Features

Irish wills. A wake in Ireland, 19th century

Overseas ancestry

How to find Irish wills

FreeREG

FreeREG: What it is, and how to search it

NLS maps website

Discover your past

The NLS maps website: How to use it

Passengers play games on board ship, 1936 passenger lists

Discover your past

How to find passenger lists for ships

Turi King DNA Family Secrets

“You really feel the enormity of what you’re doing”: Professor Turi King on ‘DNA Family Secrets’

A tithe proctor visits a family in Ireland to fill in a tithe applotment book, 1830s

Overseas ancestry

Tithe applotment books: Our guide to finding your Irish ancestors’ land

DNA family history

Getting started

The best websites for DNA family history research

RootsMagic 8 family history software

What is the best UK family history software?

Cate Blanchett Cornish surnames

Cornish surnames: How to tell if you have Cornish ancestry

Women having their dinner at a workhouse in St Pancras, London, c. 1900. Workhouse records

Discover your past

Where can I find workhouse records?

A governess and her charges

Governesses: Who were they, and what were their lives like?

How to start a family tree

Getting started

How to start a family tree

A military hospital, 1914

The best websites for finding military hospital staff

British prisoners of war at Dunkirk.

How to find WW2 POW records

A line of children at the Alexandra Orphanage on Haverstock Hill, North London, April 1932. Adoption records

Discover your past

How to find adoption records in the UK