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On November 1st 2006, 1837online.com, the leading UK-based family history website, became www.findmypast.com in a change of brand name to reflect the expansion of its range of online records and services, and the explosion of public interest in family history over the past two years.

Originally named after the date of the first English and Welsh civil registration indexes, which the company was the first to put online in their entirety, the family history website has outgrown its former name. Since its launch in 2003, it has significantly expanded the range of records offered, with over 400 million records now dating as far back as 1664. Family historians can now search for their ancestors among the comprehensive collections of military records, census migration, occupation directories, and current electoral roll data among others, as well as the comprehensive birth, marriage and death records. The new name, findmypast.com, better reflects this range and is also more easily accessible to the new raft of family history enthusiasts who are discovering genealogy, particularly following the huge public interest in the BBC's 'Who Do You Think You Are?' series.

Findmypast.com will continue to provide easy, online access to a wide range of historical records and a high level of advice and support to professional, amateur and novice family historians. The monthly newsletter will continue to update members about findmypast.com’s latest news and genealogy services.

Tom Curran, Chief Executive of Title Research Group, findmypast.com’s parent company, said: “1837online.com has been the leading UK-based family history website since we launched in 2003 and the website has continually grown and evolved throughout this time, both in terms of our collection of records, and number of members. What has not changed and won’t be changing is our commitment to our customers to provide them with a very high quality service and product.

"Findmypast.com is easier to remember and clearly explains what we are helping our customers to do. However, it’s a change in name alone as we’ll continue to offer the excellent level of service and assistance to family history researchers we’ve become known for and we’re dedicated to introducing easy, online access to more historical records that will help family history fans with their research."

Notes to editors

For further information, please contact:
Vicky Perry/ Erica Gyualafia
Lansons Communications
0207 566 9708/9714
vickyp@lansons.com/ericag@lansons.com

About findmypast.com

• April 2003: www.1837online.com became the first website to put the complete indexes to all the births, marriages and deaths in England & Wales from 1837-2004 online. Previously, the only way to perform such a search would have been either to travel to the Family Records Centre in London or to visit certain record repositories and libraries. The births, marriages and deaths searched are scans of originals – enabling you to view a piece of history from your own home.
• August 2004: 1837online.com added the WWI, WWII and Consular records to the website, allowing users to search for British nationals who were born, married or died overseas between 1761 and 1994.
• March 2005: 1837online.com published the fullest available transcriptions and images of the original documents of the 1861 census
• December 2005: 1837online acquired the records of the National Archivist website, including passport applications and death duty records.
• January 2006: 1837online also added 'Soldiers Died in the Great War' records, detailing soldiers killed during WW1.
• February 2006: The most comprehensive transcription of 1891 census was also made available, along with scans of the original documents.
• April 2006: Living Relatives database is added, which allows you to search the current electoral roll, telephone directory (business and homes) and directors' details to find living people.
• June 2006: 1837online.com added to the military collection records such as the National Roll of the Great War, Army Roll of Honour and Commemorative Scrolls.
• August 2006: 1837online.com added a Cross Database search feature that allows you to search across all the datasets in just one click.
• September 2006: 1837online.com added the 1841 and 1871 census.

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