Findmypast

Last updated
Findmypast
Company type Limited company
Industry Genealogy
Online publishing
Online services
Founded1965 [1]
Headquarters London, United Kingdom
Key people
Tamsin Todd (CEO) [2]
Owner DC Thomson
Number of employees
51–200 [3]
Website www.findmypast.co.uk

Findmypast is a UK-based online genealogy service owned, since 2007, by British company DC Thomson. The website hosts billions of searchable records of census, directory and historical record information. [4] It originated in 1965 when a group of genealogists formed a group named "Title Research". The first internet website went live in 2003.

Contents

As of 2018, Findmypast has partnered with many other genealogical organisations and hosts much of their data. It started sponsoring Yesterday, a UKTV channel, in 2010 and produced a series of programmes.

History

Title Research Group

In 1965, a small group of professional genealogists and probate researchers called themselves "Title Research". They did much of their research using microfiche records. In 2001, Title Research started an in-house project, called "1837 online", to produce a computerised version of the birth, marriage and death register pages of the General Register Office (GRO), and the following year began work to put this on an internet website. [5] Another online project, FreeBMD, had already been working on this since 1999, gradually transcribing the indexes through the efforts of volunteers and publishing searchable indexes freely on the internet. [6]

1837online

In April 2003, www.1837online.com went live on the internet. [6] This was a pay-per-view service allowing access to images of the pages of the original GRO registers. Initially there was no index of individual entries for the period before 1984, but subsequent years had already been electronically recorded by the GRO and were fully searchable. [6] Gradually the UK Censuses, passenger lists, and other databases were added to the site, the first being an index of the 1861 England and Wales Census in 2005. [6]

Findmypast

1837online rebranded as Findmypast in November 2006 because its scope had spread beyond the GRO registers, and was awarded the Queen's Award for Innovation in 2007 for the "provision of public internet access to official genealogy records". [7] In 2007 it acquired United States-based PedigreeSoft, a web-based family tree building platform. [8] Later in 2007 it was purchased from Title Research Group by DC Thomson. [5] In 2008 Findmypast published the 1851 and 1901 censuses online, and it also gained a license to publish the United Kingdom Census 1911. [5] In 2011 it became sponsor of the Society of Genealogists in their centenary year and agreed a reciprocal arrangement where each would give access to one another's online databases. [9]

A sister site for Australia and New Zealand was launched in May 2010 [10] with findmypast.ie launched in the Republic of Ireland a year later, [11] followed by findmypast.com in the United States and Canada in July 2012. [12]

New user interface

In early April 2014, Findmypast changed their website interface and received subscriber complaints demanding the return of the old site. The editor of Who Do You Think You Are magazine wrote: "Nothing annoyed people more than the feeling that they weren't being listened to". [13] Findmypast responded, saying they now had "a system in place to analyse all of our customers' feedback and make the necessary improvements as quickly as possible". [14]

In June 2014 Family Tree magazine ran a three-page article on Findmypast's new interface. A Findmypast spokesperson stated, "The new search has fantastic potential" but "constant tweaks are being made to the site". They stated that they would extend customers' subscriptions if they were having difficulty. Family Tree responded that it "all sounds very encouraging... [but] the technologists had perhaps won out over the genealogists". The Family Tree forum administrator stated, "After wrestling with the new website ...for nearly a month, I was on the point of giving up... [but] I can now see that there are indeed many improvements and benefits". The magazine concluded by stating that "Many of our questions remain unanswered and we are still waiting to hear what Findmypast has to say". [15]

A researcher from Family Search reported in December 2014 that she found using the Findmypast web site had got easier. [16]

Recent history

As of 2017, the website hosted a wide variety of census, directory, historical record, church and newspaper information available from across the English-speaking world and tends to concentrate on the former British empire and the UK. [17] [18] Findmypast has billions of searchable records worldwide but, though it is possible to search their indexes for free, a payment or subscription was required to access the full data. [19] [20] [21]

In November 2015, Findmypast and the National Archives made the 1939 national identity register available online. [22]

