Links

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  • Roots Chat One of the best genealogy forums, full of helpful members and possibly your distant (and not-so-distant) relatives
  • FreeREG Free transcriptions of UK parish registers (see also FreeBMD for a free index of England and Wales Civil Registration birth, marriage and death).
  • Dusty Docs Index showing coverage for free online parish register transcriptions, including FreeREG and Family Search.
  • Ancestorian Link up with other genealogists by name and place (previously known as Evidentree).
  • OGIndex Online Genealogical Index Database of 283,593 genealogical sites so you can identify which sites hold information on the town or parish you’re looking for
  • History House Each parish in Essex features on this site, giving extracts from the 1848, 1863 and 1874 county directories and in some cases, voters in elections, and also criminal, workhouse and school information, as well as contributions by family historians.
  • Essex Archives Online Essex Record Office’s searchable online archive catalogue, with scanned parish registers, pre-1858 wills, maps, electoral rolls and Poor Law records. Some Poor Law documents and all their marriage licence allegations have been catalogued so you can look them up and send off for images.  A fantastic gateway to the treasures at ERO. (Previously called Seax)
  • Essex Museum Development blog
  • Gravestone Photographic Resource A project to digitally photograph all legible monuments and extract info from them for family historians. High-quality photos can be requested. Some Suffolk and Essex cemeteries are included, and they are looking for keen volunteers.
  • Register of One-Name Place Studies Is a village or town that your family lived in included? Find out who has been researching your places of interest and what resources are available.
  • General Register Office Once you’ve got your reference from FreeBMD, go straight to the GRO to order your certificate. Don’t bother with other sites which will charge too much.
  • Cindy’s Snaps Cindy’s blog features photographs from her trips around Essex and Suffolk, including some of the villages and towns featured on this site. If you’ve ever wanted to know what the places your ancestors look like now, take a look here. She and I are both descended from the Wade and Pritchett families in Fingringhoe.
  • Interesting in Colchester Rarely-explored nooks and crannies of Colchester local history
  • Essex Churches Photographs of churches, inside and out, both recently-taken and old postcards of long-demolished buildings (such as St. Runwald’s in Colchester). Includes maps and visiting information. Over 7,000 images of 461 churches.
  • Marriage Locator From the Guild of One-Name Studies, this will help you determine which church a marriage took place in, based on the GRO index details. This is a work in progress, but is still extremely useful.
  • Regnal date calculator For those times when you’re not sure what the 9th year of Elizabeth I’s reign was, this handy online tool is for you.
  • Find a Will (beta) Search for the will or probate of any person in the UK who died from 1858 to 1996, and the wills of soldiers who died while serving the armed forces 1850-1986. Order online.
  • Essex Regiment Showcasing the Essex Military up to the end of the Great War, concentrating on the Essex Regiment and its predecessors the 44th East Essex Regiment and the 56th West Essex Regiment plus a variety of Militia Groups going back to the English Civil War.
  • Essex Society for Archaeology & History  The county’s major society for those interested in any aspect of the past.
  • The Smith’s of Essex A one-name study in one county
  • Chrishall Village History Includes censues, archive records, interesting facts, photos and more
  • Suffolk Medical Biographies Got a medical gentleman in your family? This is the website for you. Includes family information and also publications and, in the case of William Edmund Image, a list of poisoning cases he worked on.

If you’d like to suggest a website, contact me.