My Top 10+ Free Genealogy Sites

 

In my post "My Top 10 Fee-Based Genealogy Sites" I limited myself to only 10 fee-based genealogy sites that I regularly depend upon in my research. However, in the case of the free genealogy sites, as I started making the list, it quickly got out of hand and I just couldn't keep the list at ten sites. So here is my top 10+ free genealogy sites that I regularly check. 

Remember, these are my top free genealogy sites and I've selected them based on the names, places and time periods that I'm researching. I am positive I'm missed at least one of your favourite sites.

There is one site I didn't put on the list since its focus isn't on genealogy. That site is Google. Often when I get stuck looking for information I will use Google to explore what is out there. Often I come across those genealogy and family history gems buried on page two or three of the returned results.

1. FamilySearch

With your free account you have access to millions indexed abstracts and images along with their one world tree where anyone can contribute or correct information FamilySearch is a key tool in my genealogy toolbox. Yet there is a whole bunch of images not indexed and once you get comfortable with using their catalogue what is available to you is phenomenal. Although some of the image collections may not be viewable from home once their Family History Centers reopen many more digitized records will be accessible.

2. Library and Archives Canada

If you are researching your ancestors that at any time settled in Canada then Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is a site to visit. You may be disappointed that a vast majority of their collections are not digitized but I've found that the real value from LAC is from their various subject matter pages such as Census and the Military Heritage pages. Those pages help point you to where you can find the information, whether at LAC in Ottawa or on partner sites. Also, much like with FamilySearch, once you become familiar with using the catalogue search system so much more can be found.

3. Internet Archive

I make use of the Internet Archive to locate those out of copyright books that are often referred to as sources in family history compilations or in online databases. But that's not all that there is on the site. Maybe you are looking for the Canada Gazette for 1898-1899, you can find it here and can even download it in PDF or even EPUB format for reading on your computer later. You just don't know what is available unless you look for it. The other reason I use the Internet Archive is the Wayback Machine. This is an archive of over 477 billion (and growing) web pages on the Internet. A number of times when a web site has disappeared from the Internet I've been able to find an older copy in the Wayback Machine's archive.

4. Canadiana Héritage

First of all, this is not exactly your usual friendly genealogy web site. If you think of it as a collection of digitized microfilms that may or may not be name indexed or even fully catalogued then you will have set your expectations appropriately. Yet this has become an important site for my Canadian research. Many of the "C", "H", and "T" microfilms from Library and Archives Canada may be found here. In these often frustrating COVID-19 times where we can't get to an archive to review a microfilm, having any digitized microfilms can be wonderful. You will even find parish records from some churches in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec, and Manitoba.

5. Provincial Archives of New Brunswick

I wish all provinces were like New Brunswick when it comes to the free availability of indexed vital statistics records with images. It isn't just those birth, marriage, and death records that make the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (PANB) site so invaluable in my research. You will find indexes to land petitions and grants, very early port returns from 1816-1838, marriage bonds between 1810-1932, Daniel F. Johnson's Newspaper Vital Statistics collection, and a lot of information contributed by Wallace Hale in the Fort Havoc pages concerning the Loyalists in New Brunswick. Those are just a few of the highlights on this site. If you have New Brunswick ancestors you really need to visit the PANB site.

6. BC Archives Genealogy Collection at the Royal BC Museum

It seems that in the various branches of my family tree sooner or later a group goes to British Columbia to live. Ancestry may have their British Columbia birth, marriage, or death indexed but the BC Archives Genealogy collection hosted by the Royal BC Museum has the births (1854-1903), marriages (1871-1944), deaths (1872-1999), colonial marriages (1859-1872) and baptisms (1836-1888) index is searchable with many of the records having images of the documents available for you to save to your computer.

7. WorldCat

WorldCat is one of those site that doesn't provide the records that we are so often looking for in our research. Instead it can help us find those sometimes hard to find books that have those transcriptions in libraries, archives, and museums. I remember one time looking for a book on the family of Simon Baxter and learned that the Canadian Museum of History had a copy in their reference library. I didn't even know that they had a reference library. A few days later I was able to review that book and learn more about that line on my family tree.

8. Commonwealth War Graves Commission

When researching one of those 1.7 million men and women of the Commonwealth forces who gave their lives in the First and Second World War then a visit to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission site is a requirement. There you will learn where the person is buried or memorialized, their service number (so important to later research), unit, and possibly other personal information. There may be additional documents such as what was to be recorded on the marker or panel.

