Beginning Family History - Links
You may find the following links useful in your research.
Resource Links
Blank Familiy Research Forms From 'Family Search' web site
Brilliant web-site for genealogical research forms- everything you can think of. Downloadable and printable. From FamilySearch. Also has links to other resources on other sites such as ancestry.com and Cyndi’s List.
Incredible resource.
USA
National Archives
Resources for Genealogists and Family Historians/National Archives
This is a link to Cyndi’s List on the Archive which provides a great list of available resources + links to the resources available there.
Black.Past.Org; Remembered and Reclaimed
An excellent African American Family History Resource
Family Search: African American Genealogy Records
Family Search: American Indian Genealogy
Genealogy and family history; fantastic links to census, state archives etc..
Cyndi’s List: USA
This has links for all US States as well as specific ones for arrange of areas such as African American, Mexico, Pilgrims etc..
Genealogy Bank
American Historical Newspapers.
You need to pay to join to gain access to the materials. I find the web-site unwieldy and difficult to navigate. But I have only dipped in occasionally but I usually leave frustrated. Doesn’t help that I compare it to Australia’s amazing resource TROVE - which is free! I would recommend that you use their learning centre resources. I am probably using the resource badly!
Family Search
The extensive resources of the LDS are accessible through this site for free. As the church began in the States the vast majority of resources are American. There LDS Family History centres in many many American cities and towns. This is a collections list held by LDS on-line. Find a Family History Centre here
UK Sites
Federation of Family History Societies (United Kingdom)
Civil Registration
Free BDM (United Kingdom)
Records held are between 1837 and 1983. These are free records. The important part is they provide the citation so it may be possible to follow up and obtain an original certificate that may contain much more information. But a quick and handy site for vital records that fall between these dates. Records are still being transcribed, so not yet complete.
Irish Sites
Roots Ireland.
Good guide to genealogy in Ireland with links to resources and over view of starting a tree. Can hire services of professional researchers. Really good links to a range of resources. I recommend to buy a longer subscription that allows unlimited searches.
Irish Surname Search
John Grenham’s web-site. Get one go for free then you have to pay. But you get all kinds of information in one go that links you to a range of resources such as Griffiths etc.. for your surname.
The Irish Times
Information on irish surnames. A whole Irish ancestors section
The national Library of Ireland.
Holds Catholic Parish registers: Digital Images of Records! Amazing. Found my great grandfathers baptismal records; made me cry! But you need to know the year and month- and of course that can be tricky!
Information of family Research
Holds Land Grant Titles
Find My Past: Excellent international records including Ireland.
Best access to Historical Irish newspapers that I have found.
AUSTRALIAN RECORDS
Australian Library Holdings of Historical Newspapers - TROVE
This is a national treasure and it is free to access as well. Create your own user name and collect relevant materials
NSW STATE ARCHIVES
Shipping records, BDMs, Convict records etc…
Some information is free. Some records need to be paid for and ordered.
Cyndi’s List Australia
Amazing resource of links to hundreds of sites important to Genealogists. There is one for every country you can think of!
Cora Web
Helping you trace your family history in Australia and elsewhere.
Fantastic easy to use resource with links to important and wide ranging resources, laid out for genealogists, especially on-line.
Graham Journay
Ancestral and Local Research
Has a brilliant table for Australian state civil registrations certificates. Lets you know when civil registration began in each Australian state and what information you can expect to find on each type of certificate.
Chapman Codes
These are codes that genealogical researches can use as a short hand . If you know the abbreviations it may help you to identify places from certificates etc..
New Zealand resource for genealogists - standard country codes for geneologists for interpreting records and for creating your own.
Handwriting Helps
Reading old manuscripts can be very difficult for modern readers. This is a resource compiled by Family Search
also
Family Search Handwriting assistance
Tips and Methods For Building Your Family Tree (UK)
By Clan MacNicol Federation Good tips and nice links to some UK sites
National Library Of Australia eResources
Australian Commonwealth Records compiled since 1901. Includes all WWI records that have been digitised and accessible on-line. A huge resource for Genealogists
They have a family history page here
Tasmanian Archives and heritage Office
This archive has state and non-state records on line for free up until 1900. It has parish records for records prior to civil registration in 1838. This site also holds convict records, census records, land records, shipping records and plenty more.
Websites that Compare Genealogical web-sites
A guide to choosing genealogy sites on the internet
Family Tree Magazine
Cites an excellent range of resources
Copmprehensive reviews of individual Genealogy web sites and prices
Nice clear table of comparisons.
Best Free Genealogical Web-Sites (advice)
GENEALOGICAL WEB-SITES
Ancestry has a Utube series on using Ancestry.com and family tree maker by the “Barefoot Genealogist”. 13 billion records located on 30, 000 different data bases. There is a lot to learn just in using the web-site search engines.
An introductory one can be found here:
GENEALOGICAL RESOURCES AND USEFUL SITES.
Family History and Historical Societies in Australia
Cora Num list
Australian Joint Copying Project Guide
A guide to a collection of historical material relating to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific from 1560-1984
Dating Photographs
Jayne Shrimpton’s Clothing Blog
Useful for trying to date family photographs.
Family Photos: What are you Wearing?
Victoria (Australia) Records
Public Records Office of Victoria
Records are held here for the public and are accessible for free. Many records can be viewed on-line. Shipping, Court, Wills and Probate, Civil Servant records etc.. Incredible resource. It has many “how to search” videos and instruction sheets within the different archives. Just as well. The site was designed for public servants not family historians. Can be tricky to navigate, worth persisting. Ring them if all else fails.
Victorian Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages
Historical records.
You can search for family certificates here. If you already know the year and reference number this will help tremendously. Try a range of spellings as there can be transcription errors. You can find certificate numbers in records on ancestry, on the Victorian Pioneer Indexes usually held at local history societies. A full certificate will give you access to all the information contained in the certificate. You can buy uncertified certificates on-line for half the price of certified ones. You can download them immediately. Make sure, if you do that that you save the certificate someone in your computer files as you cannot access it again without paying once you have closed the program.
Genealogical Society of Victoria
Promotes and encourages the research of family history. Fantastic resource based in Collins St, Melbourne. Has on-line access to members. A limited free search is available to non-members. They hold a great library of histories and books, many of which are out of print and full of information on everything you can think of historical. They hold resources on international records, shipping records, BDM lists and reference numbers, all kinds of stuff. Possibly the most valuable resource there is the passionate volunteers who will do everything they can to help you in your searches.
Archives and Public Records
A new friendly page attached to the public records office of Victoria. It also has links to a range of other helpful and interesting resources.
State Library of Victoria
This link takes you to the home index page of the State Library’s family research resources. They hold an amazing range of materials on Victoria’s early history, Victorian Aboriginal Records, ships and shipping and Historical Newspapers.
