British Isles Genealogy on the Internet: Timeline

Introduction

This timeline is intended as a guide to the main developments on the Internet which are important for UK and Irish genealogy. Particularly for the period before 1997, it includes a number of the main US developments (indicated in the table by their lighter colour) which are significant for the British Isles. However developments on other networks - amateur bulletin board networks like FidoNet, on-line services like CompuServe, other networks later connected to the Internet like JANET or BITNET - have generally been excluded, unless they relate to bodies with a significant role in UK family history. I have highlighted in RED the events I consider most significant.

Sources & Informants

An online source is given for each entry wherever possible. Where a name is given, it is usually someone directly involved with the resource or event in question. For many events since 2001, sources are electronic press releases I have received in the course of editing the Internet News column in Ancestors.

For some of the entries, particularly before 1997, I have been unable to find authoritative information on the date a resource actually became available, so the date given represents the earliest public mention I can find (usually in a mailing list or newsgroup archive) or the date a link was added from some major site. More precise dates would be very welcome, as would suggestions for additional entries - please mail any corrections or additions (with the URL of an authoritative source, if possible) to timeline@spub.co.uk.

Thanks to all those who have supplied information or made suggestions.

General sources for the history of internet genealogy

1983 - 1985 - 1986 - 1987
1990 - 1991 - 1993 - 1994 - 1995 - 1996 - 1997 - 1998 - 1999
2000 - 2001 - 2002 - 2003 - 2004 - 2005 - 2006 - 2007 - 2008 - 2009
2010 - 2011

