By Claire Symonds
With mobile phones ringing at every inopportune moment, Blackberry handsets alerting us to yet another urgent email from the office and the trial of choosing what to watch on the 400 TV channels we have at home, it is no wonder that more and more of us hanker back to the more simple times of our ancestors. And since the recent hit TV show Who Do You Think You Are, where celebrities trace their family histories, genealogy has become more popular than ever.
Tracing back a family tree can be a pretty daunting task. But, what used to be a hard slog of sifting through paper work and sorting the mythical family tales from the hard facts is now at least, with the advent of the internet and its many resources, a much easier task.
"Make the most of a big family event such as a wedding or reunion to talk to older members of the family and prise their stories out of them."
So where to start? With the potential to search back for generations, what steps on to the family tree should you take first? Coutts Woman has done some of its own research to give you its top tips.
1) Start by buying a good genealogy book or some genealogy software that will help you keep an organised record of all the information you uncover. A good piece of software will be immensely helpful in organising all of the data you collect and in giving you easy access to records as you need to refer back to them. The Family Records Office website has reviewed some packages that you may find helpful.
2) Next make a note of everything you know about your family already – from your immediate family, to grandparents and great grandparents, and start sketching out your more recent family tree.
3) Make the most of a big family event such as a wedding or reunion to talk to older members of the family and prise their stories out of them. Make a record of what they tell you and note down any names or dates that you think may be significant. This could save you hours of research and there really is no better way of illustrating your family history than with first hand accounts.
4) Scour the files in your parents’ offices and dig out boxes from the attic to find any old birth, death or marriage certificates that will give you places and maiden names as another starting point. Wills and military records can also be a valuable source of background information and could also help verify any family stories. Some family members may also have held on to old letters, diaries or even wedding invitation lists which may also provide valuable clues to family members. Also look out for any dates of births, deaths or marriages that you may not have official documentation for. You will be able to get certificates for these for formal recording. (See links below)
5) Go through all the official records you can get your hands on to verify what you have already discovered and expand on any leads. A lot of information is now accessible on the Internet but much will be stored in libraries, record offices or family history centres. This is where you can access basic information on births, adoptions, marriages and deaths as well as census data and emigration and immigration information. (See below for more links)
6) Join a society. The The Federation of family History Societies (FFHS) is an educational charity which exists to represent, advise and support its membership of family history societies and other genealogical organisations worldwide. It has a list of all of the family history societies in the UK and a number overseas. Many family historians join both their local society and one or more societies in the areas where their ancestors lived, which can help you with your research in various ways and help you to contact others who are tracing the same family as you. You may also find a society also provides a great support network as well as gather even more hints and tips from more experienced researchers.
Useful Links:
Census Data:
The National Archives has put all of its census data from 1841 to 1901, online. This can be searched free of charge.
Birth, death and marriage certificates:
For England and Wales visit the Family Records Centre
In Scotland certificates are held by the General Register Office for Scotland
Wills:
For further information on wills and probate records in England and Wales, visit the Court Services website.
In Scotland visit the National Archives of Scotland
Immigration and Emigration
The National Archives has an abundance of information on immigration and a variety of information on emigration including ships passenger lists to various countries.
Other useful sources of information can be found at the following websites:
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