Online sources

All visitors to Hampshire County Council’s Libraries and Record Office can use online datasets on Ancestry, FindMyPast and the British Newspaper Archive for free, including:

  • on Ancestry, the 1939 register and 1921 census
  • on FindMyPast, the 1921 census

The following Hampshire sources are available to explore online:

Place Wills and other probate to 1858 Parish registers to 1921 Bishops' transcripts from C1780 to 1921 Methodist/Wesleyan registers to 1921 Censuses, including 1921
Portsmouth Ancestry FMP Ancestry Not available FMP and Ancestry
Southampton Ancestry Not available Ancestry Not available FMP and Ancestry
Hampshire Ancestry Ancestry Ancestry Ancestry FMP and Ancestry
Isle of Wight Ancestry Not available Ancestry Not available FMP and Ancestry

More records are planned to go live on Ancestry. The next group will be Cemetery registers, available in mid 2025.

How do I get free access?

Can I download/copy pages from public computers? You can:

  • take a photo
  • download images to usb (not available at Record Office)
  • print to a public copier (there is a small charge)
  • Send a copy to your email address (Ancestry does not require you to open your email account first)

Can I use my own device in libraries and the Record Office and get free access?

  • No for Ancestry, all sites
  • Yes for FindMyPast
A graphic depicting the writer Jane Austen

Jane Austen was baptised in Steventon in 1775 and buried in Winchester in 1817.