Times are hard. Everything costs more than it used to and money doesn’t go as far as you might have hoped. It’s a time when many of us are reassessing our subscriptions and thinking about what we really need. But I also need my hobby (it keeps me sane and occupied) and for me, that is exploring my family’s past.
Uncovering the stories of the people who have passed on their genes to me has been deeply fulfilling in ways I hadn’t expected. I could fill an entire series of Who Do You Think You Are? with the stories I have uncovered from a dodgy Scottish brewer to a pioneering female scientist, from a Boer War surgeon to a homeless family walking through Australia during the 1930s depression.
These discoveries have come about almost entirely from online records. So much has been digitised or is being digitised that it has become relatively straightforward to research your family history from the comfort of your home. Of course, there are tips and tricks (and there are some mighty big pitfalls) but that’s what Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine is there for (if you want to make sure you don’t end up researching someone else’s family by mistake, take out a subscription).
Full disclosure here, I’m lucky because I work in family history. I edit Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine so that means I get free access to Ancestry, Findmypast, MyHeritage and TheGenealogist. If I had to pay for my subscriptions, which would I keep and which would I ditch?
There’s a lot of crossover with the main genealogy subscription companies. Most of them offer the same basic records such as the GRO's birth, marriage and death indexes and census records, so people sometimes assume that the various genealogy subscription sites are interchangeable, but they really aren't. I need Ancestry for my London research, TheGenealogist is good for house history, but for me, it’s the newspaper collection on Findmypast that I really couldn’t do without.
The UK's biggest collection of historical newspapers
If you think your family didn’t do anything notable enough to get them into the newspapers, think again. I challenge anyone not to find many of their British relatives covered in their local newspapers. Whether it’s happy occasions such as births, weddings and school achievements or the darker side of deaths, crimes and accidents, newspapers were there to cover the story.
The newspaper collection on Findmypast, created in partnership with the British Library, is phenomenal in both size and scope. Yes, you can access the same newspapers with a subscription to the British Newspaper Archive, but that’s not much cheaper than an Everything subscription to Findmypast.
I never understand why someone would subscribe to the British Newspaper Archive and miss out on all the census records (including the 1921 census and the 1939 Register), all the parish registers (the exclusive Staffordshire and Cheshire ones are both crucial for my research), military records, school records and more.
Findmypast's Irish and Catholic collections
The subscription also gives you full access to Findmypast’s huge Irish collection as well as its growing, unique Catholic collection. On top of that, Findmypast works with family history societies across the UK to share their records more widely, so whichever county your ancestors hailed from, there will be records available.
So, if you are already researching your family history and aren’t subscribed to Findmypast then you are probably missing stories and records that could be key parts of the jigsaw puzzle. And if you are just starting out, then an Everything subscription will give you all the basic records you need to get started, plus specialist collections to take you further. Findmypast also has an online family tree builder and an app so you can have your family tree with you wherever you go.
Save 30% on an Everything subscription to Findmypast
And the reason I’m sharing this with you right now? We’ve been offered an exclusive discount for our readers which didn’t make it into our last print edition. It’s time limited so we can't print it next month and we didn’t want our readers and followers to miss out. Findmypast doesn’t often give 30% discounts and it brings down an annual Everything subscription from £169.99 for the year to just £119. That’s just £10 a month for the entire newspaper collection, census records, international records etc (make sure you take out the annual option if you want the discount to run for a whole year). If you are interested in family history or local history, it might be the best thing you buy all year.
To redeem, enter the code WDYTYA30 at checkout. This will give you 30% off selected Everything subscriptions on Findmypast (UK only). The discount applies to the following subscription plans:
1-month Everything
3-month Everything
12-month Everything
Exclusions:
12-month Everything Monthly
1-month Family Tree
This offer is valid from 10:00 AM UK time on 27 October 2025 until 11:30 PM UK time on 13 November 2025. The discount can be used once per user and requires a valid payment method at checkout. After the initial discounted subscription period, your subscription will automatically renew at the standard full price in effect at the time of renewal, unless you cancel or turn off auto-renewal in your account settings (“My subscription” page) before your renewal date. This offer is not available for subscriptions purchased via the Findmypast app. Full terms and conditions apply.
