The United Kingdom, composed of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, has a history going back thousands of years. Furthermore, millions of people in the United States, Canada, Australia, and throughout the world can trace their ancestry back to the British Isles. That makes research into UK vital records so important for many people who are looking to reconstruct their family history. UK death records are particularly important if you are looking into your own family's history. While there are certainly millions of such records available, the sheer volume of those records makes sorting through them a bit of a challenge. We will take a quick look at some of the ways you can unlock your family's past by searching for UK death records.
FreeBMD
In your search for UK death records one year will likely keep cropping up: 1837. That's because in 1837 civil registration for births, marriages and deaths began, meaning that from that year onwards, at least in England and Wales, death records become far easier to track. If you are looking for the record of a death that occurred in England or Wales between 1837 and 2007 then you will want to check out the FreeBMD website. This website is an ongoing project to get all of the civil registrations from 1837 onwards online and to make them available for free to the public. While the site is not the prettiest to look at, its handy search feature is indispensable if you are looking for birth records from after 1837.
Parish Records
After the Church of England split with the Catholic Church, five centuries ago Anglican parishes in England and Wales became responsible for recording the births and deaths of parishioners. Church of England parish records are an invaluable resource for finding records for births and deaths that occurred from 1538 onwards. Some sites, such as Find My Past, have done a decent job of getting parish records online. Remember, however, that many parish records have not yet been transcribed into online databases, meaning you will occasionally have to visit or get in touch with the physical locations where those records are held.
Non-Conformist Records
While it's great that the Church of England kept records of their own baptisms and deaths, what if your ancestors belonged to a different church? Fortunately, BMDRegisters covers records of birth, marriage, baptism, death, and burial for non-conformist and non-parish sources. This record includes those who belonged to the Wesleyans, Methodists, Baptists, Independents, Unitarians, Quakers, Presbyterians, Congregationalists, Protestant Dissenters, Dissenters, and Russian Orthodox Church. Additionally, it includes overseas records.
If you're searching for your family's past then there is a very good chance that you will want to check out some of the excellent online resources concerning death records from the UK. Due to high levels of emigration, millions of people across the globe can trace their ancestry back to the UK. As seen in the article above, there is a wealth of resources for helping you uncover the names and personalities that lie in your own family's unique history.
