Nations and Regions

Introduction

When you research your ancestors in Great Britain and Ireland, it can be difficult to know exactly where to begin. Some records are online, others are held in central archives and yet more in local or specialist archives. The following notes are intended to serve as a rough guide to where to look for the main sources - certificates, census returns, wills and parish registers - although there will be many more local archives and specialist institutions to investigate when you start to expand your search. To help you find these archives, the National Archives hosts a resource called ARCHON (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archon), which acts as a directory to all archives and associated institutions within the UK. You can search by the name of the archive, but it's probably worth looking at the regional directory to see what resources are in your area.

England

A prime location for researching your family history in England is the National Archives (TNA) in Kew, West London. TNA provides free access to online indexes of births, marriages and deaths from 1837, and census returns from 1841-1901. It also holds birth, marriage and death indexes on microfiche, and the census on microfilm for those who prefer not to rely on online resources. Further collections are available both on and offline at TNA, such as wills, death duty registers, the International Genealogical Index (of parish records) and a vast collection of military records. Most online records can, of course, be accessed without a visit to the archives, but you are likely to encounter subscription and pay-per-view charges, most of which do not apply at Kew.

Wills proved after 1858 are held at the Probate Search Room, Principal Registry of the Family Division, First Avenue House, High Holborn, London. Indexes can be consulted at TNA and at several centres around the county, and orders can also be placed remotely - see www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/1226.htm#addresses for more.

The location of pre-1858 wills depends upon the church court in which they were proved. Wills proved by the Prerogative Court of York are held at the Borthwick Institute in York. Those proved by the Prerogative Court of Canterbury are among the Documents Online collections (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/wills.asp) at TNA. Most other wills are housed at the relevant diocesan record office - usually (but not always) the relevant county archive, where parish registers are also to be found.

Of course, there are other repositories and family history centres all over the country, which provide a mixture of online and offline resources and material both local and national in scope. One of the best places to visit for an overview of a whole range of resources, including material held in other parts of Great Britain and Ireland, is the Society of Genealogists, Charterhouse Buildings, Goswell Road, London. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Family History Centres also provides access to impressive collections, mostly on microfilm, which are both national and international in scope. And you can always look for documents via Access to Archives, available via The National Archives. (www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/archon).

Ireland

Researching your genealogy in Ireland is more problematic, partly due to the fact that many records were lost in a fire at the National Archives in 1922, but also because the location of the records reflects the political history of the island. Prior to 1921, records for the whole of Ireland are housed in Dublin, with birth, marriage and death certificates located at the General Registry Office of Ireland and surviving census returns (1901, 1911) and wills at the National Archives. After 1921, you would need to go to Dublin for records for the Republic of Ireland, whereas births, marriages and deaths registered in Northern Ireland can be found at the General Register Office, Belfast, with a range of other material at the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, also located in Belfast. Parish records tend to be held locally, if at all, and are often in the possession of parish priests. Many counties in the republic have their own genealogical centres, with collections of locally relevant material, though a large proportion do not allow public browsing access and will charge for searches. Alternatively, most main libraries will have local study centres, where you can view other important resources such as the Griffiths Valuation Survey.

Only a small proportion of Irish genealogical material is online, but the collections are growing. The 1911 census for Dublin can be accessed through the National Archives of Ireland website at www.census.nationalarchives.ie, with the remainder of the 1911 and then the 1901 censuses to follow.

Scotland

Many of the main national archives and resources for Scottish genealogy are housed in Edinburgh. General Register House and New Register House have recently combined to produce the Scotland’s People Centre (due to open in 2008), which holds digitised birth, marriage and death records, census images, wills and coats of arms. The National Archives of Scotland, also in Edinburgh, holds a wealth of genealogical and other records for Scotland from the 12th century to the present day. Nearby lies the National Library of Scotland, where further genealogical collections and a fantastic selection of maps can be viewed. And, as in England, each area has its own archive with local collections, and many of these can now be searched at the Scottish Archives Network site at www.scan.org.uk.

Online access to key genealogical records, including may birth, marriage and death certificates, census images, parish records and wills is provided at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk.

Wales

Most of the relevant records for Wales are to be found alongside their English counterparts. Birth, marriage and death indexes from 1837 and 1841-1901 census returns were compiled for England and Wales together, and can be searched in exactly the same places. Wills post-1858 are also, like their English counterparts, housed at First Avenue House in London. A similar county archive system operates as in England, with separate archives for each county where you will find relevant parish records and other locally generated material. The main research centre that brings together collections for the whole of Wales is the National Library of Wales in Aberystwyth, where you can find copies of parish registers, poor law records, pedigrees and other genealogical material, as well as all wills proved in the Welsh diocesan courts. Records generated by the criminal assizes have also been transferred here from The National Archives.

Channel Islands & Isle of Man

The Isle of Man and the Channel Islands have their own archives and record offices, although many genealogical records are also available online. Census returns and all kinds of other records for both the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands can be consulted online on a pay-per-view basis. Many civil registration indexes can be seen at the Isle of Man General Registry, and other records (such as wills, newspapers and parish registers) are deposited at the Manx Museum, Douglas. The Channel Islands also have their own registries, with the Superintendent Registrar for Jersey conducting searches for fees, and the records for Guernsey, Alderney, Herm and Sark are held in Guernsey. The Priaulx Library, Guernsey, holds many microfilmed records, whilst the Jersey Archive holds a similar collection. Once again, a paid search system is in operation.

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About the author

Dr Nick Barratt worked at the Public Record Office (now The National Archives, or TNA) from 1996 to 2000, with the family history team. He has given many talks on family history, and has written frequently for the TNA's genealogy journal, Ancestors. He has worked for the BBC as a specialist researcher on programmes such as 'One Foot in the Past','The People Detective' and 'Who Do You Think you Are?'.