My Seven Best Websites
Yes, of course, there are dozens and dozens of sites out there, and everyone will have their own favourites. It’s very much an individual choice. So where do we start? Here are some sites you really should have a look at.
Cyndi’s List This is a huge website dedicated to cataloguing genealogy websites all over the internet. It’s an absolute mine of information, but don’t go under with the sheer volume of information presented. This site really is an amazing achievement. www.cyndislist.com For a very useful review go to thegoodwebguide.co.uk
Family Search This is now a major data website sponsored by the LDS Church [Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints, or Mormons] and includes instructions and reference help. You land on the updated site and can navigate to the previous site and evaluate what it still has to offer. www.familysearch.org
Family Tree Maker Online This is the homepage for the genealogical software of Ancestry.com. It provides a very popular resource that may well suit your style of ancestral research and charting. Yes, it may be a commercial site but it has a lot to offer, including a 115-million-name Family Index Finder. www.familytreemaker.com
Free BMD This is an online searchable index of Births, Marriages and Deaths in England and Wales from 1837 based on General Register Office records, but as it’s an ongoing project there are still some sizeable gaps. The aim is to provide free internet access to all these records. At the time of writing there are a little under 20 million distinct records available online.
Genes Reunited You can upload your family tree and then see which other Family Tree holders have listed family members who might also belong on the branches of your tree. This is a great way to meet people with common genealogical interests. It can be surprising how much research has already been done by other people. Of course there are lots of independent privately sponsored web sites that provide a great deal of valuable information as well and accessing these can save hours of work.
Roots Web is a major data site, with free instruction and reference.
It offers a range of services to the enthusiastic researcher. It claims to be the internet’s oldest and largest free genealogical community. In fact it’s more about offering useful links to actual information than links to links which can be rather frustrating!
US GenWeb is offering free genealogical and family history online. If you are researching in the United States you will want to get familiar with US GenWeb which serves as a portal to a major project involving thousands of volunteers across the US. Once you are into the site you can access information at state level as well.
Finding Your Huguenot Roots
It may come as a surprise to quite a few people that they have Huguenots in their ancestry. It has been estimated that possibly one in four of those living in the UK have a link with Huguenots. The proportion for those living in North America will be different but by no means insubstantial.
When they fled the Continent at peak times of persecution many of them arrived in London or at the port of Dover. Typical places where Huguenots migrated to were Spitalfields in London and Canterbury in Kent.
In America they mostly settled on the Eastern seaboard, from Florida in the South to New York in the North; congregations were established in Virginia, South Carolina and Pennsylvania. In the course of time some of them migrated further West.
Who were they? They were French Protestants who wanted the privilege of worshipping in their own distinctive Protestant traditions amongst a nation many of whose members were devoted Catholics and who wanted everyone else to worship in their way. This tussle went on for decades. It is not a pretty story, with religion and politics getting inextricably bound up together.
After the St. Bartholomew Day massacre of 1572 thousands of Huguenots sought sanctuary abroad. The Edict of Nantes in 1598 brought a respite of sorts, but when the edict was revoked in 1685 vast numbers of Protestants fled persecution in their homeland and sought freedom and a new life elsewhere.
Do you have Huguenot links in your family? Sometimes the give-away will be a French-sounding surname appearing in the family tree back in the 16th or 17th centuries. In some situations the original surnames might become anglicized. Quite early on French sounding given names were changed into their English equivalents. The process of assimilation into English culture occurred more quickly than one might have imagined. Children baptized in Norwich or in Canterbury for example were given English names very early on.
When researching for evidence of Huguenot roots one needs first of all to go through the standard primary procedures of consulting Birth and Marriage certificates; hopefully this will take you back to 1837 or even earlier. When these primary sources have been fully tapped one can check out the Quarto Series provided by the Huguenot Society. [see below]
Which web site should I consult? I’m going to mention three sites that definitely shouldn’t be ignored.
The Huguenot Society of Great Britain and Ireland is well established and has a great deal of helpful material to assist you at a stage when you have a fair idea of what you are looking for. To find out what they can offer.
Go to www.huguenotsociety.org.uk
Researchers in North America will want to find out more about the National Huguenot Society based in the States.
Go to www.huguenot.netnation.com
Wherever you are living and researching you would be wise to check out what Cyndi can do for you. Her website is quite extraordinary and attracts millions of visitors every year. Under Huguenots you will find almost any conceivable sub topic you could possibly need.
Go to www.cyndislist.com
