Findmypast.com

Author: Kalicia Bateman

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The Good

• Records
• Newspaper collection

Findmypast.com, which recently acquired Mocavo.com, is one of the leading genealogist sites available for users today. With over 2 billion searchable records, Findmypast.com makes finding ancestors easy. Here are other highlights of Findmypast.com:

• Over 2 billion records from around the world
• Records spanning back to the 1200s
• US censuses from as far back as 1790
• Largest collection of Irish records anywhere online
• US military records from the Revolutionary War up to World War II
• British Army Records 1760 - 1915
• Irish court records
• Passenger lists of ships leaving the UK 1890-1960 to the U.S., Canada and Australia
• Export tree to a GEDcom file

The newspaper collection at findmypast.com is very extensive. They have millions of newspaper pages that go as far back as 1710. Their U.S. and World newspapers cover 21 countries, all 50 states and Canada.

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The Bad

• English-speaking countries
• Message boards
• DNA testing

The records at Findmypast.com are limited to English-speaking countries so if you have ancestors from non-English countries this website is not the best fit for you. Unlike other website Findmypast.com does not have any message boards. They have some very helpful articles for getting started and lots of other articles with helpful tips but users are not part of a collaborative community at findmypast.com like they are on other sites. DNA testing is a feature that is not included on Findmypast.com

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The Bottom Line

Findmypast.com is a great place to start your genealogy research. The ability to use an existing GEDCOM file or start you own from scratch is very convenient. However, the lack of user support apart from a FAQ section and articles makes doing research a little harder if you are inexperienced. The amount of records at Findmypast.com is a useful resource for any experienced researcher though.