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Internet Genealogy Timeline

Introduction

This timeline is intended as a guide to the main developments on the Internet which are important for UK and Irish genealogy. Particularly for the period before 1997, it includes a number of the main US developments which are significant for the British Isles. However developments on other networks - amateur bulletin board networks like FidoNet, on-line services like CompuServe, other networks later connected to the Internet like JANET or BITNET - have generally been excluded, unless they relate to bodies with a significant role in UK family history.

Sources

For entries relating toi the last five years, there is a link to an online source. It has proved unrealistic to maintain up-to-date links for most older events, but entries were generally derived from press releases or blog postings. For some of the earliest entries, it has proved impossible to find authoritative information on the date a resource actually became available, so the date given represents the earliest public mention I was able to find.

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Timeline

24 April 2020      The UK National Archives announce free access to digital records
2 March 2020      All RootsWeb mailing lists are closed down
28 February 2020      British Newspaper Archive to include newspapers from the British Empire
27 February 2019      Digitisation contract for 1921 census awarded to Findmypast
12 October 2017      GRO starts a fourth pilot scheme for delivery of digital certificates
3 November 2016      GRO offers trial service for digital images of certificates
2 November 2015      The 1939 Register of England and Wales goes online at Findmypast
8 July 2015      The National Library of Ireland places the National Library of Ireland's entire collection of Catholic parish register microfilms online.
15 July 2015      1901censusonline, the site for the original 1901 census digitsation, closes
5 February 2015      UK Government agrees to allow the publication of information from Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates in England and Wales to be issued "otherwise than in the form of a certified copy".
1 December 2014      It is announced that by summer 2015 the National Library of Ireland will make (unindexed) images of Catholic parish register freely available online.
30 September 2014      The Probate Service for England and Wales places an index to post-1996 wills online
3 July 2014      The General Register Office of Ireland's enhanced indexes to civil registration records are placed online (and removed ten days later).
17 June 2014      Findmypast buys Origins.net
28 April 2014      The National Archives of Ireland adds pre-1901 census fragments and the 1841-1851 Census Search Forms to its census site.
 February 2014      TheGenealogists launches the National Collection of Tithe Records
8 April 2013      The National Archives announces that the digitisation of the First World War unit diaries has been completed
18 March 2013      The Imperial War Museum makes its sound archive available online, with oral history material for the world wars.
13 March 2013      Launch of Welsh Newspapers Online (National Library of Wales)
5 March 2013      Family Tree goes live on the FamilySearch site (free, but requires registration)
8 November 2012      The National Archives of Ireland launches the National Archives Genealogy Website
5 September 2012      People of Medieval Scotland launched (" a database of all known people of Scotland between 1093 and 1314")
 August 2012      GRO abandons plans for futher digitisation
19 June 2012      Launch of Records of London's Livery Companies Online (ROLLCO)
2 April 2012      The National Archives launch the Discovery service as a replacment for its existing catalogue and DocumentsOnline service.
29 November 2011      Launch of British Newspaper Archive
5 May 2011      Launch of Findmypast Ireland
5 April 2011      1911 Census for Scotland released on ScotlandsPeople
March 2011      Irish government makes a commitment to relase the 1926 census as part of commemoration of the 1916 East Uprising.
2 March 2011      Launch of the Open Genealogy Alliance
5 November 2010      Ancestry & TheGenealogist announce joint project to make the 1911 census available on their sites
13 September 2010      The GRO announces suspension of the Digitisation and Indexing Project pending the government's Comprehensive Spending Review
3 June 2010      1901 Census of Ireland goes online
2 June 2010      1911 Census made available on GenesReunited
19 May 2010      British Library and Brightsolid announce project to digitise up to 40 million pages of historic newspapers
14 December 2009      The University of the West of England announces a research project for an online database of UK surnames
6 November 2009      The GRO announces the Digitisation and Indexing (D&I) Project to replace the stalled DOVE project
9 November 2009      The Information Commissioner rules that the NHS must grant access to information in the 1939 National Identity Card Registration relating to people who are now deceased.
2 November 2009      The Office of Fair Trading approves the purchase of Genes Reunited by Brightsolid (who run Scotlandspeople and Findmypast).
