| How Do I Start Researching My
Family Tree?
The first thing I would do is to speak
to all your relatives (the living ones of course). You will find
some of them have selective memory retention, often because they
may feel embarassed about certain events or they think you're prying
into their life (which you are, really). Don't let this hold you
back - just keep nagging them, often they give in. See if they have
any documentation - certificates, photos, Bibles etc are all good
sources of names, dates and locations.
You will need to record all this info - don't do what
I did and not note the source of information. Quite often you get
asked 'where did you find that out?' 5 years later, and it helps
to know where. A good program to start with is Personal Ancestral
File (PAF) from www.familysearch.org,
especially as it is free. This site is run by the Church of Latter
Day Saints (LDS), more commonly known over here as the Mormons.
Their belief allows them to retrospectively change the religion
of their ancestors, hence they are big into family history.
The next place to check is the census. Taken every
10 years from 1841, they provide name, age, relation, occupation,
address and town of birth for the vast majority of the population
in England. The 1841 census has less info but does help. Due to
the 100 year rule, the latest census available is 1901, so it helps
to get information from your living family back to at least that
date. All censuses are online and except 1881, all are pay per view,
though the indexes are free. Costs about 75p or so per page. 1881
is available via the LDS for free but it is a transcribed version
- in other words you don't get to see the original documents, and
there are errors.
A quick point on errors - the census was conducted
by a person, known as an enumerator, going from door to door on
a certain day, writing down the relevant information. Often, they
interpreted names differently as how they were originally spelt,
their style of writing was frequently suspect (I've had a H interpreted
as a D) and occasionally they were told bum information - especially
ages. The enumerators sheets were then rewritten into the books
we have today, which themselves have been transcribed into the online
indexes now available. To top that off, the transcribing of the
books are generally done using cheap labour - normally by our friends
in the Asian Sub-Continent... To find that missing family member,
you may have to think outside the box and search using the 'what
if?' principle.
The censuses are good, especially nowadays, as they
are searchable and go back a fair distance. Sometimes though people
appear and disappear within the ten years, get married, move and
then die. If you know a location and rough date, parish records
are the next good source. Available from that area's local records
office, access is generally free though you do have to travel to
get there. These will often give names and addresses to births,
deaths, marriages and burials.
Since 1837 it is law to record all births, marriages
and deaths to the civil authorities. Indexes commonly known as the
GRO's or St Catherines Index, group the records into quarterly volumes
(Jan-Mar, Apr-Jun etc). These indexes list the person, quarter and
town/district the event occurred. In later years, the indexes also
included the age at death and the mother at birth. On their own
they give little info, however, if you're certain you have identified
someone, you can apply for a copy of the relevant certificate. These
cost £7.00 each (if you have the index number) and are available
via the General
Record Office. The indexes are available online at a cost via
findmypast.com,
or for free at freebmd
(the indexes are still being transcribed therefore is not complete).
Prior to 1837, it is more diffcult to search, and
will require a bit of legwork. Some parish registers are available
via the LDS
site, but in the main you will have to go to the local record office
and trawl through the records. You will find the archivists there
are generally helpful and knowledgeable.
I strongly suggest making use of message boards, mailing
lists and forums. These can cover many things including specific
surnames, occupations and locations. Either do a search, or post
a message. There are now a couple of sites that cross reference
your family tree data with others and provide you with possible
hits. These have become very popular in the last year or so and
have provided me with a large number of contacts.
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