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Celebrating LGBTQ+ history at Findmypast

The LGBTQ+ community are an important, yet often forgotten, subsection of society. From Oscar Wilde to your very own ancestors, explore lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender histories with Findmypast.

Tracing your LGBT ancestors

It's likely that we all have LGBT ancestors in our family tree. When tracing a family member that you suspect may have been lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, there are a few tips and tricks that will help you to maximise your exciting discoveries.

Essential sources for LGBT family historians

If you suspect the ancestor you're researching was part of the LGBT community, you may need to get a little inventive with how you use traditional family history sources.

newspaper

Newspapers

From reports of local scandals to a glimpse into contemporary attitudes about gender, there is nothing that can't be found in our millions of digitised newspaper pages.

Search newspapers
magnifying glass

Court records

Given the different laws regulating gender and sexuality in the past, court records can be useful for exploring those on the margins of straight society.

Search court records
censuses

Census records

There are secrets to be uncovered within a census return - we just need to think outside of the box. Longstanding landlord-tenant arrangements may have been a subtle way to disguise a same-sex relationship.

Search census records
marriages

Marriage records

Like census returns, marriage records can conceal all manner of hidden private lives. Though difficult to identify decisively, marriages of convenience took place, which concealed one or both parties' homosexuality.

Search marriage records
wills

Wills

Wills provide insight into the friends and chosen family of LGBT people, so pay close attention to who your ancestors left their possessions to.

Search Wills & Probate

First-hand accounts

While not available for lots of us, personal effects like letters and photographs provide invaluable insight into how people felt, what they thought... in short, how they really lived.

Browse our Photo Collection

How much do you know about LGBT history?

Are you a gay history expert, or do you not know Sappho from Sylvia Rivera? Take our ultimate LGBT history quiz to find out. Together, we can uncover and celebrate history's important LGBT stories.

The growing field of Queer history

Queer history is at the frontline of the more personal historical research of recent decades. Family history records are an invaluable resource for anyone interested in Queer history, as discussed by Findmypast expert Mary McKee and Dr Justin Bengry, Lecturer in Queer History at Goldsmiths University.  

Discover even more stories with the British Newspaper Archive

From pioneering transgender fighter pilot Roberta Cowell to the history of gay pride parades, there's a massive range of LGBT topics to explore on the British Newspaper Archive blog.

LGBT history resources from around the web