In a previous post, I looked at the free record sets that can be found on Ancestry. This article looks at the free resources on another large family history site; Findmypast. This website is well known for its extensive British and Irish collections, but it also has major sets from the US, Australia and several other countries, so it’s worth getting to know if you’re not familiar with it.

How to find Free records on Findmypast. Bespoke Genealogy

Firstly, it should be noted, that there are actually four Findmypast sites:

The free records on the US site are different to those offered by the other ones. To access the free records on any of the sites, you will need to create an account (no credit card required). So, if you’re in the UK, but Canadian census records would be useful to you, then signing up for a free account on the US site maybe of more use than the UK one.

Here’s a summary of the free record sets on the websites:

Free Records on Findmypast US

Go to the free records page on FMP US

Newspapers

Findmypast’s sister site, the British Newspaper Archive has a massive collection of British and Irish newspapers. These are part of the British Library collection.  Full membership of Findmypast includes this collection. Newspapers can be a rich source of information for the family historian, especially birth, marriage and death notices as well as obituaries and court reports.

This collection includes over a million pages of newspapers published between 1720 and 1880 which are free to view on any of the Findmypast sites. This is the full list of the free newspapers:

  • Brighton Patriot and South of England Free Press, 1835-1839
  • Champion, 1836
  • The Champion and Weekly Herald, 1837-1840
  • The Charter, 1839-1840
  • Chartist, 1839
  • Caledonian Mercury, 1720-1799 and 1800-1859
  • The Caledonian Mercury and Daily Express, 1860
  • The Caledonian Mercury, 1860-1867
  • Chartist Circular, 1839-1841
  • Cobbett’s Annual Register, 1802-1804
  • Cobbett’s Weekly Political Register, 1804-1836
  • Examiner, 1808-1880
  • London Dispatch, 1836-1839
  • Morning Chronicle, 1801-1865
  • The Manchester Times and Gazette, 1829-1848
  • Manchester Times and Manchester and Salford Advertiser and Chronicle, 1848
  • Northern Liberator, 1837-1840
  • Northern Star and Leeds General Advertiser, 1838-1844
  • The Odd Fellow, 1839-1842
  • The Operative, 1838-1839
  • The Poor Man’s Guardian, 1831-1835
  • Southern Star, 1840
  • The Star and National Trades’ Journal, 1852
  • The Star of Freedom, 1852
  • The Northern Liberator and Champion, 1840
  • The Northern Star and National Trades’ Journal, 1844-1852
  • Cleave’s Weekly Police Gazette, 1835-1836
  • Manchester Times, 1828-1829
  • The Northern Daily Times, 1853-1857
  • Northern Times, 1857-1860
  • The Daily Times, 1860-1861
  • The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser, 1832-1854
  • Liverpool Standard and General Advertiser, 1854-1855
  • Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser, 1855-1856
  • The Saint James’s Chronicle, 1801-1866
  • The Sun, 1801-1871
  • Baldwin’s London Weekly Journal, etc., 1803-1836
  • Colored News, 1855
  • Illustrated Sporting News and Theatrical and Musical Review, 1862-1865
  • Illustrated Sporting and Theatrical News, 1865-1870
  • The Bee-Hive, 1862-1870
  • The Penny Bee-Hive, 1870
  • Industrial Review, Social and Political, 1877-1878
  • The Imperial Weekly Gazette, 1808-1810
  • The Imperial Weekly Gazette and Westminster Journal, 1818-1823
  • Imperial Gazette, 1823-1825
  • The Lady’s Newspaper and Pictorial Times, 1847-1863
  • The Lady’s Own Paper, 1866-1872
  • The New Weekly True Sun, 1836
  • The News, 1805 and 1807-1835
  • News and Sunday Herald, 1835-1837
  • The News and Sunday Globe, 1837-1839
  • Westminster Journal and Old British Spy, 1805-1810
  • Cleave’s Weekly Police Gazette and Journal of News, Politics, and Literature, 1836
  • Lloyd’s Companion to the “Penny Sunday Times and Peoples’ Police Gazette”, 1841-1847
  • Mirror of the Times, 1800-1823
  • Pictorial Times, 1843-1848
  • The Argus, or, Broad-sheet of the Empire, 1839-1843
  • The Beacon (London), 1822
  • The Beacon (Edinburgh), 1821
  • The British Emancipator, 1837-1840
  • The British Liberator, 1833
  • The British Luminary; or, Weekly News and General Advertiser, 1818
  • The British Luminary and National Intelligencer, 1818
  • The British Luminary and Weekly Intelligence, 1820
  • The British Luminary, or Weekly Intelligencer, 1820
  • The Weekly Intelligencer, and British Luminary, 1820-1821
  • The British Luminary and Weekly Intelligencer, 1821-1823
