Some sites to start with (categorised)
A small sample of sites available on the World Wide Web; there are literally thousands of them. These ones though are good ones to get you started. The below sites are free unless specified ($)
Census
All UK census data freely available - United Kingdom
Paul Barnett has compiled all the UK census data freely available and listed the links on one page.
Ancestry ($)
Census images, military records, etc.
Searchable, but to see the actual images you'll need a subscription to commercial sites Ancestry ($) or FindMyPast ($) for England & Wales and Scotland's People ($) for Scotland. The Ireland 1901 & 1911 censuses are freely available (see below).
FreeCEN - United Kingdom
Transcriptions - Incomplete
1901 & 1911 censuses - Ireland
Free images printable as PDF files
NOTE: New Zealand has no census archives as such and electoral rolls are probably the next best thing. These are available on the commercial Ancestry site for New Zealand and Australia. ($)
Birth, marriage & death
Ancestry ($)
Census images, military records, etc.
BDM Indexes - New Zealand
Birth, death & marriage indexes. Before ordering a certificate, see Frequently Asked Questions
FamilySearch - International
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS)
This site holds images of some parish registers that can be downloaded one page at a time. Probates/wills images have recently been included for New Zealand's Marlborough and Nelson regions.
FreeBMD - England & Wales
Post-1837 English and Welsh birth, marriage & death indexes.
FreeREG - United Kingdom
Parish registers – Transcriptions - Incomplete
IGI - International
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS FamilySearch)
International Genealogical Index
See Using the IGI
BEWARE: Some information is submitted and may be incorrect. It is likely to be more accurate if it states at the bottom to be an extracted record.
IGI Batch Numbers - British Isles & North America - To be used in conjunction with the IGI
(Hugh Wallis's site)
AND
FamilySearch IGI Batch Numbers - To be used in conjunction with the IGI
(Steve Archer's new site, a work in progress)
On-line parish clerks [OPC] - United Kingdom
These searchable sites hold transcriptions of parish registers. The Lancashire one especially, is a beauty.
UKBMD - United Kingdom
"...On this page you will find links to all the county sites that offer online transcribed indexes to the original records held by the local register offices. Searching these records should be your first choice. If the county that you are interested in does not have their local BMD records on-line yet or the data has not been transcribed yet, then try entering your names of interest in the search box at the bottom of this page..."
Genealogy guides
National Library of New Zealand - New Zealand
Getting started in genealogy & family history (GENUKI)
Newbies guide to genealogy & family history (Roy Stockdill)
(A 'newbie' is a person new to research or to a group/forum, etc.)
Message board & mailing lists
This is the site I’ve had most success with in making contact with previously unknown cousins.
Has two options: ‘free’ and ‘paid member’.
Click on the link message boards or mailing lists.
New Zealand Rootsweb mailing list - New Zealand
If you're researching your Kiwi ancestors the first thing I suggest you do is join this mailing list and post the information you have and what you want to know.
Free to search and join but you need to register. What happens basically is that you upload census information about your ancestors/relatives (you will need the official number of the record). If others put up the same information, the site lets you know you've found some cousins. Its founder puts out a newsletter once a month as a rule and it's packed with really useful information and tips.
Gateway sites (links to transcriptions, information. etc.)
Cyndi’s List- International
This is a huge site with thousands of links. It can be confusing to get around but it does have a search function.
John Gough's Really Useful Sources
Lynda's List - Primarily British Isles, New Zealand & Australia
My own searchable site of mainly free resources and/or transcriptions.
Stikybeak’s bookmarks - New Zealand
A bit of an odd site this but with loads of links.
Genealogical resources
Biographies - New Zealand
Biographies of well-known or influential New Zealanders.
GENUKI - United Kingdom & Ireland
The best site for United Kingdom & Ireland genealogy resources. I can’t recommend this site enough.
GENUKI’s Index of Places in England & Wales
I suggest you download and/or print this out (in PDF format - a lot of pages and you'll need another ring-binder). It's invaluable for checking those odd English place-names and where exactly they were/are.
Google Books (downloadable books)
Just type in one of your family names and see what comes up.
Internet Archive (downloadable books and other data)
In the search box type in the parish you're interested in plus the word "parish", i.e. Lancashire parish
The Internet Archive is a non-profit founded to build an Internet library. Its purposes include offering permanent access for researchers, historians, scholars, people with disabilities, and the general public to historical collections that exist in digital format.
Click on the newsletters link: A great amount of research information in these free newsletters
Lyn Dear’s New Zealand genealogy blog - New Zealand
There is a link on this page to Lyn’s New Zealand History & Genealogy Facebook group where people can discuss researching issues etc. Anyone can join but of course you must sign up with the social networking site Facebook if you haven’t already.
National Archives - New Zealand
At one time National Archives in Wellington would give one free search. I emailed them several years ago and got my g-g-grandfather's probate papers in return.
National Library Catalogue - New Zealand
Trying searching by Subject for your family surnames.
New Zealand directory (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints [LDS]) - New Zealand
LDS has family history centres in most cities and larger towns. They are also listed in the white pages of your local telephone book. Their on-line library allows New Zealanders to order films directly by creating a log-on and a profile and stating which branch is the preferred one. When the film arrives, the researcher has three months to use it, which allows multiple viewings at the researcher’s convenience. Any ordered on fiche are kept in New Zealand because they are copies of the originals and this means many of the LDS branch libraries have some very useful material at hand. The branches are staffed by volunteers, many of whom are very experienced researchers themselves
New Zealand Government On-line Genealogy Resources - New Zealand
Papers Past - New Zealand
Newspapers from the past
Timeframes - New Zealand
Photos from the past
Wise's 1912 index to every place in New Zealand - New Zealand
A searchable site and great if you’re not sure where those little out of the way places are/were.
On-line auction sites
TradeMe - New Zealand
Search for books on local or family history.
E-bay - United Kingdom
If you buy books etc. from overseas, it might be a good idea to first convert the pounds to New Zealand dollars before committing yourself to buying.
* To convert English pounds to New Zealand dollars, use this on-line currency converter.
Miscellaneous
Explaining family relationships
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
Debt of honour register of Commonwealth forces that died in WWI or WWII
Familyrelatives (some $)
BMD entries from GRO indexes 1837-2004; (pay-per-view) parish registers, military records WW1 & WWII, soldiers who died in the Great War, overseas and USA records
Names Origins, meanings etc.
Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection
Portal site for everything to do with maps both historical and current
Royal Navy Biographical Database, since 1660 (some $)
Broad range of family history research material, software, books and related products, variety of on-line databases. Includes non-conformist registers
(Originally the "World Bride Index")
"...A curated collection of links to genealogy details mentioned on other websites..."
Though it now appears to be American only, still well worth searching for your ancestors' names.
Yukon Genealogy Includes goldrush database
USE OF CAPITALS
DO type surnames in capital letters when posting messages or enquiring about your families. This ensures the name stands out and also stops any confusion over given names and surnames, e.g. Robert THOMAS.
DO NOT type a complete message in capitals when posting on message boards or mailing lists (on the Internet this equates to yelling).