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The First World War would bind their names not to profit or loss, but to memory, and to the families still tracing their stories today. This is the story of the very first Pals battalion – the 10th (Service) Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers, City of London Regiment. Your country needs you: Better known as the Stockbrokers’ Battalion, the 10th Royal Fusiliers was raised in August 1914 during those first urgent weeks of the First World War when Britain called for volunteers.…

The census is an incredible resource. It not only gives us those biographical details that help us trace our ancestors every ten years, but it gives a snapshot of the entire country. As any keen genealogist knows, it is like peeking into the windows – and the portholes – of every home and ship in the country. Back in 2018, Findmypast began the landmark project to digitise the 1921 Census of England and Wales in partnership with the National Archives. This began my keen

The 1921 Census of England & Wales is incredibly significant material for historians, family historians and genealogists. However, it's even more than that. The 1921 Census offers researchers around the world an opportunity to explore the movement, activities and occupations of English-speaking communities worldwide.One of the best ways to use the 1921 Census to make new discoveries is by comparing it to existing materials that have been accessible for years, such as the US 1920 Census and the 1921 and 1931 Censuses of Canada. Thanks to…

The 1921 Census of England & Wales is a detailed snapshot of 38 million lives that reveals where your relatives were, what they were doing and who they were with on one summer night in 1921.We want to help you make the most of this once-in-a-generation opportunity to explore your past. So we've created an interactive checklist to help make sure you're geared up to get the best from it. Covering everything from where to start to how to dig deeper, this is…

Census records are the perfect way to tell the story of what your family looked like in times gone by. They reveal what your ancestors were doing and give us clues to where they may be found in other family records. Findmypast has a huge collection of these kinds of documents, and as any good genealogist will tell you, getting to grips with them can unlock a whole new world of family history discovery. Here are a few top tips…

Life after death has held a mysterious fascination for centuries. No one took the otherworldly more seriously than the Victorians, who combined their love for administration with that of the occult.In the late 1800s, those at the forefront of ethereal research decided to inject a little bureaucracy into proceedings, and thus the spookiest census to date was born.The Census of Ghosts was carried out between 1889 and 1892. It helpfully revealed that women were more susceptible to the supernatural, with 12%…

Census records are some of the most important resources for British family history. They help you track how your family changed over time and reveal information about your ancestors that you won’t find anywhere else. Historical censuses are held by The National Archives and are also available as online records at Findmypast.Using our censuses, you can trace the history of towns and counties across the United Kingdom. From Northumberland and Lancashire in the north to southern counties like Kent,…

Our handy address search, available across all British censuses from 1841 to 1921, is the perfect tool for discovering previous occupants of your home and for discovering their stories. It helps you to find out who was living at any particular address at the time each census was taken. Findmypast is the only family history website with this useful tool. What's more, our exclusive 1939 Register map search will reveal the property listing history of England and Wales at the outbreak of the…

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 Census: The Lower Canada Census is the…

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…