We are very proud to announce the launch of four sets of nineteenth and twentieth century military records to help enrich your family history. The records provide useful detail including attestation and leaving dates, achievements made in service and soldiers’ physical appearence. And, certainly in the case of the 1861 records, the records can fill in gaps left by the census.

The releases are the 1861 Worldwide Army Index, Royal Fusiliers Collection 1863-1905, Paddington Rifles 1860-1912 and Surrey Recuitment Registers 1908-1933.

The 1861 Worldwide Army Index (or The 1861 Worldwide Soldier Index) entailed the extraction of some 245,000 serving soldiers.

The Paddington Rifles database contains the names of over 8,600 men who served with the battalion from its inception in 1860 until its demise in 1912. It can therefore be a vital tool in providing colour to your London ancestors.

The Royal Fusiliers Collection 1863-1905 comprises the names of close to 5000 officers and men who took part in a series of British military campaigns between 1863 and 1904.

The Surrey Recruitment Registers comprises details of approximately 85,000 men who attested for service with a variety of regiments in Surrey between 1908 and 1933.

You can also have a look through all our military records.

You can now search 163,477 new Thames-side and Medway parish burial records on findmypast.co.uk

These burial records cover Middlesex, Essex, Surrey and Kent for the period 1702 to 1997. These records represent the next part of a collection licensed from local specialist Rob Cottrell, and follow on from the Thames-side and Medway baptism records we recently published.

We will publish marriage records shortly and occupational records of Thames watermen and lightermen will follow to complete the collection.

Find your Thames-side and Medway ancestors today in our parish burial records.

We’ve just added three more complete counties to the 1851 census. You can now search for your ancestors in Middlesex, Hampshire and Surrey. As ever, these records are newly transcribed from a set of crisp new images. We’re confident our transcription is the best you’ll find online.

Find your ancestors in the 1851 census today

1851 census almost complete

Two thirds of the 1851 census are now available for you to search, and we’re just weeks away from completion. Bookmark this page and return regularly to hear about new developments first.

We’ve added over 31,000 burial records for the parish of St Mary, Lambeth, the former parish church of Lambeth (then in the county of Surrey). These cover the period 1777-1819.