Researching your family history online

Before the internet took off, researching your family tree was difficult and time consuming. If you wanted to conduct genealogy research, you'd need to put in a lot of footwork, visiting various institutions and burying yourself in microfilm or sifting through reams of old newspapers or records.

Thankfully, things have changed, and today you can do a lot of your research online, although obviously the need for some legwork hasn't disappeared. With the likes of the 1901 Census data available through The National Archives of England website, and other online record sources, hunting down your ancestors has never been easier.

As you'll find out in this feature, there are plenty of websites offering information and assistance to the amateur genealogist. Furthermore, with the vast number of genealogists researching information online, you're bound to find other people working on the same family lines as you, allowing you to compare and share information.

There are also a number of genealogy software packages available that aim to help you collate and present information. We've included reviews of some of the latest commercial packages along with a few cheaper shareware options. We've also listed some free tools that will get you started.

The National Archives
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
One of the largest collections of archives in the world, the National Archives can be a hugely useful resource. The collection contains records dating right back to the 1086 Domesday Book, and you'll also find plenty of easily accessible data stored on its website.

The information covers central government records and information relating to the courts of law. One of the biggest areas of interest in the National Archives, as far as genealogists are concerned, is the census returns, which detail the names, addresses and occupations of UK residents.

1901 Census
National census details are only publicly available 100 years after the census was carried out. In 2002, the public release of the 1901 census generated a huge amount of interest. You can visit the 1901 census website through the National Archives of England here.

Using this site, you can browse the 1901 census results using a variety of search criteria. The process of searching the records doesn't cost anything, but a small charge is made for each census page you view; this is currently set at 75p per image. You can also order prints of census pages at 50p each, although there's a minimum charge of £2.50. More details on pricing are available on the website.

You can perform much more than just name searches on the 1901 census website. Details of vessels carrying people to and from the UK can also be searched, as well as place names, specific addresses and institutions. Once again, searches are free, but everything else carries a small charge.

Aside from the National Archives of England's online presence, there are many other websites to aid you in your genealogy research. Although there's a wide range of information available, be sure to verify any data you receive before you take it as fact.

Familysearch.org
www.familysearch.org
One of the most popular online resources is Familysearch.org. Run by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this site houses one of the largest free databases on the net, containing over 36 million names from all around the world.

Searching the database is quick and simple. Enter the forename and surname of the ancestor you're trying to trace, along with any other information you might have, and results will be returned in a flash. If available, each result will appear with details such as a birth date, where they were born, who their parents were and who they married.

Genealogical Data Communications (Gedcom) is a file format commonly used by genealogists. Developed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, it's supported by the majority of family tree applications when exporting and importing data, allowing people to share family tree data quickly and efficiently with other researchers.

However, as with all standards, Gedcom has been refined over time and is now on version 7. This can sometimes cause problems if you try to import a version 7 Gedcom database into an old genealogy application. If you have trouble with a Gedcom file, visit Cyndi's List for a list of applications that will convert a variety of Gedcom formats.

Rootsweb.com
www.rootsweb.com
Although a predominantly US-based site, Rootsweb has plenty of useful information specifically for UK visitors. Its message boards are hugely popular and include forums for individual UK counties. You'd be unlucky to find that your surname isn't mentioned somewhere in the forums.

Rootsweb.com houses forums for thousands of surnames. Hunt down the name you're after and you'll see messages left by people researching the same name. If you get stuck, these message boards are a great place to turn for help.

Genes Reunited
www.genesreunited.co.uk
Part of the Friends Reunited site, Genes Reunited is another useful source of information. Enter a forename and surname and you'll be presented with a list of matching names along with their birth dates.

Each name in the database has been added by other Genes Reunited users so, if you want to find out more information about people listed, you'll be prompted to get in touch with the member who originally added the information.

It's free to search the database, but you'll need to pay a subscription in order to get contact details for other Genes Reunited members. However, at £7.50 per year it isn't extortionate and you get unlimited access to the database.

Free Office templates
www.microsoft.com/office
If you want to start your family tree research as cheaply as possible, Microsoft has a selection of templates for Word, Excel and Access aimed directly at genealogists, all of which are free to download and use.

The Word templates allow you to quickly fire off letters to churches, funeral homes and libraries in order to request official certificates, and there's an Excel template that provides you with a simple, effective family tree spreadsheet.

You'll find a genealogy Access database freely available for download. It's not as fully featured as most commercial packages but it's a good starting point if you don't want to spend any money. To use the database, you'll need a copy of Microsoft Access 2000 or a later version.

If you want to try out some of the templates for yourself, head to www.microsoft.com/office and click on the Templates link. Select the Home and Community section and you'll find the Genealogy collection under Hobbies.