Partnerships and acquisitions

Chris Hollins, the host of Find My Past, with Evie Leatham, a descendant of Lord Carnarvon A promotional image for Find My Past the TV Series.jpg
Chris Hollins, the host of Find My Past, with Evie Leatham, a descendant of Lord Carnarvon

Findmypast has partnerships with several family history organisations, libraries and archives, [23] including the Federation of Family History Societies, [24] the Society of Genealogists, [25] FamilySearch (through which members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints get free FindMyPast accounts), [26] The British Library, [27] the Imperial War Museum, [28] The National Archives [29] and the National Archives of Ireland. [30]

In June 2014 it acquired two more family history providers, Origins.net [31] and the United States-based Mocavo.com. [32] In July 2018 Findmypast announced it was partnering with Living DNA, a British company that specialises in DNA testing and analysis. [33]

In the media

Findmypast began sponsoring the UKTV channel Yesterday in July 2010, and another TV series named Find My Past, funded by findmypast.co.uk, was broadcast from October 2011. [34] UKTV stated that it was the first example of a product placement and advertiser funded programming deal for a factual TV series in the country. [35] Presented by Chris Hollins, the series won best Content Partnership at the 2012 Broadcast Digital Awards. [36] An American remake called "Follow your Past" was shown on Travel Channel in 2016. [37] [38]

The website is frequently used as a resource in the family history television show Who Do You Think You Are? [39]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genealogy</span> Study of individual descent and bloodline

Genealogy is the study of families, family history, and the tracing of their lineages. Genealogists use oral interviews, historical records, genetic analysis, and other records to obtain information about a family and to demonstrate kinship and pedigrees of its members. The results are often displayed in charts or written as narratives. The field of family history is broader than genealogy, and covers not just lineage but also family and community history and biography.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Society of Genealogists</span>

The Society of Genealogists (SoG) is a UK-based educational charity, founded in 1911 to "promote, encourage and foster the study, science and knowledge of genealogy". The Society's Library is the largest specialist genealogical library outside North America. Membership is open to any adult who agrees to abide by the Society's rules and who pays the annual subscription. At the end of 2010, it had 11,014 members.

FamilySearch is a nonprofit organization and website offering genealogical records, education, and software. It is operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and is closely connected with the church's Family History Department. The Family History Department was originally established in 1894, as the Genealogical Society of Utah (GSU); it is the largest genealogy organization in the world.

<i>Who Do You Think You Are?</i> (British TV series) British television series

Who Do You Think You Are? is a British genealogy documentary series that has aired on the BBC since 2004, in which celebrity participants trace their family history. It is made by the production company Wall to Wall. The programme has regularly attracted an audience of more than 6 million viewers. More than ten international adaptations of the programme have been produced.

Genes Reunited

Genes Reunited, originally known as Genes Connected, is a genealogy website that was launched in the UK in 2003 as a sister-site to Friends Reunited. It has over 13 million members and over 780 million names listed.

Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites.

MyHeritage is an online genealogy platform with web, mobile, and software products and services, introduced by the Israeli company MyHeritage in 2003. Users of the platform can obtain their family trees, upload and browse through photos, and search through over 19.9 billion historical records, among other features.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Registration Act 1939</span> Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom in 1939

The National Registration Act 1939 was an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. The initial National Registration Bill was introduced to Parliament as an emergency measure at the start of the Second World War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emma Willis</span> English television presenter and former model

Emma Louise Willis is an English broadcaster. She is known for her television and radio work with Channel 5, BBC, ITV, and Heart FM. Willis has presented Big Brother and Celebrity Big Brother (2013–2018), as well as the spin-off series Big Brother's Bit on the Side (2011–2015). She has presented The Voice UK (2014–present), and the children's spin-off The Voice Kids UK (2017–2023). In 2019 and 2021, Willis presented the second and third series of The Circle. She will be co-hosting Love Is Blind: UK with her husband Matt Willis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FreeBMD</span> UK vital records website

FreeBMD is a website which coordinates and provides free transcriptions of the indexes to births, marriages and deaths (BMD) held by the General Register Office for England and Wales (GRO). It also provides a free search function and online access to images of the pages of the BMD indexes. The website was founded in 1998. FreeBMD was registered as a UK charity in 2003, with the organisation changing its name to Free UK Genealogy in 2014 to reflect the broadening of its scope.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Megan Smolenyak</span>

Megan Smolenyak Smolenyak, born October 9, is an American genealogist, author, and speaker. She is also a consultant for the FBI and NCIS.

