General Genealogical Resources

Dorset History Centre brings together two services, the Dorset Record Office and Dorset County Local Studies Library, to preserve and make available the archives and written heritage of the people, organisations and communities of Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole. Our records date from 965AD to the present day.

These pages list some of the places in Britain, Ireland and world-wide for which the Society holds sources. For details click on the link to SOGCAT, the library catalogue, and do a Subject search for the specific place which you are interested in.

UK Genealogical Resources
Ancestors from England	Offering affordable and excellent genealogical research since 1999. Current rate is $20 (US) per hour. Official documents requested will incur an additional cost.
Ancestors on Board	A database featuring BT27 Outward Passenger Lists for long-distance voyages leaving the British Isles from 1890 to 1960.
Ancestry Aid	Free genealogy and family history records.
Archives Hub	A single point of access to nearly 20,000 descriptions of archives held in 160 UK institutions, mostly in the higher education sector.
The BMD Register	The official non-parochial BDMs service for the UK.
Blacksheep	Provides a selection of criminal, police, railway workers and other online indexes.
Britain-A Vision Through Time	A vision of Britain between 1801 and 2001. Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions.
British Data Archive	Their aim is to provide access to census records in full, in your own home, on both PC and Mac, at a reasonable cost.
British Genealogy	British-Genealogy.com is dedicated to assisting people with their British family history research.
British History on Line	British History Online is the digital library containing some of the core printed primary and secondary sources for the medieval and modern history of the British Isles. Created by the Institute of Historical Research and the History of Parliament Trust, we aim to support academic and personal users around the world in their learning, teaching and research.
British Library, The	Over 13 million books, 920 journal and newspaper titles. A good place to start is the Integrated Catalogues.
Current Value of Old Money	Changes in the value of money over time.
Cyndi's List	A categorized and cross-referenced index to genealogical resources on the Internet.
English Counties & Parishes	This site is intended to show how the English local government system originated and how it has changed over the centuries. It also contains some explanation of other units of local government and types of settlement, mainly for the period prior to the reorganization of 1974.
England Passenger and Crew Lists	A web site well worth a visit, not only for passenger and crew lists, but visitors can also search for marriages, surnames, census returns and many other useful genealogical resources.
English Villages	Topics include : Villages Index, Village Life, Folklore & Legend, Village Talk, Gallery, Resources, and Bookshop. There is also a Members' Interest section.
English Weights & Measures	The definitive internet resource for information on Imperial weights and measures.
Family Records - UK	This site, provided by the FamilyRecords.gov.uk consortium, will help you find the government records and other sources you need for your family history research.
Family Search	Reported to be the largest collection of free family history, family tree and genealogy records in the world.
Free BDM	FreeBMD is an ongoing project, the aim of which is to transcribe the Civil Registration index of births, marriages and deaths for England and Wales, and to provide free Internet access to the transcribed records. It is a part of the FreeUKGEN family, which also includes FreeCEN (Census data) and FreeREG (Parish Registers).
Genes Reunited	An excellent site with over 350 million names already registered.
Genealogy Reviews UK	Provides family historians and genealogists with information to help them find the software and data they need to research their family history. New reviews are added monthly.
General Register Office	Researchers are able to purchase UK birth, death and marriage certificates online.
GENUKI - UK and Ireland	A large collection of genealogical information for England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, The Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
Guild of One-Name Studies	The Guild of One-Name Studies is the premier UK-based organization for one-name studies. The Guild welcomes as members anyone who has an interest in the subject. Members who are carrying out a one-name study may register their study with the Guild.
Historical Directories	Historical Directories is a digital library of local and trade directories for England and Wales, from 1750 to 1919. It contains high quality reproductions of comparatively rare books, essential tools for research into local and genealogical history.
National Archives	Family History - Let family history expert Nick Barratt help you get started with your research. Included in these clips are simple tips on getting key information and building your family tree.
National Trust Surnames	This website presents the findings of a project based at University College London (UCL) that is investigating the distribution of surnames in Great Britain, both current and historic. It allows users to search the databases that we have created, and to trace the geography and history of their family names. On each page of the website, you will find a Help link on the top-right corner which We hope will answer any questions you might have.
Old English Occupations	A list of some of the occupations that you may find on the English Census during your genealogy research.
Olde English Links	Information on topics from abbreviations, clothing, paleography, Latin, etc.
UK BDM Exchange	An online resource for anyone researching their UK family history. Here you will find details of nearly 90,000 Birth, Death and Marriage Certificates since 1837 along with details of Church records of Baptisms, Burials and Church Marriages from before 1837.
UK Public Libraries	Shelia and Robert Harden have compiled a guide to UK public libraries on the web.

General Genealogical Resources
About Genealogy	Alternatives to Pay-For-Use Genealogy Sites on the Internet.
Canadian Genealogy Centre	The Centre includes all physical and online genealogical services of Library and Archives Canada. It offers genealogical content, services, advice, research tools and opportunities to work on joint projects, all in both official languages.
Convict Central	Most family historians in Australia regard a convict in their ancestry as enormously desirable. "Convicts to Australia" is intended to guide, inform and entertain those just starting the hunt as well as the more experienced researcher. The site is a 'work in progress' and data is being added regularly. We hope your convict research is made easier by our efforts and above all we hope you have FUN. Although feedback and suggestions are welcome, unfortunately we are unable to answer individual questions and research requests.
FEEFHS	The Federation of East European Family History Societies (FEEFHS) was organized in 1992 as an umbrella organization that promotes family research in eastern and central Europe without any ethnic, religious, or social distinctions. It provides a forum for individuals and organizations focused on a single country or group of people to exchange information and be updated on developments in the field. While it primarily serves the interests of North Americans in tracing their lineages back to a European homeland, it welcomes members from all countries.
Legacy Family Tree	A software product for building, customizing, searching and sharing your family history.
National Library of Australia	Australian sites containing a variety of information relating to family history and genealogy including guides, indexes and digitized images of documents. Also links to other informative sites both in Australia and overseas and contact with other family historians via indexed family trees, mailing lists and bulletin boards.
Old Maps	Historic maps of England, Scotland and Wales can be purchased.
Rampant Scotland Directory	Includes an introduction to help those who are about to embark on researching their Scottish family tree via the Net - written by the author of Rampant Scotland.
Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness	Random Acts of Genealogical Kindness (RAOGK) was established in 1999 as a resource for networking among researchers. RAOGK links researchers who need documents from a distant location with others able to obtain them.
The Workhouse	Peter Higginbotham's excellent website "The Workhouse" describes in the introduction the workings of the Poor Law through the Centuries and with the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834 how the Parishes across England and Wales were grouped into Poor Law Unions which led to the construction of Workhouses, some large enough to accommodate up to 1,000 inmates. The introduction also describes how admission to the Workhouse meant ultimate degradation to it's inmates. Includes links to Somerset's Union Workhouses, which were located in Axbridge, Bath, Bedminster, Bridgwater, Chard, Clutton, Dulverton, Frome, Keynsham, Langport, Long Ashton (see Bedminster), Shepton Mallet, Taunton, Wellington, Wells, Williton, Wincanton, Yeovil.
US Gen Web	This site serves as the entrance to the massive US GenWeb project, wherein volunteers across the US maintain linked websites about their states and counties. This page contains information about the project and links to state-level GenWeb sites.
Yesterday's Journeys	"As in any age, people have had to deal with documentation and Officials whether it be for good or bad. Yesterdays Journey records the names of those people who had dealings with those events and the paperwork involved. The documents that sent them back to their legal settlement or let them stay in a new parish. The warrants for their arrest, or the Indentures that gave them a start in working life and the papers that named the fathers of illegitimate children, or the Wills that folks left. They are all here. Documents that may identify where they were born, a trade, an employer, their wages, how long they worked with for each person. Where they got married, which regiment they served in, how many children they had, names, ages and other bits of information to help add real history and detail to your ancestors lives. Dealing primarily with Derbyshire it does however cover the whole of the British Isles as people moved around seeking work, travelled as vagrants through the County or were chased throughout the realm as the responsibility of fatherhood and law caught up with them. There are references to Canada, Australia, New Zealand and America, as well as other lands overseas, as some moved further afield. Yesterdays Journey is on-going and updated on a regular basis."

Dorset Genealogical Resources
A Dorset Timeline (1213-1884)	Kith & Kin Timeline file
Christchurch - A Vision	Historical information includes that on population, life and death, industry, work & poverty, social class and housing.
Christchurch Workhouses	This site provides information on the Christchurch workhouse as well as other locations.
Blackmore Vale Genealogy	This web site is one included in the West Country Genealogy site.
British Roots - Dorset	Family history, genealogy and local history research information for Dorset.
The Adventures of Rev. John White of Dorchester, Dorset	Rev. John White (1575-1648) rector of Holy Trinity and St. Peter's churches in Dorchester, Dorset was one of the most prominent men to promote the Great Migration to New England in the 1630's. Starting in 1620,raising capital, enlisting the support of influential people, and recruiting people to cross an ocean. This list of names was taken from the book by Frances Rose-Trou'p. "John White, The Patriarch of Dorchester, Dorset and The Founder of Massachusetts, 1575-1648, With An Account Of The Early Settlements In Massachusetts, 1620-1630", Printed in 1930, 483 pages.
Dorset Archives	Dorset Archives provides unique records of the people, organizations and communities of Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole from 965 to the present.
Dorset Census online	Provides census records for various locations in Dorset.
Dorset Churches	The Dorset Churches Web site aims to produce brief information about Dorset church buildings. For each Church listed in the index below, there will be a photograph of part of the exterior and (in some cases) with additional information on published sources, guide-books and bells. I now have basic pages for all Dorset churches, but many do not have either images or descriptions
Dorset Family History Society	Belonging to a family history society can be a great help in finding out how to trace your ancestors and meeting other people with similar interests. Even if you have already traced your family tree for quite a long way back, a local family history society will provide interesting meetings with a range of talks on subjects that you will find useful.
Dorset History Centre	Dorset History Centre brings together two services, the Dorset Record Office and Dorset County Local Studies Library, to preserve and make available the archives and written heritage of the people, organisations and communities of Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole. Our records date from 965AD to the present day.
Dorset Marriages	This site is part of the Genealogylinks.net and provides details of marriages in various location throughout Dorset.
Dorset's Mysterious Sites	A guide to Dorset's mysterious sites.
East Dorset Smugglers	Information on the smuggling 'industry' in Dorset and Hampshire.
Online Parish Clerks Project	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.
Dorset Parish Registers Index	The Dorset Parishes Registers Web pages are an attempt to place online information about Dorset church Baptisms, Marriages and Burials. It currently contains many of the Parish churches in Dorset.
Dorset Poll Book - 1807	The names of the Freeholders are listed in alphabetical order, together with their place of residence, the location of the freehold property, who was living there and the page number in the book.
GENUKI: Dorset	Information related to all the county, including towns and parishes.
Genealogy and Dorset	This page is devoted to the county of Dorset, England (prior to the boundary changes of 1974), and covers the origin of its name, an outline of its history and geography, links to other web sites concerned with the county, genealogical resources relating to the county and the same types of information in more detail for those cities, towns and villages in the county in which I have a family history interest. In doing this, it is not my intention to duplicate unnecessarily, nor to compete with, web pages which already do some of those things, but to complement such pages and provide links to them, with appropriate description of what they have to offer.
Moments in Dorset's History	This web site provides an index to historical Dorset events and timelines.
Society of Genealogists - Dorset	These pages list some of the places in Britain, Ireland and world-wide for which the Society holds sources. For details click on the link to SOGCAT, the library catalogue, and do a Subject search for the specific place which you are interested in.
Surname Interest List	Check if your name is listed here.
The Visitation of Dorset 1623	Details of the Visitation of Dorset in 1623.