Ancestry online: new collections reveal ancestors

A definitive collection of records that detail London’s rich history have gone online at social and family history website Ancestry.co.uk.

The collection is in partnership with the London Metropolitan archives and Guildhall Library Manuscripts and includes records dating back for over 400 years. London Historical Records 1500-1900 has millions of records of the Victorian workhouses and the wills, marriages, baptisms and burials, of both ordinary and famous Londoners. Oliver Cromwell’s marriage in 1620 and Samuel Pepys’ baptism are among the historic records.

It is thought that over 165 million people worldwide will find an ancestor in the collection – JK Rowling and David Beckham are among those who can find records of their family trees. It is also estimated over half the UK population and millions from the US, Canada and Australia could find an ancestor.

Senior Vice President of Ancestry, Josh Hanna, comments, “No city in modern history, other than London, can claim to have been the capital of such a far reaching empire, which is why this collection is of such importance not only to Brits, but also to many others around the world with ancestral ties back to England.” Another collection, Irish Emigration to New England 1841-49, has also been added to the site and promises to shed new light on the stories of thousands of Irish emigrants who fled to the United States to find respite from the strife of the great famine. Many of the passengers were not allowed to cross the Canadian border after being declared destitute, stowaways or mentally or physically unfit and were never recorded on the official passenger lists. This meant it was impossible for their descendants to trace their ancestors. However, over several years, genealogist Daniel F Johnson has pieced together names and details from records from Canadian workhouses, asylums and hospitals. It is hoped the recovering of these records will help many families to fill in the missing gaps of their history.