523 resources · 13 types · Curated for UK & Irish research
Resources that cover the whole of the UK or the British Isles rather than one nation: national archives, free record projects, research tools, blogs, podcasts and national societies.
A resource that covers more than one nation appears under each of them. Each view has its own web address, so you can bookmark or share it.
All 111 resources
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Every chart is hand-set from your own tree and printed on archival paper at 16 inches, with a choice of 72 heritage designs. Available as a complete or an incomplete six-generation lineage, single or couple: the ancestors you have found are drawn, and any you have not found yet are left as open space.
Prefer a spreadsheet? Subscribers to The Genealogy Times, our monthly newsletter, can download the whole directory as an Excel file. Subscribe and download it.
Largest commercial genealogy site: 70bn+ records from 80+ countries, 100m+ family trees, AncestryDNA, hints and Pro Tools. UK site at ancestry.co.uk.
British Isles-focused records: UK/Irish census, parish registers, newspapers (British Newspaper Archive), military, 1921 Census. Weekly 'Findmypast Friday' record releases.
UK-based DNA testing with detailed British and Irish regional ancestry breakdown.
UK subscription site: census, parish records, tithe maps, landowner records, Map Explorer and unique Diamond collections.
Historical maps, census statistics, gazetteers and travel writing for British places. Slow to load (often 10 to 20 seconds).
Digital library of key printed primary and secondary sources for British history including Victoria County Histories.
Records of 1.7m Commonwealth war dead from both World Wars with grave locations.
Burial and cremation registers for UK cemeteries and crematoria; pay-per-view images.
Landing page for FamilySearch's free UK & Ireland record collections.
Charity umbrella for FreeBMD, FreeREG and FreeCEN; volunteering and news.
Volunteer transcriptions of UK census returns 1841-1911.
Volunteer transcriptions of UK parish and non-conformist registers (baptisms, marriages, burials).
Virtual reference library of UK & Ireland genealogy, organised by country, county and parish.
Admission registers for four children's hospitals 1852-1921.
Imperial War Museums' permanent digital memorial to 7.6m WW1 servicemen and women.
Official public record: military honours, bankruptcies, naturalisations, wills and probate notices from 1665.
Directory of 2,500+ links to UK birth, marriage, death and census resources, including local BMD index projects.
UKBMD's master list of all local BMD index projects.
Peter Higginbotham's comprehensive history of workhouses and poor law unions, with record locations.
Manx census, parish registers, newspapers and burial records.
Jersey archives catalogue including occupation registration cards and parish records.
Georeferenced historic Ordnance Survey and county maps for the whole UK.
Guernsey family history library and resources.
UK government archive: Discovery catalogue, military service records, wills (PCC), naturalisations, research guides and free-to-download digitised records.
Directory of every UK record office and archive with contact details.
Society for German-descended families in Britain.
Professional body for UK genealogists; directory to hire a researcher.
A-Z of every member family history society in the UK and beyond.
Canterbury-based college offering genealogy qualifications and courses.
Resources and library for Jewish family history in the UK.
Register of genealogists holding formal qualifications.
Gypsy, Romany and Traveller family history.
UK's leading family history society (founded 1911): library, courses, Genealogists' Magazine, online records.
Ask volunteers for record lookups by county board.
Boer War rolls and medal records.
Search catalogues of UK universities and specialist repositories.
Convert historic sums to today's money from 1209.
Surname frequency and distribution from 1881 census.
Mining disasters, colliery lists and names of miners.
Merchant navy crew lists and where to find them.
Alphabetical glossary of historic trades.
Guide to UK electoral registers and where they are digitised.
Country and county guides to record types and where to find them.
Parliamentary debates 1803-2005; useful for ancestors in public life.
Free tutorial in the Latin found in English records 1086-1733.
Convert historic UK and US money values to modern equivalents.
Traces 90,000 Old Bailey convicts through prison and transportation records.
UK surname mapping from historic and modern data.
Database of railway worker accidents 1889-1939.
Where surviving workhouse records are held, union by union.
Guide to searching RN ratings records ADM 188/139.
Free online course in reading old English handwriting.
Genealogical survey of the British peerage and landed families.
UK-developed Windows software praised for diagrams and plugin ecosystem.
UK tree-matching site and records (S&N Genealogy).
UK online/desktop/mobile tree builder from S&N with record links.
UK outbound passenger lists 1890-1960 (BT27).
