I assume most people, like me, wonder who their ancestors were. Where they came from, what they did. Anyone famous or notorious in the family? Maybe a need to prove connections for legal or medical reasons............
For the most part, genealogy has become much easier in the last few years, with records for most people of British or Irish decent being available on the net.
But, where to start? First and most important, talk, write, visit. Simple really, and can be very enjoyable. Start with the oldest relatives you can find, even if only a parent or grandparent. Its a great excuse to visit, and a nice way to re-establish contact if for some reason the family has drifted apart. Take a cake or flowers for maximum conversation!
Make notes of everything, make sure that it is ok with the people you are talking to, give a few days warning if visiting so that they have time to think or find old letters, bibles, or hopefully copies of Birth/Death/Marriage certificates. Old photos are also a brilliant way to jog memories and start a story about a relative. If possible take copies or make lots of notes, write on the backs of photographs in pencil with dates, places, names, jobs they did, even if you know who they are, the next generation probably wont! If you get on well, take more photographs for your children's children! Old family friends can also be a source of knowledge.
Make sure you get the maiden or unmarried names of grandmothers etc, this provides another line to follow. Most people follow their own surname first, but even at grandparent level there are four families who each have an equal share of your heritage. If you are lucky, you may have an unusual surname, and your family will have lived in the same area for generations. Ask questions of Cousins, Aunts and Uncles, if you are fortunate one of them will already have done some research, saving you a lot of time and effort. If you have information, share! Most people have a slight interest in their ancestors, sharing what you know will often jog memories and give you fresh clues to pursue.
When all living relatives have been contacted and hopefully given you plenty of information, it is time to start with the internet.
Thankfully, the British, with their sense of order and organisation, have carried out a National Census every ten years since 1801. The first three were destroyed but from 1841 through to 1901 these are now mostly available online. The Census gives a huge amount of information, including address, names of occupants in a particular house, ages,and occupations.
For an easy introduction go to the LDS (Latter Day Saints or Mormons) website which has the UK 1881 census online free. They also have USA and Canadian census. The site will not spam you or try and sell you anything, its purpose is to find relatives of LDS members so that they can retrospectively be made members of the Church. This site will give you a lot of information about anyone living in 1881, some of the children listed here could easily be great grandparents of yours, they can hopefully be followed through later census as they age, marry, have children etc.
Once you have checked this site, you will either be bitten by the bug and move to other, usually paid for sites, or you will decide to let them be, to be discovered by another generation!
The LDS site is completely free, most others require a credit card to access some of the information. |
