Findmypast.co.uk Makes Birth Records Even Easier to Search

LONDON, July 30, 2010 - Findmypast.co.uk, leading UK family history website, has launched an
easier way to find the births of English and Welsh ancestors online. The
company has re-indexed over 100 million birth records dating from 1837 to
2006.

Findmypast.co.uk's fully re-indexed birth records make finding ancestors
much simpler and includes: search results in the form of a list of individual
names; the ability to search the complete 1837-2006 set of birth records
(www.findmypast.co.uk/birth-indexes-search-start.action?redef=0) in
one go or by one or more counties at a time; new high quality images; smart
search features including variations of a name; records of children unnamed
at registration; and searching by mother's maiden name at the same time to
help find the most elusive births.

With this new resource now available, findmypast.co.uk (
www.findmypast.co.uk/home.jsp) has uncovered some interesting facts
about the births that were registered between 1837 and 2006: 10 babies named
Fish Fish born between 1840 and 1883, bizarrely, all in Lancashire. The list
includes one Fish Fish Fish born in Blackburn in 1864; Just five Ringos were
registered in 1964 and 1965, compared with 2,414 Georges, 36,877 Johns and
56,170 Pauls; six Dick Turpins were registered between 1854 and 1916; four
Maradonas were registered in 1986, the year of the infamous 'Hand of God'
goal; eight Peles were registered between 1970 and 1972, following the
footballer's 1000th goal in 1969.

Findmypast.co.uk has also looked into the birth patterns over the past
century and found that the trend for births at certain times of the year has
changed. In 1907 and 1908, the peak time of year for births was during April,
May and June, compared with 2007 and 2008 when July, August and September saw
the most births.

Debra Chatfield, marketing manager at findmypast.co.uk, said, "As the
first company to publish birth, marriage and death records online,
(www.findmypast.co.uk/BirthsMarriagesDeaths.jsp) findmypast.co.uk is
committed to making family history research more accessible. Findmypast's
brand new birth indexes now provide an easier route into our families' pasts
than ever before.

"Findmypast.co.uk is currently working on re-indexing the marriage and
death records and once complete, findmypast.co.uk will have digitised over a
quarter of a billion records. Thanks to initiatives like this, family history
is more popular than ever and the amount of historical records that are now
available to search and view online will help even more people to start to
uncover their own family tree."

Notes to editors

About findmypast.co.uk

Leading UK family history website findmypast.co.uk (formerly
1837online.com) was the first company to make the complete birth, marriage
and death indexes for England & Wales available online in April 2003.

Findmypast.co.uk now offers access to over 850 million records dating as
far back as 1538. This allows family historians and novice genealogists to
search for their ancestors among comprehensive collections of military
records, census, migration, occupation directories, and current electoral
roll data, as well as the original comprehensive birth, marriage and death
records.

In November 2006 findmypast.co.uk launched the ancestorsonboard.com
microsite in association with The National Archives to publish outbound
passenger lists for long-distance voyages departing all British ports between
1890 and 1960.

    For further information, please contact:

    PR contact:

    Amy Sell
    Findmypast.co.uk
    38-41 Fourth Floor
    Broadgate Court
    199 Bishopsgate
    London
    EC2M 3TY
    +44(0)203-326-6318

PR contact: Amy Sell, Findmypast.co.uk, 38-41 Fourth Floor, Broadgate Court, 199 Bishopsgate, London, EC2M 3TY, +44(0)203-326-6318