Your family made American history

Trace your ancestry and build a family tree by researching extensive birth records, census data, obituaries and more with Findmypast.

Incredibly detailed reports about your heritage.
The largest British and Irish newspapers archive.
Extensive family tree records with search facility.

Let's Get Started!

What is it?

FindMyPast delivers a wealth of information in a detail-rich report to open up the mystery of your past. Using step-by-step guidance to track down your family’s heritage, online newspaper archives, public records, and much more, FindMyPast helps people retrace their steps, traveling tens of thousands of years back in time to where their ancestors were originally from. Partnering with some of the biggest names, including The Historical Society of Pennsylvania, The National Archives, The British Library, The National Archives of Ireland, and Living DNA, FindMyPast provides the most in-depth research on British and Irish heritage out there.

Start your free family tree

Preserve and hand down your legacy on a family tree. We’ll help you as you go along.

Have a tree elsewhere?

No need to start from scratch. Upload your tree from elsewhere and receive new discoveries.

Take a DNA test

Curious about where you’re really from? Do a DNA test or upload one you’ve done elsewhere.

Get Started Today

Here are just some of the things you can get access to on FindMyPast:

More than two billion total records, with more added every week
More than one billion records just from the British Isles
Twice as many Irish records as any other website
Records that go back more than a thousand years, as far back as AD 850
Millions of newspaper pages, some of them going as far back as 1710, covering 21 different countries and all 50 states in the U.S., and of course with an emphasis on England, Scotland, and Wales
U.S. military records stretching from the Revolutionary War to World War II, and U.S. Census records from 1790 to 1940
British Army records from 1760 to 1915
Over 40 million Parish records from across England and Wales dating back into the 1500s, including baptisms, marriages, and burials
Passenger lists of ships leaving the UK and heading for the United States, Australia, and Canada
Irish court records
A growing collection of hard to find records, such as apprenticeship records, workhouse registers, and school admissions

And of course much, much more. More than a thousand records collections offered by FindMyPast are not available anywhere else.

The collections at FindMyPast are dynamic and constantly growing. They’ve added more than 30 million records just in the past year alone!

And it’s not just records on FindMyPast. You also gain access to exclusive educational guides and webinars developed by genealogy experts, and guidance to help you get past your brick walls.

Why Go With FindMyPast

FindMyPast is one of the top-ranking DNA testing services (or more accurately, its partnership with Living DNA). So what makes this one of the best options for finding your heritage? Here are a few reasons FindMyPast ranks:

Unparalleled British & Irish depth

FindMyPast is particularly well-suited for people hailing from British or Irish descent. The company maps DNA results across 150 global regions all around Britain and Ireland. It is also the largest (by far) archive of Irish and British newspapers in the world, twice as large as the next biggest competitor. The greater the number of archives and data points available, the more information the system uses to create the genealogical pathway of your heritage.

Excellent reports

FindMyPast really goes all out when it comes to its reports. You don’t just get a simple DNA test result. Instead, you’ll get detailed information packets about your history. This information-rich report delivers a wellspring of information about the various regions and peoples you are descended from. So you can actually get to know a ton about yourself, your heritage, and your people.

Digs deeper

Unlike some DNA tests, FindMyPast really digs deep. It goes down to the local region that you originated from. Using both paternal and maternal DNA testing, FindMyPast test results can track your ancestral path from up to 80,000 years ago. What’s more, if you have already taken a DNA test, you can upload your results to the Family Networks and start creating your own family tree instantly. FindMyPast syncs with data from AncestryDNA, 23andMe, MyHeritage, and Family Tree DNA.

5 Standout Features of Findmypast

The autosomal heritage test from Findmypast’s testing partner (Living DNA) provides a detailed analysis for 21 sub-regions in the British Isles, which – it claims – is way more than any other DNA testing service.

The “Deep Ancestry Upgrade” adds mtDNA and Y-DNA testing so that you can trace your maternal (mother’s side) and paternal (father’s side) lineages. Not all testing companies offer this, which means you won’t get as much information about how your ancestors moved around the world as you do with Findmypast.

You don’t have to purchase a subscription to start building your family tree with Findmypast. You can also search through millions of records – including U.S. census data, U.S. and Canadian births/marriages/deaths, and Irish Roman Catholic parish records – for free. That said, a subscription gives you access to a lot more data and extra features like common ancestors.

Findmypast’s database contains more British and Irish historical records than any other genealogy or heritage testing site. Going back as far as the U.S. Revolutionary War and even the Dark Ages, these records include newspapers, immigration records, court records, military reports, and work contracts.

The 1939 register details the precise location that 41 million people in England and Wales were living just before the Second World War. You can see original handwritten registers, interactive neighborhood maps, lists of household members, and potentially discover long lost relatives.

FindMyPast Testimonials

Discover your ancestors’ arrival, survival and success stories right here.

CHRISTINA HAWKINS

"A wealth of information. I have been having a difficult time locating information about my UK ancestry. I found what I needed at this site."

ANDRES JOHANSON

"Using Findmypast's passenger lists and military records I discovered my ancestor was a runaway slave who became a Waterloo hero."

ALEXANDRA SMITHS

" Findmypast was very helpful in finding baptismal records in regard to my family in New York City. This was especially helpful because there was no birth certificates for these children, born in the 1870s and 1880s in New York City. "