British Library newspaper digitisation (Findmypast partnership): 80m+ pages, 1700s-2000s.
Database of 123,000 British convicts transported to Australia.
Royal Navy casualty lists, ship logs and histories 1914-1945.
Transcribed military records 1600s-WW2 (now part of Ancestry).
Long-running discussion forum for WW1 research questions.
Database of British slave-owners and compensation claims 1830s.
TNA research guides to immigration and emigration records.
Museum with research guidance on soldiers' records.
Chris Baker's guide to the British Army in WW1: units, battles and how to research a soldier.
UK record releases and stories.
Daily British Isles genealogy news from a Canadian perspective.
Local history society with resources overlapping family history.
Chris Paton's older British genealogy news blog (archive) - see Scottish GENES for current posts.
UK genetic genealogy news and one-name study blog.
Society news and 'Really Useful' bulletin.
How-to guides and news.
Professional research firm blog with UK record tips.
Findmypast Friday record updates and UK history features.
Weekly new-records round-up.
London-based professional genealogist; India and military research.
LostCousins: free matching service for people researching the same ancestors plus popular fortnightly UK newsletter.
Turning research into written family stories; Curious Descendants Club.
Dress historian on dating family photographs.
Historian behind Who Do You Think You Are?; articles and books.
Reference list of obsolete occupations found in UK records.
Dr Penny Walters on ethics, DNA surprises and adoption research.
Chris Paton's daily British & Irish genealogy news blog.
News from the SoG library and courses.
Dr Janet Few on social history, Devon and family history teaching.
Behind-the-scenes posts by TNA archivists and record specialists.
Research methodology, palaeography and record deep-dives.
Featured articles on newly released UK record sets.
Tutorials, record guides and news.
Regional shows in York, Kempton Park and online.
Interviews with genealogists and researchers.
Recorded talks on UK records.
Online genealogy courses with UK/Irish focus.
FHF podcast on societies, records and research skills.
Weekly online talks and courses, many recorded.
Guests share their family history brick walls and discoveries.
Family Tree magazine's UK podcast.
UK genealogy conference (in person and online) with recorded talks.
The BBC series; episodes on iPlayer.
UK monthly magazine with free newsletter, podcast and Family Tree Academy courses.
Free, widely read UK genealogy newsletter by Peter Calver with offers and research tips.
Society of Genealogists' quarterly journal since 1925.
Leading UK monthly family history magazine; free weekly email newsletter and forum.
Monthly online periodical from TheGenealogist.
Forum for British family history.
UK village-by-village contact site for connecting researchers.
Largest free UK & Ireland genealogy forum; lookups, handwriting help, photo restoration.
Magazine's help forum.
Umbrella body for UK family history societies; society finder, Really Useful Family History shows and podcast.
List of UK & Ireland family history societies.
Nothing matches those filters. Clear them or try another nation above.
Resources that are not tied to one nation: The National Archives, the big free record projects, the national societies, research tools, and blogs and podcasts about British research in general. Channel Islands and Isle of Man resources are here too.
FreeBMD, FreeREG, FreeCEN, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the National Archives catalogue and many of the tools and blogs. Subscription sites are labelled.
Service records, medal cards and casualty lists are in the Newspapers, military and migration section, from The National Archives, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission and specialist sites for each service.
The list was compiled in September 2026 for people researching British and Irish ancestry, which is most of the people who order a chart from us. The regional layer is the point: every county record office, the local birth, marriage and death indexes, the online parish clerk projects and the county societies, which the big general lists leave out.
Cost labels are a rough guide only. Many archives are free to search but charge for copies, and society membership usually unlocks members-only indexes. Check the site itself before relying on a label.
Council archive addresses change often. Links are checked automatically, but if you find one that has moved or a resource we have missed, tell us and we will fix it.
Prefer a spreadsheet? Subscribers to The Genealogy Times, our monthly newsletter, can download the whole directory as an Excel file. Subscribe and download it.
A six-generation circular chart has room for 63 ancestors, but it does not need all of them: an incomplete lineage is drawn honestly, with the gaps left open. You choose a design and order first; we ask for your GEDCOM file or our simple spreadsheet afterwards, and nothing is printed until you have approved a proof.
How ordering worksEach chart is hand-set from your data, printed on archival paper at 16 inches, with your choice of heritage motifs. Complete or incomplete, single or couple.
Design your chart