I use all the websites and read all the blogs listed below. 

Many of the museums are favourites.

When I began researching my own and my mystery 19th century subject's family trees I did as much as possible for free, taking advantage of free trials and access to free data. Ultimately this is more time consuming and frustrating than paying for a subscription to a specialised site as you have to be creative in finding the information you seek and working out ways to save records and other information. I found a free trial with Findmypast then a subscription to Ancestry worked well as Findmypast then has the option of buying smaller batches of credits. Don't forget your local library is invaluable for free access to a slightly limited edition of Ancestry.

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