25 November 2009      The Irish government launches www.irishgenealogy.ie with free access to1.3 million church records
16 October 2009      The National Library of Wales makes over 190,000 Welsh wills available.
September 2009      FamilyRecords portal closes
28 August 2009      All counties available for the 1911 Census of Ireland
6 August 2009      GenesReunited purchased from ITV by Brightsolid (ScotlandsPeople, Findmypast)
9 June 2009      The 1911 census for England & Wales completed with the release of all Welsh counties
31 March 2009      Scottish death and burials from parish registers go online at ScotlandsPeople
2 March 2009      Closure of FamilyHIstoryOnline
5 February 2009      The National Archives of Scotland launch the official Scottish Register of Tartans
23 January 2009      Irish civil registration indexes are made available on the FamilySearch Pilot site
13 January 2009      Launch of the 1911 census for England and Wales
16 January 2009      Public Records Office for Northern Ireland catalogue (eCATNI) goes live
7 October 2008      Scottish Coats of Arms are made available on Scotlandspeople, the first official heraldic records for the UK to go online
14 September 2008      FreeBMD reaches 200 million records
3 July 2008      GRO announces delay in DOVE project after contract with Siemens is not renewed
21 July 2008      FamilySearch, Findmypast and Origins announce a joint project to make UK census indexes available on FamilySearch and at Family History Centers.
July 2008      Deceased Online launches an online database of municipal burials and cremations sourced from local authorities
6 July 2008      It is announced that GROS will license data to sites other than ScotlandsPeople
22 January 2008      ScotlandsPeople adds indexes to birth and death registrations up to 2006.
18 January 2008      Scotland Online buys Findmypast with aim of consolidating it with ScotlandsPeople
4 December 2007      Irish 1911 census for Dublin goes online
14 September 2007      Images of non-conformist registers from TNA classes RG4 and RG5 go online at BMDregisters
1 September 2007      FFHS announces that its datasets at FamilyHistoryOnline are to be transferred to FindMyPast
5 May 2007      Findmypast announces the purchase of the online family tree software PedigreeSoft with the aim of integrating it within their site.
14 May 2007      The National Archives launches its 'Your Archives' wiki
8 March 2007      An online petition to reduce the classified period for census data from 100 years to 70 years closes with 23,602 signatories.
23 February 2007      British army World War One service and pension records go online at Ancestry
15 February 2007      The Federation of Family History Societies publishes its first online-only newsletter, EZine, replacing the printed 'Newsflash'
16 January 2007      ONS announces that online searching of GRO indexes will start to be available from early 2008.
8 January 2007      An online petition requesting improved access to the censuses and other archives closes with 225 signatories.
11 January 2007      Findmypast launches the BT27 Outward Passenger Lists for 1890-99 on a new site, Ancestorsonboard.
13 December 2006      In response to a Freedom of Information ruling, The National Archives announce that data from the 1911 Census will be available online from 2009 rather than 2012.
20 September 2006      Ancestry put phone books for the Greater London area 1880-1984 online
16 September 2006      Dick Eastman's first UK Genealogy Skypecast
8 May 2006      The Genealogy & Heraldry Bill 2006 is presented to the Irish Parliament, proposing an online National Inventory of Genealogical Records
20 April 2006      Scotlandspeople release the 1841 census index and images for Scotland. All Scottish censuses are now available online.
22 April 2006      Ancestry release the 1841 cenus index for England & Wales. All censuses are now available online.
4 March 2006      Cyndi's List celebrates its 10th anniversary
18 January 2006      Ancestry makes images of the GRO indexes available free of charge
10 January 2006      The National Archivist announces the acquisition of its datasets by 1837online
14 December 2005      Medway Archives put images of 90 Kent parish registers online
6 December 2005      Announcement of agreement between the National Archives of Ireland and Library and Archives Canada to digitise Irish Census Records for 1901 and 1911.
6 December 2005      GenesReunited (as part of FriendsReunited) bought by ITV
3 November 2005      Channel 4 & the Imperial War Museum launch database of WW1 war memorials in connection with the "Lost Generation" TV series
9 September 2005      LDS Church announces plan to digitise and index all its microfilmed records
1 August 2005      DOVE contract signed - Siemens to digitise GRO records
21 August 2005      Qinetiq sells 1901 Census to GenesReunited
March 2005      1841 Census Index launched on British Origins
15 February 2005      1837online launches 1861 census index and images
December 2004      The GRO's proposals for reform of Civil Registration are rejected by committees from both Houses of Parliament
3 December 2004      The National Archives & Ancestry.co.uk launch the 1881 and 1891 census under the Licensed Internet Associateship (LIA) initiative
31 December 2004      Genuki Family History News ceases publication
8 November 2004      First version of this timeline ;-)
9 November 2004      A Vision of Britain Through Time
23 July 2004      DOVE (Digitisation of Vital Events) invitation to tender
July 2004      Origins relaunched as subscription service under the name Origins Network
28 June 2004      FreeBMD adds images
28 June 2004      The National Archives launch new web site
May 2004      Launch of independent GRO site
14 April 2004      Ancestry starts 1901 census
22 April 2004      End of GENDEX
