Tom Crean records available online

The entire world can now view the birth, marriage and death certificates of Antarctic explorer Tom Crean as his records along with 12.5m others have been made available online for the first time.

Mr Crean’s grandson Brendan O’Brien told of his grandfather’s heroic Antarctic mission last night at the launch of the online resource which has made records from the General Register Office (GRO) available to all.

The images, which include over 12.5m individual records dating back as far as 1864, can all be accessed online and free of charge.