I started my family history quest around 2009, and for the last twelve years I’ve gathered information working backwards from my parents and other family. I’ve subscribed to various family tree blogs and sites, and ordered duplicate birth, marriage and death certificates from public record offices, mainly PRONI – I’ve also visited record offices in Northern Ireland in person.

I was also very lucky to receive invaluable help from several online sources interested in the region of Northern Ireland I initially focussed on, mainly Nevin Taggart’s fantastic North Antrim Local interest List (NALIL).

Until recently, these were my primary means of gathering information, but I wanted to share my experience with some additional online resources I’ve added to my tools; some are free, and some you have to pay either a onetime cost or annual subscription. Please note this isn’t a sponsored post, just a write up of how I’ve widened my search capacities; maybe one or more may work for you.

Newspaper Archives

I subscribed to the British Newspaper Archive online with a rolling subscription, so you can do your searches and cancel when you’re finished. I got some fantastic family background stories, mainly from the mid-20th century, as well as notices of births, marriages and deaths, that often added details such as addresses that I didn’t already have. There were also reports of a few scrapes with the law and a scandal or two for some of my more colourful relatives.

The records get sketchier the further I searched back in time, and some of the text is poorly transcribed, making search results more arbitrary. But I definitely recommend a newspaper archive if you’re interested in searching for family event reports, to provide added context, and often additional information. The BNA is adding newspapers to its records all the time.

23andMe/ DNA Ancestry Testing

A year or so ago I took a 23andMe DNA test for a health and ancestry report. 23andMe sells DNA genetic testing services to the public via a saliva sample that’s laboratory analysed to generate reports relating either to genetic health, ancestry, or both (I’d suggest buying the kit for both reports). The test is a simple saliva test that you post back to the company in the provided paid-return kit.

To date, 23andMe has thrown up 1,500 DNA relatives for me! Most are third/fourth cousin relationships, but I have connected, via the website messaging service, with some first cousins once removed, and made some really interesting connections. You can search your DNA relatives by strength of relationship and work backwards from there. You can also find me on there by name!

Tip: 23andMe frequently have sales and special offers, making it a bit more affordable, so if you’re interested I suggest signing up for marketing emails and wait until they offer a good discount on their testing kits.

Gedmatch

The drawback to using 23andMe, or one of the other DNA testing services is that they limit you to finding relatives who have also used the same testing company, which is where the next service comes in. And this one offers free basic membership!

When you take a DNA ancestry test with 23andMe or another provider, you have the option to download your raw DNA data.

Gedmatch allows you to upload this raw DNA data into its database, where you can then compare your test results with those of all users who have also uploaded their DNA data.

The beauty of Gedmatch is that once you have taken a test with one company, be it 23andme, Ancestry, Heritage etc., you can match to people who have tested with other companies. So your DNA searches aren’t limited to searching just one company’s database.

Basic membership is free; for the more advanced genealogist, there are paid membership levels with even more powerful tools. I’ve also seen lots of (free) “how to” videos on YouTube for getting the most out of your DNA data on Gedmatch.

When you upload your DNA file to Gedmatch, you get a unique kit number, with the option to allow other users to see your email and contact you; I’ve recently had two relatives contact me and been able to expand my family tree!

If you’re on Gedmatch, my kit number is JF5061351; please look me up to check if we’re related!

Ancestry

Which leads me onto the last step in this chain; expanding my family tree using all the above resources and logging it on Ancestry.co.uk

I took the plunge during the winter 2020 Covid-19 lockdown to buy a paid subscription to Ancestry.co.uk, but it’s really taken my family tree research to the next level. Not only can you plot your family tree, you also have access to millions of records of birth, baptism, marriage, and death records, census lists, phone book entries, etc. In addition, its system of “hints” suggests hundreds of connections that would take me ages to find manually and check.

I have the UK and Ireland membership, as the USA records add on is considerably more expensive.

Again, if you want to search for me or the Jamison family tree (I have three trees on Ancestry, for my paternal, maternal and married lines), drop me a line and I’ll share the links!

Conclusion

You don’t need subscriptions to newspaper archives, DNA testing and ancestry sites to start your family tree journey; often you can find lots of information for free or quite cheaply by checking with family members for documents, or using your country’s public record office. It’s also a great idea to subscribe to blogs and Facebook pages for the names or regions your family is from. But to take my research to the next level, I’ve found the tools above really expanded my family tree and contacts hugely.

You could also start a family tree blog like like this one! WordPress has some great free templates, and you can upgrade when you’re ready to add more functionality. This site started as a free WordPress site and again I’ve made some great connections and gained access to pictures and information I probably wouldn’t find anywhere else.

I hope this post inspires you to look into more resources, both free and paid, for expanding your own family tree research!

* TLDR: If you don’t fancy reading all the above, you can search for me on 23andme, Ancestry.co.uk and Gedmatch.com to check if we’re related! Or click to get in touch

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