MILITARY HINTS NOW AVAILABLE ON FINDMYPAST FAMILY TREES

• Findmypast family trees now generate hints from more than 89.4 million military records
• New hints will provide researchers with detailed accounts of their ancestors’ military service

Leading family history website, Findmypast, has introduced an exciting update to their online family tree builder. As of today, Findmypast family trees will receive hints generated from over 89.4 million military records covering more than 430 years of military history in Britain, Ireland, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

This includes Findmypast’s unrivalled collection of military service records covering all three branches of the British Armed Forces, US draft and enlistment records spanning both World Wars, Findmypast’s exclusive Prisoner of War collection, documents from the US Civil and Revolutionary Wars, military pensions, medal indexes, casualty lists, muster rolls, and much more.

Creating and uploading a family tree is quick, easy and secure. As information is added, Findmypast does the hard work by automatically sifting through millions of records to identify potential matches, which appear as hints.

Military records are vital genealogical resources. By making it easier to access to these important documents, Findmypast allows its members to uncover detailed accounts of their ancestors’ military service, including physical descriptions, details of decorations, promotions or awards received, where they were stationed, and even disciplinary and medical records. Many records also reveal important biographical details such as spouse’s names, next of kin and addresses, while Findmypast’s extensive collections of POW records, Casualty Lists and Honour Rolls will also help members commemorate the incredible sacrifices made by previous generations in defence of their country.

Building a tree on Findmypast is the first step towards exploring a rich archive of more than 8 billion records from around the world, more than 1 billion of which aren’t available anywhere else online. Findmypast trees already provide matches from the 1939 Register, births, baptisms, marriages, deaths, burials and census returns. This includes more than 620 million UK BMDs, the largest collection available online, including millions of parish registers.

George Nolan, Senior Product Manager at Findmypast, said: “We find that many customers tend to focus on BMD and Census records and often neglect other sources of information about their ancestors. When testing the new military hints, even our seasoned genealogists uncovered previously unknown details about their ancestor’s military careers”.

Product Manager Estelle Calfe added: “We are delighted to announce the new military hints on the Findmypast tree. Scrolling through the actual images of these records and having a glimpse into your ancestors’ military past is quite emotional. The military records really add colour to your family history.”

As new records are released, Findmypast’s hinting system will continue to grow, making it easier than ever to discover unknown ancestors and their stories.