Information Sources - General & Worldwide

IGI/FamilySearch - http://www.familysearch.org
(US and Canadian census info for 1880/1881; British census 1881 but this is only for England & Wales)

Rootsweb - http://www.rootsweb.com/
(lots of useful free message boards based on surname/locality, worth searching or posting your own - I've made several important contacts and finds by this route)

Ancestry.com - http://www.ancestry.com
(subscription site with assorted information drawn from various sources - a lot of is available for free elsewhere on the web if you take the time to look for it)

EllisIsland.org - http://www.ellisisland.org/
(allows free search of immigrants to the USA through Ellis Island, late 1800s/early 1900s - free access to view ships' manifests - through this site I discovered my g-g-grandmother went on holiday to the USA in 1912!)