Family History: Home

I've designed this website with the novice or hobbyist in mind, because this is the route I've taken myself. I've aimed to include as much useful information as possible, and I plan to keep these pages updated as I come across anything useful that I think may help other people with their research.

I know it will sound obvious or cliched, but it really is best to start with the details you already know, and work backwards, it doesn't matter if the details are fragmented or very few, because everyone has to start somewhere.

From personal experience, I have been lucky enough to know both sets of grandparents, and three of my great-grandparents. By the time I'd turned 18, my great-grandparents had all passed away, and I appreciate now that back then I wasn't mature enough to appreciate the world through their eyes, so I probably missed out on their wisdom and how different life would have been for them.

I've found that by gradually building up my family tree through various means of online research and speaking to family members, it has helped me build a picture, and - perhaps bizarrely - get to "know" my ancestors through birth, marriage, death certificates and census records. These records put the meat on the bones of your tree.

When I began researching my family history, I registered for free on three genealogy sites, and started building my family tree on each one. This was because I wanted to see what each site could offer me in terms of research, and I always find the proof is in the pudding.

As time has gone on, I've remained an active subscriber with just one website to keep costs down, and try to use the internet as creatively as possible for further research.

It's worth registering on any of the mainstream genealogy websites (Genes Reunited, Ancestry, The Genealogist and Find My Past are some of the most popular websites that spring to mind).

It may also be a good idea to pay for a basic subscription or pay-per-view credits, because having the ability to search and view records is enough to get the ball rolling.

As time goes on, and you become more confident, you may decide to research independently of a professional research website.

Always keep a reference of potential research areas in your tree as you work through. It's a good way of keeping on track and brainstorming. I use Evernote for my research notes:

The cost aspect is really down to personal preference, it depends how you want to approach your research.

You can expect to pay for birth, marriage and death certificates since they are official documents. Census records and parish records also come at a small cost, but with family research websites cropping up everywhere, there's also lots of information that is freely available.