Presentation by Richard Light, Free UK Genealogy

1. Using historical open data for family
history — and the value of GB1900
data
Richard Light
Chair, Free UK Genealogy
Using historical open data for
family history — and the value
of GB1900 data

2. Registered charity
One of the longest standing crowdsourcing organisations in the world
13,000 global volunteers, with very small support staff
400 million records across 3 projects:
FreeBMD transcribes the GRO BMD indices for England andWales
FreeCEN transcribes census records for the UK (except NI) and Crown dependencies
FreeREG transcribes parish and nonconformist registers of baptisms, marriages and burials.
The 3 project websites attract around 230,000* monthly users in total
* Oct 2017

3. Free UK Genealogy is a non-profit organisation that provides free, online access to family
history records.
We work with a team of dedicated volunteers to create high quality transcriptions of public
governmental sources, parish churches, and other trusted institutions.
We believe that Open Data and Open Source are key to
making and keeping public records accessible to all.
Unlike many sites, which are ‘pay-to-view’ after an initial
search is carried out, our databases are completely free to
search and view.

4. Why Open Data?
Free UK Genealogy is using new ideas about data which have developed
since the projects began to ensure that our data is more accessible,
more usable, and free to use, forever.
The current websites are free to use, but there is no guarantee that they
will be there in perpetuity.
Moving to an Open Data licence makes long-term free access to the data
much more likely, in a number of ways.
Open Data brings benefits to the real owners of our public records –
those whose lives are captured in the records, and the wider public.

5. Free UK Genealogy’s current projects

6. Our longest running transcription project
Established in 1998; celebrates its 20th Anniversary in 2018
9,422 transcribers
Over 337 million records transcribed and available to search (Nov ‘17)
Website attracts 192,000* monthly users
It’s expected that all records up to and including 1983 will be transcribed (at least once) by the end of 2018
* Oct 2017
www.freebmd.org.uk

7. Moving forward
We aim to acquire access to post-1983 GRO indexes to transcribe, and
other indexes of birth, marriage and death
Later this year work will begin on FreeBMD2, which will host all of the
records that the current website holds, but with a fresh new look and
feel in-line with Free UK Genealogy, FreeREG & FreeCEN2
FreeBMD2 will contain more features for researchers, and make it easier
for them to find what they’re looking for;
There will also be improvements for existing and future volunteers,
including a members sign-in area and brand new messaging system.

8. Established in 1999
626 transcribers
Website attracts 9,000* monthly users
Over 33 million records transcribed and available to
search (Nov ‘17)
Transcribers are currently working on the 1841, 1851,
1861, 1871, and 1891 censuses.
Contains census records of England, Scotland,Wales,
IoM and Channel Islands
New-look ‘FreeCEN2’ website launched in August 2017
* Oct 2017
www.freecen.org.uk

9. Established in 1999
2,500 active transcribers
Over 40 million records transcribed and available to search (Nov ‘17)
Website attracts 30,000* monthly users
Contains records from England, Scotland,Wales, IoM and Channel Islands, and we are now
beginning to transcribe registers from Northern Ireland
Currently, a main priority is gaining access to more sources for volunteers to transcribe.
The FreeREG website was relaunched in April 2015 and is currently halfway through its transformation.
This is the template for the development of FreeBMD2 and FreeCEN2
* Oct 2017
www.freereg.org.uk

10. The future of FreeUKGEN
New projects we are planning include:
Transcription of wills
Linking our data to improve how we present records on specific individuals held across our projects
Development of an online transcription tool, to make transcribing easier and more convenient.
We have a longer-term goal of making all our data Linked Open Data. As a move in this direction we are
investigating how to assign unique, persistent URLs to all our records.

11. • Each project has a distinct approach to recording places (Registration Districts; Census
Districts/Pieces; ‘parishes’ – not actually parishes!)
• Boundaries and whole admin units change over the time span covered by our data
• We would welcome an historical gazetteer which captures the relationships between
these admin units over time; it would facilitate cross-project searching
• Sources like GB1900 are valuable for a different reason: they provide evidence of the
existence of places for transcribers trying to decipher handwritten sources
• Geolocation is helpful
• Individual houses recorded (in rural areas)
Place recording in FreeUKGen

12. There’s much more information about us on our website: www.freeukgenealogy.org.uk
…and you can follow us on social media
We couldn’t do what we do without our volunteers, and we’re always looking for more. If you’d like to join the
FreeUKGEN team, go to https://www.freeukgenealogy.org.uk/about/volunteer/
Please help us keep history free
Thank you!