familyrelatives.org Adds 100 Million Records: British Overseas Births, Deaths and Marriages

The following is an announcement from familyrelatives.org:

Leading the way in internet family history research, website www.familyrelatives.org announces the first of several new and important records to be put online - part of a program to add more than 100 million new records.  All British Overseas Births, Deaths and Marriages, from 1761 to the present day-are now available entirely free of charge for the very first time on the web.

The British Overseas records bring together an amazing series of documents which list the births, marriages and deaths (BMD) of Britons abroad: they reflect the fascinating history of the British empire, of colonial rule, and the transition to modern Commonwealth.  There are deaths in foreign conflicts, from the American Revolution and Napoleonic Wars to the Indian Mutiny, and the Boer War, as well as the births and marriages registered across the British Empire or in British consulates. Here can be found famous Britons like Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien born in South Africa in 1892; writer George Orwell, born Eric Blair, in Bengal, in 1903; and AbFab actress Joanna Lumley, born in Kashmir in 1946.  Even the records from the Ionian Islands, a British protectorate from 1815 to 1864, now best known to holidaymakers as Corfu, are available, together with marine records which register the births and deaths at sea, and aviation records listing deaths in the air.

www.familyrelatives.org is the place to find your relatives who married in Kenya, South Africa, or India; an ancestor who fought and died in Spain under Wellington, perhaps, or in Malaya in the 1950s; a family member who was born abroad and registered with a British consulate in America, China or Russia; or a long-lost relative who went missing at sea.  The searches are free and easy to do.  All the original records are scanned at very high quality providing superlative images on screen.

A spokesperson for Familyrelatives.org said "This is another great innovation from www.familyrelatives.org. These records are not available anywhere else online to view for free, which gives the public an amazing opportunity to search their own family history overseas."

If you are interested in future OFFERS and access to FREE RECORDS you should ensure that you are signed up to the Newsletters - this can be done by login in and visiting MyDetails and ticking the Newsletter box   - the Newsletters also provide hints and tips on using the Familyrelatives.org service.

Please note that we do not send spam and will usually send only a monthly Newsletter.

More information may be found at https://www.familyrelatives.org

Comments

[Donna]

Just wanted to let you know that, of the three links given in the article, only the third one goes to the site being discussed.

[Marilyn Hesse]

What a disappointment! Although advertised as free, I could not get access to an actual index, only a description of the index!
See https://www.familyrelatives.org/treequest/jsp/customer/post_info_shippingandseamen_bd.htm

"The Registry of Shipping Records covers the period 1837 to 1965. If you are searching for a Birth or Death of an ancestor who was a Merchant Seamen or a Passenger in a Ship you may find them in the records shown below:

GRO MARINE BIRTHS INDICES 1837-1965
GRO MARINE DEATHS INDICES 1855-1965

Notes:The records above also cover births and deaths that may have occurred on hovercrafts or deaths on off-shore installations.

Back to Products"

[Dick Eastman]

---> Although advertised as free, I could not get access to an actual index, only a description of the index!

I just went there a moment ago and looked at several images of records, not indexes. I only looked for the overseas records as those are the only ones that are free, as mentioned in the announcement. I have never paid a cent (pence) to this site.

Did you receive any errors when registering on the site?

- Dick Eastman

[lannie hartman]

There are free records on this website, but one has to read carefully and be persistent.
The site is difficult to navigate and not user friendly.

[Noel Duerden]

I guess I can not read carefully enough. I was directed to registration (required) and had to buy "units" of 60 or more for $10 up. That part was user friendly enough, but nothing came up when I went to a specific request. I have 60 days to see if I can get my money's worth--but the earliest record they offered was 1837 and I need a record of any kind after 1759.

[Ted Holmes]

familyrelatives.org is user friendly up to payments, after that it is as useful as poking at a termite nest with a wooden leg. I have endeavoured to search marriages 1921-1983 & the screen constantly comes up "error", please report, plus you lose points for an unsuccessful search. I feel I've been had,very disappointing!

[E.Harris]

I have spent many hours and travelled some distance searching for an elusive relative. Bingo! Found him in five minutes on the overseases returns - and it was free - and so readable. I felt it necessary to buy some time and browse other records just to feel "proper".

[Sue]

UK overseas bmd's are NOT free.
"He loves to share technology "finds" that can help both new and seasoned genealogists, as well as dethroning the scams and shams that can lead the unwary astray. "
I was certainly led astray by this site.

[Judith Rempel]

Has anyone looked at this resource recently? The address doesn't "resolve", nor are there copies archived at the "wayback machine".

I'd love a resourc efor looking up UK persons/families living in Czarist Russia. There was a substantial settlement right at the heart of St. Petersberg.