Free help to find your family

Registers of baptisms, marriages and burials are essential for tracing ancestors before civil registration began (1837 in England and Wales, 1855 in Scotland, and 1864 in Ireland). This month we’re on

When researching civil birth, marriage and death records in England and Wales, you should always start at FreeBMD. Created by volunteers in 1998, it has records from 1837 and remains completely free.

Q My ancestor, Charles Hayes, was born on 6 October 1700 in Harrow on the Hill to Charles Hayes and Ann Ewster. He attended University College Cambridge and, described as “one of the Gentlemen of the

Northumberland Archives (northumberland archives.com), which is headquartered in Ashington with a branch in Berwick-upon-Tweed, holds rich collections for family historians researching this coastal co

In this age of algorithms and ‘artificial intelligence’, when the major commercial genealogical websites are all trying to persuade us that the best way to trace our family trees is to follow their hi

Northumberland Archives a Woodhorn, QEII Country Park, Ashington NE63 9YF t 01670 624358 e archives@northumberland.gov. uk w northumberlandarchives.com Holdings here comprise parish registers, census