LINKS
Here is a selection of genealogical links to guide you to some of the more useful information on the internet.
1. SUFFOLK INFORMATION & SITES
Suffolk Record Office - The Suffolk Record Office has branches in Ipswich, Bury St. Edmunds and Lowestoft. Suffolk is the most heavily-used local authority archive service in the UK, with nearly 40,000 visitors a year.
Suffolk County Council - Information on present-day Suffolk that may be of use to our overseas members.
Waveney District Council Cemetery Index - On-line indexes for the cemeteries of Beccles, Bungay, Halesworth, Kirkley, Lowestoft, Southwold, Wrentham, and the Royal Naval Patrol.
Suffolk Surnames List - The Suffolk-related research interests of genealogists world wide, compiled intitially by LeeAnn Beer and now maintained by Pat Bridges and Ray Long. Includes a Lookup Exchange.
Suffolk Regiment in 1914-1918 - Details of the Suffolk Regiment in 1914-1918
Haverhill UK - A joint project produced by Haverhill-UK and the Haverhill Group of the Suffolk Family History Society, which contains census, burials and other information in the Haverhill area.
The Cosford Database - This web site contains just some of the information from the main Cosford Database which contains details of over 134,000 people and over 35,000 families mainly from the Lavenham and Cosford Registration District of Suffolk, England. There are now links to all 28 villages that make up the Cosford Registration District of Suffolk although there is not much information on some of the web sites.
Beaumont Baptist Church, Woodbridge - The church placed its records on-line some years ago. It has now merged with Quay United Reformed Church to form a new church named Woodbridge Quay Church. Quay URC was formally Quay Congregational Church, also known as Quay Meeting. The records of Quay Congregational Church are now also being placed on-line to form a complete birth, marriage and burial record for non-conformists in Woodbridge. The main church page can be found here.
Gravestone Photograph Resource - The project aims to place online details of all pre 1900 UK gravestones that are currently legible. Some monuments from the early 1900's have also been included, these mainly being where there the deceased person was born in the 1800's. Contains details for 46 Suffolk graveyards.
Marcus Bateman's Site - Marcus provides the 1891 Census for part of Samford and a vast amount of information on Freston including census returns.
Message Board - An active Suffolk message board provided by Rootsweb. Also provided by Rootsweb are separate mailing lists for Babergh and Cosford, Ipswich, Plomesgate, Samford and Stowmarket.
Suffolk Churches - This site is an independent guide to the Anglican and Catholic churches in the county of Suffolk, England with photographs and history.
Essex 1841 - Despite its name this site has some 4300 names for the Suffolk parishes of Burstall, Chelmondiston, Freston, Great Wenham, Higham, Hitcham, Harkstead, Kettlebaston, Raydon, Shelley and Washbrook. Hitcham and Kettlebaston also have some birth and marriage information.
Buckell & Buckle - Rob Buckell's website contains around 5000 transcribed parish records for Earl Stonham - 4000 of these have been indexed. Only 5 fiche transcribed at present, but Rob hopes to complete 16 fiche!
Woolpit Parish Registers - P.Benyon's site has mainly parish records for Somerset. However, there are also indexed parish registers for Woolpit.
The Rising in East Anglia in 1381 - "This valuable source of information about 14th-century Suffolk was printed in 1896. After an account of the peasants' revolt in Suffolk, Norfolk and Cambridgeshire, Edgar Powell provides transcripts of the surviving lists of the inhabitants of Suffolk made by the collectors of the Poll Tax in 1381."
2. GOVERNMENT INFORMATION SITES
FamilyRecords.gov.uk - This site, provided by the FamilyRecords.gov.uk consortium, aims to help you find the government records and other sources you need for your family history research. A very good place to start for basic information. Links to all Government Genealogy sites.
1901 Census for Great Britain - After a "dodgy" start this site now appears to be relatively "bug-free". Note that java, javascript & cookies all have to be available.
A2A - Access to Archives allows you to search and browse for information about archives in England, dating from the 900s to the present day. These archives are cared for in local record offices and libraries, universities, museums and national and specialist institutions across England, where they are made available to the public.
Public Record Office - More than 850,000 Probate Wills from 1610-1858 (PCC wills dating back to 1670 have been completed). Free access to indexes but copy of a will costs £3.00. An alternative starting point is here.
