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Help me please

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Leila

Leila Report 21 Feb 2011 19:55

Hi i really wan to start building my tree and looking further back, i am an absolute beginner, so if anyone can point me in the direction of an idiots guide to ancestry that would be great, books, websites, how to search etc etc as i said i have not got a clue,
many many thanks

leila

Gwyn in Kent

Gwyn in Kent Report 21 Feb 2011 20:12

Golden rule number 1
Start with what you know. ie. Your own birth, then take each step back in stages.
Talk to older members of the family. Log their comments but it may not be 100% fact..... There is often some truth there though, so it can give clues.

Your parents marriage certificate will show the names of their fathers and the witness names can be useful too, as they are often relatives.

Soon you will be back to the era when it might be possible to search online lists.
Freebmd is very useful and covers dates from about 1837 to 1940, but as GRO records are gradually being transcribed by volunteers, it is not complete.

http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/cgi/search.pl

There are several threads about starting out.
Read too the guidelines on each section message page on GR.and ask for help as you go.

Gwyn

Madmeg

Madmeg Report 21 Feb 2011 23:44

Hi Leila

How sensible of you to seek advice before you start.

Gwyn and Janet have given good advice. Find you parents' marriage and then you have your grandfathers. If you know who the grandfathers married, then check out those marriages on Free bmd, or if you can't find them, come back to this thread and people will help.

You should then have four grandparents. So the next thing is to locate each pair's marriage and find the names of their fathers. Four great grandfathers. You may need to buy certificates to be sure - and at this point it is better to be sure, than to guess. So it is generally money well spent. You might also find the births of these great grandfathers, and might need their birth certificates to confirm the maiden names of their mothers.

That will lead you back to the earlier generation, by which time you might be able to find information from census records to help you go back further.

But at no stage should you guess. If in doubt, get certificates. It is safer in the long run.

Any problems, post on here and we will help.

Meg