how can I go about finding out about my family tree?

Question

My mum wants to know about my family history but I don't know where to get all the information, please help!

Answer 1

Hey Nikki,

One person above told you to talk to your eldery relatives. Also, collect any documents they have and take copies. Birth, Death, Obits, Marriage certificates and wills, deeds, probate. Those are the records that are quite valuable as a start.

Then get organized. Use a free or small price genealogy software package. Look at your tree, and start at you - fill in your parents information, then go to your grandparents. Get each one of them. You should be able to get that information.

Get vital records for your Grandparents! If they are deceased (sorry), get obituraries - that usually lists their parents and where they were born. Now you have info on your 1st GGrandparents. So, you have begun the quest.

Keep plugging. You can find the rest in all kinds of places, libraries, internet (TONS of SiTES as was said above also).

USE GENFORUM to find Surname discussions. Use LDS Family Search for deceased all over the world. You said "Mum" above, so I guess you have English roots (just a guess), which means you have extensive assistance via the web sites below:

If you get stuck, ask a question with some specifics to it, people here will help.

Answer 2

Hi

It's very easy as long as you use all of the resources together - using just one website doesn't always get the best results. I've managed to trace my tree back to the 1740s using these:

www.ancestry.com
www.ukbmd.org
www.familysearch.org
www.genesreunited.co.uk

First, you need to ask living relatives to see if they know names / dates / places of your grandparents, great grandparents. You can use www.ukbmd.org to check dates of birth, marriage etc, and to find out their spouse's maiden names if you don't know them already.

Once you've traced back to the late 1800s, early 1900s, you can start looking on the Census on www.ancestry.com. The census is taken every 10 years, so my advice would be to search 1901 first (this is the most recent census published). Then go back 10 years at a time. The earliest census was 1841. Using census records you can also find out what your ancestors did for a living.

Then, to look back before census records, use www.familysearch.org, which is an easy way to search through parish church records (christenings, marriages and burials). Check back on the other websites at the same time to make sure the info you're getting is correct.

I've used www.genesreunited.co.uk just to keep track of everything - it has a great system for you to keep a personal profile for all your relatives and build a tree, so you can record all the info you have about each of them.

All in all, it's a really rewarding experience - just stick at it!

Good luck

Answer 3

Start by asking all elderly relatives. Get as many dates and place names as possible.

Ring up the local Mormon Family History Centre. Maybe under Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in the phone book. Dont worry they wont try and convert you.

You'll need to book a film reader. Start with St. Catherines records which cover births deaths and marriages. They will help you if you get stuck

Take a pad of paper and a pencil. Make sure you take names etc with you.

I researched mine on and off for years, and its not a cheap hobby.

Answer 4

Hi There!

There are lots of internet sites that can help you trace your family tree. I have managed to trace four branches of my tree back to the late 18th century just by using internet sites.

Start by talking to all of your older relatives. Ask for their memories and write them down. (It is amazing how family strories can give clues to the past) Gather as many certificates as you can get your hands on. Birth certificates give informatin on the childs mother and father. Marriage certificates give information on the names and occupations of both the bride and grooms fathers and death certificates will record who registered the death.

I got all of my information via three sites, genes reunited, ancestry.com and the Mormons web sites. (Details in previous posts) Genes reunited tells you when someone else has the same names on their tree. If you have a match it can save months or years of research and you can find a long lost relative or two (As I have) Ancestry.com gives you free access to the 1881 census and access to 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1891, 1901 census for a fee.

I think that should give you enough to get on with. Once you start you will become an expert quite quickly.

Good Luck

Answer 5

I started purely out of curiosity.

I found out that my gran, grandad, and several other relatives were all mentioned on one gravestone.

I did a bit of digging about and found other relatives and then got in touch with a genealogist to see if I was heading in the right direction and that the information was correct and he filled in the gaps.

I found out that people who I though were family friends were actually related. I also found out that both my mum and dad had brothers and sisters that I knew nothing about.

You yourself can check local churches which have Parish Records. The National Registrars and the Census which I think is now up to 1901 in England and Wales. You could also ask relatives and friends about your family.

Answer 6

I have been doing genealogy for several years and agree with all of the responses you have received. I just wanted to tell you that when I FIRST started, I went to different search engine sites and typed in the first and last name, i.e.{ "JOHN F. JONES" name search} w/out the { }. I was amazed at how many hits I got. Alot of them included those that were recommended, to you, by the others. It will take time to go through to find one that is close to what you want. Best search engines I used were: Copernic (You can download for free), Dogpile, Google, and the old, Ask Jeeves. Good Luck

Answer 7

Go to the registrars office checking birth certs death certs & marrige certs. Thats a good source of info, Also ask different family members what they know. There are also loads on websites for this kind of thing.
Sometimes your surname can be a give away.
I know a fella who,s surname is RINGROSE ( as in ring a ring of roses, which is a reference to the great plague of London ) I asked him if his name was a reference.He said his family were Doctors @ that time.

Answer 8

Hook up to Genes reunited it's a great site and it's really helped me with my family tree. Also go along to your local archives the have given me a wealth of information

Answer 9

Genealogy is one of the biggest hobbies going on the
internet. Here are some good links to start:

Cyndi's List - All the good links are here
http://www.cyndislist.com/

Genealogy Beginners Start Here
http://www.cyndislist.com/beginner.htm

Rootsweb - Search your surname for Free
http://www.rootsweb.com

Family Search Search Mormon Records for Free
http://www.familysearch.org

Choose Genealogy Records By by State
http://www.rootsweb.com/~ote/usa_genealogy/

Free Ship Passenger Lists
http://olivetreegenealogy.com/ships/tousa_index.shtml

Answer 10

As others have told you, internet is one option, then go ask your granparents and old aunts and uncles. Where you live, there must be some kind of institution (Municipality?) where they keep official documents. I went to local Church (before 2000), where they keep documents for 100 years back. They have also advised me to go to central Church (in the city, diocese), where they keep older documents than 100 years. But this is the case for my country, maybe you'll get an idea. Those auld books are very interesting and there is logics how to search them. In my case it was like this: Status Annimarum (the register of family members per house), Book of baptism (here you get the names of parents, see further: bride and groom), Book of marriages (here you get again names of bride and groom and their parents), Book of death (as confirmation of birth date and house number). And then you play with these sources. At baptism, there are always parents' names, you assume they have married up to 10 years before, this gives you approximate date of marriage, search for it, at marriage you have bride and groom names, etc. Nice play with books of 200 or 300 years old. What can also help you is the origin of your family name. Maybe there is a village or town with the same name, go ask in the Church there for their archives. In case if it is also geographical name, then search for its origin (i.e. when it first appeared on the maps, in references, etc.).
This is how I did and got back to 1720, but have not discovered the origin of my family name, even though Slovenia is small and even though my family name (Gaspirc) belongs only to my family (not like Nowak, Kovacs, etc. when many non-related families have it). What I have found, is my distant relative who lives in Brooklyn, US. He can be found on the net under Gaspirtz (we have met). Our grandparents were cousins, when one lived in Slovenia and one in Germany (this one left to US). Go on, good luck, this is very interesting thing.