Issue 53 of Your Family Tree is on sale now! This month features an 'access all areas' guide to The National Archives. We also advise you on where to look for your family treasures, how to approach research using tax records, and how to set about locating WWI ancestors online The National Archives – Here's how to get the most out of your trip to The National Archives. Discover how to find and order the documents you need, plus we've got interviews with some of the key movers and shakers at TNA Find your family treasures – Cardboard boxes everywhere are hiding genealogical gold. Keith Gregson explains why family historians should brave the spiders in the attic Tax records – Whether it was on windows, the poll tax or whig powder, in our five page special family history expert Else Churchill explains where you need to look for tax records Find a WWI hero online – An essential guide to the website 1914-1918.net for those researching their World War I ancestors

Plus... The story of a 19th century spirit photographer, Father John Twisleton investigates whether religion is in the blood, our region guide to Buckinghamshire, a free CD packed with family history software, and much, much more!

At 100 pages, and selling for £4.99, issue 53 of Your Family Tree is great value for money. Pick up your copy today, or buy online by clicking

Family historians will be pleased to hear about the launch of a new, free, online family tree software, Family Tree Builder, by Findmypast.com. Lead developer Matt Garner from top US genealogy firm PedigreeSoft pointed out that they had designed the programme to “adapt to the needs of the professional genealogist but also to be intuitive to the beginner.”
The software enables you to create a tree from scratch or upload a GEDCOM file exported from any existing family tree programme. This will allow the user to “store all [his] source details and notes, photos and memorabilia in one place while providing full reporting, tree-building capability”. The current beta version is available free on the website now, although further enhancements and features will be added during the next couple of months. In addition, there are already plans to introduce enhanced, paid options with extra storage and capabilities later in the year. 

To find out more about Family Tree Builder, go to the Findmypast.com website.

With Ancestry.co.uk's third British telephone book release you can now gain online access to neary 1,300 telephone directories. These run from the very first published in 1800, right through to 1984 and the arrival of privatisation. The directories contain near full coverage of England, and there is also significant Scottish, Welsh and Irish content.

As they were updated on average every 12-18 months they are extremely useful for tracing ancestors in between census years. The phone books also contain an advertisement section which may be of interest to those with businessmen ancestors.

To browse the records, go to the Ancestry.co.uk website.

Ancestry now offers online registration records of every birth, marriage and death recorded in England and Wales in 2005. Over one million names have been added to the records that date all the way back to 1837.

All marriages to take place in Breconshire, Wales between 1813 and 1837 have now been added to Ancestry's parish register collection. The index has been transcribed from parish registers which are a useful source for family historians as they predate the introduction of civil registration in 1837. Details included are the names of both partners, the marriage location, and whether or not there was a marriage licence.

To access these records, go to the Ancestry website

Channel 4 has launched a new website to let viewers interact with its new family history program, Empire's Children.

The program, due to be broadcast from July 2, will look at how the breaking up of the Britich Empire has shaped modern Britain and our national identity. It will uncover the family histories of ten celebrities, concentrating on the period towards the end of the British Empire.

The accompanying website will feature the stories of these celebrities, and will also provide tips on how you can trace your own Empire lineage. More than that, though, it will provide a space where anyone can share their family history experiences, and their thoughts on the fall of the Empire.

Andrew Chitty, Managing Director of Ilumina Digital, which made the site, said: "For Empire's Children online, our mission has been to combine Wall to Wall's brilliant TV show with a user-generated content site that allows the audience to contribute their own family stories."

You can visit the site now at http://www.channel4.com/empire.

 

Ancestry.com has announced plans to add DNA testing to the services on its website.

The family history site has teamed up with a company called Sorenson Genomics to let users research their genetic connections online.

The plan is that, in coming months, Ancestry will release technology to capture as many people's DNA as possible, which it will then keep in an ever-expanding database. Users will then be able to find other people that match their genetic make-up.

