Genealogy Chat

Eileen, That is exactly how I started--my mother was an "orphan". That is all I knew, except that she was raised by a Jackson family, whose daughter I knew as "Aunt Ethel". I had vaguely absorbed the fact that her father was George Jackson but I never questioned who her mother was. Too late I wondered who she was. I ordered my mother's birth certificate, found her mother's name, and was then hooked on tracing the family Shipley! As long as you trace carefully back, proving each step of the way, you will have no problem. But, as others have said, do keep records! I wish someone had said that to me at the start! I made notes on scraps of paper which I then lost, and forgot where I had looked and where I found the info!! DO record your sources, even if they give negative results or you will repeat the same searches later---I know, because I have!! Good luck Wendy

Start organised! write down WHERE you get info from, save you looking the same place twice. Also write down where you were unsuccessful because no memory is infallible. Spend some time reading these boards you will pick up lots of tips. If you have a WHSmiths near go down and purchase a family history magazine there are many titles and they are a cheap and easy introduction with lots of useful advice. Don't expect too much to quickly , so much info is there but not always the bits you want! Don't jump to conclusions especially with common names as you might find yourself researching someone elses tree! (Like I did!) Go to your home page on this site and put any names in the name search box you never know someone else on the site may have info to help you!

Welcome to the madhouse! If you know when your mother died, you can get her death certificate which will give her age. You can then work out roughly when she was born and get her birth cert - this will give both parents and her mother's maiden name as well as her father's occupation. You can then look for their marriage cert, and then their birth certs and you should then be back to 1901 when you can find them on the census. nell

Hi Eileen Firstly, I suggest that you read the 'getting started' section on the home page. This gives excellent advice on how to start, which sites yo use etc and there are links to most of the websites you will need to use. Secondly, with the info you have already, you really need to get hold of your mother and fathers birth certificates. These will give you their parents names and horpfully enable you to start the search for your grandparents and beyond. If you can put you hands on these documents, excellent. if not, you will need to order the certificates from the GRO and these will cost you £7 each. You will need the reference number from the index to do this. You can either search the Birth/Marriage/Death indexes free at your local library or records office, or ytou can do it online at www.1837online(.)com - remove the brackets first. This is a pay per view site but worth it if you have a few things to search for. Or you could post a message giving details of the years your parents were born and whereabouts and I'm sure someone with a spare credit or two will look up the reference for you. Good luck Sam

Welcome! For those of us, like me, with the vast experience of all of several months experience ... ;-) ...it is a source of exasperation that recent "improvements" to the site have moved all the useful starting hints pages & links to the bottom of the Home page where no-one will find them without being told!! I recommend you have a look there, first, because the ideas (once you find them) are very helpful. Then do come back here to refine your searches. And don't forget that there's a thread-search function on these boards, so you can pick up ideas from other people who've had the same questions as you. And google (and the like) are very useful, too! I've found quite a lot just by googling. People have given me all sorts of info through these boards, so, yes, do come back! Good hunting! Christine

I have just started my Family Tree. I do not have much background on my mother or father's parents. My mother Eileen died in 1948 when I was 5 years old. I know her maiden name was Robin. My father George Ellis died in 1977. My paternal grandfather was killed in the 1914-1918 war when my grandmother was pregnant with my father. I do not know the christian names of my paternal or maternal grandfathers. I believe that my maternal grandmother was was Maude Robin and paternal grandmother Margaret Ellis. Any advice on where to start my research would be appreciated.