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The world of 1926 looked very different from what we know today. Internet speeds mean we can video chat and send files in seconds, AI increasingly powers technology, and there’s talk of another mission to the Moon. We could go on. Innovation keeps evolving. The year 2026 would have seemed like a far-flung prospect for those who lived a hundred years ago, even though many would have already experienced great change. The 1920s were an age of flappers, fancy, and economic uncertainty.…

We've released three new record collections this week. Two cover monumental inscriptions for Germany and Czechia, and the third will help you delve deeper into the 1921 Census. Plus, peruse every edition of Jackie, the go-to magazine for teenage girls for three decades. Czechia, Commonwealth War Graves and Monumental Inscriptions: Explore this collection to learn more about your military ancestors buried in the Czech Republic. Did your ancestor serve bravely as a trooper in the Royal Armoured Corps or as a…

What will life be like a century from now? We ask this question today, and it’s long perturbed our ancestors too. Our newspaper archive is full of predictions for the future – some hugely off-piste, and others scarily true.But in 1925, one man was making the headlines for his 2025 prophecies… Who was he, and did any of his predictions come true?Professor Archibald Montgomery Low was born in 1888 and became an engineer, research physicist, inventor and author of over 40 books over…

Whether you’re after some old-timey names for your newborn, or you’re just curious about historical trends, we looked to civil birth records and census records to find the most popular names throughout the ages.  Did your ancestors follow the trends when naming their children? Read on to find out.  Remember, royal baby names often set the trends for everyone else, and they’re easy to spot if you know the royal family tree.Take a look at your family tree and…

Sometimes shocking but always fascinating, finding a felon in your family history is one of the richest discoveries you can make. Which shady piece of your past will you unlock with this week's new records? England & Wales, Crime, Prisons & Punishment, 1770-1935: Discover your criminal ancestors’ mugshots, prison registers, visitors’ details and more in the latest additions to this fascinating collection.Spanning from 1784-1939, the records and prisons featured in these latest additions are:Prison registers and minute books from Pentonville PrisonVisitor's…

Church or parish records are some of the best resources you can use to take your family tree back further. In many cases, you'll be able to go as far back as the 1500s, when King Henry VIII was on the throne. These records were taken by church officials in every corner of Britain and cover the most important milestones in your family's history.With parish records, you can unearth details of your ancestors' baptisms, marriages and burials. They also…

At Findmypast, we want to connect you with your family's amazing story. And with millions of online family records, an easy-to-use family tree builder and help at hand along the way, we'll be introducing you to unknown relatives in no time.Family history guru, Estelle Calfe is here to show you how she traced her ancestors all the way back to 1911 in just five simple steps. Follow Estelle's lead and you can too.What is really important is that you…

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…

Emma Jolly was overjoyed with her Findmypast discoveries. Here's her family story.My great, great grandmother, Annie Jolly (1882-1969), was London Welsh. She grew up in Stoke Newington in a family named Jones. Her father, David Jones, was a carpenter and builder in the growing northern outskirts of the late 19th-century capital. Annie's London Jones relatives centred around the Welsh enclave of Islington, where they remained long into the 20th century. During the Second World War, Annie's cousin's son, John David…

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,…