The study of Family History

Official Records Sources

GENUKI  
We have listed Genuki first because it is the most comprehensive source and covers the UK.
The aim of GENUKI  - the UK and Ireland Genealogy project - is to serve as a comprehensive "virtual reference library" of genealogical information that is of particular relevance to the UK & Ireland. It is organised so as to make it easy to find what information on what topics is available online related to given geographical localities (even down to parish level). It is a noncommercial service, provided by an ever-growing group of volunteers in cooperation with the Federation of Family History Societies and a number of its member societies. 

England & Wales

1901 Census - www.1901census.nationalarchives.gov.uk
Contains census images and transcriptions from the 1901 Census of England and Wales

Public Records Office PRO
General Register Office, Family Records Centre, Myddelton Street, London EC1R 1UW, Family Records Centre which holds birth, adoption, marriage and death records from 1837 to the present day. 

Office of National Statistics, General Register House, Smedley Hydro, Southport, Merseyside PR8 2HH  http://ww.ons.gov.uk   

Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland, Registrar General, Oxford House, 49-55 Chichester Street
Belfast BT1 4HL, Republic of Ireland

Republic of Ireland, Registrar General, Joyce House, 8-11 Lombard Street East Dublin 2  Republic of Ireland, 
Website: http://www.doh.ie/fulltext/foimanual/chap4/gere.html

Scotland

General Register Office of Scotland  
New Register House holds all the records for births, marriages and deaths on a computerised database. Copies of all the church parish records have been microfilmed and are available for research.   
An index of Scottish birth and marriage records from 1553 to 1897, and death records from 1855 to 1897 has been made available on the Web at Scottish Origins 

General Register Office for Scotland, New Register House, Edinburgh EH1 3YT
Scotland.,  0131 334 0380 Certificate ordering: 0131 314 4411 Telefax: 0131 314 4400
Website:        http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk
Email:            records@gro-scotland.gov.uk

NOTE: There is a 100 year embargo on public records and ‘recent' records of 100 years and under are not included.   

For wills, deeds, valuation rolls and pre-1855 baptismal records of churches other than the Church of Scotland.
The National Archives (Scotland), General Register House, Edinburgh EH2 4DF   tel:  0131 535 1405  Email: research@nas.gov.uk

The National Register of Archives (Scotland), General Register House, Edinburgh EH2 4DF   tel:  0131 535 1405  Email: nra@nas.gov.uk  NRA only keeps a register of Archives but can inform you where these archives are stored.

For Records relating to Coats of Arms and recorded Genealogies contact
The Lyon Office, New Register House, Edinburgh EH1 3YT.  

INTERNET Sources

Glasgow & West Of Scotland Family History Society 
The Society was founded in 1977 "to promote the study of family history in Glasgow & the West of Scotland". The society  is run entirely by volunteers, who give freely of their time & goodwill to provide our services and to help others interested in researching their family history.

GENUKI: Scotland is part of that project and  holds a vast amount of information including an extensive description of (non-Web) genealogical archives and bibliography of publications on Scottish family history, plus libraries, cemeteries, census information, gazetteers, maps, newspapers etc.

Find your ancestors with Roots Web
If you are new to genealogy you should start here. This site also provides interactive lessons to beginners on how to search for ancestors and relatives all over the world.  It also offers a world connect project including a Surname Helper page providing a search engine that searches for a name or equivalents and alternate spellings of it. 

Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet has links to 64,000+ URLs

Family History.com
This site hosts thousands of family history message boards devoted to surnames and other genealogy related topics.

Scottish Radiance  links to find Scottish Surnames - Search for Scottish Ancestors and much more!

Church of the Latter Day Saints  
One of the most important sources of genealogical information are the Family History Centres operated by the Church of the Latter Day Saints (the Mormons, often referred to as "LDS". They have made microfiche copies of all the births and marriages in all the parish records in Scotland. (Copies of the microfiche are available in main libraries in the UK including Airdrie and Hamilton.)
You can get explanation of the LDS Reference Information on births, marriages and death records on the Old Parish Registers.

The LDS database is now available On Line -  contains 13 million records of births and marriages.

Edinburgh University  has an introduction to genealogy within its reference sections.

The Jacobite Heritage site lists the family tree and descendants of James VII.

Skyelander's Scottish Highlands and Islands History.  Family History is always helped by knowing some Scottish History - log on to this site - I can promise you it is GOOD.  It features: Scottish History, Medieval History, Celtic History, Scottish Battles and Wars of England and Scotland. Original historic articles updated monthly.  Includes the Highland Clearances - The Picts -

Fianna - Guide to Irish Genealogy -  The legendary Fianna of Ireland were a band of mighty noble warriors. Entrance was governed by strict tests and codes of honour. Yet the Fianna also had to be knowledgeable of culture, and more specifically they had to be poets. The Fianna Study Group for Irish Genealogy tries to bring the finest values to you through their web site. 

http://www.curiousfox.org.uk/CuriousFox was created in August 2002. The aim was to provide a resource for finding and identifying the myriad of UK villages, and allow genealogists, family history and local history researchers to make contact and share knowledge at a village level.