9. Find A Grave

Find A Grave is one of those sites I either really love or hate depending on what I find and my mood. I love it when I comes across a memorial page that has the image of the marker that is readable or at least correctly transcribed. I hate it when there is no marker image but someone has created a memorial and they haven't stated where they got their facts. So I have learned to treat Find A Grave like a user contributed tree on Ancestry, don't trust but verity everything. That said, those memorials with images have helped me considerably in my own research. Even those without images have been handy as possible pointers to find the key records.

10. Public Libraries [Ottawa Public Library in my case]

Many of public libraries have genealogy databases available to anyone. These databases are often specific to the area and help point the way to find documents in the library. For example, if you have ancestors in the Belleville area of Ontario, Canada then checking out the Birth, Marriage and Death Indexes from the Belleville Intelligencer might be a really good idea. In these COVID-19 times many of the libraries, courtesy of Ancestry and ProQuest, have made available the library version of Ancestry to use from the safety and comfort of your home. Some libraries will even help you locate a copy of an obituary in the local newspaper as long as you provide the key details. As always, be polite when asking for help.

 

The next set didn't make my top 10 list of free resources but I couldn't leave them out. So here is the "+" list.

Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics

If you have ancestors from Nova Scotia and you are trying to find their birth, marriage, or death registration then you need to visit this site. It is free to search and view the various registrations. However, unlike PANB or the BC Archives Genealogy Collection, you need to pay to download the registrations. So be prepared to create your own abstracts unless you want to spend the money to have an electronic copy of the record.

Archives of Ontario

The Archives of Ontario don't have the birth, marriage, and death records on their site (go to FamilySearch or Ancestry instead) but where the Archives of Ontario shines for genealogists and family historians is in their research guides. Are you trying to find a divorce record in Ontario, then you need to read Research Guide 210. Looking for a birth registration and you don't know if has been released to the Archives of Ontario then Research Guides 202, 203, and 204 probably need to be read. Are you trying to figure out the districts and counties in Ontario over time? Then a visit to "A Guide to Boundaries, Names and Regional Governments" page is a good place to start. Did your immigrant ancestor come through the Toronto Emigrant Office between 1865 and 1883? Check out the Toronto Emigrant Office Assisted Immigration Registers.

WikiTree

I've been using and periodically contributing to WikiTree for about a year. This is a "one world" family tree much like what is found on FamilySearch. With a free account you can add people and update existing entries. What sets WikiTree apart from other trees is in their encouraging of making sure the information in a person's profile is sourced. This allows you to locate new sources of information in your own research.

IrishGenealogy.ie

The Irish Genealogy site should be one of your go to sites if you have ancestors that were in Ireland. They have the civil registrations for births (1864-1919), marriages (1845-1944), and deaths (1871-1969) in addition to church records of baptisms, marriages, and burials for a number of counties in Ireland.

The Ancestor Hunt

If you are looking for free archives of newspapers, yearbooks, or city directories for Canada and the United States then dropping my The Ancestor Hunt will make your search a lot easier.

The Ontario Name Index (TONI)

Courtesy of Ontario Ancestors (also known as Ontario Genealogical Society), TONI is one of those databases that can help you out in your Ontario research. As a name index it is important to realize that the database itself is just an index and will point you to where you can find the information. Most of the resources that TONI has indexed are documents held by the various branches but there are pointers to records from from other sites.

Bower-McBurney Genealogy

In addition to TONI, the Bower-McBurney Genealogy site has become an invaluable resource for my Ontario research. It isn't because I have any relatives related to that family but Wayne Bower has made available the images from the Wesleyan Methodist Baptismal Register and also the digitized microfilm index pages for the Ontario Birth Registers for 1914-1917.

Trove

Trove is just that, a treasure trove for those researching their relatives in Australia. There are digital copies of newspapers, government gazettes, maps, magazines, and newsletters. The newspapers and gazettes, especially the family notices in the various papers, are often where we as genealogy researchers head to first but don't forget to search the other collections for other nuggets.

Papers Past

Much like Trove for Australia, Papers Past is the source for New Zealand newspapers, magazines and journals, letters and diaries, and parliamentary papers. I don't have many distant relatives in New Zealand but for the branch that did settle there the newspapers have helped answer questions about their lives.

FreeBMD

FreeBMD is a searchable database of the birth, marriage, and death civil registration indexes for England and Wales. Even though fee-based sites may have this index, often from FreeBMD itself, this is the free version. Where I often find it of value is being able to see the original image of the index page and also to learn what places are within a registration district. Combined with the General Register Office (GRO) site for ordering the registrations I've been able to discover "missing" children that were born and died between census enumerations.