PRO - Kew - This is the Public Record Office's online catalogue of archives of central government, courts of law and other national bodies. If you are already registered then you can also place advance orders to see documents when you visit Kew. If you are not registered you can still use the online catalogue.
The British Library - Over 8 million bibliographic records. On the same site there is also a Newspaper Library (in Colindale, London NW9) and an India Office Collection
Familia - The British and Irish Guide to genealogical resources in public libraries.
Commonwealth War Graves Commission - The database lists the 1.7 million men and women of the Commonwealth forces who died during the two world wars and the 23,000 cemeteries, memorials and other locations world-wide where they are commemorated. The register can also be searched for details of the 67,000 Commonwealth civilians who died as a result of enemy action in the Second World War.
3. GENERAL INFORMATION SITES
UK Archival Repositories - Links to and brief details of UK ArchivalRepostories.
Genuki (UK and Ireland Genealogy) - Large collection of genealogical information pages for England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man.
UK Genealogy Ring - Links to 146 mainly UK Genealogical Sites.
Cyndi's List - Links to over 261,000 worldwide genealogical sites! Updated regularly.
FreeBMD - The FreeBMD Project's objective is to provide free Internet access to the Civil Registration index information for England and Wales. The Civil Registration system for recording births, marriages, and deaths in England and Wales has been in place since 1837 and is one of the most significant single resources for genealogical research back to Victorian times. The FreeBMD Database had over 119 million unique records at August 2006.
FreeCEN - FreeCEN aims to provide a "free-to-view" online searchable database of the 19th century UK census returns. The first databases are now available and consist of mainly parts of the 1841 & 1891 censuses. More data will be added as it becomes available. There were 7.89 million records at August 2006.
FreeREG - The FreeREG Project's objective is to provide free Internet searches of baptism, marriage, and burial records, which have been transcribed from parish and non-conformist church registers in the UK. (Still no data at August 2006)
FamilySearch - The LDS site with a large database, general information and software mostly for sale but with some free (eg. PAF - Personal Ancestral File). Free searches of the UK 1881 census are available together with the IGI, Vital Records Index and other useful data.
Family History Online - The new site from the Federation of FHS. Member societies are supplying data which is put online and made available to everyone at 5p to 10p per entry. The site works in a similar way to the 1901 census site - You either purchase a voucher or use your credit card. There were 63 million records at August 2006.
RootsWeb - Hosts some of the best known Genealogical sites on the Web. They have now "merged" with Ancestry.Com. Hopefully everything will remain free.
The Parish Chest - New, online genealogical shopping site which now stocks the publications of various Family History Societies.
Family History Books (Genfair) - They sell the publications etc. of various family history societies (including Suffolk!) as well as their own publications.
Guild of One-Name Studies - The essential contact point for One-Name Studies. If you are fortunate someone has carried out a lot of research on your surnames.
GenCircles - The good news is that this is a free site with a lot of family trees. The bad news is it is very much an American site, but you may be lucky and find something useful!
Archaic Medical Terms - This is an excellent site that provides an explanation of all those archaic medical terms used on death certificates together with lots of other medical information for the layman. It vanished for some months, but I am glad to see it's back.
Historical Directories - This is a digital library of local and trade directories for England and Wales, from 1750 to 1919, owned by the University of Leicester. The site will remain freely available for the next 3 years (from November 2004?)
4. FAMILY HISTORY / GENEALOGICAL SOCIETIES
Federation of Family History Societies - Has details of all the Societies in Great Britain and other societies around the world
The Society of Genealogists - Offers a combination of research material, guidance and support for those interested in family history and the lives of earlier generations. For Suffolk information in their library look here
Cambridgeshire Family History Society - One of the three counties adjoining Suffolk. Isle of Ely is included in their area.
Essex Family History Society - Another of the three counties adjoining Suffolk.
Felixstowe FHS - Felixstowe Family History Society. A small society formed inside Suffolk in 1986.
Mid-Norfolk Family History Society - A smaller Norfolk society whose research area is approximately 10 miles around Dereham. Pity the site uses frames!
Norfolk Family History Society - The third of the counties adjoining Suffolk.
