• Vote (rumour correction)

    There is a rumour that Free UK Genealogy is taking a vote from volunteers and users of our websites (FreeBMD, FreeCEN and FreeREG) as to whether the sites should remain free, or should be behind a paywall.  This is simply not true.  

    There is no vote: the sites will remain free.

    Free UK Genealogy is a charity set up to achieve, and committed to 

    • the free provision of high quality transcriptions and (where possible) images of records of genealogical significance, 
    • the development of tools to support community transcription, and 
    • other activities that promote making family and wider history records available under open data formats.  

    We generate sufficient funds for our day-to-day expenses from banner advertising and the kind donations - often in small amounts - from users of our websites.  Of course, we would always like more money - to improve our existing projects and develop new ones, to support community transcription and to more widely make historical records available to all, for free. Please get in touch if you have ideas for projects or partnerships that you would like us to consider.

    There are a number of ways you can support us, and help the future development of Free UK Genealogy. 

    • You can donate (if you don't already do so).
    • You can spread the news about our projects, bringing them to the attention of those who would love to know we may have the information they are looking for.
    • If you buy online (e.g. groceries, books, electronics) please consider signing up for our Easy Fundraising page.  You will only pay what you normally do on your online shopping, but we will be given a small amount, at no extra cost to you.  Easy Fundraising will prompt you, when you visit a website which is part of the scheme (or when you do a search, that a result is part of the scheme).
    • You can volunteer in one of a number of roles - from transcribing to programming in Ruby, to working on social media campaigns.  This includes the opportunity to be a Trustee, or provide your professional knowledge through our new advisory board.

  • Conference Report (updated)

    Thank you to all those who came to the Open Data Conference on Saturday 30th January and especially to John Sheridan (Digital Director, the National Archives), Simon Tanner (Pro Vice Dean Research Impact & Innovation, King's College London) and our own Trustee Richard Light, for giving such enjoyable and illuminating talks.

    Welcome slides with notes and the new Free UK Genealogy Open Data video can be seen here. A (poor quality) video of this section can be viewed here.

    John Sheridan's talk can be seen here (we apologize for the poor quality of the recording). Simon's slides can be seen here and Richard slides can be viewed here.

    The formal presentations were followed by a presentation of a new Free UK Genealogy video explaining why we believe Open Data is so crucial to the future of the organisation and projects, and hence the need for a new transcribers agreement.

    Whilst the 'in person' attendees were able to join in the lively debate, online attendees became increasingly frustrated with streaming issues that were caused by the WiFi provision at the Linnean Society, not within our control unfortunately.

    We understand how disappointing this must have been and are now working hard on editing the conference video, which will be published with a transcript as soon as we can.

    Thank you for your patience if you tried to join us via one of these methods, and as one of the Trustees commented we need to ensure that technical issues do not undermine the messages of the day. It is important to ensure that all transcribers get an opportunity to hear the case for Open Data and get easy access to the proposed transcriber agreement and consultation process.

    • The proposed Transcriber Agreement Consultation can be found here.
    • Please use the consultation process to let us know your views on the proposed transcriber agreement and
    • please check FAQs if you have any questions. We will be adding the questions raised at the conference to this page shortly. If you still have questions please email us at info@freeukgen.org.uk

    Press coverage:
    Digital adventurers - Family Tree Editor Helen Tovey gets to grips with 'Open Data' and what it means for family history http://family-tree.co.uk/2016/02/digital-adventurers/

  • Turn Black Friday into Give Back Friday!

    We need your help. Turn Black Friday into Give Back Friday!

    We've joined Easyfundraising where whenever you buy anything online, you can raise a free donation for Free UK Genealogy. There are nearly 3,000 retailers including Amazon, John Lewis, Aviva, thetrainline and Sainsbury's, who will donate a percentage of the amount you spend to Free UK Genealogy to say thank you for shopping with them and it won't cost you a penny. There are no catches or hidden charges and by shopping in this way, Free UK Genealogy will receive funds which will help keep our data available, free of charge.

    This Friday (27th November) shops across the UK will be holding the biggest sales of the year, meaning it's the perfect time to pick up party dresses, grab gifts and take advantage of tech bargains.

    Collect free donations for us, all you have to do is:

    1. Join - Head to http://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/freeukgenealogy and sign up for free. In fact if you use this invitation link we will get an extra £1 donation - but you will need to look for us in the list of good causes.

    2. Shop - Every time you shop online, go to easyfundraising first, pick the retailer you want and start shopping.

    3. Raise - After you've checked out, that retailer will make a donation to Free UK Genealogy for no extra cost whatsoever!

    Don't forget if this is not for you, there are plenty of other ways you can help us support our projects http://www.freeukgenealogy.org.uk/about/donate/

    Please help us to keep history free and thank you for your support this Give Back Friday.