The Council of Irish Genealogical Organisations (CIGO) is a representative group which lobbies for better and greater access to source material for those involved in the study of Irish genealogy. It was founded in Dublin in 1992.

The British Newspaper Archive web site provides access to searchable digitized archives of British and Irish newspapers. It was launched in November 2011.

TheGenealogist is a family history website that provides subscriptions for researchers to help search genealogy records in the United Kingdom. The site is run by Genealogy Supplies (Jersey) Ltd which is part of the S&N Group. Among its accomplishments, the company has completely transcribed the England and Wales censuses from 1841 to 1911 inclusive. The site has been identified as among "the most prominent" subscription-based genealogy websites.

GenealogyBank.com is an online subscription genealogical service that provides access to records useful in family history research. GenealogyBank is one of the largest collections of digitized U.S. newspapers, dating back to 1690. In addition to digital newspaper archives, GenealogyBank also offers other online genealogy resources including the Social Security Death Index, obituaries, government publications, and historical books.

Genealogy Today is a genealogical and historical record website focused primarily on the United States with limited records from Canada and several other European countries. The site contains over 4.3 million records from over 6,600 original documents, along with several thousand original articles and miscellaneous images. All information on this site is cataloged and searchable by name. The site offers a combination of free and subscription-based resources.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Family History Research Wiki</span> Genealogy wiki

The Family History Research Wiki provides reference information and educational articles to help genealogists find and interpret records of their ancestors. It is a free-access, free-content, online encyclopedia on a wiki, hosted as part of the FamilySearch site. It is sponsored by FamilySearch, a non-profit organization and genealogical branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Anyone may read any of the articles, and almost all articles can be edited by registered users (contributors); registration is free.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Free UK Genealogy</span>

Free UK Genealogy is a charitable incorporated organisation (CIO) acting as an umbrella organisation for FreeBMD, FreeREG and FreeCEN. The charity was formerly known as FreeBMD.

The United Kingdom Census 1921 was a census of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland that was carried out on 19 June 1921. It was postponed for two months from April due to industrial unrest and no census was taken in Ireland due to the Irish War of Independence. It was the first census in the UK to ask about place of work and industry, and whether a marriage had been dissolved by divorce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Living DNA</span> British DNA testing company

Living DNA is a UK-based company that specialises in DNA testing and analysis whose head office is in the UK with facilities in the USA and Denmark. The service is to provide deep ancestry details from all around the world, using a unique process of analysis and using linked DNA. It is one of the major DNA testing services in the world. The company conducts three types of DNA analyses: autosomal, Y-chromosome and mitochrondrial. However, while the DNA test results provide information about the origins of a person, genealogy, i.e. finding relatives in historic time, is not yet part of the company's portfolio.

