Genealogy Chat

I didn't even know the name of my late dad's parents as they died when he was very young. I had to order a copy of his birth certificate to get their names. After that I was away.

Hi Georgina I had the same problem, grandparents all dead and parents could not remember the names of thier grandparents! My mum used the excuse that in those days, they were just referred to as 'grandma' or 'grandpa' rather than Nanar Winnie or Grandad Frank like my brother and I used. and first names were generally not used! I knew that two of my grandparents had died in the last 20 years so I searched on 1837online for their deaths. If they have died since 1984, the death record gives their exact date of birth. This then enabled me to find the births in the index and allowed me to order their birth certificates. After this it became far easier as their parents (my great grandparents) were all on the 1901 census. Annoyong thing was, once I had found my greatgrandparents, my mum went 'Oh yes, Ethel Pointon, I knew she was a Pointon and I had an idea it could have been Ethel'........!!! Hope this helps Sam

Georgina - just start where you know! Presumably you know your grandparents' names (if only the married names), start with these and you should be able to find their births in the index, also marriage. You may have to guess on dates a bit, but try to work back from your parents' birth dates etc. Once you have names for all your grandparents, the tree starts to open up a bit and you can decide to go down one 'branch' or have a bash at them all! Good Luck.

Georgina Ask your parents to look at there marriage certificate, or if you know the date order one for yourself. Sometimes relations are witness.

help, all grandparents are dead and parents cant remember much, so where do i start to go further back with my tree? i dont know my great grandparents names! which seems strange that my parents cant rember. please can any one help?