England and Wales
Use the General Register Office for civil certificates and The National Archives for research guides and wider records.
UK family history guide
How to find UK ancestor records
A practical starting point for finding births, marriages, deaths, census returns and archive records across the United Kingdom.
Good to know: Pages of the Ancestors does not hold or search official records. This guide points you to trusted record holders, then helps you preserve the stories behind what you discover.
Start with the right part of the UK
There is no single official search covering every UK record. First work out whether the event happened in England or Wales, Scotland, or Northern Ireland.
Scotland
Use ScotlandsPeople for Scottish civil registers, church registers, censuses and legal records.
Northern Ireland
Use GRONI for civil registration and PRONI for archive, probate and historical material.
Birth, marriage and death records
Civil registration began in England and Wales in 1837. Search the free, volunteer-run FreeBMD index to identify a likely entry, then order an official certificate through the General Register Office.
For earlier events, parish registers may record baptisms, marriages and burials. The National Archives guide explains where these records may be held. Scottish records are searched through ScotlandsPeople; Northern Irish civil records follow a separate system.
Census records
Census returns can place a family at one address and show ages, birthplaces, occupations and relationships within a household. The National Archives census guide explains surviving England and Wales records and where to search them.
Scottish census records are available through ScotlandsPeople. Online access to some digitised collections is provided by commercial partners, so check any fees before viewing images or transcriptions.
Wills, military files and archive catalogues
The National Archives’ Discovery catalogue describes records held at Kew and in thousands of archives around the UK. Try a person’s name, place, regiment, occupation or organisation, but remember that many records are catalogued by collection rather than by every name they contain.
For Northern Ireland, begin with PRONI and its online catalogue. Local record offices, libraries and family-history societies can also help with parish, estate, school and community collections.
A simple research method
- 1Start with what your family already knows: full names, approximate dates, places and occupations.
- 2Search one person and one event at a time, beginning with the most recent confirmed fact.
- 3Compare several records before deciding two similar names belong to the same person.
- 4Save the source, reference number and date you viewed it, not only a screenshot.
- 5Ask what the record does not show, then speak to relatives and record the human story around it.
Records give you facts. Memories give them meaning.
Turn names, dates, photographs and family recollections into a private memoir your family can read together.