Make the most of what's online

The internet has revolutionised family history. You won’t find all you need online – particularly when it comes to putting the flesh on the bones of your research – but it makes sense to start there.

You should be able to progress your tree several generations back in a matter of hours.
  

There is an apparently endless supply of useful sites, with more added every day. A good place to start is www.cyndislist.com, a genealogical directory with global scope, or www.genuki.org.uk, a gateway to the best of British and Irish sources.

Few of us are without at least one relative who served in the forces, so military history sites are a valuable tool. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission website www.cwgc.org lists 1.7 million Commonwealth forces killed during the two world wars and is free to search.

You may also find it useful to connect with other researchers with whom you share ancestors or common interests, using family tree sites like www.ancestry.co.uk, and www.genesreunited.co.uk or mailing lists like those at http://lists.rootsweb.com/.

Alternatively you could join a family history society – an invaluable way to learn new skills, meet with fellow enthusiasts and gain access to regionally-specific information. To find your nearest branch visit the Federation of Family History Societies at www.ffhs.org.uk.

DocumentsOnline is the National Archives’ collection of digitised public records and includes a wealth of useful resources, from wills dating between 1384 and 1858 to interviews with World War One prisoners of war. You can search the index for free at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline and it costs £3.50 to download an image, if you find something of relevance.

As well as data collections there’s a vast array of social history sites that will help you start to put your forebears in their proper historical context. For example www.workhouses.org.uk, which offers a fascinating glimpse into the institution our ancestors most feared. While www.oldbaileyonline.org, containing the details of over 100,000 trials between 1674 and 1834. Old newspapers are another fantastic resource for family history, and you can search the archive of the London, Belfast and Edinburgh Gazettes for free online at www.gazettes-online.co.uk.

If you find your tree is located in a particular area, familiarise yourself with the local record office website. Many, such as the London Metropolitan Archives (www.cityoflondon.gov.uk), have ongoing digitisation projects, or may have online catalogues of their holdings you can search. Sometimes researchers put together their own local websites, which can be a treasure trove – for example www.wirksworth.org.uk.

Many sites offer material relating to migration – both via passenger lists and naturalisation records. Outbound passenger lists are available at www.findmypast.com and its sister site www.ancestorsonboard.com, which specialises in long-distance passenger lists (1890-1960) or there is www.movinghere.org.uk, charting immigration to the UK over the past 200 years. For emigrants whose destination was New York, detailed records of those who passed through Ellis Island can be consulted at www.ellisisland.org.