GENUKI facts for kids

GENUKI is a special website that helps people find out about their family history, also known as genealogy. It's like a huge online library filled with information about the United Kingdom and Ireland. This website focuses on giving you access to original records, like old documents, rather than just telling you what someone else found. It's run by a group of volunteers as a charitable trust, which means it's a non-profit organization.

What's in a Name?

The name GENUKI comes from "GENealogy of the UK and Ireland". Even though the name focuses on the UK and Ireland, the website actually covers a bit more.

The GENUKI website explains it like this:

The UK and Ireland are regarded, for the purposes of this Genealogical Information Service, as being made up of England, Ireland (i.e. Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland), Wales, and Scotland, together with the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. Together, these constitute the British Isles - which is a geographical term for a group of islands lying off the north-west coast of mainland Europe. (Legally, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man are largely self governing, and are not part of the United Kingdom.)

This means GENUKI covers England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man. These places together are called the British Isles.

How GENUKI is Organized

The GENUKI website is set up in a very clear way, almost like a map with four different levels. This helps you find exactly what you're looking for.

• The first level has information that applies to all of the United Kingdom and Ireland.
• The next level breaks down information for each main area: England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man.
• The third level goes even deeper. It has information for each old county within England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. For example, you can find details for Cheshire in England or County Kerry in Ireland.
• The fourth level is the most detailed. It has information for specific towns or parishes, like Antrobus in Cheshire.

This structure is also shown in a diagram called the "Contents and Site Map" on their website.

Finding Information by Topic

At each level of the website, you'll find different topics to help you with your family research. These topics are based on a list created by the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Here are some of the topics you might find:

What You'll Find on GENUKI

Sometimes, GENUKI pages will have actual information directly on them. But more often, they will give you links to where you can find the information yourself. This could be links to other websites or details about books and archives where you can look up records.

For many places, GENUKI includes descriptions taken from old "gazetteers." A gazetteer is like an old dictionary of places, giving details about towns and regions. Since these are very old, their information is free to use.

Because GENUKI is run entirely by volunteers, the amount of detail can be different for various parts of the site. All the material on the GENUKI website is protected by copyright. This means you should only use it for your own personal research and not copy it onto other websites.