Timeline

Date		Event	Link	Source/Informant
2013
	April 8	The National Archives announces that the digitisation of the First World War unit diaries has been completed		source
	March 18	The Imperial War Museum makes its sound archive available online, with oral history material for the world wars.	link	source
	March 13	Launch of Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)	link	source
	March 5	Family Tree goes live on the FamilySearch site (free, but requires registration)	link	source
2012
	November 8	The National Archives of Ireland launches the National Archives Genealogy Website	link	source
	September 5	People of Medieval Scotland launched (" a database of all known people of Scotland between 1093 and 1314")	link	source
	June 19	Launch of Records of London's Livery Companies Online (ROLLCO)	link	source
	April 2	The National Archives launch the Discovery service as a replacment for its existing catalogue and DocumentsOnline service.	link	source
2011
	November 29	Launch of British Newspaper Archive	link	source
	May 5	Launch of Findmypast Ireland	link
	April 5	1911 Census for Scotland released on ScotlandsPeople	link
	March 2	Launch of the Open Genealogy Alliance	link	source
2010
	November 5	Ancestry & TheGenealogist announce joint project to make the 1911 census available on their sites		source
	September 13	The GRO announces suspension of the Digitisation and Indexing Project pending the government's Comprehensive Spending Review		source
	June 3	1901 Census of Ireland goes online	link
	June 2	1911 Census made available on GenesReunited	link	source
	May 19	British Library and Brightsolid announce project to digitise up to 40 million pages of historic newspapers		source
2009
	December 14	The University of the West of England announces a research project for an online database of UK surnames	link	source
	November 25	The Irish government launches www.irishgenealogy.ie with free access to1.3 million church records	link	source
	November 9	The Information Commissioner rules that the NHS must grant access to information in the 1939 National Identity Card Registration relating to people who are now deceased.	link	source
	November 6	The GRO announces the Digitisation and Indexing (D&I) Project to replace the stalled DOVE project	link
	November 2	The Office of Fair Trading approves the purchase of Genes Reunited by Brightsolid (who run Scotlandspeople and Findmypast).		source
	October 16	The National Library of Wales makes over 190,000 Welsh wills available.	link	source
	September	FamilyRecords portal closes	link	source
	August 28	All counties available for the 1911 Census of Ireland	link	source
	August 6	GenesReunited purchased from ITV by Brightsolid (ScotlandsPeople, Findmypast)		source
	June 9	The 1911 census for England & Wales completed with the release of all Welsh counties	link	source
	March 31	Scottish death and burials from parish registers go online at ScotlandsPeople	link	source
	March 2	Closure of FamilyHIstoryOnline		source
	February 5	The National Archives of Scotland launch the official Scottish Register of Tartans	link	source
	January 23	Irish civil registration indexes are made available on the FamilySearch Pilot site	link	source
	January 16	Public Records Office for Northern Ireland catalogue (eCATNI) goes live	link
	January 13	Launch of the 1911 census for England and Wales	link
2008
	October 7	Scottish Coats of Arms are made available on Scotlandspeople, the first official heraldic records for the UK to go online	link	source
	September 14	FreeBMD reaches 200 million records	link	source
	July 21	FamilySearch, Findmypast and Origins announce a joint project to make UK census indexes available on FamilySearch and at Family History Centers.	link	source
	July 6	It is announced that GROS will license data to sites other than ScotlandsPeople		source
	July 3	GRO announces delay in DOVE project after contract with Siemens is not renewed		source
	January 22	ScotlandsPeople adds indexes to birth and death registrations up to 2006.	link	source
	January 18	Scotland Online buys Findmypast with aim of consolidating it with ScotlandsPeople		source
2007
	December 4	Irish 1911 census for Dublin goes online	link	source
	September 14	Images of non-conformist registers from TNA classes RG4 and RG5 go online at BMDregisters	link	source
	September 1	FFHS announces that its datasets at FamilyHistoryOnline are to be transferred to FindMyPast	link	source
	May 14	The National Archives launches its 'Your Archives' wiki	link	source
	May 5	Findmypast announces the purchase of the online family tree software PedigreeSoft with the aim of integrating it within their site.	link	source
	March 8	An online petition to reduce the classified period for census data from 100 years to 70 years closes with 23,602 signatories.	link	source
	February 23	British army World War One service and pension records go online at Ancestry	link	source
	February 15	The Federation of Family History Societies publishes its first online-only newsletter, EZine, replacing the printed 'Newsflash'	link	source
