England Genealogy

England is country that is constituent part of the United Kingdom located in Europe. It has a history that goes back over a thousand years.

From 1284 the Kingdom of England also governed Wales. In 1707, the Kingdom of England joined the Kingdom of Scotland in union to become the Kingdom of Great Britain.

Ireland was later added in 1801 to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922, the Irish Free State was established as a separate dominion. In 1927 six Irish counties were reincorporated to officially create the current United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Featured Resources

• New: Family History Library England Beginning Research Series is now available online. Click here to access this course.
• Article: England Probate Records
• Beginners Guide 1837 to 1901: Finding Records of Your Ancestors England 1837 To 1901 (3 Mb pdf file)
• Browse by topic: All pages for England
• Database of British Jews: The Knowles Collection Last updated July 2011, now with over 300,000 entries.

Counties

Click on a county to go to that county's page:

Or click on a link below:

Bedfordshire Berkshire Buckinghamshire Cambridgeshire Cheshire Cornwall Cumberland Derbyshire Devonshire Dorset Durham Essex Gloucestershire

Hampshire Herefordshire Hertfordshire Huntingdonshire Kent Lancashire Leicestershire Lincolnshire Middlesex Norfolk Northamptonshire Northumberland Nottinghamshire

Oxfordshire Rutland Shropshire Somerset Staffordshire Suffolk Surrey Sussex Warwickshire Westmorland Wiltshire Worcestershire Yorkshire

Beginner's Corner

Have you ever wondered about one of your English ancestors, perhaps your great grandpa? Do you know when or where he was living, or perhaps the place and date of his birth? Your curiosity about him motivates you to want to know more. Do you know where to start to find information? 

Start by asking your relatives what they remember about him. Write down what you learn. Some family stories are based in fact and should be considered. Perhaps you will only have an approximate time and place. The Beginner’s Corner links to information that will help you get started. Choose from one of the following:

• I want to find a birth, christening or baptism.
• I want to find a marriage.
• I want to find a death or burial.
• I want to know about how my family lived.

Research tools

• Join a Community of England Researchers! Ask questions, help others, and share your research successes on Facebook and/or Skype! NEW!
• Search strategies for finding births, marriages, and deaths.
• England counties list (with their Chapman Code abbreviations)
• England Record Selection Table
• English Script Tutorial
• Finding records of your ancestors - England 1837 to 1901
• England Major Websites
• England Genealogical Discussion Groups
• The Workhouse
• A genealogical survey of the peerage of Britain as well as the royal families of Europe thepeerage.com/

FamilySearch Historical Records

Wiki articles describing England-related online collections that can be found at FamilySearch.org

• England Births and Christenings
• England Deaths and Burials
• England Marriages

Main article: England FamilySearch Historical Records

Ideas for Finding Compiled Information on English Ancestry

Here's an article entitled "A Checklist of Compiled Sources & Where to Find Them" that's specifically focused to aiding researchers--beginners to professional--who want to learn of compiled genealogical data on (i.e. immigrant) ancestry from England and whole British Isles.
This article shares numerous resources such as gateway websites which provide access to hundreds of millions of names that researchers worldwide have gathered and shared online for British ancestry.

News and Events

29 Nov 4 million pages of historical newspapers now searchable online More news items... More events...

Topics

Key Topics to get Started: Census Church Records Civil Registration Probate Records Other Topics: Archives and Libraries Biography Cemeteries Church Directories Church History Court Records Directories Emigration and Immigration Gazetteers Genealogy Heraldry Historical Geography History Land and Property Language and Languages Manor Records Maps Merchant Marine Military Records Names Personal Naturalization and Citizenship Newspapers Nobility Occupations Periodicals Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc. Schools Shipping and Shipwrecks Societies Taxation

 

 

Genealogy courses: Learn how to research from an expert in England courses.