OTHER ONLINE RESOURCES

Family Records
www.familyrecords.gov.uk
Familyrecords.gov.uk is linked to The National Archives, and aims to help any genealogist hunt down records that are relevant to their research. You'll find in-depth guides, information on specific topics and a collection of web links.

Documents Online
www.documentsonline.nationalarchives.gov.uk
Another section of The National Archives, this site provides access to genealogy documents such as wills and World War I medal rolls, which can be of help if you're trying to trace distant relatives.

Ancestry.com
www.ancestry.com
This subscription-based website has online databases for a wide range of US and UK census results. You'll also find links to a range of other resources, along with a collection of message boards. If you want to try it out for yourself, a free trial is offered.

Cyndi's List
www.cyndislist.com
It's not as easy on the eye as some websites, but Cyndi's List is a popular site for genealogists. It includes links for over 240,000 other sites, so it's a good place to turn if you're looking for new sources of information.

The National Archives of Ireland and Scotland
www.nas.gov.uk
www.nationalarchives.ie
Although these two websites don't hold as much information as the English version, they can be extremely useful if your research leads to Scotland or Ireland. You'll find advice along with details on how to obtain official records.

GENEALOGY SOFTWARE

Family Historian £49.99
www.family-historian.co.uk
If you want the ability to quickly create a variety of family tree diagrams to aid your research, Family Historian aims to help you out. As well as holding detailed information for every name in your database, you can link pictures, sounds and video to each entry.

If you have an old family photo, it allows you to quickly crop out faces and associate them with entries in your database. Once you've built up a sizeable database of names, Family Historian can also run queries to create a variety of reports. For example, you can ask it to produce a list of all your relations who were born in a specific century, or what age they were when they died.

Family Historian states that it's fully compatible with all Gedcom files and, after importing more than a few files, it's a claim that we have no reason to dispute.

Overall, this is one of the more intuitive genealogy packages currently available, but compared with some of the other packages, it lacks in terms of data supplied with it. You don't get resources such as census or parish records to aid your research and, with this in mind, the asking price does seem a little too high.

Family Tree Genealogy Suite £49.99
www.gsp.cc
It has to be said that the main family tree program within this suite isn't particularly easy to get to grips with. It features a very dated interface, but if you spend some time learning how to use it you'll be able to create some attractive looking family trees to print out. However, we did have some problems importing Gedcom files from other databases.

Family Tree Genealogy Suite comes with the UKinfo 2003 Lite database, a compilation of the 2001 electoral roll that contains over 44 million entries with addresses. Its uses in terms of genealogy seem limited, since many of the addresses will be out of date by now and you'll only find details of people who were alive in 2001. Census results from the 19th and 20th centuries would have been more useful.

There's a lot to Family Tree Genealogy Suite, but it's questionable how useful it will be to the average genealogist. If the interface for the main Family Tree program was more intuitive and the included software more useful, it would have scored higher, but as it is it seems like a collection of random utilities bundled into one.

Family Tree Maker 2005 CE £69.99
www.gsp.cc
Boxed with no fewer than 12 CDs, Family Tree Maker 2005 Collector's Edition houses more than its fair share of data. The main tree creation program comes on just one disc and is one of the better laid out genealogy programs available.

As well as creating simple family trees, you can draw up pedigree charts, initiate web searches and import and export Gedcom files. During testing, we didn't experience any problems importing a variety of Gedcom files.

The data CDs include English and Scottish parish records from 1538 to 1837, providing over one million fully searchable records. You'll find details from the 1851 UK census along with the British Chancery Volumes 1 and 2, which detail court proceedings from 1386 to 1558.

It's not the cheapest package around, but it serves up a tremendous amount of useful information along with a simple yet effective family tree creation program. If you want to keep costs down, other versions are available. Check out GSP's website for more information.

SHAREWARE REVIEWS

Genbox Family History £32 to download
www.genbox.com
Genbox Family History houses good features, but the interface is a bit confusing. A great basis for building your genealogy database, it lets you produce detailed charts and reports. If you want a simple database, the range of features may hamper data input, but it's worth a look for advanced genealogists.

Ages £16 to download
www.daubnet.com
With a clean, simple interface, Ages helps you organise your family tree. There are annoyances where button descriptions aren't fully displayed, but it doesn't take long to get the hang of. The trial version lets you enter 50 ancestors and you have to register if you want more.

Legacy Family Tree free to download
www.legacyfamilytree.com
Legacy Family Tree has a wide range of features, but the interface is cluttered, creating a difficult environment to work in. This version is free, but some of the more advanced features are only available if you upgrade to the Deluxe edition, which costs $29 (£16). It's worth trying, but better shareware is available.

Genius Family Tree £16 to download
www.gensol.com.au
Genius Family Tree helps you create a fully searchable and printable database of your ancestors, and lets you export your data in HTML so you can quickly place findings on the web, albeit an unattractive format. The interface is one of the better ones, and you can print off various charts.