"Entering the DNA category is a natural and powerful extension of our company's mission to connect families across distance and time," said Tim Sullivan, CEO of The Generations Network, which owns Ancestry. "Our partnership with Sorenson Genomics creates an incredible combination of resources designed to demonstrate how closely we are all related."

You can read the complete story at http://myfamily.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43&item=99&offerid=0%3a7858%3a0

What do you think of Ancestry's move into the increasingly popular genetic genealogy market? Are DNA results really useful to the family historian? Let us know in the comments section below.

The Passchendaele Memorial Museum has announced that the Queen will attend the opening ceremony for the events commemorating the 90th anniversary of the Battle of Passchendaele. King Albert II of Belgium, and several other heads of state, will also be present at the ceremony, which will take place at Tyne Cot Cemetery on July 12th.   The state ceremony is the beginning of an extensive commemoration programme including six exhibitions, running from July 13th until November 15th, four theme weekends and a new book - ‘Passchendaele 1917 – The story of the dead and Tyne Cot Cemetery.’

Issue 52 of Your Family Tree is on sale now. This month, we explain how you can use old newspapers to take your famly history research further. We also provide a complete guide to all the best family history computer software, show you how you can track down war graves and tell you about your family's shoemakers.

Expand your research with newspapers
Get the scoop on your ancestors with birth and marriage announcements, detailed reports of key events, obituaries, inquests and much more!

The best genealogy software
Nick Peers compares the top family history programs, and tells you which should be on your computer.

War graves
Whether your ancestors died on the Somme or in Salonika, Normandy or Tobruk, Paul Reed explains how to track them down.

Load of old cobblers
Find out about your family's shoemakers.

Plus...
Two fascinating case studies, advice on joining your local society, a focus on Westmorland, a great free CD packed with family history software and much, much more!

At 100 pages, and selling for £4.99, issue 51 of Your Family Tree is great value for money. Pick up your copy today, or buy online by clicking here

Issue 51 of Your Family Tree is on sale now. This issue is dedicated to helping you get the most out of the internet's research facilities. Inside, you'll find an in-depth guide to the web's top 100 genealogy sites; a tutorial on how you can Google your ancestors, and much more! We also have two fascinating real-life case studies, advice on how to find and use foreign records, and far more besides.

100 best websites
Lost in the web? Andrew Chapman cuts through the internet tangle to present a list of key websites you'll want to bookmark to help your research.

Google your ancestors
Nick Peers shows you how to use the internet's most popular search engine to look up an ancestor.

What's free at ancestry.co.uk?
We reveal all the free goodies at the UK's biggest genealogy resource.

Overseas ancestors
Find and use records from foreign parts

Plus...
Two great case studies, a guide to monumental inscriptions online, a focus on Devon, advice on becoming a volunteer indexer, and much, much more!

At 100 pages, and selling for £4.99, issue 51 of Your Family Tree is great value for money. Pick up your copy in WH Smith or Tesco, or buy online by clicking here

Your Family Tree's new Editor is here! My name is Russell James, and as of Monday, I am Garrick Webster's replacement as Editor of the UK's leading genealogy magazine. Just to give you a brief summary of who I am, I have spent the past two years working as Deputy Editor of MacFormat magazine. So, I'm hoping that I'll be able to pass on a few tips for using your computers to research your family history.

Thanks largely to the hard work of my great aunt, my family has been able to trace one side of our tree back ten generations. Anyone who has come across the surnames Gentle or Earles in their research should definitely get in touch! I'm yet to really delve into the James side of the family - this is such a common name that I'm anticipating quite a quest!
I'm keen to hear views on the magazine, good and bad, plus ideas for future articles. Please email me at rjames@futurenet.co.uk.


 

Discover whether your ancestors emigrated, check out the 7 golden rules for family historians, create your very own family newsletter and much more ...

Find out more about how your ancestors died, store and share your old photos, laundry ladies and much more ...

The Your Family Tree online forum now has over 2000 members! ...

Never seen our magazine before? Then get your FREE 20-page sample issue right here ...

Find out how marriage licenses might be useful in your research with this full feature from the magazine ...