Here are a few of my favourite destinations on the Web, to get started. Check them out and if you know some other great places please let me know!

Ancestry.co.uk for all censuses from 1841 to 1901, and a wide selection of other data.

Findmypast for 1841, 1861, 1871, 1891 censuses, birth, marriage and death civil registration indexes, various military, occupation and migration records.

Genes Reunited for making contact with relatives you never new existed. Post your family tree here and find out who else is researching the same families.

FamilyHistoryOnline.net records transcribed by Family History Societies, currently over 67 million records including parish registers, memorial inscriptions, censuses, poor law documents and others, available for very modest charges.

The National Archives, a vast selection of records (I think they have around 10 million documents). A valuable source of armed services records, including medal cards which are available online for a fee.

Scotlands People. The source for Scottish data - censuses, civil registration documents, wills, and parish registers. All available online for a fee.

Commonwealth War Graves Commission for free data on servicemen who lost there lives in both world wars and are commemorated on war graves overseas. Free access to data and free online memorial certificates available.

Family Search, the website of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Free access to data, but bear in mind that the transcriptions from parish registers are not complete and are not always accurate. A lot of data on the site has been uploaded by members of the church and has not been checked. The fact that you don’t find a person or an event here does not mean that they did not exist. Check any data you do find.