How to Find Your Ancestors
Family history research has become a very popular pastime in recent years. But for many people who would like to know more about their forebears the thought of taking up the hobby can be daunting.
The golden rule is to work backwards. First, make notes of the information you already have. This should include your own date of birth, those of your parents, and also, if known, of your grandparents. Where each person was born may also prove important, and years and places of marriage should be noted. Record also the names of any brothers and sisters of each person.
Next, subscribe to an online genealogy site such as Ancestry, Findmypast, or The Genealogist. These give access to birth, marriage and death records, censuses, parish registers, etc, all of which you will need. The sites give helpful advice on how to use the records.
For example, to find details of an unknown grandfather, find the details of your parents’ wedding from the marriage records, order a marriage certificate, and you will see the names of your grandfathers and their occupations. Birth certificates show both the mother’s and father’s names. There is a fee for a certificate, but you will not need to buy one for each person.
Armed with this information, you can now consult the censuses. These range from 1841 to 1911, and show details of the family, their ages, address and occupations.
As you go back in time, you will need to consult parish records. This is because state records of births, marriages and deaths only started in 1837, so earlier details are those recorded by the church. An important point to note is that the details given are of baptisms, not births, and of burials, not deaths – a birth may have occurred weeks or even months before the baptism.
A source of helpful information is your local library. Many books have been written on family history. These give examples of the various stages of research, and there is the added benefit that you can take them home to consult at your leisure. And in some areas courses are run by family history groups to help the beginner get started in their research. Your library will probably have details of these.
Having acquired some basic knowledge a visit to a record office may be helpful, especially if your ancestors came from the nearby area. These hold records relevant to their region, many of which will never appear online. There are archivists on hand to help you so there is no need to feel overwhelmed – just ensure you have made notes beforehand of the information you wish to discover as it is easy to get carried away with all that is available. Book your visit to be sure of a place, especially if travelling some distance.
Discovering your family history is fascinating – but be aware that most of our ancestors were ordinary folk. Don’t expect to find royalty or riches – just value them for what they were.
This content was provided by one of our users, RosemaryB
