Family History Advice

[bluemoon]

Sorry, this might be a long thread because it's a long story, but I'll try and keep it brief.
My cousin is emigrating to the USA, he's an only child and is a lot younger than my brothers and me, so my mum can see a time in the future when his parents have passed away and contact with his family here is either lost or tenuous. She's come up with the idea of tracing the family tree, then getting one of my brothers (who is a professional artist and hasn't actually been asked yet) to then draw it out. There's not many things you can give to someone who's about to leave everything behind as a going away gift so this might be one of her better ideas. Mum has made a start, but only because she wanted to find out about her grandfather who died in the great war. Now she's wanting to go as far back as possible (which actually means me going as far back as possible as she doesn't have the internet) I've looked at a few family history sites, but there are so many, which ones are the best? Some charge an annual fee, some ask you to buy credits, which would be the most cost effective? And where do I start?

[Capsid]

You could start with Genes Reunited

I have managed to recreate a lot of my tree on my mother's side by linking up with other user's of the site. I haven't used it in a while but you can get access to various censuses.

[kiwirach]

hi Bluemoon, i'm by no means an expert but have delved(sp?) into my tree from time to time. i would say if times of the essence, i'd sign up and pay for ancestry. from there you have access to loads of info, census records etc and can fill in lots of gaps. however to be truly accurate you need to order certificates to be sure you are onto and following the right people. i dont know if the credits is more cost effective as i've not used them.
i've only ever looked up via ancestry and LDS(mormons) and not ordered certs as that gets to costly for a not full time hobby!!.
as for where to start, start with your cousin(or you if you're interested) and work back.
it can be lots of fun and very addictive!.

[Dalavon]

Hi bluemoon,

I have been researching my family history for a while now, and have even helped a couple of other people get started. There are several sites you could use, but all give you access to different records. I have sent you quite a detailed personal message on the subject, so once you have read that, maybe you would like to get back to me, as I would love to help you get started.
Regards,
Dalavon.

[Seahorse]

Do you have any idea whether your family have always lived in Yorkshire? If they have (or even might/probably have) a visit to the County Archive would be a good start. The big advantage of that will be that they should have a genealogist (free service) who can point you in the right direction and advise re what is and isn't worth paying for.

[allotmentlady]

ancestry.co.uk I used this its a very good website and very helpful, quick to answr any queries too xxxx good luck

[quark1]

Do try

FreeBMD Home Page

This is an entirely free to use site which is being seeded by volunteer transcribers. It will go back to around 1850-ish and they're working forward. they've reached 1935-40ish at the 'youngest' end

There are also evolving sections for the 1891 census and some parish registers.

Also look out for message boards on ancestry, worldroots and others etc and search the messages and/or post your own. Scottish records are often more difficult to get direct access to and require you to be present or have a pretty good/close idea of the precise indexing of a record. I had a volunteer through ancestry who came over from Canada to Edinburgh do her annual research and dug up some very important info concerning my family.

With her help and that of other very kind people I was able to locate my natural mother (sadly 5 yrs too late) and her surviving husband, and, more recently, I have found her half-brother - my uncle. It seems that my mother (also adopted) and her brother new nothing of each other's status even though they were largely brought up together - the 2 mums being great friends - but even so they had an amazing affinity with one another. There is some possibility that we may be connected to some important families albeit 'wrong side of the blanket' with blood lines back to William the Conqueror and Mary Tudor! This last element has yet to be proven but there is strong evidence that at least one family in the 'frame' felt responsible enough to spend considerable moneys on the education of a servant girl back in the 1930's when you would have expected her to be cast out in shame.

If you are trying to track down specific people - possibly living or recently deceased don't be afraid to ask neighbours of any addresses you mightbe given.

Any photos you could add would be a tremendous addition to any compilation - also images of the areas where they people lived, worked and died. Census records will give huge insight into the sizes and occupations of family groups. If you enjoy this kind of thing it will be an enlightening and very educational experience.

Another good source and one I've become so aware of in my search is - Talk to the living while you can! Indelicate maybe - but they will hold a mine of info which once they've said their final goodbye may be lost forever. Ask the oldest if there are any family bibles which was a favourite place to record important family events. Diaries etc. Backs of photos for dates, places, names - sometime folk were known by other names other than their birth name which could make it tricky.

Be warned - you could end up spending a lot of dosh on certificates - this may be the only way you can prove connections on the tree you construct.

To cut down costs I would advise you to go to a local library and use their Librarian version of Ancestry. This will give you the access you would otherwise pay for - downside is you can only use from a public library and the computer slot may be subject to booking in advance.

Good luck - and I'm sure the recipient will love this gift - keep a copy for your own family and keep adding to it.

[Two_Sheds]

I have traced my own tree back to the 1600s (I was lucky in that my ancestors were professional people and wrote things down!)

By all means use the internet, but never trust anything. People make assumptions and guesses ... don't believe something until you see a real document, but it does get expensive (I have spent a small fortune on copy certificates: births, deaths, marriages).

[SarzWix]

I hope for your sake that the family name isn't Brown... That's what I've been trying to work with on my Dad's side! I've given up! On Mum's side, one line (Meldrum) has been recorded back to the 1700s, but I've lost another line in Bradford where they had a habit of calling the eldest males the same Christian name and I don't know which one of 3 cousins is my G-grandfather until I get round to ordering a birth certificate.

[Alison]

I use Ancestry.co.uk a lot and find it well worth the subscription but it does depend on where your family are from. Most of mine are England born and bred so I don't need to look up many other records but if you have a lot of overseas relatives then a different site may be better. I think you can still have a 7 day (or whatever) trial which would be worth it as it would enable you to have a try out. As already said, the Mormon's site is good but can be error prone. Also, agree with comment re don't believe a word you're told without proof. Somebody in my OH's family told me loads of "facts" about the family. Every one of them turned out to be rubbish and, whilst worth investigating, were a blind alley. Think that she liked to elaborate on half facts and wanted the family to be a bit more glam (think murderers and bigamists!) whereas actually it was more mundane (and respectable, really!). I've not found Genes Reunited very useful as I seem to know more than most of the people that are asking me and have noted that quite a lot of them just seem to copy sections of my tree without checking anything out. Now I prove anything I input but they don't know that so, again, I always check any leads from other sites.

[BumbleB]

I hope for your sake that the family name isn't Brown... That's what I've been trying to work with on my Dad's side! I've given up! On Mum's side, one line (Meldrum) has been recorded back to the 1700s, but I've lost another line in Bradford where they had a habit of calling the eldest males the same Christian name and I don't know which one of 3 cousins is my G-grandfather until I get round to ordering a birth certificate.

I was born a Meldrum !

[bluemoon]

Thank You, everyone! Had a visit from the you-know-what-fairy this morning, so I'll read and take this all in later.
Thank you all again.

[nick the grief]

Easy - win the lottery, they'll all find you then

You don't need to do it online, a lot of libraries hold fiches of IGI records for counties and Census records. Getting back to 1800's is relatively easy ( unless you have an ancestor called Smith like me!) then the trawling gets harder