Family history
Also on this page: Genealogy - beginners' guides and gateways | Heraldry
Key links
Family History
A guide to researching your family history from the City of Westminster Archives Centre.
Ancestry [IHS]
[available only in Westminster Libraries] Access to key records for family history research, including 1841-1901 census; birth, marriage and death records; street directories, telephone directories, school and military lists.
Find My Past [IHS]
[available only in Westminster Libraries] Similar to Ancestry holds key records and is best used in conjunction with it. This resource requires a username and password available upon request.
FreeBMD
FreeBMD is an ongoing project to provide free online transcriptions of the General Register Offices indexes of births, marriages and deaths. The database is not complete, but provides fairly comprehensive records from 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century.
Family Search
Search for your ancestors on the enormous family history database compiled by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Includes options for searching the 1881 British Census.
National Archives
Formerly the Public Record Office, the official archive of the UK now provides searchable access to its own collections and other archives' catalogues nationwide. You can also search the 1901 and 1911 census indexes for data and buy records online (NB You can access full records from earlier censuses for free by using Ancestry [above] in any Westminster Library). The Census for Ireland in these years can be found on the National Archives of Ireland's website.
General Register Office
The Family Record Centre has closed but you can search the indexes of Births, Deaths and Marriages on microfiche at the City of Westminster Archives Centre and obtain certificates by post/telephone or online from the General Register Office. Records cover England and Wales; for other regions see: Scotland's People; Public Record Office of Northern Ireland; National Archives of Ireland.
Genealogy: beginners' guides and gateways
BBC Family History
BBC site with information, tools and resources to help you research your family history including a step-by-step guide to getting started.
GENUKI
The UK & Ireland Genealogy Information Service provides information on researching family history in the British Isles.
Cyndi's List
Extensive international listings of genealogy websites.
Society of Genealogists
Online resources for family history, including leaflets and lists of articles from The Genealogists Magazine.
Moving Here
Two hundred years of migration to Britain including advice on tracing your family history.
Rootschat
Connect with family historians with similar research interests for advice and support through this free easy-to-use messaging forum.
Heraldry
Heraldry on the Internet
Gateway site providing pointers to sites of potential value for heraldic research.
Not quite what you were looking for? See also:
History for local history and military history.
Was this useful:
Whatever your interest, Westminster City Council welcomes and encourages you to get in touch with suggestions for improvements to the site. To make an enquiry click here