  • Pierce Egan’s Life in London, 1824-1827
  • Morning Herald, 1801-1869
  • The Age, 1825-1843
  • The Forest of Dean Examiner, 1873-1877
  • The Warrington Examiner, 1869-1878
  • The Warrington & Mid-Cheshire Examiner, 1879
  • The South Staffordshire Examiner, 1874
  • The Shropshire Examiner and All Round the Wrekin Advertiser, 1874-1877
  • Widnes Examiner, 1876-1879
  • The Wolverhampton Times and Bilston, Willenhall, Wednesfield, and Sedgley Journal, 1874-1875
  • The Wolverhampton and Midland Counties Advertiser, 1875-1876
  • The Midland Examiner and Wolverhampton Times, 1877-1878
  • The Midland Examiner and Times, 1877
  • The Cannock Chase Examiner, 1874-1877
  • The Stockton Examiner, and South Durham and North Yorkshire Herald, 1878-1879
  • Runcorn and Widnes Examiner, 1870-1876
  • Runcorn Examiner, 1877-1879
  • The St. Helens Examiner, and Prescot Weekly News, 1879
  • Stalybridge Examiner, and Ashton, Dukinfield and Mossley Advertiser, 1876
  • The Potteries Examiner, 1871-1879
  • Stretford and Urmston Examiner, 1879
  • The Tamworth Miners’ Examiner and Working Men’s Journal, 1873
  • The Tamworth Examiner and Working Men’s Journal, 1873-1876
  • The Denton, Haughton, & District Weekly News, 1873-1874
  • Denton & Haughton Weekly News, and Audenshaw, Hooley Hill, and Dukinfield Advertiser, 1874-1875
  • Denton Examiner, Audenshaw, Hooley Hill and Dukinfield Advertiser, 1875-1878
  • Denton and Haughton Examiner, etc., 1878-1879
  • The Express, 1846-1869
  • The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser (Very incomplete), 1803-1826
  • National Register, 1808-1823
  • The Press, 1853-1866
  • The Star, 1801-1831
  • The Statesman, 1806-1824
  • The Jamaica Mercury and Kingston Weekly Advertiser, 1779-1780
  • The Royal Gazette, 1780-1836
  • The Royal Gazette and Jamaica Times, 1838-1840
  • The Royal Gazette of Jamaica, 1840
  • Cradley Heath & Stourbridge Observer, 1864
  • The Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle, 1864-1866
  • The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle, 1866-1879
  • Stockton Herald, South Durham and Cleveland Advertiser, 1858-1879
  • Swansea and Glamorgan Herald, and South Wales Free Press, 1847-1879
  • The Weymouth, Portland and Dorchester Telegram, 1860-1878
  • The Blackpool Herald, 1874-1879
  • The Birkenhead News and Wirral General Advertiser, 1878-1879
  • The Barrow Herald and Furness Advertiser, 1863-1879
  • Alston Herald, and East Cumberland Advertiser, 1875-1879
  • The Atherstone Times, 1879
  • The Atherstone, Nuneaton, and Warwickshire Times, 1879
  • The Lancaster Herald, and Town and County Advertiser, 1831-1832
  • Blandford, Wimborne and Poole Telegram, 1874-1879
  • The Central Glamorgan Gazette, and General, Commercial, and Agricultural Advertiser, 1866-1879
  • Bridlington and Quay Gazette, 1877
  • Bridport, Beaminster, and Lyme Regis Telegram and Dorset, Somerset, and Devon Advertiser, 1865 and 1877-1879
  • Brighouse & Rastrick Gazette, 1879
  • The Kenilworth Advertiser, 1869-1879
  • Liverpool Weekly Courier, 1867-1879
  • Stockton Gazette and Middlesbrough Times, 1860-1865
  • Middlesbro’ & Stockton Gazette and General Advertiser, 1868-1871
  • The Middlesbrough Gazette and General Advertiser, 1869
  • Middlesbrough & Stockton Gazette and General Advertiser, 1869-1876
  • The Weekly Gazette for Middlesbrough, Stockton, Hartlepool and Cleveland District, 1876-1879
  • The Nuneaton Times, 1875-1879
  • The Pontypridd District Herald and Rhondda Valley, Llantrisant, Caerphilly, and Mountain Ash News, 1878-1879
  • The Poole Telegram, 1879
  • The Glasgow Chronicle, 1844-1857
  • Glasgow Courier, 1802 and 1844-1866
  • The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette, 1858-1879
  • The Manchester Examiner, 1846-1848
  • The Darlington & Stockton Telegraph, Richmond Herald, South Durham and North York Review, 1867-1873
  • Darlington & Richmond Herald, 1873-1879
  • The Dewsbury Chronicle, and West Riding Advertiser, 1869-1879
  • British Miner and General Newsman, 1862-1863
  • The Miner, 1863
  • The Miner and Workman’s Advocate, 1863-1865
  • The Workman’s Advocate, 1865-1866
  • The Commonwealth, 1866-1867
  • Barbados Mercury, and Bridge-town Gazette, 1807-1848
  • The Barbadian, 1822-1861
  • Barbados Mercury, 1783-1789
  • The Weekly Chronicle, 1836-1851
  • The Weekly News and Chronicle, 1851-1854
  • The Weekly Chronicle, 1855
  • The Weekly Chronicle and Register, 1855-1864
  • The Weekly Chronicle and Register of Banking, Insurance, Railway and Mining Companies, Trade and Commerce, 1864-1867
  • Jewish Record, 1868-1871

