http://xml.sandn.net/images/feedlogo.JPGhttp://xml.sandn.netRegularly updated genealogy information in the UK. Includes general information and news, information about online information, updates from family history websites, reviews of genealogy products, and more.http://xml.sandn.neten-gbCopyright (c) British Data Archive92article.php?id=92Newly digitised marriage transcripts are now available at TheGenealogist, with records as far back as 1837 due to be online by September.

Newly digitised marriage transcripts are now available at TheGenealogist, with records as far back as 1837 due to be online by September. The current records span over 50 years between 1930 and 1983, the total number of records over 55 million. The transcripts are fully searchable by name, partner's surname, date and county. This way of searching is much quicker than having to wade through each index image for each quarter in each year.

20 Jul 2010http://www.thegenealogist.co.uk91article.php?id=91The non-conformist and non-parochial records held by The National Archives have now been digitised. The final series of records is now complete and available to search on www.BMDRegisters.co.uk, or as part of a subscription to www.TheGenealogist.co.uk.

The non-conformist and non-parochial records held by The National Archives have now been digitised. The final series of records is now complete and available to search on www.BMDRegisters.co.uk, or as part of a subscription to www.TheGenealogist.co.uk. There is a hidden treasure of people from every walk of life that may not be recorded elsewhere and that can now be easily and freely searched. This unique record set contains a wide variety of records covering non-conformist records, early birth registries, Maternity Records, Fleet Marriages, Burials, Overseas BMDs, BMDs aboard ships and British Churches abroad. Covering the period 1654 to 1950. The Non-Conformist records cover Methodists, Wesleyans, Baptists, Independents, Protestant Dissenters, Congregationalist, Presbyterians, Catholics, Unitarians, Quakers (Society of Friends), Dissenters, Royal Chapels and Russian Orthodox. Many famous writers, entrepreneurs, social reformers and political leaders are within these records which before the project was completed would have taken a lifetime to search. The Fleet Marriages alone have proved a stumbling block to many researchers when browsing the microfilm. John Titford, author and speaker, found his missing relative within just a few minutes of using the site.

10 Mar 2010http://www.thegenealogist.co.uk90article.php?id=90In the cut-and-thrust world of genealogy websites, one stands out for its friendly ethos and impressively broad range of content: The Genealogist (www.thegenealogist. co.uk). It's easy to see why the site was voted Census and BMD site of the year...

