Have an account? Login
In both the US and the UK there are volunteer based initiatives to digitize and index Birth, marriage and death records for family history purposes. In the US you can refine your family history search by county, state and names. In the UK you can access the index of births, marriages, and deaths from England and Wales from 1837 to 1983. The free BMD database includes over 68 million family history records.
For many Canadians (unless you are of First Nations descent) your family may only have lived in Canada for several generations. The Links to Other Sources of Information and Websites found in this website will help you contact different institutions or archives for documents that may assist in establishing your family's past, including immigration records, military records, census information, and naturalization or citizenship papers.
When hiring a family history expert it’s a good idea to get references from people who know the persons work or pick someone who has well know family history qualifications like the IHGS or membership of the history society. If you are paying for your family history its worth setting out to the person you are hiring what you are trying to achieve. Do you want to search back through your family line, look laterally for living family members, flesh out the history of a specific family member or explore a particular side of your family history first.
Census records are critical to your search for extended family history material For your most recent ancestors choose the most recent census you can find and work backwards. In many countries Census’ have been recorded back as far as the 1750’s. Before that time you can use Tax records and other local lists, like parish records. The nature of the records available depends on the country, province, state or subdivision where you are carrying out your family history search. Knowing something about the historical context you are working within, will help you fill in the gaps and find family members. Some libraries and family history societies have census records on microfiche at their family history centers. Or if you prefer to do this in the comfort of your home you have many of the tools and records you will need to carry out a successful family history search.
