Discover your past

Where to begin your search for your family history, whether you're a beginner or in need of some specialist ancestry advice

Getting started

Everything you need to know about how to begin

How to start a family tree

Getting started

How to start a family tree

Start Your Tree

How to Start Your Family Tree: Week 1

How to find birth records

Getting started

How to find birth, marriage and death records

Popular tutorials

Learn from our most visited guides

Gypsy children, circa 1930

Discover your past

Gypsy past: Am I descended from Gypsies?

British actor Alec Guinness (1914 - 2000) with his fiance Merula Salaman 19th May 1938. They met while both working for John Gielgud's stage company at the Queen's Theatre in London. 1939 Register

Discover your past

What is the 1939 Register?

Imperial toast between Wilhelm and Franz Joseph royal ancestry

Getting started

Royal ancestry: How to know if you have royal ancestry

Overseas ancestry

Take your research abroad and find family across the globe

If your family came from the Caribbean, you could also have British royal ancestry

Getting started

The best websites for tracing Caribbean ancestors

German street musicians 1879

Overseas ancestry

How to tell if you have German ancestry

Huguenots Land At Dover

Overseas ancestry

Who were the Huguenots?

Read more overseas

House history

Discover more about the history of your house or street

A row of terraced houses in Victorian London house history

House history: The best websites for tracing the history of your house

Edwardian cyclists examining old maps in a country lane

Discover your past

Where to find old maps of your area online

Know Your Place

10 best free historic map sites

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Latest tutorials

A family in Fulham, London preparing their home for a street party to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II's Silver Jubilee, 3 June 1977

Photo gallery: Royal jubilees throughout the years

1603, An English blacksmith using an anvil in a forge. The surname Smith comes from the occupation of blacksmith

Getting started

Where does my surname come from?

Scottish ancestry. A Shetland homeworker spinning together two cords of wool, c.1910

Discover your past

How to research Scottish ancestry

First World War soldiers at the Battle of Ypres, 1917 First World War records

How to find First World War records