CanadaGenWeb's Cemetery Project

Much like Find A Grave, the CanadaGenWeb's Cemetery Project is a free and searchable listing of cemeteries. However, it is focused only on Canadian cemeteries. If I can't find the image of a marker that is in a Canadian cemetery in Find A Grave I always head to this site to see if a volunteer has photographed and placed the picture of the marker here.

JewishGen

One of my connected American branches has Jewish roots and the JewishGen site has been useful in providing clues about the family. The JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry even has images of some of the markers along with providing location details about the cemetery.

National Library of Scotland

Along with ScotlandsPeople, the National Library of Scotland is one of those must use sites if you have Scottish ancestors. There are two items that I often use are the Maps and the Scottish Post Office Directories. However, there is much more to be found on this site.

 

There are many other free sites that I use in my research so this is really just my highlights list. I'm certain that I've not mentioned one of your favourite free genealogy sites. If so, leave a note in the comments since I'm always looking for new resources to help break down my various brick walls.

My Top 10 Fee-Based Genealogy Sites

We all have genealogy sites that are our go-to places when doing any of our research. It has been a long time since I've listed mine so I figured I'd take a stab at it today. There will be two separate posts. The first, that of my top ten fee-based sites, and the second, to be published later, will be the list of my top free genealogy sites that I use often.

As with any top ten list there will be disagreements as to the order or why a site is included or missing. These are my top ten sites that I turn to regularly in my research. Your favourite site might not have made the cut due to various factors such as it was number 11 (or 12 or 13...) or I haven't had a subscription to it in the past year. A two sites that I make use of periodically that didn't make the top ten cut for me are Fold3¹ and MyHeritage³.Yes, they are useful but not vitally so over this past year.

Counting down from number ten...

10. The New York Times TimesMachine

In my research of a branch of my extended family that originally settled in New York City in the late 1800s the ability to read the death notices and even a few marriage announcements has answered a quite of few questions when trying to locate the next generation. As long as I've had the death date from a death index or registration more often than not I've been able to find a notice in The New York Times fairly quickly.

9. American Ancestors by New England Historic Genealogical Society

I don't have a current subscription but when they have had their free access periods their databases have shed light on a number of my early European settlers in the United States. Even their free databases have been useful to point me to documents I need to find and read at a later time.

8. Genealogy Quebec²

If you have ancestors that resided in Quebec then this site needs to be in your genealogy toolkit. They are constantly adding new images from various parishes in Quebec that you probably won't find any where else. They are also the home of the Drouin Collection Records. Yes, the Drouin Collection is available on other sites but Genealogy Quebec I consider the master source and all others will be behind the times when it comes to new additions. The site also has The LAFRANCE collection with early Quebec parish records starting from 1621. There is also a large obituary collection and a notarized documents collection. If that's not enough they have a collection of marriage and deaths records recorded in Quebec between 1926 and 1997 collected by the provincial health services.

7. The National Archives at Kew, England

The National Archives (TNA) in England (not to be confused with the other national archives around the world) has both free and fee based access to records. With the restrictions in place due to COVID-19 The National Archives has opened up their digital record downloads for free when normally some of these records could only be retrieved for free at their site or by paying a nominal fee. That is why they are in this list and not in my top ten free list. That said, this site is an important one for my British Isles and early Canadian research. Why Canadian? Prior to Confederation, many of the records headed back to England for government use and storage and thus ended in TNA. If you have come across WO or AO record mentions in your Loyalist research, those are collections originally held by The National Archives. Some of those collections are also held by Library and Archives Canada but it is always good to check the TNA site too.

6. General Register Office of England and Wales

We are all probably familiar with the various England and Wales birth, marriage, and death (BMD) indexes available on many genealogy sites. However, in order to make sure you have the right person you really need to order the certificate and, for England and Wales, this is the place to do it. It isn't inexpensive, £11 for a BMD certificate sent by post, but they do offer £7 for a PDF of a birth (1837-1919) or death certificate (1837-1957) sent by e-mail. One new feature is when you search the birth index on the GRO site the mother's maiden surname is now provided in the results. This can save you money or even provide a clue that helps you in your research without paying a penny.

5. GenealogyBank

This newspaper site is invaluable if you have branches of your tree that lived in the United States of America. This site has digitized newspapers that can't be found on other sites. In addition to digitized newspapers, some going back to the early 1700s, the site has a searchable copy of the Social Security Death Index (SSDI), an obituary collection from modern newspapers, some digitized books, and census records. All searchable by name, keywords, date ranges, and location (where applicable).

