Federation Of Family History Societies

FamilyHistoryOnline, findmypast.co.uk and Scotland Online

You may or may not have seen the recent Press Release announcing that findmypast.co.uk has been acquired by Scotland Online, which said:

The merger will see Scotland Online's current online genealogy service, ScotlandsPeople, working closely with findmypast.co.uk to create a dynamic family history resource to serve millions of family history enthusiasts worldwide.

The amalgamation will enable a wider audience to access the most complete suite of family history records available online in the UK and will benefit the genealogy industry by enabling genealogists and amateur family history enthusiasts to access hundreds of millions of records in one place. Scotland Online recently won the tender for the 1911 England and Wales census records, which will be available during 2009.

findmypast.co.uk will also continue to add data and functionality to its website, further consolidating the company's long-term commitment to the family history market…. Continued improvement in findmypast.co.uk's functionality and user experience will remain a key objective for the business, and customer access to both findmypast.co.uk and ScotlandsPeople's online resources will be unaffected by the merger. findmypast.co.uk will continue to be based in London….

Tom Curran, Chief Executive of Title Research Group, the parent company of findmypast.co.uk, commented: "This transaction will bring together two established and successful genealogy resources to create a world-class network of family history records. I am delighted Scotland Online shares findmypast.co.uk's dedication to making more genealogy resources available to both genealogists and family history enthusiasts and that they share our passion for excellence and commitment to customers."

How does this affect the partnership between the Federation and findmypast.co.uk for FamilyHistoryOnline data?

Scotland Online has earned a first-class reputation for its management of the ScotlandsPeople website, and the professional way in which it implemented the 1901 Census for Scotland. This undoubtedly helped it to acquire the licence from The National Archives to implement the 1911 Census for England and Wales in the face of strong competition. Its customers include the Scottish Government, General Register Office for Scotland (www.gro-scotland.gov.uk), National Library of Scotland and National Museum of Scotland.

We have been reassured that the terms and spirit of our contract with findmypast.co.uk will be unchanged as a result of the merger. Customer access to findmypast.co.uk's online resources will in fact be enhanced by the establishment of a network that also encompasses ScotlandsPeople. As a result, a much wider audience worldwide will become aware of FamilyHistoryOnline data, increasing the royalties member societies will receive.

We therefore welcome the news with enthusiasm, since it reinforces our choice of findmypast.co.uk as the most appropriate partner to secure the future of FamilyHistoryOnline for the benefit of our member societies.

Geoff Riggs
FFHS Chairman