	January 16	ONS announces that online searching of GRO indexes will start to be available from early 2008.		source
	January 11	Findmypast launches the BT27 Outward Passenger Lists for 1890-99 on a new site, Ancestorsonboard.	link
	January 8	An online petition requesting improved access to the censuses and other archives closes with 225 signatories.	link	source
2006
	December 13	In response to a Freedom of Information ruling, The National Archives announce that data from the 1911 Census will be available online from 2009 rather than 2012.		source
	September 20	Ancestry put phone books for the Greater London area 1880-1984 online	link	source
	September 16	Dick Eastman's first UK Genealogy Skypecast	link	source
	May 8	The Genealogy & Heraldry Bill 2006 is presented to the Irish Parliament, proposing an online National Inventory of Genealogical Records	link	source
	April 22	Ancestry release the 1841 cenus index for England & Wales. All censuses are now available online.	link
	April 20	Scotlandspeople release the 1841 census index and images for Scotland. All Scottish censuses are now available online.	link	source
	March 4	Cyndi's List celebrates its 10th anniversary	link	source
	January 18	Ancestry makes images of the GRO indexes available free of charge	link
	January 10	The National Archivist announces the acquisition of its datasets by 1837online	link
2005
	December 14	Medway Archives put images of 90 Kent parish registers online	link	source
	December 6	GenesReunited (as part of FriendsReunited) bought by ITV	link	source
	December 6	Announcement of agreement between the National Archives of Ireland and Library and Archives Canada to digitise Irish Census Records for 1901 and 1911.		source
	November 3	Channel 4 & the Imperial War Museum launch database of WW1 war memorials in connection with the "Lost Generation" TV series	link	source
	September 9	LDS Church announces plan to digitise and index all its microfilmed records	link	source
	August 21	Qinetiq sells 1901 Census to GenesReunited	link	source
	August 1	DOVE contract signed - Siemens to digitise GRO records		source
	March	1841 Census Index launched on British Origins	link	source
	February 15	1837online launches 1861 census index and images	link	source
2004
	December 31	Genuki Family History News ceases publication		source
	December 3	The National Archives & Ancestry.co.uk launch the 1881 and 1891 census under the Licensed Internet Associateship (LIA) initiative	link	press release
	December	The GRO's proposals for reform of Civil Registration are rejected by committees from both Houses of Parliament		source
	November 9	A Vision of Britain Through Time	link	source
	November 8	First version of this timeline ;-)	link
	July 23	DOVE (Digitisation of Vital Events) invitation to tender	link	source
	July	Origins relaunched as subscription service under the name Origins Network	link	press release
	June 28	FreeBMD adds images	link	source
	June 28	The National Archives launch new web site	link	source
	May	Launch of independent GRO site	link	GRO
	April 22	End of GENDEX		source
	April 14	Ancestry starts 1901 census	link	source
	March 24	The Archives Task Force report Listening to the Past, Speaking to the Future proposes the creation of an Archives Gateway	link	source
	March 1	Launch of Directgov, replacing UKonline as government portal	link	source
	January 26	Ancestry starts on 1871 census	link	source
2003
	November 14	National Audit Office report on 1901 census	link	source
	September	Launch of Archives Network Wales	link	source
	August	Launch of National Archivist	link
	July 8	GRO launches on-line certificate ordering	link	source
	July	Launch of FreeCEN search engine with 1891 census transcriptions	link	source
	April 2	The PRO and HMC combine to form the National Archives (TNA) (though their web sites are not combined till June 2004)	link
	April 1	1837online	link	Colin Miller
	March 14	Rod Neep launches British-genealogy.com, with dozens of new mailing lists for the UK	link	source
	March 5	Old Bailey Proceedings	link	press release
	March	DocumentsOnline	link
	February 26	SoG online bookshop closes		source
	February 25	Merger of Genfair & FFHS Publications	link	source
	February 2	GRO announces relaxation of rules on publication of BMD indexes from April 1st		source
	February	1881 census added to FamilySearch	link	source
	January 8	FamilyHistoryOnline	link	press release
	January	Gazettes on-line	link
2002
	November 21	1901 census relaunch	link	source
	November 5	GenesConnected (now Genesreunited)	link	source
	September 18	Ancestry.co uk launched with 1891 census	link	source
	September 18	Scotlandspeople launched, taking over Scottish records from Scots Origins	link	source
	January 22	White Paper, 'Civil Registration: Vital Change' published by the Office of National Statistics, includes plans to move to electronic registration	link	source
	January 22	NLS launches two on-line map collections	link
	January 7	1901 census site closed down		source