References

  1. ↑ Findmypast.co.uk, Company History timeline.
  2. ↑ Introducing... Our New CEO, Tamsin Todd Findmypast Blog, September 12, 2017. Retrieved 2017-09-13.
  3. ↑ LinkedIn, LinkedIn Findmypast company page.
  4. ↑ Findmypast.co.uk, Company All Recordsets Page.
  5. 1 2 3 Findmypast.co.uk, Company History timeline. Retrieved 2013-09-02.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Christian, P., 'The Genealogists Internet', The National Archives, 3rd Edition (2005), pp 50-53. ISBN   978-1-903365-83-0
  7. ↑ Businesslink.gov.uk The Queen's Award for Enterprise: Innovation - Winners List. Retrieved 18 December 2016.
  8. ↑ "FindMyPast.com Acquires PedigreeSoft.com". 2008-02-14. Archived from the original on 2008-02-14. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
  9. ↑ Society of Genealogists website Free access to Findmypast.co.uk at the Society of Genealogists' Library – now including 1911 census Archived 2011-12-01 at the Wayback Machine January 5, 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
  10. ↑ "Trace your Family Tree Online | Genealogy & Ancestry from findmypast | findmypast.com.au". findmypast.com.au. Retrieved 2014-11-07.
  11. ↑ Who do you think you are? , Independent.ie, October 16, 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
  12. ↑ "Genealogy Insider - Findmypast.com Officially Launches into US Genealogy Market". blog.familytreemagazine.com. Retrieved 2014-11-07.
  13. ↑ Sue Williams (10 April 2014) "From the office: The collective passion of family historians", Who Do You Think You Are Magazine blog.
  14. ↑ Jon Bauckham (8 April 2014) "Exclusive: findmypast responds to website redesign criticism" Archived 2014-04-14 at the Wayback Machine , Who Do You Think You Are Magazine. Retrieved 2014-04-13.
  15. ↑ Family Tree Magazine - Changes prompt customer fury. Findmypast - what have they done?. June 2014. pp. pps 6, 78 and 79.
  16. ↑ McBride, Lisa (2014-12-31). "Cheerio! Finding British Ancestors Just Got Easier Using findmypast.com". Family Search. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  17. ↑ Armstrong, Chris (2017-06-19). "Getting to Know the Big 4: Findmypast". Rootstech. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  18. ↑ Findmypast.co.uk, Family history records on findmypast.co.uk. Retrieved 2013-09-02.
  19. ↑ Findmypast.co.uk, Site Tour. Retrieved 2013-09-02.
  20. ↑ Paton, Chris (2017-11-28). "FindmyPast launches new UK subscription tiers". The Genes Blog. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  21. ↑ Findmypast.co.uk, Company All Recordsets Page.
  22. ↑ "The 1939 Register is now available Online". The National Archives. Retrieved 2016-05-13.
  23. ↑ "Our partners | findmypast.co.uk". findmypast.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-11-07.
  24. ↑ "FFHS - Projects". ffhs.org.uk. Archived from the original on 7 November 2014. Retrieved 2014-11-07.
  25. ↑ "Society of Genealogists Society of Genealogists' Collection now online at Findmypast.co.uk". societyofgenealogists.com. Retrieved 2014-11-07.
  26. ↑ "DC Thomson Family History and FamilySearch.org to Make Billions of Records Available for People to Search | FamilySearch.org". familysearch.org. Archived from the original on 2 November 2015. Retrieved 2014-11-07.
  27. ↑ "British Library - Press and Policy Centre - British Library and findmypast.co.uk to digitise 5 million pages of family history records". pressandpolicy.bl.uk. Archived from the original on 7 November 2014. Retrieved 2014-11-07.
  28. ↑ "IWM & brightsolid partner to create Lives of the First World War digital memorial - Family Tree". family-tree.co.uk. Archived from the original on 7 December 2014. Retrieved 2014-11-07.
  29. ↑ "The National Archives". Findmypast.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-09-13.
  30. ↑ "Pre-1901 Irish census records online for the first time". Findmypast.co.uk. Retrieved 2017-09-13.
  31. ↑ "Weekly round-up: Origins.net acquired by findmypast | Who Do You Think You Are Magazine". whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com. Retrieved 2014-11-07.
  32. ↑ "Findmypast and Mocavo to provide 'dynamic family history experience' - News / Business / The Courier". thecourier.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2014-11-07. Retrieved 2014-11-07.
  33. ↑ Peck, Ashlee (2018-07-20). "Findmypast Partnering with Living DNA". Family Tree Magazine. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  34. ↑ Bradshaw, T. Find My Past set for full product TV placement The Financial Times, October 14, 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-01. (subscription required)
  35. ↑ O'Reilly, L., UKTV and Find My Past in product placement first Marketing Week, June 7, 2011. Retrieved 2011-11-01.
  36. ↑ "Find My Past || Screenings | C21Media". c21media.net. Retrieved 2014-11-07.
  37. ↑ "Lion's Find My Past heads to Travel Channel | News | Broadcast". broadcastnow.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-11-07.
  38. ↑ Avindav, Shir (2016-03-28). "'Follow Your Past' is too distant from its powerful stories". The Michigan Daily. Retrieved 2018-08-15.
  39. ↑ "BBC - Who Do You Think You Are? - How we did it: overview of key resources". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-11-07.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.