Articles by Findmypast

Almost every family has a connection to the First World War and you've come to the right place to discover more about yours. At Findmypast, we've got the most comprehensive collection of First World War resources available. A collection that includes millions of Army, Navy and Air Force records, carefully indexed to include many more soldiers' names than you'll find anywhere else online. Findmypast is the best place to start searching for your First World War ancestors and to help

(main image via Tyne & Wear Archives & MuseumsTyne & Wear Archives & MuseumsTyne & Wear Archives & Museums)General Register Office births, marriages and deaths are a fantastic resource covering the entirety of England and Wales between 1837 and 2007. They not only allow you to discover when and where your ancestors were born, got married and spent their final moments, but also provide you with the information needed to order a copy of an original certificate from the General Register Office of England and

Running away to sea sounds like a romantic fantasy nowadays, but since the early 16 century, Her Majesty's Naval Service has been a means for adventure-seeking boys and men to see the world in a way which would otherwise have been impossible. Boys as young as 15 could join the navy, meaning that they could serve king and country several years before they might have been allowed in to the army. The Senior ServiceThe Royal Marines was subsequently founded in 1755, and

Emily Davison, the suffragette who died in 1913 after throwing herself in front of the King's horse at the Epsom Derby, is famously said to have secreted herself in the House of Commons at the time of the 1911 Census in order to have herself enumerated within Westminster.We have discovered the actual historical documents that prove this is the case and will perhaps throw some more light on this key moment in parliamentary history. The event is considered to be such

In the wake of the devastation of the Second World War, men and women from across the British Empire immigrated to England, invited by the British Empire with the promise of fair work and a better life.  21 June, 1948. The 1,027 immigrants who travelled to Britain from the Caribbean aboard the HMT Windrush disembarked in Tilbury, Essex. Unsure of the future that awaits them in this foreign land, they take the first step into the unknown.  They’d been invited by the British

Our Catholic Heritage Archive is a groundbreaking project that will eventually see as many as 100 million Catholic records published online for the first time ever. We've put together this comprehensive guide to understanding your search results. Sacramental registers are the Roman Catholic Church's equivalent of the parish or parochial registers found in, for example, the Anglican Church, and what tend to be called metrical books in Russia and other parts of Eastern Europe.While Anglican parish registers tend to comprise

Perhaps you're looking for ancestors who you know travelled to Canada but have found no trace of since? If so, there is a collection of family records that may well make your family history exploration on Findmypast a lot easier - Canadian censuses.Canadian census records are a rich resource for family history. Our collection dates from 1851 to 1931 and is similar to our UK census records. But what can they tell you?The Canadian CensusThe Lower Canada Census is the

From radar to superglue to freeze-dried coffee, we've created a top ten list of World War 2 inventions we couldn't do without in today's modern world.Did you know these items were a lasting legacy from World War 2? You'll learn more titbits like this in our history hub.1. ComputersFrom the machine this article was written on to the processing power of a smart phone, modern computing would not be what it is without the innovation of the Government Code and

Welcome to the fifth in our series of blogs about how to understand and interpret your old family photos. In this series, Jayne Shrimpton, internationally recognised dress historian, portrait specialist, photo detective and regular contributor to Family Tree, Your Family History and Family History Monthly magazines, dates and analyses different types of photographs and helps you to add context to your old family pictures.Having learned in the previous blog how photograph compositions and studio settings changed over the years,

It's the question asked so often you can almost hear the genealogists all over the world crying out in unison: "But how do I know if I have the right person?" Well, today you're in luck. The Society of Genealogist's Else Churchill explains the Genealogical Proof Standard, the cure to every family history researcher's frustration. "Considering what constitutes proof in a genealogical context can be a challenge. Certainly you don't want to delude yourself or anyone else that something is