Helen Smith delighted out largest ever audience with her presentation on how we could substitute searches conducted from the comfort of our own home for that expensive research trip to visit UK repositories. The secret is to know what is available, where to look for it and the best strategies to manage the problems inevitably caused by distance and time zones. She drew on situations from her own extensive research in recommending the most useful sites and processes for using them.
Although we often begin by searching for the names of people, the geographical and political history of the UK means that we must first use information on the places our families lived to locate the sites where the appropriate records will be held. Helen recommended the use of GENUKI and the Family Search Research Wiki as vital tools in finding where to look.
The National Archives (UK) provides a search facility for contact details of hundreds of smaller archives across the nation. You will need this for their email address and links to their online catalogues (where available). The Scottish Archive Network provides a similar service for small archives north of the border, but goes one better in providing a single catalogue covering 52 collections .
Of course, the National Archive also has its own collections that can be accessed through its catalogue called Discovery. There will find not only links to 363 different Research Guides, but also pages highlighting popular collections such as Famous Wills 1552-1854 (yes, William S is there) or Merchant seamen’s campaign medal records 1939-1945. Note that some collections cannot be viewed directly through the TNA site but are linked to one of their commercial partners (such as Ancestry or Find My Past). Remember that if you do not have a personal subscription, you can view these in the library.
Helen reminded us that although the UK is (for many record purposes) fundamentally an amalgam of lots of small counties, it is also made up of four countries (England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland) with each having some national institutions. For the past 400 years official government notices have been published in the Gazettes and every one of these is searchable.
For Welsh records, you need also to consider The National Library of Wales (Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru) and its subsite, Welsh Newspapers Online. In Scotland, become familiar with Scotland's People (free to search, pay per download) and ScotlandsPlaces. Just as England and Wales have the General Records Office, look to PRONI for public records relevant to Northern Ireland.
Many of us have ancestors who left the UK when it was even more united, before the creation of the Irish Free State and then the Republic. Records we want may be held in the National Archives of Ireland or the site Irish Genealogy.
Sometimes instead of searching for the location an obscure recordset, it is nice to browse through a curated list put together by a specialist. Both Cora Web (AUS) and Cyndi's List (US) include pages devoted to a multitude of UK sources. At either of those sites, look for the pages that sort sources by the county to which they refer.
Some of the most valuable links on those lists are those for local Family History Societies that operate in the area where your family once lived. Helen emphasised the importance of joining one or two of these societies (even if only for one year) to learn the benefits available to members. You can access a comprehensive list and read more about how the different societies operate at the site of the Federation of Family History Societies. Many are also active on social media such Twitter and Facebook.
Helen described the Online Parish Clerks as "genealogical angels". These are unpaid volunteers who are willing to help others with their genealogical research. They collect, collate, transcribe and post online records for various parishes within their respective areas. There is not one for every region but you can find links to OPC sites listed at GENUKI and UKBMD.
In recent years, University history departments have been engaged in creating huge databases of digitised and indexed documents around themes that also interest family historians. You should become familiar with projects such as Historical Directories of England and Wales, London Lives 1690-1800, Old Bailey Online and Charles Booth's London.
- Task 1 GENUKI https://www.iorad.com/player/128518/UK-Archives-Task-1
- Task 2 Family Search Research Wiki https://www.iorad.com/player/128494/UK-Archives-Task-2
- Task 3 TNA Archive Search https://www.iorad.com/player/129855/UK-Archives-Task-3
- Task 4 Scottish Archive Network https://www.iorad.com/player/131706/UK-Archives-Task-4
- Task 5