Family Tree UK

Learn how to trace your family tree! Every issue is packed with: family history research advice hands-on learning experiences to help you become an ancestor super-sleuth & step-by-step guides to show you the path to tracing the past. From vintage documents to the latest in DNA, we’re here to help you discover more! Get the latest in genealogy news, software, books, archives and expert answers. Plus enjoy those reader stories that remind what it means to trace your family story. Research & remember your roots with Family Tree!

Editor’s Note • What do you wish to discover? We have family history advice and tips to help you solve mysteries and research up to a thousand years ago … Are you up for it?

MORE FROM US…

USA pharmaceutical company to buy 23andMe • Having filed for bankruptcy in March 2025, following a difficult few years’ trading since going public in 2021, 23andMe is now due to be bought by Regeneron for US$256 million

New names & indexes from TheGenealogist • Engineers, apprentices & Home Guard records

Ancestry AI transcription tool beta-launched Spring 2025 • April 2025 saw the beta-launch of Ancestry’s public-facing AI transcription too, enabling Ancestry members to potentially generate transcriptions of handwritten records

Scran retiring as Trove.scot steps in • Following the launch of Trove.scot in February 2025, Historic Environment Scotland (HES) is retiring some of its web services, including Scran, which is due to be closed down on 24 June

Family Tree Maker: new version out • The latest version of Family Tree Maker 2024 became available May 2025

20,385 new Kerry records at RootsIreland • The new Kerry records comprise Roman Catholic parish of Killorglin baptisms: 1798-1911 (with some gaps, 1851-1880)

DNA Club news • DNA Club news reporter Karen Evans shares news from the genealogy scene

105 million new records on MyHeritage • From immigration records to draft papers, gravestones and more explore the vast new collections on MyHeritage.com

New Suffolk collections on Findmypast • Over half a million new baptism, marriage, and grave records now available to search at Findmypast

Making the most of SHIPS’ PASSENGER LISTS • This month, Family Tree Academy tutor David Annal gives us a fascinating guide to ships’ passenger lists, and the valuable information they contain that can help us in our family history research

UNTANGLING THE TONGES • Gill Shaw digs down between the censuses to try to piece the past back together – and finds more than she bargained for

MARRIAGE RECORDS IN IRELAND • Genealogist and writer Chris Paton gives us a comprehensive guide to Irish marriage records, and to the attitudes of church and state in the absence of a happily ever after …

THE PATHS TO THE ‘BLENDED FAMILY’ • Wayne Shepheard takes us through the life events and situations that can lead to the appearance of the ‘blended family’ in our genealogical research, and illustrates his points with case studies from his own and other families

What can FAMILY TREE SOFTWARE do for you? • Technologist Phil Isherwood is going to take us on a tour of leading UK family tree program, Family Historian 7. Read on to learn how it can help you with your genealogy research, record keeping and more. But first, let’s pause to consider the role that a family history program can play more generally, with Phil’s quick introduction to the role of family tree software in a family historian’s research

FAMILY HISTORIAN 7 take the tour

An introduction to MEDIEVAL RECORDS FOR THE GENEALOGIST & LOCAL HISTORIAN 1066-1485 • Discover the record collections and research know-how that will enable you to take your research into people and places, up to 1,000 years ago. Professional genealogist and...