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!

Investigating the all-too-common case of the missing ancestor…Have you got one?

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NEWS

Now more than 1 million entries in Scotland’s Criminal Database • The release, in March 2026, of a further 100,000 prison register entries to ScottishIndexes.com has enabled the 1M milestone to be reached

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

ANSWERS? QUESTIONS! Questions? Answers! • This month, Family Tree Academy tutor Dave Annal addresses two similar reader queries, and walks us through the sometimes tricky process of interpreting letters of administration

Is this really my ancestor? • Wondering whether we have correctly identified our ancestor (as opposed to a namesake) in the records is something that we have to reflect on very carefully. Dr Sophie Kay shares practical techniques to help us tackle the situation and decide on our next steps.

You’re doing something amazing. • Preserving your family story for future generations.

Walking a fine line Ethical dilemmas in genealogy • Genealogy and family history research bring with them huge responsibility, and there are many questions we must ask ourselves before we make our results public. Here, Chris Paton examines the ethical boundaries within which we must work, and how to navigate them

PARISH Treasures • On the trail of her new Staffordshire ancestors, Gill Shaw starts to explore the Weston-on-Trent parish registers.

The case of the MISSING ANCESTOR • In this lively article, keen family historian Phil Isherwood gives us some useful strategies for tracking down those elusive ancestors who appear to have completely disappeared from the records

Reading Between the Lines A Genealogist’s Statistical Guide to the Irish 1926 Census • With the public release of the 1926 Census of the Irish Free State, genealogist Frances Daly walks us through the methodology and results of this landmark census, and shows us what we might glean from the records

Part 1 JESSIE BLACKSHAW • Beginnings in a Working County

Booth’s Poverty Maps and the Stepney Union Casebooks • Genealogist Patricia Sears lists East London as one of her particular research interests. In this article, she tells us about the unique contribution of the Stepney Union Casebooks to the work of 19th-century philanthropist Charles Booth, and introduces us to the wealth of information to be found there

SPOTLIGHT ON … DEVON FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY • Devon Family History Society was formed in 1976 and is now one of the largest county societies in the country, writes Dr Janet Few. Find out how the society, which has been helping family historians for 50 years, can help you too, to expand your knowledge

Dear Paul • This month, Paul Chiddicks invites us to consider marginal notes in the parish registers, which can give us revealing insights into their authors. Plus, he brings us his usual selection of puzzling, quirky and touching snippets from the genealogical records

Extra, extra! Read all about it!

A game-changing tool USING SHARED DNA MATCHES TO SOLVE PUZZLES • This month, our DNA advisor Karen Evans tells us how one exciting DNA testing tool – shared matches – can help us to solve...