FREE full family history webpages

[JEFF1964]

Can anybody help with this request. I have just begun to research my family tree, but being on the dole it is quite expensive doing this kind of thing. Especially when you have to buy into a website to use the information contained in it, so i was wandering if there are such things as any FREE family history resources out there. I have come across free trials, but you have to give them a card and number before you can start. (Not much use in my predicament)

Any help would be appreciated.

Jeff

[SS from The Rhondda]

Can anybody help with this request. I have just begun to research my family tree, but being on the dole it is quite expensive doing this kind of thing. Especially when you have to buy into a website to use the information contained in it, so i was wandering if there are such things as any FREE family history resources out there. I have come across free trials, but you have to give them a card and number before you can start. (Not much use in my predicament)

Any help would be appreciated.

Jeff

Have you tried FreeBMD & FreeCEN ?
http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/
http://freecen.rootsweb.com/

They are also looking for volunteers to help with transcribing of the records.

[casalguidi]

The 1881 census is indexed and there are many (mostly mid 19c and before) baptisms and marriages http://www.familysearch.org

The full GRO birth, marriage and death indexes are currently free to view http://www.ancestry.co.uk but I'm not sure if you need to give any card details to register

Some county registry offices are starting to put their birth, marriage, death indexes on the web http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/

Much would depend on the area and timeframe of your interest

Casalguidi

[suttontrust]

I sympathise - it can be very expensive.  And even if you can get information for free you have to buy certificates.  If your research is local, you can get a lot of information from the local library or record office.

[dennford]

        You're on the nearest thing to free here at rootschat - that is if you discount the reciprical help you give others.
        You will get more hints and tips, glean more info and "idle away more time on here than you thought possible.
        This site plus your own effort and a few free census will be all you can handle.
                                             Denn

P.S. Trystan do I get a commission for this kind of plug.
                                             Denn

[Burrow Digger]

And if you want to put your research online at a good site with NO large annoying pop up ads - you can get free webspace here at Rootschat. The only ads they put on is a small ad at the bottom of the page. This place is way better than geocities or tripod for webspace. 

I too am on a low income, and I use freeBMD and freeCEN and the familysearch dot org websites a LOT. While I have purchased a few items, I have not been able to purchase most of the certificates that I need.

One place I did purchase a subscription to is British Origins. Its 22 pounds for 1 year and you have unlimited access to the 1841 & 1871 census records. OF course since not all the counties have been transcribed, its really only useful if they have already transcribed those counties that you need. I was lucky - they have done the West country already and I have found my subscription to British Origins has paid for itself over and over again. 

Burrow Digger

[trish251]

Hi Jeff

For the first 12 months of my research I spent very little money. To start RootsChat is free. Ask lots of questions - many will be answered. Look at the boards for your counties - there are many links to free sites. Look at beginners links - again - mainly free. Use google - it will return an amazing number of links for your areas of interest and names of interest.

Do you live close to a LDS Centre (you can check locations at www.familysearch.org )  - they provide access to many online and offline sources at no charge. Many libraries provide free access to sites such as www.ancestry.com

Trish

[Guy Etchells]

Can anybody help with this request. I have just begun to research my family tree, but being on the dole it is quite expensive doing this kind of thing. Especially when you have to buy into a website to use the information contained in it, so i was wandering if there are such things as any FREE family history resources out there. I have come across free trials, but you have to give them a card and number before you can start. (Not much use in my predicament)

Any help would be appreciated.

Jeff

You make it very difficult to answer in anything more than the most general terms as you do not give any information about yourself, your location or your intrests.

There are thousands of websites containing free data on the web but without knowing surnames or areas the search cannot be narrowed down.
For surnames Rootsweb has many surname lists see-
http://lists.rootsweb.com/

More general free sites include the LDS familysearch at
http://www.familysearch.org/

There are census transcripts at
http://www.census-online.com/links/

There are also thousands of sites containing transcripts of Parish Registers across the web.

Offline there are libraries and archives which offer local information and LDS Family History Centers where you can order films & fiche of parish registers for virtually the cost of postage from the USA to the center.
Cheers
Guy

[Berlin-Bob]

I think we've all gone throught this - lovely hobby but expensive 

At some stage you will only get further by buying certificates, so it is a good idea to use the free sources to find out as much as possible, and to find the exact reference numbers for information that you will have to pay for, so you can be (reasonably) certain that it's the right stuff.

Here is another source of free information:

The Online Parish Clerks (OPC)

this description appears on almost all the OPC pages:

An Online Parish Clerk (OPC) researches all  the available historical data they can find on a parish,  records are transcribed, and in order to promote further private research, are made FREELY available to any researcher. This will include census, parish transcripts, bishop's transcripts and churchwardens accounts, overseers accounts, land tax records, postal directory extracts, church & village histories, etc. An OPC is a volunteer and should not be confused with the civil Parish Clerk appointed by a Parish Council.

Some OPC sites just list the resources that the OPCs have available for look ups.
Other OPC sites include the transcribed material and are mines of information.

Here are some OPC sites:

Devon:	http://genuki.cs.ncl.ac.uk/DEV/OPCproject.html
Dorset:	http://www.dorset-opc.com
Kent:	http://www.kent-opc.org.uk/
Lancashire:	http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/
Sussex:	http://www.sussex-opc.org/
S. Derbyshire:	http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~brett/sdindex.htm
Warwickshire:	http://www.hunimex.com/warwick/opc/opc.html
Wiltshire:	http://homepage.ntlworld.com/david.brown6666/wiltsopc/

Although not an OPC site, this has a wealth of Norfolk information:
The Norfolk Transcription Archives:      http://www.genealogy.doun.org/transcriptions/index.php

There are many, many more smaller sites, with parish information, which you will find here, on "Useful Links" and the County "Resource Boards" or through search machines.

Happy hunting !!

Bob

Update: 08.09.2006

Sorry, forgot this one 

OPC Cornwall:  http://cornwall-opc.org/

and here are some new ones:

Cumbria and Westmoreland: http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/cumbria-ops
Leicestershire: http://www.rootsweb.com/~engleiopc/