HOW TO RESEARCH YOUR FAMILY HISTORY - PART ONE

Three generations: the baby is my mother, my grandmother is holding her, and her mother is just behind in the dark dress

I've never met anyone who regretted the decision to research their family tree, but I've met many who wish they hadn't started so late - I'm one of them!

The good news is that thanks to the multitude of records that are now available online, it's possible for anyone whose ancestors are predominantly English to make amazing progress in hours! It’s more difficult to research Welsh ancestors, even though the same records are available, simply because there are so many people with common surnames like Jones; if you have Scottish or Irish ancestors then some records are more readily available, but others are harder to access (and many Irish records have been lost or destroyed).

HERE'S THE CHALLENGE….

Records from the last 100 years are generally harder to access, not least because of the Data Protection Act. Generally we don't get to see records unless there's a reasonable expectation that the people mentioned in them are deceased.

So the challenge for YOU is to get back 100 years or more using the knowledge you already have, can glean from discussions with living relatives, or can discover by using the few online resources (such as indexes of births, marriages, and deaths) which do cover the last century. Once you're back to the 1911 Census it gets comparatively easy, because there are censuses every 10 years all the way back to 1841 - and with a bit of luck you'll soon be able to identify ancestors who were born in the late 1700s. Wowwwww!

START BY WRITING DOWN WHAT YOU ALREADY KNOW

You might think you know nothing about your ancestors, but I'm not so sure. Most people hear stories when they're growing up, and whilst some won't be completely accurate there will be snippets that come in very handy when you're trying to make sense of the information you find online - this is particularly likely if your ancestors had common surnames.

Don't miss Part 2, coming soon. In meantime there's a link below to the Ancestor Chart referred to above, plus a taster of what we'll be talking about in Part 2….

RESOURCES FOR BUDDING FAMILY HISTORIANS: ANCESTOR CHART

To download an A4 version just click this link: Ancestor Chart

Note: the chart is in PDF format and needs to be printed out - you can't fill it in online

SNEAK PREVIEW

A look ahead to the next article…..

"If you've left it really late to start researching your family tree you might be the oldest in your family. But if not, now's the time to talk to older relatives who can provide you with snippets of information that will point you in the right direction. For example, they might know where your ancestors lived, or the surname of the man who married your grandmother's sister."