All United Kingdom

Websites:

UKBMD – contains a multitude of records, not just birth, marriage and death. Scroll down the page to see more descriptions of what is offered. https://www.ukbmd.org.uk/. 

GENUKI – https://www.genuki.org.uk/ – when clicking on each country, a clickable map of the counties is provided.

The National Archives of the UK (known as TNA).  https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/.

FreeBMD (Free). https://www.freebmd.org.uk/.

FreeCEN (Free). https://www.freecen.org.uk/.

FreeREG (Free). https://www.freereg.org.uk/.

Other Tips:

Look for records on FamilySearch and search for a specific time frame. This example shows their list of items for “19th century Britain” – https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/results?count=100&query=%2Bsubject%3A19th%20%2Bsubject%3ACentury%20%2Bsubject%3ABritain%20%2Bavailability%3AOnline.  OR check for a location using their map view https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/Main_Page.

Check the Family History Federation to locate a Family History Soceity (FHS) – https://www.familyhistoryfederation.com.

Use Family History Socieites to learn more about ancestors in a specific area – https://www.familysearch.org/en/wiki/England_Societies.

Guild of One-Name Studies. www.one-name.org.

Books:

Portions of this book can be previewed online (click on the image). Jackson, Ashley. (2013) The British Empire: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press. https://books.google.com/books?id=U85sJUJQGnwC : accessed 7 August 2022.

Images. Photograph. The White Tower of the Tower of London. May 2019. London, England, United Kingdom. Phyllis Zumwalt, photographer. Private collection.

Scotland

Websites:

GENUKI for Scotland

National Records of Scotland (NRS) is the primary archive of Scottish records. Check their Family History page to discover what is held. Research guides and an A-Z index  can assist in digging into types of records. Family historians and genealogists can research online using their contracted services: 

• ScotlandsPeople (SP) – SP holds the majority of records for Scotland and is fee-based. Clicking on Search Records provides views based on People, Places, Virtual Volumes, Image Library, Maps and Plans, and Guidance and Help.
• ScotlandsPlaces (SPL) – This free resource holds records (tax rolls, Ordnance Survey name books, and maps and plans) related to towns, cities, counties, burghs; a perfect resource when researching a place. 
• Scottish Archive Network (SCAN) – SCAN (Scottish Archive Network) was a project to digitize over 20,000 historical collections containing fragile records from over 52 archives; NRS now provides the oversight for this website. Using SCAN’s Digital Archive records can be viewed online; others are held locally.

National Library of Scotland 

NLS has a Family History section with an excellent topic list for records. NLS also has the extensive maps images of Scotland and beyond.

Scotland Maps and Gazetteers:

Check the National Library of Scotland (NLS) maps including their “Recent Additions.” Look in the Maps of Scotland and check the maps by century and by thumbnail image, county maps and estates. Other views are by Ordnance Survey; check the OS, side-by-side map University of Strathclyde and Barony Hall. 

Canmore is an excellent resource for reading about places, like the Barony Parish Church.

Online atlases; example – John Thomson’s Atlas of Scotland, 1832, with his index map of shires. Drill down into Edinburgh (city), 1 of 4 maps sections within Edinburgh shire, see the Edinburgh Castle at one end of the Royal Mile and Holyrood House (the Queen’s (now King’s) Scotland Palace), at the other end.

British History Online – Use the Search option, choose Scotland to see what is held. Narrow down the volume of information by selecting a century and / or a location or topic.

The Gazetteer for Scotland has maps and places, history and time-line and other miscellaneous information. Example, old counties before 1974, versus modern council areas since 1974. 

Also check Lewis, Samuel. (1846) Topographical dictionary of Scotland. London, England : S. Lewis and Co.

Books:

Paton, Chris. (2020) Tracing your Scottish family history on the internet : a guide for family historians. Barnsley: Pen and Sword. ISBN: 9781526768391.

Other sites:

• Guild of One-Name Studies. https://one-name.org/.
  
• Scottish Association of Family History Societies. https://www.safhs.org.uk/members.php.
  
• Paton, Chris. Scottish Genes Blog. http://scottishgenes.blogspot.com/ : accessed 6 June 2022.

Images. Photograph. Dunluce Castle, seat of Clan McDonnell. May 2019. Co. Antrim, Portrush, Northern Ireland United Kingdom. Iain, photographer. Pexels. https://www.pexels.com/photo/old-medieval-ruins-of-dunluce-castle-on-ocean-coast-in-northern-ireland-famous-place-in-uk-2350368/.

Republic of Ireland

GENUKI for Ireland

FamilySearch. Ireland Personal Names. https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Ireland_Personal_Names : 21 June 2021.

FamilySearch. Ireland online genealogy records. https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Ireland_Online_Genealogy_Records : accessed 6 June 2022. 

National Archive of Ireland. Genealogy. http://www.genealogy.nationalarchives.ie/ : accessed 6 June 2022.

Trinity College, Dublin. Beyond 2022: Ireland’s virtual record treasury. https://beyond2022.ie/ : accessed 8 June 2021.

Resources for History of Irish emigration to America:

Constitutional Rights Foundation. BRIA 26 2 The Potato Famine and Irish Immigration to America. https://www.crf-usa.org/bill-of-rights-in-action/bria-26-2-the-potato-famine-and-irish-immigration-to-america.html : accessed 19 June 2021.

Donegal Diaspora. The Famine in Donegal. https://www.donegaldiaspora.ie/news/famine-donegal : accessed 19 June 2021.

Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild. Irish Ports. http://www.immigrantships.net/departures/ireland.html : accessed 6 June 2022.

Irish Family History Foundation. RootsIreland.ie. http://www.rootsireland.ie/ : accessed 6 June 2022.

Irish Newspaper Archives. https://www.irishnewsarchive.com/ : accessed 6 June 2022.

United States Census Bureau. Where Irish Eyes are Smiling. https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2018/comm/irish.html : accessed 6 June 2022.

Books:

Grenham, John. (2019) Tracing your Irish ancestors. 5th ed. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan.

Laxton, Edward. (1997) The famine ships: the Irish exodus to America. Great Britain : Bloomsbury Publishing. https://archive.org/details/famineshipsir00laxt/ : accessed 6 June 2022.

O’ Laughlin, Michael C. and The Irish Genealogical Foundation (U.S.). (2001) The families of County Donegal, Ireland : over one thousand entries from the archives of the Irish Genealogical Foundation. 1st Ed. Kansas City, Missouri: The Irish Genealogical Foundation (U.S.). p. 75. https://www.google.com/books/edition/Families_of_Co_Donegal_Ireland/2dO4L8DDxG4C?gbpv=1 : accessed 17 June 2021.

Tuke, James H. (1848) A visit to Connaught in the autumn of 1847: a letter addressed to the Central Relief Committee of the Society of Friends, Dublin, by James H. Tuke. London: Charles Gilpin. p. 54. http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/TukeVisit : accessed 19 June 2021.