4. Newspapers.com¹ Publisher Extra subscription

Edging out GenealogyBank for newspaper collections is Newspapers.com with the additional Publisher Extra add-on. Much like GenealogyBank, the primary focus is on US newspapers but with the addition of the Publisher Extra add-on one has access to a number of Canadian newspapers too. The Canadian newspapers are heavy on the western side of Canada especially British Columbia but any indexed and searchable Canadian newspaper collection is a good thing in my books. Newspapers.com also has newspapers from Australia, England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Panama, Scotland, and Wales in their collection. 

3. ScotlandsPeople

If you have any Scottish roots this is the one site you need to visit to locate the images of birth, marriage, and death statutory (civil) registrations, census returns, and parish registers that can't be found elsewhere online from home. Many sites will have the indexes of those records but not the images. Unlike many other fee-based genealogy sites that are subscription based ScotlandsPeople is credit based. For £7.50 you get a 30 credit voucher. The price for viewing and downloading, if you so chose to do so, is 6 credits for statutory BMD registrations, census returns, and church registers. Other records can be had for between 2 credits and 40 credits, depending on the collection.

2. Findmypast

Findmypast continues to be one of my primary research sites especially for the UK branches of my family. It isn't just because of their wonderful census, parish collections, immigration, and military collections that covers the British Isles and select parts of the world but also for their newspaper collections. With Findmypast I have access to English, Irish, and US newspapers from various other sites. There are also a number of Canadian newspapers buried in their collection.

1. Ancestry¹

There is probably no surprise that Ancestry is at the top of my list of fee-based genealogy sites. Combined with their record collections and DNA testing they have been my go-to site for many years. My primary cousin-bait tree is hosted on that site and I make use of the good...and not so good...user created trees to provide me with clues as to where to possibly look next for records in my research when I hit a stumbling block.

 

These are my top ten fee-based sites and they probably differ from yours. I'd be interested in hearing from you as to your favourites (and why) that I didn't include.

Stay tuned in the coming week or so for a list of my favourite free genealogy sites.

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Full disclosure

1. As a member of the Ancestry Canada Advisory Board this year I have been provided a free subscription to Ancestry, Newspapers.com with Publisher Extra, and Fold3. However, prior to this year I either held my own subscriptions or made use of those sites via other venues such as at my local Family History Center or a genealogy conference.

2. I was provided with a one year subscription to Genealogy Quebec last year. The subscription has since lapsed but my to-do list for that site is growing for the day when I can access those records at my local library.

3. In July this year I won a subscription to MyHeritage when I attended a Facebook presentation hosted by MyHeritage. I had a subscription in previous years but had let it lapse.

Canadians as POWs in the Second World War on Findmypast

As many of us know, researching those that served Canadian and survived the Second War can be a bit of a challenge since many of the records are still safeguarded by privacy rules. So it is always a good day when one stumbles upon another online collection to peruse during these strange times of COVID-19 restrictions.

On Findmypast there is the "Prisoners Of War 1715-1945" record set that has 3,586,738 individual records in the set. That may seem like a lot but you need to keep in mind that those records are from The National Archives (TNA) in Kew, England (a few few other collections) and cover over 200 years of conflict that the United Kingdom, and other allies, has been involved in. The documents come from a number of agencies such as the Foreign Office (FO), Colonial Office (CO), War Office (WO), Admiralty (ADM) and Air Force (AIR). Wars covered include the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815), Crimean War (1853-1856), Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), First World War (1914-1918), and the Second World War (1939-1945). Many of the records are digitized but some are transcription only.

However, I'm more interested in locating any records from the Second World War of Canadians found in that record set. The first step is to narrow down the years. For that I selected 1942 as the year, minus or plus 5 years¹.

Screen capture of the advanced search screen for the Prisoners of War 1715-1945 record set on Findmypast with 1942 -/+ 5 years filter.

That left me with 512,918 results to filter through. Keep in mind that there will be duplicates where the same person is mentioned in multiple documents. 

At this point I could type in the surname of someone that I know was a prisoner of war to see if a record in the set exists for them. However, in the research into my own family lines I haven't come across anyone that may have been a prisoner of war during the Second World War...the War of Independence undertaken by what became the United States of America, yes, but not the Second World War. Instead I decided to see what I could find for records that might have a mention of Canadians. For that I went to the Advance search page and typed "Canadian" (without the quotes) in the "Additional keywords" field. That gave me 2,295 results.

So just what do I see when I browse through the records?

