Family tree guides: where to find the records
Where the birth, marriage and death records are in each country, what is free, and how to go from a name on a certificate to a person with a story.
Free to try
England & Wales family tree: where to find the records
From the certificate in the tin box to parish registers from 1538: where the records of England and Wales are, what is free and what a GRO certificate costs.
Starting a family tree in Ireland: where to find the records
From a Mass card in the drawer to the Catholic parish registers: where Irish records are online, what is free, what was lost in 1922 and why the place matters.
Starting a family tree in the US: where to find the records
From the family Bible to the 1950 census: where American records are kept, what is free online, how to order vital records and how to trace an immigrant.
Starting a family tree in Italy: where to find the records
From a village name on a passenger list to the civil records of 1809: where Italian sources are online for free, how Antenati works and how to ask the comune.
Starting a family tree in Poland: where to find the records
From a village name in grandma's letters to parish books of the 1600s: where Polish records are free online, why partitions matter and who may request copies.
Starting a family tree in Belgium: where to find the records
From the memorial cards in the drawer to the parish registers of 1650: where Belgian sources are online, what is free, which records are public and how to request recent records.
Starting a family tree in the Netherlands: finding records
From the baptism registers of 1600 to your grandfather's personal record card: where the Dutch sources are, what you can find online for free, which records are public and how to request recent ones.
Starting a family tree in France: where to find the records
From parish registers to the censuses of 1836: where the French sources are kept, what is free online, which records you may consult and how to request a recent certificate.
Starting a family tree in Germany: where to find the records
From a seventeenth-century church book to your grandmother's birth certificate: where the German sources are kept, what is freely accessible and how to get more recent certificates from the registry office.
Starting a family tree in Spain: where to find the records
From parish registers to the 1871 civil registry: where the Spanish sources are, what is free, how to request an old certificate and what PARES offers someone just starting out.
Emigrant ancestors: Red Star Line, Ellis Island and Canada
A great-uncle who left Antwerp for New York in 1910, an aunt who went to Canada after the war: where to find the passenger lists, what is on them, and why the myth of the changed name is not true.
Finding an ancestor from the First World War: where to search
A memorial card, a medal, a name on the village war memorial: how to find out who your ancestor in the First World War was, in Belgian, British, French and German sources, and through the Red Cross.
How to open a GEDCOM file without genealogy software
Someone sent you a .ged file and you have nothing to open it with. Here is how to see what is inside in a few minutes, without installing anything and without the file ever leaving your computer.
Tracing Your Family History: A Beginner's Guide to Genealogy
Interested in your family's roots but don't know where to start? This beginner-friendly guide walks you through the first steps of genealogical research, from interviewing relatives to navigating online records.
DNA Testing for Genealogy: What It Can and Cannot Tell You
DNA testing promises to unlock your ancestry, but the results can be confusing. Learn what different tests reveal, their limitations, and how to use them effectively in your family research.