Vital Records

This set consists of the following collections:

  • United States Obituary Notices
  • German-American Birth and Baptismal Certificates, 1700-1900
  • Canadian Headstone Index
  • Ireland Roman Catholic Parish Baptisms
  • England Billion Graves Cemetery Index

Census Records

US, Canada, UK and Ireland censuses, as follows:

  • US 1940
  • Canada 1851
  • Canada 1861
  • Canada 1871
  • Canada 1881
  • Canada 1891
  • Canada 1901
  • Canada 1911
  • Ireland 1901
  • Ireland 1911
  • Great Britain 1881 (England, Wales and Scotland transcripts)

Travel and Migration Records

There are two collections here:

  • British & Irish Roots Collection
  • Pennsylvania Immigrants, 1727-1776

Irish Family History Records

This set comprises of:

  • Ireland Roman Catholic Parish Baptisms
  • Ireland Roman Catholic Parish Burials
  • Ireland Roman Catholic Parish Marriages
  • Ireland Census 1901
  • Ireland Census 1911

Note, if you have Irish ancestry the Roman Catholic records may well be the most important collection for you. The actual baptisms and marriages are available for free on the National Library of Ireland site. However, they are not indexed, so you can only browse them. Findmypast has indexed them, so you can search the records. This can be done for free on FMP, unlike on Ancestry where you will have to buy a subscription.

See Using Free Irish Catholic Parish Records for more on this resource.

Free Records on Findmypast UK, Ireland and Australia

Go to the Free Records Page on FMP UK

Go to the Free Records Page on FMP Ireland

Go to the Free Records Page on FMP Australia

The free records available on the UK, Ireland and Australia sites are the same. They all have the newspaper sets, the Irish Roman Catholic parish registers, the 1881 British census and the travel and migration records available on Findmypast US (see above).

In addition, these sites also have the following free sets:

Military Records

This set contains:

  • British Army, De Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour 1914-1918
  • British Army, Army Lists 1839-1946
  • Britain, Royal Navy, Navy Lists 1827-1945
  • Royal Air Force Lists 1919-1945
  • Scotland, Rolls of Honour 1914-1920

Devon Wills

  • Devon Wills Index 1163-1999

Made available by the Devon Wills Project.

To access all the records on Findmypast for free, you can always sign up for a free 14-day trial on the site in your region:

For more free stuff, see the Free Genealogy page on Bespoke Genealogy.

Happy ancestor hunting!

Please pin a pin to Pinterest:

How to find Free records on Findmypast. Bespoke Genealogy
Free Records on Findmypast. Bespoke Genealogy
Discover free records on Findmypast. Part of a photo of a man sitting on a sofa working on a laptop.
How to access free records on Findmypast. Photo of a young woman sitting sideways on an office chair working on a laptop computer.