Researching ancestors from England, Scotland, Wales or Ireland? Here’s a list of free genealogy sites for the UK and Ireland where you can find everything from census returns and military service records to birth, marriage and death indexes.
We have included only sites that offer mostly or completely free records in our list, but you should also read our Guide to UK and Irish Research for many more resources and help with your research.
Once you’ve checked out these resources read our list of 50 Free Genealogy Sites to Search Today.
Free UK and Irish Genealogy Sites for Finding Your Ancestors
This effort includes three separate UK-focused projects powered by volunteers who transcribe important genealogical records and place them online in searchable databases. Search these three UK genealogy projects via the links below.
FreeBMD: Civil Registration index of births, marriages and deaths for England and Wales
FreeCen: 19th century census records for the UK
FreeReg: baptism, marriage, and burial records from parish and non-conformist registers of the UK
“GENUKI provides a virtual reference library of genealogical information of particular relevance to the UK and Ireland. It is a non-commercial service, maintained by a charitable trust and a group of volunteers.” You’ll find access to a great selection of resources and records on this easy to navigate site.
The National Archives of the United Kingdom has a wide variety of free research databases online, including military records and asylum records. They have done a beautiful job of providing access to just about every type of family history information you might be looking for–whether it be in the form of a searchable database or an easy to read guide.
The National Archives of Ireland have done a really good job of making their online databases simple to find and use. They offer census records, soldier’s wills and more in their genealogy section. This is the place to start if you are looking for an Irish member of your family tree.
This site has thousands of links to genealogy research sites for the UK. They list both paid and free resources, but it seems that most we have used have been free. Many of the sites are geographically focused, or center on one surname–but others are much more extensive. You’ll have to dig around on UK BMD to find what you need.
Don’t forget that many of the sites we have included in our free ancestry search article (such as FamilySearch), as well as our best genealogy research sites infographic, are also very helpful when researching your ancestors from the UK and Ireland.
You might also like:
The Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Researching Your Ancestors in England, Wales, Scotland or Ireland
The 10 Collections You Need to Know for Irish Genealogy Research
Image Credit: James Morley
hi Jack , There are a few more siblings WILLIAM , JAMES ROBERT AND STEPHEN , my first message got deleted as i put a link to another site
HI Ashley all seems easy to research .
Name: Reginald P Fraser
Gender: Male
Marital Status: Married
Birth Date: 20 Jun 1899
Residence Date: 1939
Address: Ter-Na-Noa
Residence Place: Maldon and Coombe, Surrey, England
Occupation: Research Scientist Fuel & Coak?? of Gas
Line Number: 40
Schedule Number: 10
Sub Schedule Number: 1
Enumeration District: CMUS
Borough: Maldon and Coombe
Registration district: 30-1
Inferred Spouse:
Emma E A Fraser
I am trying to find out some detailed information on my GREAT Uncle Reginald Percy Fraser. He was an amazing scientist, he had over 200 registered and or pending patents in 1966 of March when he suddenly passed. He was a received the OBE from King George for his work on the Churchill Flame thrower and possibly other war time inventions. It was said he worked closely with Churchill and Roosevelt, however, in the very few front headline newspapers I was able to get the articles on his death was very sparse just saying secret scientist died and gave a little background on him. Please, if anyone has any information on him I would love to hear from you.
Looking for information about the Hillock family in Scotland, So far I have, Andrew Hillock, b abt 1675 in Coaltown of Wemyss, Fife, Scotland. Married to Margaret Sydes b abt 1697 a son
Andrew Hillock jr. b abt 1719.
Any information about this family would be greatly appreciated.