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Welcome

Let’s toast our ancestors, cherish the memories, think

Getting back tothe Georgians

The Georgian era was a period of great change: with social and political reform, the emergence of party politics, defeat of both the Jacobite and Napoleonic threats, the growth of empire, outstanding architecture and literature, and the Industrial Revolution – culminating in the start of the railway age. Stephen Roberts takes us on a whistlestop tour through the period to help you place your Georgian ancestors’ lives in context

Trace you r family back 300 years

Chris Paton explores the Georgian era and the genealogical records created during the period that can now be found online, so you can start tracing your 18th and early 19th century ancestors across the United Kingdom

Passport to the past

Two decades after Erin Tilley’s grandfather innocently uncovered a life-long secret about his past, she went on the campaign trail to find the birth relatives he’d never known

The Great Frost & Famine

Wayne Shepheard examines the Great Frost and Famine of 1739-1741, which brought death and devastation to Britain, Ireland and Europe and would have seen many of our ancestors migrate to survive the harsh climate and starvation

Every photo tells a story

Behind every ancestor photograph is a story. Helen Frost set about finding them and discovered that history was helping her rewrite her own story in unexpected ways

New TV shows explore family roots

Two new UK TV shows are exploring family history in

First UK RootsTech hailed a success

UK’s first RootsTech conference at ExCel London in

New course director

Professional genealogist Karen Cummings has been appointed

Tributes to late genealogist

Well-known British genealogist Roy Stockdill has died

Boston draper thread to Mayflower story

Documents revealing crucial new information about pilgrims

New website for BALH

The British Association for Local History (BALH) has

Celebrating 35 years of Family Tree!

Family Tree is celebrating a fantastic 35 years at

From Family Tree Live!

This issue we have two more free video tutorials by

YOUR FREE RECORDS

At Family Tree we’ve teamed up with UK family history

Mapping your ancestors

TheGenealogist has added the North Buckinghamshire

A Christmas cracker from…

Meet the ‘Lord of Misrule’ this yuletide (or maybe not) with Susie Douglas, founder of Twitter’s popular #AncestryHour

The pauper wedding

A surprise find in the marriage records of two of his ancestors led family history researcher Eric Kent from the internet to the archives in search of answers…

Twiglets

Diarist Gill Shaw charts the rollercoaster ride of researching her family history

Gems from our archives

Sound archivist Sarah-Joy Maddeaux rummages in the Sound Collection where she works to bring you some audible Christmas treats…

What’s under the family tree….

Karen Clare has some family history gift ideas to pop on your Christmas list… or leave your favourite magazine ‘accidentally’ open on these pages for your loved ones to see!

Turnip power

Our ancestors lived in dark times pre-electricity, particularly the poor who couldn’t even afford candles. Adèle Emm lights our way into the past…

FAMILY TREE SUBS CLUB

Welcome to the Family Tree Subscriber Club. When you’ve joined Family Tree not only do you save money on your favourite family history read, you can also enter the ‘Subs Club’ competitions and offers – only available to subscribers to Family Tree

CHRISTMAS QUIZ

To celebrate Family Tree’s 35th birthday we’ve created a multiple choice quiz. There are 35 questions for you to pit your wits against – see how much you know!

Your letters

Family secrets … and what to do with them? Where we come from, surprise discoveries & more…

The Family Tree Notice Board

We’re delighted to welcome Mark Dean, our new Multimedia

Ghosts of Christmas past

In the blink of a snow-filled eye Diane Lindsay pictures her home’s previous occupants and community of old enjoying all the joys of the season…

The lunch hour genealogist

Being busy doesn’t mean you have to neglect your favourite hobby, you can still learn in your lunch break! Squeeze just 60 minutes of family history into your daily routine and you’ll soon start to see your tree blossom. It’s time to tuck into Rachel Bellerby’s genealogy treats

Record collection of the month

Lindsey Tydeman introduces the wealth of World War

DNA PROJECTS

In the last in her series about undertaking a one-name study, Julie Goucher details the usefulness of DNA projects

Your questions answered

With our panel of experts Jayne Shrimpton, David Annal, David Frost, Simon Fowler, Graham Caldwell, and Mary Evans

SEEKING HIGH SEAS adventurers

Was you ancestor engaged in some profitable Georgian swashbuckling? Ship-owners and experienced seafarers may be identified in maritime warfare sources with which genealogists may be less familiar. Start exploring these records with Simon Wills

TECHY TIPS for family historians

Genealogy tech guru Paul Carter has the perfect advice for making the most of the festive season and bringing the year to a close

How did you do?

Find out the answers to last issue’s Family Tree Academy challenges. Our Academy tutor David Annal explains all

This issue’s theme: Your End of the Year test!

Now it’s time to put your research skills to the test.

5 top tips for becoming an even better researcher

1 Less is more!

Taken a DNA test? Now what?

Karen Evans dreams of a dozen DNA delights to look forward to this Christmas