.... Read More

Issue 59 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

The Birds without eggs

Nick Thorne investigates the family behind a favourite British brand... Read More

Issue 58 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

News from the 19th century!

TheGenealogist has added more than 500 further editions of the weekly publication The Illustrated London News to its Newspaper and Magazine collection... Read More

Issue 58 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

More than 360,000 more Warks parish records released online

TheGenealogist has added more than 366,000 individuals to its collection of parish records for Warwickshire to increase the coverage of this county in the heart of England... Read More

Issue 58 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Stoke-on-Trent

What we now call Stoke-on-Trent was actually formed in 1910 as a federation of six midlands pottery towns, namely Stoke-upon-Trent, Hanley, Burslem, Tunstall, Longton and Fenton... Read More

Issue 58 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

The ultimate ‘Bentley Boy’

Nick Thorne follows the family records trail for the glamorous Captain Woolf Barnato... Read More

Issue 57 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

TNA’s BT 27 ships’ passenger lists go online for the 1930s

TheGenealogist has just released over 2.7 million TNA series BT 27 records for the 1930s... Read More

Issue 57 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire lies on the Roman Fosse Way, and there are Roman settlements in the county, for example at Mansfield and the fort at Bilborough... Read More

Issue 57 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Through adversity to the stars

Nick Thorne celebrates the April centenary of the birth of the Royal Air Force... Read More

Issue 60 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Over 5m US passenger lists released

TheGenealogist has added over 5 Million passenger records to its US records... Read More

Issue 58 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Crackers about Christmas

Nick Thorne looks at some of the Victorian people behind Christmas traditions we enjoy to this day... Read More

Issue 56 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

15,000 more names from war memorials

TheGenealogist has added another 15,000 names to its War Memorials collection, from 53 new memorials... Read More

Issue 56 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

TheGenealogist begins major release of 1910 Domesday Survey

TheGenealogist is releasing the first part of an exciting new record set; The Lloyd George Domesday Survey – a major new release that will reveal where an ancestor lived in 1910... Read More

Issue 56 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Lincoln

In Roman times Lincoln was a significant hilltop fortress, called Lindum Colonia, ‘Lin’ referring at the time to what is now the Brayford Pool, a lake formed by a widening of the River Witham... Read More

Issue 56 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Grandpa never mentioned that!

Nick Thorne discovered an unexpected literary connection to his family... Read More

Issue 55 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Family fireworks

We explore actor Kit Harington’s connections to both the Gunpowder Plot and the king it tried to kill... Read More

Issue 55 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

More military records released

TheGenealogist has announced the addition of two new record sets that will be useful for researching the First World War and Victorian soldiers... Read More

Issue 55 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Leicestershire

The first recorded use of the name Leicestershire was in the 11th century... Read More

Issue 55 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Dastardly attack on Her Majesty

Nick Thorne investigates the most successful of the numerous attempts to harm Queen Victoria... Read More

Issue 54 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Bournemouth

Settlement in the Bournemouth area goes back thousands of years but, although it is now the largest town in Dorset, until the early 19th century it was still largely a remote and barren heathland, used only by smugglers and revenue troops... Read More

Issue 54 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

1.1m Sussex records go online

TheGenealogist has added over 1.1 million individuals to its parish record collection covering the county of Sussex... Read More

Issue 54 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

New records from the ‘Far North’

Keith Gregson explores the Northumberland parish records recently added to TheGenealogist website... Read More

Issue 53 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Keith Gregson

TheGenealogist releases large collection of criminal records

TheGenealogist.co.uk has enlarged its Court & Criminal Records collection so that even more black sheep ancestors can now be searched for and found on the site... Read More

Issue 53 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Gloucestershire

The region now known as Gloucestershire was originally inhabited by Brythonic peoples (ancestors of the Welsh and other British Celtic peoples) in the Iron Age and Roman periods... Read More

Issue 53 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Changing names

Nick Thorne unravels a family of name changes and finds a black sheep exiled for his crime... Read More

Issue 52 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

1.4m records for Northumberland

TheGenealogist.co.uk has expanded its UK Parish Records collection with the release of more than 1,363,000 new records for Northumberland... Read More

Issue 52 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Ipswich

Ipswich in Suffolk has been an important English port since Saxon times, and claims to be one of the country’s oldest towns... Read More

Issue 52 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

The case of the author’s family

Nick Thorne manages to explore Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s family line despite the variation in names used in the records... Read More