	January 2	1901 census	link	public knowledge!
2001
	November	Peter Christian: "The Genealogist's Internet"	link	source
	before August 6	General Register Office for Northern Ireland (GRONI) launches independent web site (original site was hosted by Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency)	link	source
	August	1881 census index & 1891 census images added to Scots Origins		source
	July 2	150 digitisation grants announced by New Opportunities Fund, many for historical material of interest to genealogists, including Collect Britain, Digital Handsworth, Moving Here.		source
	July	ARCHON Portal launched		HMC/TNA
	April 20	1891 cenus pilot goes live		source
	February 12	Google takes over archive of newsgroup messages from Deja.com	link	source
	February 7	Genuki becomes a charitable trust	link	source
	January 25	GROS announces plans to add digital images to Scots Origins		source
	January 18	Launch of English Origins (now British Origins) with data from the Society of Genealogists	link	Peter Christian
	January	Cornwall Online Parish Clerks (OPC) project launched	link	source
2000
	December 15	British Library Newspaper Library’s catalogue goes online	link	source
	December	FamilyRecords launched to provide a goverment genealogy portal	link	source
	November 30	Scottish Archive Network goes live	link	source
	November 24	Genuki trade mark registration		source
	November	National Archives of Scotland web site launched	link	source
	October	New Genuki search engine, covering Genuki and other UK family history bodies	link	Genuki mailing list
	October	Caroline Peacock: "Good Web Guide Genealogy"	link
	October	Images of England launched	link	source
	October	CheshireBMD - first UKBMD project	link	from hit counter
	September 1	UK Government portal UKonline launched		source
	June 22	Failure of soc.genealogy.surnames newsgroups	link	source
	June 21	Rootsweb acquired by Ancestry.com	link	source
	June 12	Launch of Federation of Family History Societies' on-line bookshop	link	David Hawgood
	June	Old-maps	link	source
	March 19	Rob Thompson starts his Family History Newsletter	link	source
	February	FFHS registers its commercial domain name ffhs.co.uk	link	source
	January	Workhouse History site launched	link	Peter Higginbotham
		ARCHON Portal	link	source
1999
	July	Start of FreeCEN project	link	source
	May 24	Launch of FamilySearch puts the IGI on-line	link	source
	May	Powys Digital History site (started june 1998)	link	source
	March 26	Crown copyright waiver: genealogists can publish their own transcriptions of PRO documents without permission		source
	January 18	Genfair launched as an on-line shop with "stands" for individual family history societies	link	source
	January	Launch of Collage, Corporation of London image databse	link	source
1998
	December	National Register of Archives accessible via the Web		source
	November 11	Debt of Honour Register - first complete on-line "genealogical" dataset to cover the whole of the UK	link	source
	September 30	FreeBMD announced	link	source
	September 15	Society of Genealogists Bookshop online		source
	September 7	Google launched	link	source
	July 2	National Lottery Act 1998 establishes the New Opportunities Fund		source
	July	ARCHON Directory provides details of record repositories		HMC/TNA
	April 6	Scots Origins launched with Scottish BMD certificates - first pay-per-view site for UK public records	link
	March 27	PRO web site	link	source
	March 26	Genuki registers its own domain name		source
	March 23	Society of Genealogists' web site	link	CiG
	March 16	FFHS registers its domain name ffhs.org.uk	link	source
1997
	November 4	GooNS domain name registered	link	source
	October	Cyndi Howells, Netting Your Ancestors: Genealogical Research on the Internet	link	source
	August	County Lookup Exchange announced		source
	July	Britain and Ireland newsgroups split		source
	July	New Opportunities Fund announced in White Paper		source
	July	Manorial Documents Register goes on-line with data for Wales and Yorkshire		HMC/TNA
	before June	British Library makes its catalogue accessible via the web	link	CiG June 1997
	June	Familia launched, with details of the genealogical holdings of public libraries in the British Isles	link	Martin Hayes
	May	Society of Genealogists registers its domain name sog.org.uk	link	source
	before May	Cheshire Wills on the Web	link	source
	April 9	Books We Own, first lookup exchange?	link	Site hit counter
		Genealogy programs start to include Web page creation facilities		Peter Christian
1996
	October	Web site for Computers in Genealogy	link	Peter Christian
	October	WorldGenWeb launched	link	source
	September 5	Norfolk Surnames list	link	source
	June	USGenWeb	link	source
	May	Greater Manchester CRO	link	source
	May	Lincolnshire Archives	link	source
	before April 18	Liverpool Record Office		source
	April	Pedigree Users Group starts a mailing list	link	Malcolm Austen
	March 14	Society of Genealogists hosts its first lecture on the internet		Computers in Genealogy
	March 4	Cyndi's List	link	source
