Genealogy - anybody do it?

CarMac

CarMac

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Carla
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Anybody into genealogy?

How's best to start?

Any tips/pointers?
:)
 
wife does it, try this and this. Any more will ask the wife.
 
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My wife does it. She suggests that firstly (even if seems a simple reply) is to get as much information from family members as you possible can. Things like place of birth, d.o.b.

A helpful site is ancestry.co.uk (is a subscription site). If you are looking specifically in Derbyshire than this might help:
http://www.genealogy-links.co.uk/html/derbys.html
 
Thanks for the replies, so far. And the links - that's given me something to look at for starters.

Had seen the ancestry.co.uk website but it was down when I tried to look yesterday.

Ta for the link re: Derbyshire but I'm only a resident here, my family are from oop north!

Will get my mum on the job in terms of tracking down what info we can find.
 
I did a bit of this and managed to trace one side of my family back for many generations in Dorset ( Wootton Fitzpaine). I went there and found some old family gravestones.

As others have said, talk to all your extended family to see if anyone else has information. I found that one of my cousins had done some research. Speak to the oldest members of the family as they may not be around too long and all their knowledge will go with them.I also used Ancestry.co.uk. They are good for making a family tree and are not too expensive. I joined just for a few months at about £10 a month I think. Birth and marriage certificates are also useful and can be obtained fairly cheaply.

Have fun
 
Yes, I do. So far I've traced one line back to the 17th century. My best advice (and it might sound obvious) is start with what you know and work back slowly, triple-checking everything with different sources as you go.Be wary of family tales that tell of long-lost rich relatives or family that were on the Titanic etc, a lot of people end up chasing the wrong family line and ignoring facts to make their family history fit the story and end up with a work of pure fiction.

Don't rely on stuff that has already been posted on the likes of genesreunited.co.uk etc as being gospel either- once an error is in the system it ends to get repeated over and over again until it becomes "fact"- the same error can be posted on numerous different sites and ends up being used to verify itself.

To give you an example, everyone I contacted that was researching one particular line in my family was stuck on a couple called John Kennedy and Margaret Campbell, everything was there, from the marriage certificate through to the first child's birth certificate and everything looked correct, except that the dates of birth etc were slightly out, not by much, maybe a few days or months in most cases, but close enough where it could be put down to transcription error.

Everybody else assumed this was just a transcription error, including one woman in Australia who had been stuck at that point for 7 years, however when I requested a copy of the marriage cert it tuned out to be a different couple - same names, same children's names, originally from the same town in Fife as my family (so probably related) and married in the same church in Edinburgh, but a different occupation for the husband. Only once I had done a bit of checking and uncovered both families in different towns in the same later census was I able to trace the correct line any further back.

It can be great fun uncovering all the family's dark secrets (I've found a few skeletons in the closet :lol:) so if you need any assistance drop me a pm :thumbs:
 
Wow. 17th century? That's a fair way back.

Thanks for the offer of help. I'll certainly take you up on that if the need arises.

Time to talk to my mum I think....her brother is now the oldest in the family as all the grandparents have been long gone.
 
Good advice above. I have got back to the 17th century, I have some earlier ones but unable to link yet.

Expect incorrect info - I was searching a census for Gradwick and eventually I had to search using the first names and then check each result. I finally found them with the name spelt Gradwher!

For a good "getting started guide" try the BBC!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/familyhistory/
 
Me and the wife have done it for years we have various lines of the family back to 16th century but some of this still needs to be qualified. We use a lot of sites mainly Ancestory, freebmd, mormon site familysearch amongst others. It gets addictive once you start!
 
While I remember, is there anyone in the Stockton/Middlesborough area that could help me with a bit of local research?
 
once you start to gather data, build up a tree

years ago i downloaded a "freebie" called Geno Pro from

http://genopro.net/

easy to use - and it auto moves the boxes in the grid to suit the best layout
 
I read the thread title far to quickly.

My brain filled in the gaps and ...........

well, can you see where this is going ........ ?
 
The other half has done hers and got back quite a way. The only problem is that we don't know if her grandad on her fathers side is her grandad, or her granma's first husband. and he died a while ago, and we think we have found relatives but can't be sure. Also broke ancestry as the brother of her grandma's second husband married one of the grandma's children, and became her own aunt...........
 
If you mean "OOP north" as in Scotland and your avatar.. this is what you need...

scotlandspeople

another good site is the war graves project http://twgpp.org/search.php

which is useful as like most of us you will have had a grandfather / great uncle who died in France 1914 - 1918.. and its free to search.
 
Not that far 'oop north' although my step-grandad was scottish.

Some more useful links - thanks :)
 
There are quite a few free programs for recording family trees but I would recommend buying Family Historian, the latest version costs about £35 and it does all you want, plus more.
There is an active user group with advice, tips and plug in downloads.
 
