English Parish Registers

Civil registration didn't begin in England until 1837. To find ancestors before that date, you'll need to rely on church records -- particularly parish registers.

Starting in 1538, each parish was required to register all baptisms, marriages, and burials. Parishes governed church affairs within their boundaries. The library owns a copy of A Genealogical Gazetteer of England which can help you find your ancestors' parish.

Registers can provide an incredible amount of useful information. Each parish decided what to include in their records so you may find that information varies parish to parish but here are some examples of items that might be included in the registers:

• Baptisms: parents' names, address, father's occupation, mother's maiden name, godparents, and date of baptism. (Remember this is not the date of birth! Sometimes parents waited until the children were older to baptize them as well.)
• Marriages: home parishes for both the bride and groom, marital status (bachelor, widow, etc), ages, witnesses, and groom's occupation. Sometimes marriages did not occur at parish churches; therefore, marriage records may not always exist.   
• Burials: date, age, occupation, address, spouse or parents' names, and sometimes the cause of death.

The Church of England has acted as the primary religious institution in England since the 16th century so it is likely that you will find your ancestors in their records. However, dissenters and nonconformist religious organizations also kept records of births, marriages, and deaths so don't give up hope if your ancestor didn't belong to the Church of England.

You can find parish registers on FamilySearch. You should also visit FreeReg. FreeReg has made it their mission to transcribe and index parish registers and nonconformist records from 1538-1837. It is an excellent resource for English genealogy research!

If records are not available online, you will need to contact the appropriate County Record Office to research parish registers in person.

European Genealogy Websites

The following links were taken from GenealogyInTime. GenealogyInTime also posts links to genealogy record collections from all over the world that have been recently digitized.

Here are few free European websites that GenealogyInTime included in its 100 Best Websites of 2014 list.

Denmark
Dansk Demografisk Database: Includes Danish census records from 1787-1930, emigration records, probate, church records, and more.

France
GeneaNet: The largest French genealogy database that includes links to online municipal archives and information to help you get started with French research.

Germany
Ahnenforschung: Contains databases, digital archives, dictionaries, and forums related to German genealogy.

Ireland
Irish Genealogy: Online resources, church records, and Irish research tips hosted by the Irish Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht.

The Netherlands
Wie Was Wie: This database includes vital records, population registers, Dutch family trees, and more.

Norway
Arkivverket Digitalarkivet: Digital archive that includes census records, parish registers, property and legal records and much more.
DIS-Norway, Slekt og Data: Norway's largest genealogy organization whose site contains forums, helpful links, and digital projects.

United Kingdom
GENUKI: Online gazetteer, parish maps, and many useful links for UK research.
RootsChat: The UK's largest family history forum.
FreeBMD: Search transcriptions of the Civil Registration Index of births, marriages and deaths for England and Wales.

Several of these sites are in the language of the host county. Google Translate can translate whole webpages into English for you if you need help.

The Peerage

ThePeerage.com is a fascinating, ever-expanding database of the nobility and peerage of Britain and the royal families of Europe.

This website is a labor of love "by one (somewhat eccentric) person collecting information on the European royal families and on the British Peerage, and then entering it into a range of various genealogy programs."

It is possible to search by surname, and also to follow the links back through the generations by clicking on each ancestor.

There is also a Master Index, a Place Index, discussion group, and helpful FAQ. Click on "custom index" to sort the place names by country.

Contact the compiler, Darryl Lundy, via email darryl@thepeerage.com or via the site's discussion group with any corrections and additional data.

British Genealogy Book

Dick Eastman's Genealogy Blog contains a book review about Ancestral Trails, a book owned by the Glenview Public Library and available for checkout at call number 929.1 HER and in the Reference Room at R929.1 HER GENEALOGY.

Here is an excerpt from dick's review:

"Ancestral Trails is an 896-page, 6-inch-by-9-inch paperback...jam-packed with genealogical research guidance. It also has many black-and-white images to illustrate the information presented within the text.

...The book gives background information about past generations by describing virtually every class of record in every repository and library in Britain. In order to find the correct repositories, you often have to first understand why a particular record would be found there. Herber does this well, describing historical settings and the purpose of each repository...

"Ancestral Trails provides detailed explanations of census records, parish registers, marriage records, wills and much...the new appendix on 'Web sites for family historians.' Herber lists the names and URLs (addresses) of several hundred web sites that can be useful for British genealogy research although he does not describe any of them in detail."

Welsh Genealogy

If you are searching for ancestors from Wales, you will enjoy the 1911 Welsh census.

It provides online access to the records of 2.4 million people living in Wales in 1911. Anyone can use the index to locate ancestors. To view the original record, there is a small fee.

The census covers Wales, England, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, as well as those aboard Royal Naval and Merchant vessels at sea and in foreign ports. It also includes details of British Army personnel and their families in military establishments overseas.

The 1911 census is provided in association with The National Archives of the U.K. and Find My Past, which helps you locate living family members, immigrants, and Welsh ancestors from the 16th century to the present.

Roll of Battle Abbey

New genealogy book at the Glenview Public Library:

The Roll of Battle Abbey annotated by John Bernard Burke.
R929.341 ROL GENEALOGY

This roll is the earliest record of the Normans. The Abbey was a memorial of the Battle of Hastings. Its first Benedictine c ommunity came f rom Normandy. Their purpose was to pray for those who had died in the battle, and preserve a faithful record of those who had shared in the victory.

The book lists the names of the Norman chieftains who accompanied the Conqueror, followed by annotations and heraldic images.