2.4 Findmypast.com

Findmypast.com started out as a title researching company in the mid-1960s. For many decades, their focus was on microfilm research to identify missing beneficiaries and administer complex estates. In 2003, the company launched their first website: 1837online.com. Several years later, the company rebranded and became Findmypast.com. In the years since, the company has expanded their document and data collections to cover many parts of the world. Researchers will find this website is particularly helpful with immigration records and documents tied to the British Commonwealth.1

Six menus help researchers navigate Findmypast.com. The first, titled “Family tree,” allows the user to view, create, upload, or search family trees. The “Search” menu opens access to document and database information. Records like military, immigration, church, and vital records can be accessed there. “Newspapers” is a searchable archive of British and Irish newspapers dating back to the eighteenth century. The “1921 Census” section allows searching of the 1921 England and Wales census. The fifth menu, labeled “My records,” is a history of the records viewed by each member. This is a useful tool for quickly returning to a previous record, but it should not be considered a replacement for the research log.2 And sixth, “Help & more” is a collection of tools where members find support documents and can access an interactive community for Findmypast.com users.