GENERAL

RootsWeb. While sometimes difficult to navigate, there is a wealth of free information here, particularly on its state by state county sites, including wills, marriages, births, and early census and tax lists.

GenealogyLibrary.com. Part of the FTM site, this is a pay-to-use site, with reference books, surname books, records, etc. All of the materials are scanned images, so you know that what you're seeing is exactly as it originally appeared.

Family Search. This is the huge Latter-day Saints site. Use with caution and be wary of user-submitted information (ancestral files and pedigree resource files) as they can be highly inaccurate and there is absolutely no documentation cited to support them. But the IGI files of parish birth and marriage records can be particularly helpful.

NOBILITY AND ROYALTY

Directory of Royal Genealogical Data. If one is unable to purchase some of the standard works on this subject, this is a great place to start. Once you have established a connection here, the next step is to go to one or both of two archive/newsgroup sites, soc.medieval.genealogy and rootswebs' gen-medieval newslist (see below, "British Isles").

COLONIAL AMERICA

America's First Families. A nice page which includes early colonial immigrants; anyone can submit their ancestor for inclusion but must support it with documentation. Scroll down to the "Roll of Honor". The "Genealogy Frauds" section is also a must-see.

American Plantations and Colonies is a marvelous site which contains voluminous ship passenger lists to and from just about every early port, early Virginia Musters, source references, and much more...a must-see.

BRITISH ISLES
soc.genealogy.medieval. One of the best online sites for medieval genealogy, some of its regular posters are among the most respected genealogists in the field, including contributors to several well-known standard reference books and genealogical periodicals. Filled not only with genealogical information, but also source materials and upcoming publications.

Gen-Medieval Archives Another excellent source for medieval genealogy, many of the posters to soc.genealogy.medieval also post to this site, so it is an equally-valuable source.

Some Corrections and Additions to the Complete Peerage is an ongoing project of Chris Phillips, a frequent poster to soc.genealogy.medieval, wherein he is attempting to record all corrections and additions to Cokayne's Complete Peerage and Corrigenda which have been discovered since their publication.

GENUKI. The "rootsweb" of the UK, but this large site does not offer as much free information; mostly how and where to order records. But there are a few gems to be found, such as an occasional online image of a shire visitation, parish records, and ship passenger listings.

Magna Charta-King John and the Barons. Gives the names of all barons who witnessed the signing of the Magna Charta, and also contains an excellent biography of William Marshal, and several other key figures.

Early British Kingdoms. Part of the Britannia site, this excellent site contains some medieval documents, including the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles, as well as extensive genealogies of the early Kings and Princes of Wales.

The Domesday Book Online. Not the entire Domesday survey (35 volumes), but information on all major landholders, including a timeline, place name origins, and other interesting facets of this amazing and valuable work.

VIRGINIA/NORTH CAROLINA

Virginia and North Carolina Genealogical Exchange. Contains many early Virginia family lines from Charles City, Henrico, Isle of Wight, James City, Nansemond, etc.; well-organized and easy to use. And the author invites you to contact him for his supporting documentation.

SURNAME SPECIFIC

The Coggeshall Family Genealogy. Includes articles from the Coggeshall Historical Society Bulletin, including the possible origins of the surname and an excellent article about Sir John de Coggeshall.

Combs-Coombs&c. Even if you don't have a single Combs/Coombs in your family, there is a massive amount of information here. A bit overwhelming at first, but once you familiarize yourself with the site, if you have any Virginia, Maryland, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, England, etc., etc., ancestors of any surname, you just may find several of them among the thousands of records shown. Scroll down to the "Quick Reference" section.

Dalton Myths. This site is small, but quite useful for those with Dalton ancestry in Virginia. It attempts to debunk many of the incorrect lines perpetuated online, detailing the myth, then those facts gleaned from the records which do not support the myth.

Osborne Origins. Excellent site of surname Osborne and its variant spellings throughout the U.S. and packed with records and substantiating documentation.


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