The site has perhaps the widest range of data available, too – everything from a database of the Knights of England going all the way back to 1127, to civil registration indexes from as recently as 2005. You might expect the firm behind such a large site to be a huge, faceless corporation, but what’s all the more impressive is that it’s a family-run business. Nigel and Sue Bayley set up the sister company, S&N Genealogy Supplies, back in 1992, and since then have expanded the business year after year – their three sons all work for the business, one of them writing the innovative web code behind many of The Genealogist’s unique features. A genealogy business that’s all about family – what could be more appropriate? But why should you use The Genealogist? 1 - Images & transcripts Various sites offer large collections of census data, but The Genealogist is the only one that has both transcripts and original page images for all the censuses for England and Wales from 1841 to 1901. Census transcriptions provide you with much more information than a mere index – they're fully searchable and give details for all the family members. They take the hard work out of trawling through thousands of pages of handwritten census material. They provide information as clear, typed text, searchable by forename, surname, age, occupation, relationship to head of household and birthplace. All this data is stored as plain text, which means that even if you don’t have a broadband connection, you can get to it quickly. If you do have broadband, you'll enjoy the benefit of seeing the original census images. 2 - 1000s of parish records Parish records are the most important source of information for family historians prior to civil registration beginning in 1837, and in many cases they date back to the early 1500s. Few other websites have managed to gather together a significantly large collection of them. The Genealogist transcribes original parish records and produces searchable databases of baptisms, marriages and burials and, where permission is granted, even makes images of the original pages available. Much of this work is undertaken in conjunction with family history societies around the country. The complete collection of WP Phillimore’s 19th century transcriptions of marriage and other records is available here. In total, The Genealogist has parish record transcripts for 21 English counties, and parish records taken from printed books for 28. 3 - Nonconformist records Parish records, important as they are, only cover standard Anglican churches. The Genealogist has led the way in providing easy, searchable access to nonconformist records, too. These cover Methodists, Wesleyans, Baptists, Independents, Protestant Dissenters, Congregationalist, Presbyterians, Unitarians and Quakers. They're invaluable for research prior to census and BMD records. The data includes images of early birth certificates and registers, which cover baptisms, marriages and burials. These records and images are unique to The Genealogist and can only be found on this site and its official sister site, www. BMDregisters.co.uk. 4 - Wills & testaments Wills are a valuable source of genealogical information. They can give details of family members, places of residence and burial, as well as revealing fascinating details about your ancestors' possessions. A new feature for The Genealogist is the Wills and Testaments Index Viewer. To date, this provides access to will indexes for Bristol, Edinburgh,Leicestershire, Northampton and Yorkshire, with dates from the 16th century (14th for Yorkshire) to the 18th. There’s also an Irish Wills Index for 1536-1810 and more than 460,000 indexes and original page images for Prerogative Court of Canterbury probate jurisdictions from 1384-1858. 5 - SmartSearch The Genealogist’s new SmartSearch function makes it easy to find recent BMDs. SmartSearch is a new way of searching the birth, marriage and death data for 1984 onwards. It utilises an intelligent search system to perform a reverse look-up. 6 - Directories Various directories have been produced for well over 300 years and can prove to be an invaluable source of information about local communities. The Genealogist has many directories available, from 1677 to 1905 and covering 39 counties from England and Wales, plus a recently added collection of 1905 directories from Ireland. If you're researching ancestors alive at the time of the 1911 Census, directories from that era have been helpfully grouped into a special, easy-to-search ‘Circa 1911’ collection. 7 - School registers Registers from secondary, further and higher education are generally recent additions to genealogy collections, and The Genealogist has once again led the way with a diverse collection. Available at the site are registers for nearly 20 educational institutions around England and Scotland, including Eton and Rugby schools, and Aberdeen, Glasgow, Oxford and Cambridge universities. There’s also an official list of registered teachers from 1917. 8 - Landowner records You'll find a 19thcentury tax survey at The Genealogist, which provides an index to all individuals who owned land of one acre or more in 1873. It’s arranged alphabetically by county, and you may find holdings in more than one. It provides the name of the owner, the town or village where the land was located, how much land they owned and its estimated rental value. The data covers all of Britain and Ireland. 9 - Military records The Genealogist can help with military research, too. In addition to Army and Navy lists for World War I, there’s a Navy list for 1944, and a Roll of Honour covering both World Wars. Records include detailed biographies with portraits and information on birth date, birthplace, father’s name, education, career, and circumstances of death. The data comes from the National Roll of Honour, British Roll of Honour and De Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour (including photographs), with over 1.5 million records included. For WWII, the site also has some notifications of deaths of members of the British Armed Services, prisoners of war, civilians, internees and deaths through lost aircraft, plus records covering deaths in Japanese and German internment camps. 10 - Surname maps The Genealogist’s BMD index includes the fascinating and useful ability to produce a Surname Distribution Map for any year from 1851 to 2002. This is a great way to see where you may get the best research leads and how families dispersed. This feature is also available for the censuses from 1841 to 1901 – use it, for example, to find where your ancestors lived before the boom in population and rapid expansion to towns and cities caused by the Industrial Revolution. 11 - TreeView: The site's tree builder The Genealogist helps you build your family tree and more. Includes different views for your family tree, source list, advice, import/export for GEDCOM files, a printable version of your tree, and easy ways to add new names. 12 - Unique search tools Along with the unique SmartSearch system for birth, marriage and death indexes, The Genealogist has powerful search tools to help you find ancestors in the censuses and BMD records that are unavailable elsewhere. The new phonetic search system, for example, is based on speech patterns and the idea that surname variations generally sound the same despite wide variations in spelling – this feature is only available at The Genealogist. You can also search the site for groups of forenames where a surname may have varied over time. 13 - Keeping trackof your research The Genealogist’s handy Research Log feature lets you keep details of the people you’ve found while searching through the site’s databases. You can add records to your research log from the census transcripts, plus BMD records from 1984 onwards, and parish record transcripts will be available soon. 14 - Free credits when you volunteer The Genealogist's sister site, www.ukindexer.co.uk, lets you register as a volunteer to help maintain the site's reputation for high quality data, as well as expand the collections. You can do as little or as much as you like, and you can earn free subscriptions or credits to use at The Genealogist. 15 - Great value for money The Genealogist packs a huge amount into its terrific subscription options. A Personal Plus account is only £55.95 a year and gives you 800 credits to spend – you can even carry these over to the next year if you don’t find time to use them all. Or there’s Personal Premium – for just £78.95 a year, this gives you unlimited access to everything at the site!

