6 Tips for Searching Historical Records on MyHeritage

Here at MyHeritage, we are dedicated to helping you uncover your family’s unique story, and part of that includes our efforts to continually grow our collection of historical records. To help you stay informed of these ongoing updates, we recently started a new Facebook Live series. In these biweekly sessions taking place on the first and third Tuesday of every month on the MyHeritage Facebook page, our directors of content, Mike Mansfield and Myko Clelland, showcase our newest additions and share useful tips for exploring your family’s past.

In a recent session, Myko shared several valuable tips on making the most of the wealth of historical records available on MyHeritage. Here’s what he suggested:

1. Death is not the end

Don’t stop searching when you’ve found one death record: be sure to explore burial and obituary records as well as supplementary records like wills or probate records. These can provide further information and context about your ancestors.

2. Dig deeper into marriages

When you find a marriage record, consider looking for associated documents like banns, marriage licenses, or newspaper announcements. There could be numerous records related to a single event, and each one can add to your understanding.

3. Move beyond birth records

After discovering a birth record, search for baptisms or birth announcements in newspapers. Just like with death and marriage records, various documents can surround these key life events.

4. Don’t discount family trees

With countless users adding to their family trees on MyHeritage, you might find valuable information about your own lineage. Uploading your tree can help you connect with distant cousins who may have already added the details you’re searching for. Be cautious, however, because the information may be inaccurate — it’s always best to back up secondary sources like family trees with information from a primary source, like a vital record.

5. Check the collection catalog

Our collection catalog is continually updated with new and revised collections. Sorting by ‘last updated’ will reveal the latest additions, helping you stay on top of new possibilities for your research.