Issue 51 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Major boost for Yorkshire research

TheGenealogist has announced the release of the City of York and Ainsty colour tithe maps, plus another significant batch of Yorkshire directories... Read More

Issue 51 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

The marvellous Mitfords

Nick Thorne finds that an inheritance may divert sideways on a family tree... Read More

Issue 50 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Wartime newspapers go online

TheGenealogist has expanded its Newspaper and Magazine collection with the release of editions of The Sphere that cover August 1914 to June 1919... Read More

Issue 50 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Worcester

The trade route past Worcester, which later formed part of the Roman Ryknild Street, dates to Neolithic times... Read More

Issue 50 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Pillars of the establishment

From a Governor of the Bank of England to a grandson killed by Indian Tigers – Nick Thorne explores an interesting Huguenot family... Read More

Issue 49 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Poll book and parish record bonanza

In time for the snap general election, TheGenealogist.co.uk has added to its Polls and Electoral records by publishing online a new collection of poll books ranging from the late 19th century to the early 20th century... Read More

Issue 49 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Cambridgeshire

Modern Cambridgeshire was formed in 1974 from the historic counties of Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, the Isle of Ely and the Soke of Peterborough (the latter was traditionally part of Northamptonshire... Read More

Issue 49 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

London educational records go online

TheGenealogist has just released a batch of London school and university records to join its growing educational collection.... Read More

Issue - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Plimsoll's Line

Nick Thorne explores the life of Samuel Plimsoll, from bankrupt coal merchant to renegade MP... Read More

Issue - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Court and Police records released

Large release of court and police records from TheGenealogist... Read More

Issue - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Place in Focus: Oxford

Leading data website TheGenealogist.co.uk has a wealth of online records for Oxford... Read More

Issue - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

A true pioneer

To celebrate Women’s History Month, Nick Thorne explores the records of a pioneering professional woman... Read More

Issue 47 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

New parish registers and war memorial records go online

The Genealogist has added to the millions of UK parish records already available at the site with more than 282,000 new, fully searchable records from Essex, Cumberland and Norfolk. Some of the records go back as far as 1672... Read More

Issue 47 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire was founded in the Norse–Saxon wars of the 9th century, and developed through commerce serving London rather than agriculture... Read More

Issue 47 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

In search of the Chief Scout

Nick Thorne looks at a man from a large family who grew up to be a national hero... Read More

Issue 46 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Shrewsbury

Shrewsbury is only nine miles from the Welsh border, a situation which is reflected in its history of conflict between the English and Welsh.... Read More

Issue 46 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

The man who built Parliament

Nick Thorne traces the rise of the architect Sir Charles Barry... Read More

Issue - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Place in Focus: Cornwall

Leading data website TheGenealogist.co.uk has a wealth of online records for Cornwall... Read More

Issue - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Major new release: TreeView 2

Leading family history publisher S&N Genealogy Supplies has just released TreeView 2... Read More

Issue - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

‘For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil’

Nick Thorne investigates the story of the Reverend Vyvyan Moyle and his temptations of the monetary kind... Read More

Issue 44 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

What TheGenealogist has in store for 2017

The new year is going to see millions of new records added to TheGenealogist across a wide variety of collections...... Read More

Issue 44 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Portsmouth

Portsmouth in Hampshire is the UK’s only island city, and has the world’s oldest dry dock (dating to Tudor times)... Read More

Issue 44 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Banking on fraud

Nick Thorne discovers that a Royal Charter and having MPs for directors failed to stop a Victorian bank embezzling its customers’ money... Read More

Issue 43 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

The escapologists

Nick Thorne follows the ‘Thrill Slayer’ and the ‘Artful Dodger’ in newly released online records for the US... Read More

Issue 43 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

220 million US records released

Data site TheGenealogist.co.uk has launched over 220 million US records, which will be invaluable to family historians whose ancestors may have emigrated from Britain... Read More

Issue 43 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Cardiganshire

Cardiganshire – or, more properly now, Ceredigion – is a county in mid Wales, mostly rural but with an important coastline... Read More

Issue 43 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

A wing and a prayer

Nick Thorne looks at the records of the renowned flying sons of a clergyman... Read More

Issue 42 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Wide range of clerical records newly released

If your ancestor held a prominent position in a religious organisation then you may find them in amongst a number of recent releases at TheGenealogist... Read More

