These three names look similar. Give each a separate job in your research. Start with the event you want to establish, then choose the database that holds that kind of entry.
You can work through this guide in your browser with a notebook. No AI account or paid subscription is needed. Keep a page for search attempts and another for the claims you can support.
Three databases, three different questions.
| Database | What it holds | A useful first question |
|---|---|---|
| FreeBMD . | Transcriptions of the England and Wales civil registration index. | Which registered event might belong to this person? |
| FreeCEN . | Census transcripts, with work covering 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871 and 1891 only. | Who was recorded in this household? |
| FreeREG . | Transcriptions of baptism, marriage and burial registers. | What did this register record about the event? |
An entry is a piece of evidence. Deciding that it belongs to your family is another task. Use names, dates and surrounding people to test that identification. Keep the reasoning beside the entry.
Step 1. Check coverage before searching.
On 11/09/2026, FreeBMD’s coverage page reported 300,035,945 distinct records. Its database update was dated 27/08/2026. Coverage percentages are estimates; even 100% does not guarantee every entry is present. FreeBMD publishes these figures and qualifications .
FreeREG’s contents page showed 65,873,838 records when checked on 11/09/2026. The useful detail lies below that total: county, place, church, register and decade. Inspect FreeREG’s contents .
FreeCEN’s Records menu reports coverage by census year and area. It also identifies the groups of census pages, called pieces, available for a place. FreeCEN explains its coverage display . Its live totals page could not be retrieved during this check, so we quote no total or completion percentage.
For your search log, write the event, place and years you checked. Add the access date. A large national total tells you little about one missing parish.
Step 2. Search a civil registration event.
Start at FreeBMD’s search page . Select Births, Marriages or Deaths. Use a surname, first name and date range. Leave uncertain details out of the first attempt.
For a practice search, choose a deceased relative whose approximate birth year you already know. Write down the evidence for that year. A remembered date and a date copied from a document deserve different notes.
Give yourself a small task: collect the candidates, then stop. Do not add the first result to your tree. If you find two plausible entries, put them side by side. Write the detail you would need to distinguish them.
Save the complete reference from each useful result. For older entries this means year, quarter, district, volume and page. FreeBMD transcribes the index; it does not supply the full certificate information. Its results guide explains the references .
An image reached from an index entry may show the printed index page. It is not therefore an image of the certificate. FreeBMD’s results guide distinguishes the scanned index . Record which kind you inspected.
Step 3. Change a search carefully.
On FreeBMD, an asterisk matches a run of characters and a question mark matches one character. A birth search using a mother’s maiden surname excludes entries before the September quarter of 1911. The search guide explains both limits .
That last detail matters when an older search returns nothing. The information you entered may be true, while the index lacks a field that can hold it. Remove that restriction before rejecting the candidate.
Use this sequence when a search stalls:
- Keep a note of the original search.
- Remove an uncertain middle name.
- Widen the date range slightly.
- Try a recorded spelling variant.
- Reconsider the district restriction.
After each attempt, note what changed. If you change everything together, you lose the chance to learn which assumption caused the problem.
For early marriages, several names can share an index page. A shared page does not establish which people married each other. FreeBMD explains the possible-spouse search . Keep each possible pairing open until another record distinguishes it.
Step 4. Read a household on FreeCEN.
Open FreeCEN’s search form . Choose a census year and likely census county. Enter the name and a reasonable birth-year range. Keep birthplace and census location separate: they ask different questions.
If the search fails, revisit the coverage check first. Then try one of the household’s other members. An unusual first name may give you a more manageable group to inspect.
When you find a plausible household, read every entry. Copy the address and record reference. Note the household head before interpreting relationships. Leave a puzzling abbreviation exactly as it appears, with your proposed reading in a separate note.
The National Archives explains how census questions changed between years. In 1841, ages of people aged 15 or over were generally rounded down to a multiple of five. Read its census guide . Do not build an exact birth date from that rounded age.
Record your identification as an argument. “The name matches” is a start. “The spouse, child and occupation also fit the later record” tells another reader why you kept this candidate.
Step 5. Widen the census search.
FreeCEN offers Soundex for similar-sounding names and a Nearby places option. Soundex assumes the first surname letter is correct. The search can therefore still miss a name with that letter misread. FreeCEN’s help explains these search tools .
Use a nearby-place search when you have a reason to expect the family close by. Keep the wider area in your search log. A result outside your starting town needs the same identity checks as one inside it.
FreeCEN’s five stated years leave gaps. Do not expect an 1881 or 1901 search here to provide your next household. Free UK Genealogy lists the years covered by its work .
For another access route, prepare a library enquiry with the year and place you need. Ancestry Library Edition requires on-site access, usually through a library PC. Dorset’s service is one example. Check Dorset’s published arrangements . Ask your own library before travelling.
Library Edition has reduced content and functionality compared with the consumer service. ProQuest’s comparison explains the limits . A library subscription does not promise access to every collection.
Step 6. Search a parish event on FreeREG.
Open FreeREG’s search form . Choose the event type, a date range and the relevant county. The site uses historic county boundaries from 1831. Keep that in mind when a modern county name seems to send you astray. The contents page explains the boundaries .
Use the result as a transcription with a source behind it. Save the church, register details and entry reference that the page supplies. Write “not supplied” for a missing detail. Do not fill a blank from an adjacent entry.
FreeREG can include people named in a record beyond its main subjects. Its search help explains the family-member options, name variants and nearby-place searches. Use FreeREG’s search help when your first attempt fails.
Search one event at a time while learning. After finding a likely baptism, consider what a marriage or burial might add. State a question for that next search. You will make fewer accidental joins if each search has a reason.
Step 7. Keep the event and your conclusion apart.
A baptism date is not automatically a birth date. A burial date is not automatically a death date. This distinction belongs in your notes even when the dates are close.
Try writing two sentences. First, state exactly what you read. Then explain what you think it means for your question. Give the first statement VERIFIED only after checking the source. Mark a deduction INFERRED, with the evidence attached.
If a transcript and another record disagree, keep both. Ask whether you need the original image or another independent record. An attractive answer is not a reason to discard an awkward entry.
Finish the session with a next action. You might need to check an adjacent parish, compare a household or inspect an image at a library. That written action saves you from repeating the same search next week.
Before publishing your conclusion, use the verification checklist .