About Genhound

Genhound is an independent guide to tracing family history in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It explains which records exist, where to find them, what they mean and how to use them to build a tree you can trust.

What we cover

The guides fall into three groups: getting started, from interviewing relatives to the first census search; the UK records themselves, from the census and civil registration back through parish registers, wills and military records, with separate guides for Scotland and Ireland; and the websites, DNA tests and tools you'll use along the way.

How we work

We write from the record sets and the archives' own catalogues and guidance, and from how research works in practice. We don't hold records, we don't sell subscriptions and we don't take payment from genealogy companies for coverage. Where a guide names a commercial site it is because that is where a record set lives, and we say when a free alternative exists.

Some guides include links to products on Amazon.co.uk, such as books, charts, archival storage and DNA kits. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases; it doesn't change what you pay, and it doesn't influence which products appear.

Corrections and questions

Record sets move between websites, archives change their rules and prices change. If you spot something out of date, or have a question a guide doesn't answer, please use the contact form. We can't carry out research for you, but we're glad to point you to the right record.

Genhound is run by Centraserve Ltd, registered in England.