family tree

[pusskin]

Have you looked up family tree?

If so, where did you start?

Did you go to "london metropolitan archives"

We went there yesterday to start our search, looking up on microfish!

We got my husbands nan and grandads date of burial,
and thats all so far.

where would you go from here please.

Any suggestions ?

[dot.haukes]

You shoulod go to your local library and ask to use the free computers there to look online at the free access ancestry.co.uk library edition where you can look at the civil registration index of birth death and marriage in england and wales from July 1837. and also the census returns for england and wales from 1841 - 1901.
You can use the 1911census.co.uk site to look for your grandparents .

You looked at microfiche not microfish, what record was that? was it the London burial index project?

[dot.haukes]

there is a genealogy topic under the history section here
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< and there is lots of advice for beginners in there

[pusskin]

many thanks for that doc haukes.
will write that info down on paper.

But why use library for info?
Cant you use p.c. from home?

saying that -- I'm not that clever on p.c, so maybe i'd be better off using library p.c.

thanks very much x

[ChuckFickens]

LOL :)

I wouldn't normally be picky about spelling, but it's microfiche, microfish would be very small animals that live in water :)

[dot.haukes]

i always suggest beginners use the free library edition of ancestry.co,uk at first, you can pay �65 or so for a years subscription and spend the first 3 months trying to learn how the records and indexes and site works, at the library you can use the same indexes and sources on that site for free! It's still using a computer, but you are not wasting your own money learning not just about how the records work, but how to use ancestry.co.,uk.

You should start making your own records of everyone still living in your family, then make contact with as many as possible asking if anyone knows who has inherited the family records or certificates, there is always someone who has the 'biscuit tin' or old handbag/suitcase. Start finding our what area your ancestors were from and what occupations they had, this will help you narrow down your searches online.

Keep each line in a separate A4 file and work on one line at a time until you hit a brick wall and then move to another line and work on that until you can find a solution.

You can register your interest in your family names and locations at various sites, genesreunited is a good one but to exchange info costs money.

If you know where any of your relatives are buried and can get to the graveyard or cemetary, there is often useful information on gravestones which is not always in burial registers or on death certificates.

It is free to look at local newspapers on mictifilm in your local library and these may give info on births deaths and marriages for your family and are often indexed.

[dot.haukes]

yeah chuck I pointed that one out!!! I think you need to get your family background info organised first pusskin before you start searching online, people don't always relaise how common most names are and you need to be able to validate an ancestor before you add them to your tree

[ChuckFickens]

oh yeah, sorry dot, I hadn't spotted you'd already pointed it out,

I wouldn't normally comment on misspellings, but that one did make me chuckle :)

[perose]

I have done all my research at home on my PC, and I now have 2,500 entries on my tree. I found Genes Re United very useful as you may find others that are also researching your family ! Don't always take other peoples info as correct, always double check as I made mistakes when I first started ! Other sites to use - Free BMD Free Cen and Family Search . org and of course Ancestry which is well worth paying for. Good luck with your research, allow plenty of time and patience !

[pusskin]

Thank you so much everyone for answering my question.

I'll head off to library in the morning , to book an hour on their p.c. and will go from there.

Thank you all so much x pusskins

p.s. I have several, marriage- birth- death certificates to work from .

What i really would like to know is --

who was my granny and grandads parents, on both sides!
Should be very interesting to know about them . x

[Wak]

If you need an excellent FREE program to keep all the family history in then look at the Personal Ancestral File available from the Latterday Saints web site at www.familysearch.org.

[realaleman]

Hi Pusskin

I've just recently discovered an excellent tv progamme called Heir Hunters on BBC1 9:15am every day. The guys at this firm usually get a quite complicated family tree together before lunchtime most days. The methods they use are really fairly simple and you could probably utilise some of them.

Best of luck with your search

Geoff

[pusskin]

Hi everyone --
so sorry for delay in answering !

Yes, we've both been watching "heirhunters" every day --
fantastic programme, really amazing!
They make it look so easy tracing people.

I will, some time today, look up the www.familysearch.org that we didnt know about, hoping that will bring up something new for us to look at.
Him indoors (haha) is taking over , and thats amazing because he's useless on p.c. never goes on it !!!

thank you all soooo much ! x pusskins

[solera]

The key document is Birth certificate this gives parents and you can get copies for �7=00from the registrar where they were born,you may find that your local library can assist or direct you to a Family research centre, if you are in Surrey they are in Woking, best of luck for an absorbing hobby.

[dot.haukes]

Birth registrations do indeed give you alot of information, but the system was only introduced in Englanmd and Wales in 1837 and so before that date the Parish Registers of baptism and marriage are the main source, these have been transcribed by the Mormon Church decades ago onto the IGI and most counties are included, the registers from 1537 are included for most counties and searching those registers that are included on the IGI is easy on the familysearch.org website.

[Yes-Sam]

I agree with you Dot.

I studied my family tree a few years ago and one invaluable source of information was talking to as many elderly relatives as I could find, Sorry but you never know how long they are going to be with us!
The knowledge that would have been lost was astonishing and one contact led to another then another.
Apparently my great,great,great Uncle was fired as a stable boy after having an affair with the Estate owners daughter!
This information came from an 92 year old uncle! It also gave me a number of new leads. Sadly he died 3 months later.
I also met members of my family I had never met before.

Sam

[pusskin]

Hiya folks -- how very very interesting to read all that !
Many thanks.

My dads aunt (yrs ago) jumped off Tower bridge , and committed suicide. (dad told me yrs ago)

My gandads father, married an aborigine. Not sure who came over from Aussie. Him or her.
Wished I could read newspapers of all that happened.

I can quite see how searching for people can be really gripping.

Mu hubbie's even more hooked on it than me!
(great surprise)

Thank god that they recorded all the information for us to catch up on, years and years later!

bye for now x pusskins