Family Tree UK

Learn how to trace your family tree! Every issue is packed with: family history research advice hands-on learning experiences to help you become an ancestor super-sleuth & step-by-step guides to show you the path to tracing the past. From vintage documents to the latest in DNA, we’re here to help you discover more! Get the latest in genealogy news, software, books, archives and expert answers. Plus enjoy those reader stories that remind what it means to trace your family story. Research & remember your roots with Family Tree!

Just something for everyone

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English heritage sites awarded for preserving ‘everday histories’

A history of Holkham House

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New display recalls Churchill’s gardener

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NEWS IN BRIEF

Childhood friends discover they are sisters

‘Bayeux around Britain’ celebrates Tapestry tour

Both ends of the story WHO WAS JOHN LEACH? • For this month’s Family Tree Academy, David Annal tells us how he managed to move from a marriage record that raised more questions than it answered, to breaking down a stubborn brick wall

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A TOUR OF Y-DNA an Odyssey around the genetic genealogy of the Y

HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS ANCESTORS heritage, history, resources • In this fascinating article, genealogist Chris Paton discusses the unique challenges facing anyone wishing to research their Highlands and Islands forebears, and talks us through the most valuable resources and where to find them

GETTING STARTED IN DNA TESTING a step-by-step guide • This month, our resident DNA expert Karen Evans goes back to basics. She describes the different DNA tests available, shows us what we might expect from our results, and explains how we can use those results to help knock down brick walls

Part 6 LIFE AT SEARSONS FARM • Welcome to our step-by-step guide with genealogist Julie Johnson. Over the months, she is taking you on a journey – telling the story of an ancestor’s life, from cradle to grave. Use the worksheets accompanying the series, to help you gather similar records for your own ancestors so that you may tell their stories too.

PLAGUE IN EYAM Collective sacrifice, personal tragedy • November 2026 marks the 360th anniversary of the death of the last victim of plague in the village of Eyam in 1666. Here, genealogist and writer Tania Taylor looks at the devastating effect of the epidemic, and describes the quarantine measures that would go on to make the village famous

Traditions and tall tales

BOOK REVIEWS • Reflections on recent publications of family history and or wider history-based interest.

TROUBLE ‘N’ Strife • Heading home to Lancashire, Gill Shaw plans to pick up the Tonge trail again. But the newspapers have other ideas and take her on a strange little detour…

Bread for shaving brush and socks: A GRANDFATHER’S WAR DIARY • Like many men serving in World War II, Arthur Alfred Shaw kept a diary, detailing his experiences, including his time as a prisoner of war. Here, his granddaughter, Linda Newey, takes a personal look at how Arthur reflected on his day-to-day life as a soldier at war

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Your letters • From organising a reunion, to debating what we should and should not share as we go about our family hsitory research; from reflecting on powerful connections to the past, to penning a letter to a long-gone ancestor… readers have their say

DIARY DATES • DISCOVER LEARNING EXPERIENCES TO ENJOY FROM ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, PLUS ON-SITE EVENTS

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Happy Cosy! • Diane Lindsay embraces the cosy season of...