	before March	Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) Web site launched	link	source
	March	Somerset Record Office becomes first UK record office to launch a web site	link	Somerset Record Office
	before March	National Library of Wales		Brian Randell
	February 20	Lottery Grant for Images of England	link	source
	February	Launch of the RootsWeb "genealogy co-operative"	link	source
	February	David Hawgood: "Internet for Genealogy" - first UK internet genealogy book?	link	David Hawgood
	January 15	First issue of Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter	link	source
	January	GooNS web site	link	source
		Ancestry.com launched	link	source
1995
	December 15	AltaVista, first major search engine	link	source
	before December	Thompson one-name study		source
	November	FFHS publications catalogue made available on Genuki		Brian Randell
	before October	National Archives of Ireland Family History & Genealogy page		source
	October	Genuki is by now hosting pages for a number of family history societies (including Clywd, Devon, Dyfed and Gwynedd)		Brian Randell
	October	Historical Manuscripts Commission web site; telnet access to the National Register of Archives.		HMC/TNA
	September 15	Demon Internet announces local call access for the whole of the UK	link	source
	July 1	Dr Ashton Emery's A-Z of British Genealogical Research	link	Rosemary Lockie
	July	Internet Explorer 1.0		source
	June	soc.genealogy.uk+ireland - first newsgroup for genealogy of the British Isles		source
	before June	Elizabeth Powell Crowe, Genealogy On-line - first internet genealogy book?		source
	April	Manchester and Lancashire mailing list started		Phil Stringer
	before April	Historical Manuscripts Commission		source
	March 25	Announcement of Genuki on soc.genealogy.computing	link	source
	March 7	PRO leaflets made available on Malcolm Austen's web site (later moved to Genuki)		Rosemary Lockie
	March	The Web overtakes file transfer (FTP) as the main use of the Internet		source
	February	John Fuller and Chris Gaunt launch Genealogy Resources on the Internet	link	source
	before February	2% sample of 1851 census available for download by FTP		source
	January	Phil Stringer publishes "Online genealogy information about the UK", the forerunner of Genuki	link	Phil Stringer
		Mailing lists for some individual Scottish clans in existence		John Fuller
		Archives Online		source
1994
	December 8	Inaugural meeting of the Archives and Internet Group		source
	before December 7	North of Ireland FHS web site - first FHS web site?	link	source
	December	Launch of .Net and Internet - the first UK Internet magazines		Peter Christian
	November 14	Launch of HM Treasury web site - first goverment department on-line		source
	November 9	Reorganization of genealogy newsgroups into the soc.genealogy hierarchy		source
	July 16	Channel Island Surname Interest List - first UK surname interest list?	link	source
	July 10	Gene Stark announces GED2HTML, a program to create an on-line pedigree from a GEDCOM file		source
	July	The Genealogy Home Page - first directory of internet genealogy resources	link	source
	May 31	Frode Kvam posts source code for GECDOM -> HTML conversion program to ROOTS-L		source
	before April 28	Paddy Waldron sets up Irish genealogy pages on the Trinity College Dublin web site		source
		Genserv moves to the Web	link	source
1993
	December 6	FTP archive at Penn State University makes genealogy software available for download	link	source
	November 11	Mosaic 1.0 browser for Windows and Mac released (a UNIX version had been released in April)		source
	June	Alan Stanier puts STANIER family tree online	link	Alan Stanier
1991
	November	JANET IP service: UK universities start to connect directly to the Internet (most early UK genealogy sites are hosted on university servers)		source
	August 6	World-Wide Web publicly released		source
		Launch of Genserv, e-mail based GEDCOM matching service	link	source
1990
	April 7	Roots Surname List announced		source
		Hytelnet - directory of telnet sites, including many library catalogues		source
		Remote access to National Register of Archives		source
1987
	December 12	ROOTS-L - first genealogy mailing list	link	source
1986
	September 20	First posting to soc.roots, replacement for net.roots		source
1985
	July	Creation of the .uk top-level domain		source
1983
	October 31	First genealogy newsgroup: net.roots		source

General Sources

Some of the general resources which are useful for the history of genealogy on the internet are:

The Genuki What's New pages
The What's New pages of Steven A. Wood's Genealogy Home Page.
The newsgroup archives at Google Groups - for earlier material you need to use the Advanced Search
The Mailing List archives at RootsWeb
The archives of Dick Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter

Links to information about the history of Genuki itself are collected under the heading Published Papers about This Service.

For more general internet history, consult:

Hobbes' Internet Timeline