I’ve done this in fits and starts over the past few years – too much in one go and I end up going round in circles and getting frustrated. Just enough detective work at any one time is really rewarding but it’s easy to get hooked!

A friend with a subscription to Ancestry.com helps out but I generally start with free internet sites like:

http://www.freebmd.org.uk/

http://www.familysearch.org/ENG/search/frameset_search.asp


I then go and look at parish records/visit churches and graveyards where possible. As others have said, info from older family members is absolutely invaluable.

Since I became keen on photography I’ve found not just tracing people interesting, but also the buildings where they lived or worked. My ancestral home (nothing stately, just a large farm house) is not only still standing but inhabited – and it was built in 1436! :eek:


Flash In The Pan said:
While I remember, is there anyone in the Stockton/Middlesborough area that could help me with a bit of local research?
Click to expand...
Sorry Flash, too far away from me but happy to help anyone looking for stuff in and around Melton Mowbray and south Nottinghamshire :)
 
Alison said:
I’ve done this in fits and starts over the past few years – too much in one go and I end up going round in circles and getting frustrated. Just enough detective work at any one time is really rewarding but it’s easy to get hooked!

A friend with a subscription to Ancestry.com helps out but I generally start with free internet sites like:

http://www.freebmd.org.uk/

http://www.familysearch.org/ENG/search/frameset_search.asp


I then go and look at parish records/visit churches and graveyards where possible. As others have said, info from older family members is absolutely invaluable.

Since I became keen on photography I’ve found not just tracing people interesting, but also the buildings where they lived or worked. My ancestral home (nothing stately, just a large farm house) is not only still standing but inhabited – and it was built in 1436! :eek:



Sorry Flash, too far away from me but happy to help anyone looking for stuff in and around Melton Mowbray and south Nottinghamshire :)
Click to expand...


I've been up and photographed the areas where most of my mother's side of the family come from (as far back as I have gone anyway), but most houses/farms have long since gone.

It's the "skeletons" that fascinate me, if I manage to get to the bottom of one in my mum's side of the family I'm going to write a book about it :lol:
 
Ooh that sounds intriguing!

Bought a big thick 'How to....' book today which also has a CD with software on. That's me sorted for tonight then!!
 
CarMac said:
Ooh that sounds intriguing!

Bought a big thick 'How to....' book today which also has a CD with software on. That's me sorted for tonight then!!
Click to expand...


It involves a high-up church official, Queen Victoria, counterfeiting and a shipwreck :lol:
 
Blimey!

Better get your Sherlock Holmes hat on!
 
My Father has spent the last few years tracing our family history. I'm pretty sure he's gone back as far as approx the year 850...! So far, he's found blood links on his side of the family with William the Conquerer... and on my mother's side with the Iron Lady herself :eek:

He travels the country to look at birth and death registers, grave yards, etc. and order copies of old certificates from records offices.

I'll have a chat with him later today to see where he gets most of his info, although he's got to the stage where it can take him months of research just to find one person or link.

It's a very satisfying little project, but you have to stick at it... when printed in full, our family tree is about 8' square, with my son at the bottom :D
 
D_Ninety said:
My Father has spent the last few years tracing our family history. I'm pretty sure he's gone back as far as approx the year 850...! So far, he's found blood links on his side of the family with William the Conquerer... and on my mother's side with the Iron Lady herself :eek:
Click to expand...


This is one of the problems (and I'm not saying your father hasn't found these links in your case), but almost everyone one comes across when doing geneaology claims their family is related to royality, or had a relative that went down on the Titanic etc.

It's all too easy to make the lineage fit the details you have - I did it myself initially with regard to the story in my previous post. The individuals involved actually belong to a different line (one is the brother of my direct ancestor) but the names are all the same and the dates of birth are similar.
 
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Suvv said:
There are quite a few free programs for recording family trees but I would recommend buying Family Historian, the latest version costs about £35 and it does all you want, plus more.
There is an active user group with advice, tips and plug in downloads.
Click to expand...

:plusone: This is what I use (and incidentally what the BBC use for their 'Who do you Think you are' series). It may be a bit far for you, but the live show in London next Month, may be a help if you get somewhere before then. I've never been, so I can't say what it's like.

I think the hardest part of searching your history is a common surname and a family that moves around a lot (just like one branch of my family). My's husband has been blessed with a branch that moved as far as the next village in the space of a few hundred years.

Sometimes it' easy, sometimes it's not, but overall it is fun, interesting and VERY addictive!
 
Well I started the project today by getting my mum to go through what she could remember about my dad's side of the family (which wasn't a great deal). My cousin's husband has already made a start on my mum's mother's side and got back to the 1800's so I've also got a copy of the part finished tree on that side.

Going to check out the links posted already and do a bit of research before I jump in with both feet! Looking forward to the challenge though. :)
 
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