04 Dec 2009http://www.thegenealogist.co.uk89article.php?id=89We all owe a debt of gratitude to those who died fighting for our country, and November 11th is the time when we remember those who died in the Great War of 1914 to 1918, the 'War to end all wars'.

We all owe a debt of gratitude to those who died fighting for our country, and November 11th is the time when we remember those who died in the Great War of 1914 to 1918, the 'War to end all wars'. It was the largest conflict in history and involved 70 million people from different countries, backgrounds, religions and race. Just about every family was affected by this war, including the famous Charles Darwin, whose grandson Erasmus Darwin was killed in the second battle of Ypres. Searching in the Roll of Honour on TheGenealogist.co.uk gives three results for Erasmus. The first is an official GRO death entry, which provides a reference number to order his death certificate, and also a link to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website, which then provides details of where he is buried. The second entry comes from De Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour, which contains 25,000 records, 7000 of which also have a portrait photograph. Erasmus’s death on 24th April 1915 is recorded along with his rank, regiment, photograph and profile. The profile section is a biography often provided by family and friends and is intended as a tribute and memorial. The third entry for Erasmus is from the Bond of Sacrifice records, which covers officers who fell during the war, and also gives details of rank, regiment, date of death and a short profile. The National Roll of the Great War is a tribute to the men, and also women, who survived and died in the First World War. It has 14 volumes in total, and given that it is only a selection of the people involved, it just demonstrates how many lives were affected by the tragic events of 1914 to 1918. You can view The National Roll of the Great War on TheGenealogist.co.uk in the ‘Roll of Honour’ section, along with the British Roll of Honour which remembers officers who fell during the war. Entries can include a biography of the officer, information on the circumstances of the death, their education and immediate family that were left behind. Some of these can include a portrait photograph. Also available is the Chatham, Plymouth and Portsmouth Memorial Register, which remembers both officers and men of the Royal Navy who died at sea, with their rank and place of service, details of immediate family and date/circumstances of death. When we think of war records we immediately think of those who fought and died, but the new RG32 records now available on TheGenealogist.co.uk also contain births of British citizens in France and other countries across the world during the first and also Second World War. The RG32 records are part of the exclusive BMD Registers collection, and can be found in the non-conformist section. These records contain Births, Baptisms, Marriages, Deaths and Burials abroad, and on British as well as foreign ships, of British subjects. It also includes certificates issued by foreign registration authorities and documents sent by individuals to the Registrar General. For the Second World War period it includes some notifications of deaths of members of the services, prisoners of war, civilians, internees and deaths through aircraft lost in flight, as well as births and marriages that took place around the world. The internet has now opened up a whole world of records that were previously hidden away in archives, and although the original record itself is important, being able to see the information they provide in the comfort of your own home is of enormous use, and will keep the message alive that the mistakes of the past should not be repeated, and the tremendous bravery of our ancestors should never be not forgotten. So as we remember the 15 million people who gave their lives for us in the First World War, remember also the soldiers still alive in the UK today who have fought for us and who still continue to fight for us. The Royal British Legion provides financial, social and emotional support to millions who have served or are currently serving in the Armed Forces, and their dependants. Please make a donation to their cause at www.poppy.org.uk and wear your poppy with pride.

04 Dec 2009http://www.thegenealogist.co.uk88article.php?id=88Over 38,000 overseas marriage records have been added to the existing collection of overseas civil registration records available at BMDRegisters.co.uk

Over 38,000 overseas marriage records have been added to the existing collection of overseas civil registration records available at BMDRegisters.co.uk, which were previously only available on microfilm at The National Archives. These records cover British subjects who married abroad, including records of British soldiers in France, Holland and Flanders around the time of the First World War. Many of these had been Prisoners of War. Also included are register from British churches abroad.

