The Online Genealogical Index

The Online Genealogical Index is a website aimed at helping you find specific genealogical records online, both free versions of records and those on subscription sites such as Ancestry and FindMyPast.  Known as the O.G.I. for short, this database covers more than 400,000 records for England, Wales and the Isle of Man. Other countries may be added in the future.  The OGI is completely free to use and requires no registration.

 The Online Genealogical Index has grown over the past few years from a few thousand data sets to a over 407,000 covering all major subscription sites and thousands of small sites unknown to many. These include:

• transcriptions of parish registers
• graveyard surveys
• pedigrees
• school records and more

A data set can contain a handful of records or tens of thousands. The OGI has gone through a complete reworking in March 2021 to speed searching and add new filtering options. All you need is a place and approximate year to get started.  If your ancestor gives their birthplace on a census or you know a marriage location, searching these areas can result in links to sites holding records for that place.  You can even specify record type and year ranges.  Results will show if the site holding the record set is free or subscription.

Clicking on the blue links will take you to the required page in a new tab.

You can read the latest information about the OGI by using the News link in the menu to read the blog.  Data is uploaded every few weeks.