am i related

[spacecake]

I was wondering weather I perhaps am related to Lord Ashley, Earl of Shaftsbury? My Fathers surname was
Ashley - his full name was Edwin Langford Ashley, he was born in South Africa but I know his mother and father were British. I am now living here in Britian and wanted to trace my ancestors but dont know how

[Aura]

Perhaps you could try http://www.bbc.net.uk/history/familyhistory/vi deo_howto/ or

http://familytree.genesreunited.co.uk/ which is good.

It may steer you in the right direction. Hope this is ok for you.

[andrew1707]

Lord Ashley's surname was actually Cooper so this makes a link less likely,
To trace your ancestors you will be best starting out by getting as much info on your grandfathers and grandmothers as possible such as date of birth, marriage and death. If you parents have any old birth certs etc these will be very handy. For the rest you can obtain copies from the GRO http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/.
Other web sites I have found useful are:

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search/framese t_search.asp
and
http://www.1901censusonline.com/search.asp?wci =person_search

Good luck and I hope this was useful

[spudqueen]

The best way to start to trace your ancestors is to contact your own relatives. Gather as much information from them as you can. Some of them may have old photos, birth/marriage/death certificates or even old grave papers. Take copies of as many as you can and then work backwards. Try also www1837online.com