There are are great many from the "Prisoners of war, Far East" subset of records from The National Archives. The description page at Findmypast states that one may find records from:

• Japanese index cards of Allied prisoners – includes name, nationality, place of capture, parents’ names, rank, unit and more.
• Lists of prisoners created by liberating armies during 1945.
• Regimental nominal rolls – includes name, rank, regiment and date.
• War diaries and testimonies of prisoners.
• Lists of those who died while imprisoned.
• Photographs of prison camps – includes over 45 photographs of prisoners in Japanese camps (WO 341/2045).
• Correspondence between the International Red Cross and the governments of belligerent nations.
• Lists of recommendations for honours and awards for service while imprisoned.

Here is an example of a card from The National Archives "WO 345 Japanese Index Cards of Allied POWs 1942-1947" collection and has been made available on Findmypast for a Parkman Huston, born 8 Sep 1896 in Canada².

"Prisoners Of War 1715-1945," database and images, Findmypast (www.findmypast.com : accessed 30 Sep 2020), Parkman Huston, born 1896, year 1941; citng The National Archives (Kew), WO 345/27, Japanese Index Cards of Allied Prisoners of War and Internees, Second World War, 1942-1945.

An abstract of this card can also be found in the Ancestry "UK, Allied Prisoners of War, 1939-1945" collection. However, if you are using Ancestry you will also need to have a Fold3 subscription since that is where the image has been placed in their "UK, Allied Prisoners of War, 1939-1945" collection.

Sometimes you will come across entries in the Findmypast database without an image. One example is the entry for F/O H. T. Huston of the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) 405th Squadron.

Screen capture from the Findmypast "Prisoners Of War 1715-1945" record set for F/O H T Huston of RCAF 405 Squadron, 1941.

Here Findmypast tells you that the information came from The National Archives WO 208/3316 report 1591. To find the file on The National Archives site you need to do a Discovery search combining the Archive reference of WO 208/3316 and the Report Number 1591 so that your search query is "WO 208/3316/1591".

Screen capture of The National Archives at Kew catalogue description of WO/208/3316/1591, Flying Officer H T Huston, service number J 13071, RCAF.

In this case the search results show that the record has not been digitized and one will have to visit The National Archives at Kew to see it. However, it did give a valuable piece of information that Findmypast didn't record...his service number "J 13071". With his name and service number you might be able to find him in the Operations Record Books for RCAF 405th Squadron.

Other times you might get lucky like I did with W/O G E Grandy of RCAF 407th Squadron where his details are recorded in WO 208/3324/2659. Normally you would have to pay or be connected to the TNA WiFi network to access the record. However, with COVID-19 restrictions in place The National Archives have generously opened up their digitized downloads to anyone with a free account on their site.

Extract from The National Archives at Kew of WO 208/3324/2659, Escape/Evasion Report for flight crew of Wellington Mk 14 from R.A.F. Wick piloted by F/O G. A Biddle, crashed 26 Set 1944.

What I received as a downloadable PDF was a three page document of the statement provided by the flight crew of the events from 26 Sep 1944 after they took off from R.A.F. Wick in their Wellington Mk 14 aircraft to when they finally returned to Scalloway, Shetland Islands on 12 Oct 1944 all the while evading capture by the German forces occupying Norway. The last page had a genealogical bonus since it listed their date of birth, post in the crew (wireless operator/air gunner in the case of W/O Grandy), peacetime profession, and their address back home. The tale of what happened to this crew, although told in the usual military clinical detachment, took my breath away as I read it.

There are even lists concerning prisoners in various P.O.W. camps in Germany.

"Prisoners Of War 1715-1945," database and images, Findmypast (www.findmypast.com : accessed 30 Sep 2020), Daniel Almon, S/Sgt, R-65355, arrivals from Stalag 2.D., 6 Apr 1944; citing The National Archives (Kew), AIR 40/276, Stalag 357 rolls Jan 1944-Mar 1945.

Of course, these records are not just for Canadians and you will find entries for other Allied nations including the UK, Australia, and even Americans.

Could you go to The National Archives site and search there for free? Yes you can but the value add of Findmypast is that they have name indexed the records so you don't have to know to look in the 6 Apr 1944 arrivals from Stalag 2.D to Lager K for your relative. Even if you do come across a record on TNA it might just point you to Findmypast to view the image.

If you are looking for more information as to what The National Archives (Kew) holds in respect to Prisoner of War files from the Second World War make sure you read their "British and Commonwealth prisoners of the Second World War and the Korean War" research guide.

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1. Why minus or plus five years? Findmypast only provides the option to filter the year by minus or plus 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 40 years. Three years would be perfect and two years is not enough so five years it is.

2. There are a number of records for him found on the various genealogy sites including at least one document with a pre-Second World War picture.