Articles by Findmypast

Every New Year recipients are honoured with titles as part of the British Honours System. Have your relatives been among them? Delve into the rich history of our Britain, Knights Of The Realm & Commonwealth Index, which meticulously documents over 35,000 individuals honoured with orders of chivalry by the British monarchy. This comprehensive resource sheds light on the remarkable lives and achievements of distinguished figures in the history of the United Kingdom. The British Honour System: The honours system was established to

Tracing your female ancestors can be a challenge since almost all women took their husband's family name when they were married. But, not all is lost, below are some of the many ways that can help you trace your ancestor's maiden name. Get hold of their marriage record: The obvious starting point, marriage certificates list both the groom's surname and the bride's maiden surname. When exploring marriage resources, remember to also look for associated records like licenses, announcements, banns, bonds

Curious about how our family tree maker works? To help you get the most from building your family tree with Findmypast, we’ve compiled our community’s most-asked questions. If you’re a beginner at family history, be sure to check out our other handy guides. Not sure how to make a family tree? Start discovering your family story today with our free tree builder. Better yet, we have a free family tree template too.Troubleshoot your family tree woes here so you

The phrase 'Ten Pound Poms' is used to describe the Britons who emigrated to Australia following World War 2 on the Australian government's assisted passage scheme. The purpose of this scheme was to enlarge Australia's population whilst supplying workers for the country's growing economy and industry.Britons were offered a way out of the rationing and deprivation of post-war life, shown visions of glorious sunshine and boundless possibility by a government desperate for an influx of labour.They were offered the

Many genealogists like to store their family tree data online, using websites like Findmypast. And there are good reasons to do it this way. If your data principally comes from a single source, it's likely to be convenient for updating if it's kept on that provider's website. Keeping your data online means that you shouldn't have to worry about backups. And with most online services, you can easily access your data from any mobile device or app, wherever you are.

Can't find you ancestor in the marriage records for the parish you're sure they lived in? Here are the parish registers you should try next:• The parish where the couple's child was later baptised • The mother's family parish (often listed on baptism record) • The father's family parish (often listed on baptism record) • Immediate neighbouring parishes You can find details of neighbouring parishes at with the interactive maps on Family Search. Bear in mind the parameters of these will sometimes change

Singapore, an island at the southern end of the Malay Peninsula, was a vital part of the British Empire. Often referred to as the "Gibraltar of the Far East", it was widely considered to be as impregnable as a fortress; an allusion that was quickly shattered when Japanese forces overran its ill-equipped defenders in little more than a week. After the squadron of warships defending the peninsular were destroyed by Torpedo-bombers, it was down to the army to stop the

With the 1939 Register, you have the opportunity to carry out a free search using a wide range of fields that can help you to identify the correct record prior to unlocking it, whether you're looking for an individual, a household or an institution. As you can see, the 1939 Register advanced search screen allows you to search by name, precise date of birth (you can also be more vague, searching only by year), sex, occupation, marital status, street, district and more.

In this article, Findmypast military expert Paul Nixon explains how to unpack a Royal Navy Service record, and demonstrates how this can be the key to unlocking further information about your ancestor. Most of us, when researching our family history, come across at least one ancestor who served in the army or navy. The records which detail their service can offer a wealth of information, but because of the professional, specialised nature of the collections, and the way information is

Before you begin, hold onto one golden rule: the more detail you gather before diving into Irish records, the better your chances of success. Names, dates, birthplaces, siblings, parents. Even the smallest scraps can be the missing clue you need.To help you explore your Irish family history, we've put together this handy guide. It'll take you on a whistlestop tour of Ireland, suggesting some key record collections you should look at for each county. Getting to grips with Ireland's: