WELCOME

I remember when we launched Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine, the main genealogy companies were talking about ‘the next big challenge’ – digitising parish registers. It seemed like an impossible task, certainly too big for any one company to achieve. Now, almost eight years on, millions of parish records have been transcribed, digitised or indexed and made available over the internet. It all sounds so simple, and yet tracking down which registers can be searched online, and where, is surprisingly tricky. With that in mind, I’ve compiled a list of websites that offer searchable parish register material and grouped them by region (see page 17). If I’ve missed any websites, send me an email and I’ll share them next month.

We’ve also turned our attention to maps this month and how you can use them to break down some of your brick walls (page 24). Again, the internet has made historic maps an accessible key resource for family historians, so now’s your chance to make the most of them. Happy hunting!