Happy Anniversary Family Tree

A landmark for British genealogy, Family Tree, Britain’s first commercially available hobby magazine for family historians and genealogists is celebrating its 30th anniversary with the November issue.

"Family Tree Magazine, as it was then known, made its debut in November 1984, after being put together on a dining-room table in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire using a Brother typewriter!

Today Family Tree remains the UK’s only independent magazine sold in the newstrade for family historians and genealogists. Run by a small team who are passionate about family history, we are still based in the little town of Ramsey but have a worldwide readership. We’re rightly proud of our roots and have published a souvenir November issue to mark our 30th anniversary."

FT has seen a revolution, from the typewriter era when hardly anyone was using a computer for family history, to 1997 when 45% of FT subscribers used a computer as an aid to research, to 2009 when a survey showed it was 97%, and today -- we'd hardly be able to do such a survey without the internet!

British newsstands are now crowded with genealogy magazines. The competition has been good for the magazine, the Brother typewriter is retired; yet throughout FT been a reliable source of news and advice for the British genealogist.

Thanks for the tip to Karen Clare, FT's Assistant Editor.