Quick Guide: How To Trace Your Family Tree Online

Family history is a truly interesting thing that many people wish to uncover. Most of us can trace our family back several generations without need of extra research. To our great grandparents, for example. But what lies further back in our past? What secrets does our family tree hold? Who are our ancestors and where did our family originate from? These are all interesting questions that until recently were not easy to find the answers to.

There are many reasons why you may want to trace your family tree – you may simply be curious and want to learn about your ancestors. Who knows – you may have a famous or historic ancestor or your family may originate from a completely different country! Alternatively, you may wish to trace your heritage for legal reasons and to help solve legal cases such as wills etc. whatever the reason, the following platforms all provide the tools to delve into your past:

How to Trace Your Family Tree Online

Find my Past

Find my Past was actually established by a group of keen heir hunters in 1965. Since then, it has developed into one of the largest ancestry databases in the UK. Find my Past has a host of searchable records including census records, parish records, military records, BMDs records and newspapers. Furthermore, it has a family tree feature that you can populate using the records. This website allows you to try the service with a 14-day free trial, but after that, you have to pay a subscription. Aside from the above, Find my Past also features a 1939 register which allows you to search through WW2 records.       

Ancestry

Ancestry is possibly the most well-known family research organization and you will have more than likely seen their TV adverts. This website has one of the most comprehensive databases in the world and provides a huge array of information relating to your family and history. Using Ancestry you can actually look at vital, census, military and family records in their historical collections section. You can also find genealogical records, obituaries and use their historical person search. Finally, Ancestry has a cool feature whereby you can actually find the meaning of your surname.

Family Search 

Family search is a global organisation that can help you find a myriad of different documents and information about your family. This is a non-profit organisation that aims to create the largest genealogical collection of records in the world, so that people can discover who they are and where their ancestors came from. The organisation was actually founded in 1894 and since then has been preserving records and building a trove of human genealogical information. Using this website, you can search for photos, family trees and even information specific to a single person.

Writer’s Bio: Lewis Murawski is a Director of Kahootz Media. He has been ranking websites on the first page of Google for more than 10 years. Connect with Lewis on LinkedIn.