Issue 42 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Luton

The foundation of Luton is usually dated to the 6th century, when a Saxon outpost was founded on the river Lea (or Lugh), ‘Lea tun’... Read More

Issue 42 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Tracing the trails our ancestors leave behind

The grave of a Waterloo veteran in a quiet Jersey churchyard inspires Nick Thorne to find out more about a soldier who served in every engagement from Corunna to Waterloo... Read More

Issue 41 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Worcestershire

Worcestershire was the heartland of the early English kingdom of the Hwicce, one of the peoples of Anglo-Saxon England... Read More

Issue 41 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Early military records newly released online

TheGenealogist.co.uk has added several new early military records... Read More

Issue 41 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Is it worth 'giving them a bell'?

Keith Gregson examines how late Victorian/early Edwardian telephone directories can help the family historian... Read More

Issue - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Keith Gregson

Anglicans in the archives

Jill Morris looks at the history of the Church of England, and records of clergy available online... Read More

Issue - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Jill Morris

Place in Focus: Swansea

Leading data website TheGenealogist.co.uk has a wealth of online records for Swansea... Read More

Issue - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Taking back the prisoners

Nick Thorne researches Sir Robert Napier and the daring 1868 expedition to Abyssinia through inhospitable terrain to rescue British hostages... Read More

Issue 39 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

One man’s Somme story

Nick Thorne marks the centenary of the Battle of the Somme with the story of its oldest British death... Read More

Issue 39 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Huge data boost at TheGenealogist

TheGenealogist.co.uk has just launched a new collection of British telephone directories... Read More

Issue 39 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

The elite of Eton

With Old Etonians still dominating British politics, Jill Morris explores the history of this famous public school and the records available online... Read More

Issue 39 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Jill Morris

Surrey

During the 5th and 6th centuries Surrey was conquered and settled by Saxons... Read More

Issue 39 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

A comedy heroine descended from a WW1 hero

Nick Thorne takes a look at the family of the well-loved and talented entertainer Victoria Wood... Read More

Issue 38 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Great Scots online

Jill Morris explores the wealth of Scottish records available... Read More

Issue 38 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Jill Morris

Carlisle

Carlisle was historically the county town of Cumberland, and remains so for Cumbria, which absorbed neighbouring Westmorland in 1972... Read More

Issue 38 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

The roots of the Trucker Earl

Nick Thorne uses colour tithe maps now available online to look into the past of a colourful family... Read More

Issue 37 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Hair-raising history

Harry Cunningham investigates the changing roles of hairdressers and barbers, from cutting limbs to cutting hair... Read More

Issue 37 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Harry Cunningham

Blue sap in the family tree?

Jill Morris finds an online treasure trove of royal records... Read More

Issue 37 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Jill Morris

Suffolk

The county of Suffolk (meaning ‘southern folk’) was formed from the south part of the kingdom of East Anglia which had been settled by the Angles in the latter half of the 5th century... Read More

Issue 37 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

WDYTYA Live? show draws huge crowds

We report on the biggest genealogy event of the year... Read More

Issue 37 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

The Fortunes of war

Nick Thorne discovers the highest ranking British officer in online German prisoner of war records... Read More

Issue 36 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Pioneers in the sky

Jill Morris takes a bird’s eye view of early aviation... Read More

Issue 36 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Jill Morris

Plymouth

What became Plymouth was already established as a fishing and continental tin trading port in the late Iron Age into the early medieval period...... Read More

Issue 36 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Criminally Insane or Cold-Blooded Murderer?

Nick Thorne researches a 19th century cause célèbre with the help of TheGenealogist’s record collections... Read More

Issue 35 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Meaning Business

Jill Morris investigates the history of limited companies... Read More

Issue 35 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Jill Morris

Place in Focus: Cheshire

Leading data website TheGenealogist.co.uk has a wealth of online records for Cheshire... Read More

Issue 35 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Revolutionary new multi-platform family tree software for PC and Mac

Market leaders in the family history retail sector S&N Genealogy Supplies have just announced the release of TreeView – a new family history software package designed for Windows and Mac.... Read More

Issue 35 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

150,000 PoW records added online

Leading British genealogy website TheGenealogist.co.uk has added over 150,000 World War Two prisoner of war records to its already significant military records collection.... Read More

