Like most hobbies, family history has its costs – and spending money on visiting somewhere your relatives once lived or paying to view a document that reveals an ancestor’s story can be worth every penny. However, you don’t need to sign up for every subscription site going – there are a wealth of online resources that you can access for free.
I’ve concentrated on the sites that will most help beginners, although there are plenty of recommendations here that experienced family historians will benefit from too. In fact, it’s easy for us to value the information we pay for more than the information that is freely available, so don’t dismiss these websites just because you subscribe to Ancestry (ancestry. co.uk), Findmypast (findmypast. co.uk ) or TheGenealogist (the genealogist.co.uk ).
I haven’t included the websites of local archives, although many have useful free indexes, and I haven’t included Google (google.co.uk) even though putting a name and location into a search engine can come up with results.
Instead, I have chosen the sites I use again and again – places where I have found family, often where I would least expect them.
BRITISH HISTORY ONLINE
Although this site runs a subscription model for its premium content, there’s still plenty of useful material freely available here ranging from detailed county histories to the more obscure