24 March 2004      The Archives Task Force report Listening to the Past, Speaking to the Future proposes the creation of an Archives Gateway
1 March 2004      Launch of Directgov, replacing UKonline as government portal
26 January 2004      Ancestry starts on 1871 census
14 November 2003      National Audit Office report on 1901 census
September 2003      Launch of Archives Network Wales
August 2003      Launch of National Archivist
July 2003      Launch of FreeCEN search engine with 1891 census transcriptions
8 July 2003      GRO launches on-line certificate ordering
1 April 2003      FreeBMD starts to include post-1900 events
2 April 2003      The PRO and HMC combine to form the National Archives (TNA) (though their web sites are not combined till June 2004)
1 April 2003      1837online
5 March 2003      Old Bailey Proceedings
14 March 2003      Rod Neep launches British-genealogy.com, with dozens of new mailing lists for the UK
March 2003      DocumentsOnline
2 February 2003      GRO announces relaxation of rules on publication of BMD indexes from April 1st
February 2003      1881 census added to FamilySearch
25 February 2003      Merger of Genfair & FFHS Publications
26 February 2003      SoG online bookshop closes
January 2003      Gazettes on-line
8 January 2003      FamilyHistoryOnline
21 November 2002      1901 census relaunch
5 November 2002      GenesConnected (now Genesreunited)
18 September 2002      Ancestry.co uk launched with 1891 census
18 September 2002      Scotlandspeople launched, taking over Scottish records from Scots Origins
22 January 2002      NLS launches two on-line map collections
22 January 2002      White Paper, 'Civil Registration: Vital Change' published by the Office of National Statistics, includes plans to move to electronic registration
2 January 2002      1901 census
7 January 2002      1901 census site closed down
November 2001      Peter Christian: "The Genealogist's Internet"
6 August 2001      General Register Office for Northern Ireland (GRONI) launches independent web site (original site was hosted by Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency)
August 2001      1881 census index & 1891 census images added to Scots Origins
2 July 2001      150 digitisation grants announced by New Opportunities Fund, many for historical material of interest to genealogists, including Collect Britain, Digital Handsworth, Moving Here.
July 2001      ARCHON Portal launched
20 April 2001      1891 census pilot goes live
7 February 2001      Genuki becomes a charitable trust
12 February 2001      Google takes over archive of newsgroup messages from Deja.com
January 2001      Cornwall Online Parish Clerks (OPC) project launched
25 January 2001      GROS announces plans to add digital images to Scots Origins
18 January 2001      Launch of English Origins (now British Origins) with data from the Society of Genealogists
15 December 2000      British Library Newspaper Library’s catalogue goes online
December 2000      FamilyRecords launched to provide a goverment genealogy portal
24 November 2000      Genuki trade mark registration
November 2000      National Archives of Scotland web site launched
30 November 2000      Scottish Archive Network goes live
October 2000      Images of England launched
October 2000      CheshireBMD - first UKBMD project
October 2000      New Genuki search engine, covering Genuki and other UK family history bodies
October 2000      Caroline Peacock: "Good Web Guide Genealogy"
1 September 2000      UK Government portal UKonline launched
June 2000      Old-maps
12 June 2000      Launch of Federation of Family History Societies' on-line bookshop
21 June 2000      Rootsweb acquired by Ancestry.com
22 June 2000      Failure of soc.genealogy.surnames newsgroups
19 March 2000      Rob Thompson starts his Family History Newsletter
February 2000      FFHS registers its commercial domain name ffhs.co.uk
January 2000      Workhouse History site launched
December 2000      ARCHON Portal
26 October 1999      Genuki adds search engine
July 1999      Start of FreeCEN project
24 May 1999      Launch of FamilySearch puts the IGI on-line
May 1999      Powys Digital History site (started june 1998)
26 March 1999      Crown copyright waiver: genealogists can publish their own transcriptions of PRO documents without permission
January 1999      Launch of Collage, Corporation of London image databse
18 January 1999      Genfair launched as an on-line shop with "stands" for individual family history societies
December 1998      National Register of Archives accessible via the Web
11 November 1998      Debt of Honour Register - first complete on-line "genealogical" dataset to cover the whole of the UK
30 September 1998      FreeBMD announced
15 September 1998      Society of Genealogists Bookshop online
7 September 1998      Google launched
2 July 1998      National Lottery Act 1998 establishes the New Opportunities Fund
July 1998      ARCHON Directory provides details of record repositories
6 April 1998      Scots Origins launched with Scottish BMD certificates - first pay-per-view site for UK public records
16 March 1998      FFHS registers its domain name ffhs.org.uk
23 March 1998      Society of Genealogists' web site
27 March 1998      PRO web site
26 March 1998      Genuki registers its own domain name
4 November 1997      GooNS domain name registered
October 1997      Cyndi Howells, Netting Your Ancestors: Genealogical Research on the Internet
August 1997      County Lookup Exchange announced
July 1997      Manorial Documents Register goes on-line with data for Wales and Yorkshire
July 1997      New Opportunities Fund announced in White Paper
July 1997      Britain and Ireland newsgroups split
June 1997      British Library makes its catalogue accessible via the web
June 1997      Familia launched, with details of the genealogical holdings of public libraries in the British Isles
