The endpoint to call our API is:

http://api.findmypast.com/search/category/count

Returns a JSON message containing the total number of records found, a breakdown of the total by category and a URL to display the results.

The query string you pass through must begin with $filter= and be in OData format. Otherwise, the response returned will contain an error message.

Example:

http://api.findmypast.com/search/category/count?$filter=LastName eq barton and YearOfBirth eq 1900

Resource URL:

api.findmypast.com/search/category/count

Resource Information

  • Response format: JSON
  • Requires authentication: No

Header Parameters

Parameter Description Is required
partnerid Guid type of partner id. Provided by findmypast. This is used to track traffic from partners that route back to the FMP site No

URL Parameters

Parameter Description Is required
$filter OData type parameter. Yes

Filter URL parameter accepted OData format

At least one of the parameters is required and all string values must be enclosed by single quotes ( ‘ )

Field* Allowed Operators* Value Type Expression example
FirstName eq String $filter=FirstName eq ‘John’
LastName eq String $filter=LastName eq ‘Smith’
YearOfBirth eq
le
ge		 Int $filter=YearOfBirth eq 1911
$filter=YearOfBirth le 1945
$filter=YearOfBirth ge 1956
YearOfDeath eq
le
ge		 Int $filter=YearOfDeath eq 1914
$filter=YearOfDeath le 1948
$filter=YearOfDeath ge 1959
KeywordsPlace eq String $filter=KeywordsPlace eq ‘Old Street, London, UK’

​*Please note these are all case sensitive​

These fields can be combined in any order by the “and” operator, for example:

http://api.findmypast.com/search/category/count?$filter=LastName eq ‘Tolkien’ and FirstName eq ‘John Ronald R’ and YearOfBirth eq 1892 and YearOfDeath eq 1973 and KeywordsPlace eq ‘Bournemouth, Dorset, England’

Example Request

GET

http://api.findmypast.com/search/category/count?$filter=LastName eq 'Smith' and FirstName eq 'John'

Example Result

{
   "TotalCount":1629816,
   "ResultUrl":"http://search.findmypast.com/results/world-records?FirstName=John&LastName=Smith",
   "Facets":{
      "SourceCollection":[
         {
            "Name":"Armed forces & conflict",
            "Count":63632
         },
         {
            "Name":"Census, land & surveys",
            "Count":807465
         },
         {
            "Name":"Churches & religion",
            "Count":146
         },
         {
            "Name":"Education & work",
            "Count":21348
         },
         {
            "Name":"Institutions & organisations",
            "Count":55109
         },
         {
            "Name":"Life events (bmds)",
            "Count":592500
         },
         {
            "Name":"Newspapers, directories & social history",
            "Count":57183
         },
         {
            "Name":"Travel & migration",
            "Count":32433
         }
      ]
   }
}