Issue 35 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

A ‘Greatorex’ by any other name…

Keith Gregson puts TheGenealogist’s powerful search engine to the test... Read More

Issue 34 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Keith Gregson

A charmed life

Nick Thorne explores one man’s life from genteel Cheltenham to hell on the battlefields of World War I... Read More

Issue 33 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Queen of the Merseybeat

Laura Berry celebrates the life and origins of Scouse singer and TV personality Cilla Black... Read More

Issue 5 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Laura Berry

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

Nick Thorne explores the many faces of David Robert Jones (aka David Bowie) and his ancestors... Read More

Issue 5 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

The Liverpool Lad

Nick Thorne profiles the family of another musical legend from Liverpool... Read More

Issue 5 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Plotting the past

With the largest online collection of tithe records complete, and colour maps coming soon, Celia Heritage explores this invaluable resource... Read More

Issue 5 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Celia Heritage

TreeView 2.0

Family historian Chris Paton takes a look at the latest edition of the comprehensive TreeView software package... Read More

Issue 5 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Chris Paton

The actress, the dean and the prince

Nick Thorne explores the life of the late 19th century acting superstar Lillie Langtry using online records... Read More

Issue 5 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

A man of his word

Among the WW1 stories unearthed by writer and historian Keith Gregson is the tale of the only British soldier to be given leave from internment... Read More

Issue 5 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Keith Gregson

Use your free Gold subscription

Nick Thorne explains how to get the most out of your fantastic free three-month subscription to TheGenealogist... Read More

Issue 5 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Twas the night before Christmas…

Nick Thorne explores the history of Christmas cards and the Victorians who brought them to us... Read More

Issue 32 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

From Longleat to the Tower of London

Online records can prove invaluable for historical research. Here, Nick Thorne delves into the history of Longleat and its illustrious inhabitants... Read More

Issue 31 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Preserved for posterity

Nick Thorne explains the importance of storing your family history research properly and safely for the future... Read More

Issue 30 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Alien Ancestors

Denization and naturalisation records feature foreign artisans and aristocrats seeking a better life in Britain, says Laura Berry... Read More

Issue 26 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Laura Berry

A May to remember

Keith Gregson marks the centenary of Britian's worst railway disaster, which has often been overlooked because it occurred in the midst of World War One.... Read More

Issue 25 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Keith Gregson

Lost in the war, found in the records

World War One affected every level of society. Our case study shows the wide variety of records that reveal what happened to one renowned casualty.... Read More

Issue 24 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Horatio's last words

A recent BBC2 TV programme on Horatio Nelson centred on what the famous Admiral wrote in his letters, to reveal a more complex man than the hero created after his death. Discover the last wishes of one of the country's greatest heroes...... Read More

Issue 24 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Plotting the past

It's always been a challenge to find where our ancestors lived, but newly online records can help you explore the fields and houses in their home villages and towns. Never before have family historians been able to search nationwide for the uniquely d... Read More

Issue 23 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

The Mulberry Madam

Ancestors that fell foul of the law are always fascinating subjects for family history research. The chance to unearth a felon from within the records can be an exciting prospect. Nick Thorne unearths a story of a brothel-keeper sent to Australia for th... Read More

Issue 22 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

All Good Sports

Keith Gregson explores how to find online information about sporting ancestors who 'played for fun' or as a pastime in Victorian and Edwardian times.... Read More

Issue 22 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Keith Gregson

The Hidden Treasures of Gravestones

Nick Thorne discovers a fabulous repository of genealogical information. "I get quite excited when I see a churchyard or cemetery. To me it is a fabulous repository of genealogical information, all of which is just waiting to be revealed."... Read More

Issue 21 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Scanning on the go

Family historian Nick Thorne discovers a useful tool for capturing family memorabilia.... Read More

Issue 28 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Using TheGenealogist

Nick Thorne explains how to get the most out of your subscription to TheGenealogist. As a member, you are free to explore their wonderful resources such as parish records, wills, landowner and tithe records, an image archive, a comprehensive collection of... Read More

Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Nick Thorne

Families of the Famous: James Bond

The second Englishman to play Bond on screen, Daniel Craig has the blood of adventurers and debonair gentlemen running through his veins – some of them from France.... Read More

Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Laura Berry

Taking a Tenth

Land records are an excellent way of finding out more about our ancestors and where they lived. Celia Heritage explains, looking at tithe records in particular.... Read More

Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Celia Heritage

Find Your WW1 Ancestors

Many World War One records no longer exist. Does that mean that the men's stories have been lost forever? Chris Baker, who has researched thousands of individuals, explores the possibilities.... Read More

Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Chris Baker

Tommies in Training

Writer and historian Keith Gregson explores a rarely featured aspect of World War One and the online research material that can be used to find out more about the people involved.... Read More

Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Keith Gregson

Mentioned in dispatches

Newly online WW1 records can help trace a soldier's career, as this example shows...... Read More

Issue 20 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Fresh from the Front

From the famous battles and the spiralling casualty rates to the increasing use of photography and the use of 'gallows humour' by the troops at the front, World War One saw a great change in the way news was reported.... Read More

Issue 19 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Saturday night soldiers

A new release of 51,000+ records by TheGenealogist reveals the Territorial Army soldiers who served with distinction in Britain's army of reservists.... Read More

Issue 19 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Wounded in WW1

In its latest release of World War One military records, data giant TheGenealogist.co.uk has brought online the most comprehensive collection relating to those wounded in the war - more than 1.3 million records of servicemen from the British and Common... Read More

Issue 18 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

The Utmost Bravery

Leading family history data website TheGenealogist.co.uk has continued to affirm its status as a major resource for military records with the release of more than 25,000 records detailing recipients of the Distinguished Conduct Medal.... Read More

Issue 17 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Finding Freedom

Most of us are familiar with a person - often a well-known person born in the place - being awarded freedom of a city, but what does it actually mean, and are there relevant historical records available?... Read More

Issue 17 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine - Jill Morris

Justly Honoured

A major new collection of Military Medal records online reveals some of the bravest names in WW1.... Read More

Issue 16 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

From Store to War

TheGenealogist now has more than 650,000 records of soldiers who died in WW1 – here we use records of Harrods staff in the collection to learn more.... Read More

Issue 15 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

PoW Records Go Online

Leading data website TheGenealogist.co.uk has released a collection of more than 80,000 records of both officers and other ranks who were taken prisoner in World War One.... Read More

Issue 14 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

When Drama Meets Reality

Several actresses in BBC drama The Crimson Field have World War One roots of their own...... Read More

Issue 13 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Grow more branches

A collection of over half a million unique parish records has been added at TheGenealogist.co.uk. The new online records offer invaluable records of baptisms, marriages and burials dating from the 1500s to the late 1800s from Anglican parish registers.... Read More

Issue 13 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Paris of the West

During the 1860s to the 1880s, San Francisco began to transform into a major city, creating new neighbourhoods and culminating in the construction of Golden Gate Park in 1887. Now new online data will help you explore roots in 19th century San Francis... Read More

Issue 12 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Following the Plot

The most significant UK data release of 2014 so far is the first phase of tithe commutation records at TheGenealogist.co.uk. The tithe records provide a unique view into our ancestral heritage by providing details of ownership and occupancy of land th... Read More

Issue 12 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Helping the community

Here's how you can join in with a major project to record gravestone inscriptions.... Read More

Issue 11 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Sphere of Influence

A newly online collection of historic newspapers offers a useful research resource for the World War One era.... Read More

Issue 11 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

A wealth of wills

With the amount of documents and records available when researching your family history, it is easy to overlook family documents that may contain valuable information, such as will records. These are available online and reveal details about your family’s... Read More

Issue 10 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Trades in the trenches

People from all walks of life served in WW1 – and often their professional bodies left records...... Read More

Issue 9 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Party like it’s 1853

How about some 160-year-old games to liven up your winter parties?... Read More

Issue 9 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Picturing the Past

Introducing a valuable new online resource to bring the past to life...... Read More

Issue 8 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Jutland Remembered

Records from the largest naval battle of WW1 have recently gone online.... Read More

Issue 8 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

The Back-Up Brigades

Did you have an ancestor who was a part-time soldier in the late 18th Century? New militia muster records online could help you advance your research...... Read More

Issue 7 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

Trade Secrets

Apprenticeships have been a key part of many of our forebears' lives. Now there are more apprentice records searchable online than ever before.... Read More

Issue 6 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

The Skill of Search

Knowing how to use search engines is a skill in itself – although we all expect to simply throw in a name, click a button and get the right results, there are techniques which can help. Many search engines offer a wealth of 'hidden' features for reefing y... Read More

Issue 6 - Discover Your Ancestors Magazine

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