Features

Guides, tutorials, interviews, research and opinion pieces on family and social history

17th century history

17th century history: What was life like in the 17th century?

Fundraising for an orphanage in East London in the 1920s orphanage records

Discover your past

How to find old orphanage records

DNA test kits face on

Choosing a DNA test: The best DNA testing kits in 2022

Dick, Kerr Ladies football team

A game of two halves: the history of women’s football

A head of household in Scotland filling in the schedule for the 1861 census

Getting started

What UK census records are available?

The Public Record Office of Ireland fire, 1922

Overseas ancestry

The Public Record Office of Ireland fire and the Beyond 2022 project

Domestic abuse in the 19th century

Domestic abuse and the ‘rule of thumb’

Anna Maxwell Martin

5 things you didn’t know about Anna Maxwell Martin

Portrait of young men, circa 1910s

How to trace LGBT ancestors

How to find cemetery records. The church of St Mary the Virgin in Wirksworth in Derbyshire, c.1800

Discover your past

How to find cemetery records online

Ag labs pitch hay into a cart on a farm near Whitby, c. 1880

What is an agricultural labourer?

A campaign meeting during the Reading by-election, 1913 electoral registers

Discover your past

Where can I view old electoral registers?

City of London Union Workhouse in Bow Road, Poplar, London, 1849. Artist: Anon workhouse infirmary

Discover your past

What is a workhouse infirmary?

Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards 2022 - Red Carpet Arrivals

5 things you didn’t know about Richard Osman

Find marriage certificates

Marriage certificates: Everything you need to know