May 1997      Cheshire Wills on the Web
May 1997      Society of Genealogists registers its domain name sog.org.uk
9 April 1997      Books We Own, first lookup exchange?
December 1997      Genealogy programs start to include Web page creation facilities
October 1996      Web site for Computers in Genealogy
October 1996      WorldGenWeb launched
5 September 1996      Norfolk Surnames list
June 1996      USGenWeb
May 1996      Greater Manchester CRO
May 1996      Lincolnshire Archives
April 1996      Pedigree Users Group starts a mailing list
18 April 1996      Liverpool Record Office
March 1996      National Library of Wales
14 March 1996      Society of Genealogists hosts its first lecture on the internet
March 1996      Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) Web site launched
4 March 1996      Cyndi's List
March 1996      Somerset Record Office becomes first UK record office to launch a web site
February 1996      David Hawgood: "Internet for Genealogy" - first UK internet genealogy book?
February 1996      Launch of the RootsWeb "genealogy co-operative"
20 February 1996      Lottery Grant for Images of England
January 1996      GooNS web site
15 January 1996      First issue of Eastman's Online Genealogy Newsletter
December 1996      Ancestry.com launched
15 December 1995      AltaVista, first major search engine
December 1995      Thompson one-name study
November 1995      FFHS publications catalogue made available on Genuki
October 1995      Genuki is by now hosting pages for a number of family history societies (including Clywd, Devon, Dyfed and Gwynedd)
October 1995      National Archives of Ireland Family History & Genealogy page
October 1995      Historical Manuscripts Commission web site; telnet access to the National Register of Archives.
15 September 1995      Demon Internet announces local call access for the whole of the UK
1 July 1995      Dr Ashton Emery's A-Z of British Genealogical Research
July 1995      Internet Explorer 1.0
June 1995      soc.genealogy.uk+ireland - first newsgroup for genealogy of the British Isles
June 1995      Elizabeth Powell Crowe, Genealogy On-line - first internet genealogy book?
April 1995      Manchester and Lancashire mailing list started
April 1995      Historical Manuscripts Commission
25 March 1995      Announcement of Genuki on soc.genealogy.computing
7 March 1995      PRO leaflets made available on Malcolm Austen's web site (later moved to Genuki)
March 1995      The Web overtakes file transfer (FTP) as the main use of the Internet
February 1995      2% sample of 1851 census available for download by FTP
February 1995      John Fuller and Chris Gaunt launch Genealogy Resources on the Internet
January 1995      Phil Stringer publishes "Online genealogy information about the UK", the forerunner of Genuki
December 1995      Archives Online
December 1995      Mailing lists for some individual Scottish clans in existence
December 1994      Launch of .Net and Internet - the first UK Internet magazines
7 December 1994      North of Ireland FHS web site - first FHS web site?
8 December 1994      Inaugural meeting of the Archives and Internet Group
14 November 1994      Launch of HM Treasury web site - first goverment department on-line
9 November 1994      Reorganization of genealogy newsgroups into the soc.genealogy hierarchy
16 July 1994      Channel Island Surname Interest List - first UK surname interest list?
10 July 1994      Gene Stark announces GED2HTML, a program to create an on-line pedigree from a GEDCOM file
July 1994      The Genealogy Home Page - first directory of internet genealogy resources
31 May 1994      Frode Kvam posts source code for GECDOM -> HTML conversion program to ROOTS-L
28 April 1994      Paddy Waldron sets up Irish genealogy pages on the Trinity College Dublin web site
December 1994      Genserv moves to the Web
6 December 1993      FTP archive at Penn State University makes genealogy software available for download
11 November 1993      Mosaic 1.0 browser for Windows and Mac released (a UNIX version had been released in April)
June 1993      Alan Stanier puts STANIER family tree online
November 1991      JANET IP service: UK universities start to connect directly to the Internet (most early UK genealogy sites are hosted on university servers)
6 August 1991      World-Wide Web publicly released
December 1991      Launch of Genserv, e-mail based GEDCOM matching service
7 April 1990      Roots Surname List announced
December 1990      Remote access to National Register of Archives
December 1990      Hytelnet - directory of telnet sites, including many library catalogues
12 December 1987      ROOTS-L - first genealogy mailing list
20 September 1986      First posting to soc.roots, replacement for net.roots
July 1985      Creation of the .uk top-level domain
31 October 1983      First genealogy newsgroup: net.roots