The site has been chosen to host a key project to put 500 years' worth of archives from London online for the first time. If you have ancestors who lived in the capital, you'll be able to search entire collections from the London Metropolitan Archives and the Guildhall Library, which will include parish records, school records, electoral registers, wills, lists of workhouse labourers from the Poor Law ledgers and more. In all it is expected some 77 million names will be available for you to search.
Josh Hanna, Senior Vice President of Ancestry International said he was thrilled that Ancestry had been chosen to host the project, adding that "[The LMA Collection] will have such broad appeal and significance to so many around the world."
Also, in a bid to help the UK's deteriorating archives, Ancestry has launched the World Archives Project. This will enable you to upload digital copies of documents and index them for others to search via name, age, etc. What's more, with the help of free software, you'll be able to do this from your own home.
Ancestry.co.uk Managing Director Simon Harper commented that: “Historical record preservation and access go hand-in-hand so it is important that institutions, businesses and individuals all play an active role to ensure that as many UK records are preserved for future generations as possible."
