Find My Past.com - Free FIFA offer

When England play, you don't pay!

Are you a football fan? Or is it the others in your family that are? (Many Canadians call it soccer, in case you're wondering.) It's time for the 2010 FIFA World Cup - in South Africa this year. (FIFA - Fédération Internationale de Football Association)

Here in Canada, we'll be able to watch it live on CBC, and hear all the news and analysis, but if you're not that big on the game, DON'T LET THE FAMILY FANS USE YOUR COMPUTER.

During England's games only, from 30 minutes before kick-off, FindMyPast.com will be free for 3 hours. Even the 1911 English and Welsh census records will be free. Only the 'Living Relatives' searches and Memorial scrolls aren't included. (And why is that? But I digress. Never mind, it's a great offer.)

FindMyPast is one of the very best sites for researchers of English and Welsh genealogy and family history and includes the censuses from 1841-1911, a complete on-line index for births, marriages and deaths (BMD) from 1837-2006, overseas BMD indexes, parish records from 1538, a wide array of military records, outbound United Kingdom passenger lists 1890-1960, an electoral roll search, and more.

And, even if you know no one from England and Wales is in your family tree, have a good look at those outbound passenger records as many from Europe 'stopped over' on their journeys to the Americas or Australia, etc. Others may have visited the UK on holiday too.

You will need to be registered first, and I do recommend that you have a look ahead of time at FindMyPast's guides and tutorials, so you'll be ready to run! Follow this FindMyPast link to see the announcement.

I believe the first of England's matches is tomorrow - 12 June, 2010 at 20:30 South African time. Then the others are June 18 at 20:30 and June 23 at 16:00. Check the FIFA schedule to make sure. And check on-line to convert the time. (I usually go to TimeAndDate.com for this.)

FindMyPast wants to hear about your finds - post them on the Facebook page and there will be prizes too. Watch for a competition question for each game on the FindMyPast blog. Recently, there was a cute FindMyPast blog post about animals listed in the census - keep an eye out for anything like this. (And I would sure like to hear about any suffragettes!)

A little hint too - if you are a football fan, and don't want to miss England's games, you can use the free indexes at FindMyPast anytime. After that, you can subscribe, of course, or if you need just a few things, you may be able to use the 'Pay as You Go' options. FindMyPast has a very efficient website and is one of the few genealogy companies that offers 'loyalty' discounts. And, check with your local Family History Center or a local library. You may find that FindMyPast is available for free. (It is at my local Family History Center in Burnaby, BC.)