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Link Place Names to Google Maps

What problem does Link Place Names to Google Maps solve?

Ancestry records where an ancestor was born, married, farmed and died, but it never shows you where any of those places actually are. Working out whether two townships are neighbours or a full county apart means copying the place name into a map in another tab, over and over. Link Place Names to Google Maps turns every place name on a profile and on the family tree into a link, so the map is always one click away.

How does Link Place Names to Google Maps work?

Place names on Ancestry become clickable links to Google Maps, on the profile page and on the family tree. That covers the birth and death places on the profile card, every place in the Timeline, and the birth and death places on the card that opens when you click a person in the tree. On the tree the links work in the horizontal, vertical, fan and pedigree views.

The text looks exactly as it always did. Nothing is added beside it and nothing changes colour. A place only underlines when you point at it, and the cursor turns into a hand so you know it will open. The full place name is sent to Google Maps as Ancestry recorded it, right down to the township, so historical place names still land in the right area even when the exact name is no longer on the map.

Places are still selectable text. Dragging across a place name to copy it will not open a map.

How do I use Link Place Names to Google Maps?
  • Ensure Link Place Names to Google Maps is enabled in the Genealogy Assistant pop-up panel.
  • Open any person’s profile page in an Ancestry family tree, or open your family tree and click a person to bring up their card.
  • Point at any place name. It will underline and the cursor will change to a hand.
  • Click the place to open it in Google Maps in a new tab.
    • Middle-click a place, or hold Ctrl (Cmd on a Mac) while clicking, to open the map in a background tab. Ancestry stays in front, so you can line up several places and read them afterwards.
    • Hold Shift while middle-clicking to open the map in a background tab and switch to it straight away.
    • On the tree card, both the birth and the death place are links, and the card stays open after you click one, so you can open both without clicking the person again.
    Link Place Names to Google Maps is a feature of the software Genealogy Assistant.

    Genealogy Assistant is an extension for Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Edge and Apple Safari which supercharges your family history research by adding over 100 custom features to popular genealogy websites like Ancestry, MyHeritage, FamilySearch, FamilyTreeDNA and more. You can watch a full video walkthrough on YouTube.

    Install Genealogy Assistant for Google Chrome | Install for Mozilla Firefox | Install for Microsoft Edge | Install for Apple Safari