26 Nov 2009http://www.bmdregisters.co.uk87article.php?id=87A new resource, the Miscellaneous Foreign Marriage Returns 1826-1921, has now been added to BMDRegisters.co.uk, and to all-inclusive subscriptions to TheGenealogist.co.uk.

A new resource, the Miscellaneous Foreign Marriage Returns 1826-1921, has now been added to BMDRegisters.co.uk, and to all-inclusive subscriptions to TheGenealogist.co.uk. It includes 38,000 names from certificates from British embassy registers, military marriages (those serving abroad), and foreign authorities and churches. Many of the records can show multiple generations of a family.

15 Sep 2009http://www.thegenealogist.co.uk86article.php?id=86Recent additions to TheGenealogist.co.uk include 110,000 entries to the National Roll of Honour which lists First World War biographies.

Recent additions to TheGenealogist.co.uk include 110,000 entries to the National Roll of Honour which lists First World War soldiers' biographies, a London 1910 post office directory, and 1881 census transcripts for Anglesey, Brecknockshire, Bedfordshire, Gloucestershire, Cambridgeshire, Buckinghamshire, and more. They are also continuing to add Wills and 1911 data.

29 Jul 2009http://www.thegenealogist.co.uk85article.php?id=85Version 4 of this popular family history package was released in late March. For the latest review, go to To read the full review go to www.genealogyreviews.co.uk/yftMay09_RM4.htm.

RootsMagic 4: One of the best family history programs out there. We featured RootsMagic 1 in the very first edition of YFT back in 2003 and concluded it was an excellent program for recording your family history. Six years later, version 4 confirms the program's reputation for only having major releases when significant new capabilities have been added, and not just because the calendar has flipped to a new year. In fact, the list of improvements for RM4 looked so good we were keen to see if it could match our expectations. To read the full review go to www.genealogyreviews.co.uk/yftMay09_RM4.htm

03 Jul 2009http://www.genealogyreviews.co.uk84article.php?id=84John Titford finds the marriage of a ancestor he had been looking for for over twenty years.

I had been looking for the marriage of a ancestor of mine for over twenty years. Thomas Hasted, a cloth scourer of Fenchurch Street and a freeman of the Clothworkers' Company, would have married a lady with the first name of Mary some time in the late 1730s. I must say that I had always thought that he must have gone in for a Fleet wedding, but I lacked both the courage and the time to wade through the voluminous original registers at the National Archives. Yet there he was on the new web-site, identifiable in a flash: Thomas Hasted, bachelor, `scourer' of St Catherine Cree Church (in Leadenhall Street) and Mary Stevenson. spinster, were married at the `Shepherd and Goat' on Fleet Ditch by John Gaynham, the so-called `Bishop of Hell', who entered the details in his grubby little notebook. The marriage took place in 1737. Now Thomas Hasted had begun an apprenticeship in 1733, and apprentices were not allowed to marry during their term. Thomas was not made free of the Clothworkers' Company until 1740, and - like many others with something to hide - he had married secretly, no questions asked, during his apprenticeship. Success, then, after twenty years of fruitless searching. - John Titford The above is an extract from the letters page of Family Tree Magazine Fleet marriages are just one of the unique sets of BMD records going back the the 17th century available on www.TheGenealogist.co.uk and www.BMDRegsiters.co.uk.

19 Jun 2009http://www.bmdregisters.co.uk83article.php?id=83"RootsMagic v4 is bristling with new features, major and minor, matching or exceeding its mainstream competition. Its versatile reporting and publishing are better than many."

RootsMagic 4 is the premier genealogy software. Available exclusively from S&N, there are three UK editions, to suit every pocket. Created specifically for the UK by Bruce Buzbee, RootsMagic UK edition is powerful, yet easy-to-use, genealogy software. Its intuitive interface lets you publish your family history in a variety of ways: as charts, reports, books and even online. "RootsMagic v4 is bristling with new features, major and minor, matching or exceeding its mainstream competition. Its versatile reporting and publishing are better than many. RootsMagic To-Go is a milestone in portability." - Recommended, IT Reviews May 09

19 Jun 2009http://www.rootsmagic.co.uk