I am certain that I am not the first Genealogist to have written about the fundamental procedures in getting started on tracing your family tree. Currently it is one of the most popular hobbies/pastimes but like all hobbies, getting started is probably the most arduous task of all. It can be timeconsuming, costly, addictive and at times, very frustrating.
As an experienced Genealogist, it would be simple for me to say “employ someone like me to do it for you”, but that would not be quite so much fun as starting out yourself and no where near as rewarding. Perhaps, then, if you hit any brick walls or require advice, my services will be of benefit to you but as a first step why not contemplate discovering some of your own immediate ancestors to get you started and if you need any guidance, then please don’t hesitate to contact me.
So, Who Do You Think You Are? A Tinker, Tailor, Soldier or Spy? Are you from a notoriously wealthy family or the descendant of a small village community? Whatever your roots, there will be records to guide you in your quest to find out where your family came from and a little background into your ancestry.
The basic rule of genealogy is that you must always start with the present and try to work your way backwards. Do not pick out an individual and try to work your way forward. The best place to begin is by talking with the older members of your current family. Apart from dates of birth, death or marriage, other useful information to find out is addresses, religious denomination and occupations. Begin by talking to your parents or grandparents to see if they can remember their own parents or grandparents and note down everything you are told, no matter how irrelevant it may seem.
Your aim is to try and construct a basic family tree; family bibles are clearly useful as are old photographs, Churchyard memorial inscriptions, wills, diaries etc. Recollections can provide a useful starting point, (remember always to keep a clear record of the information you find) bearing in mind that information passed down orally can often become distorted. Always check the validity of these memories! Keep an account of any siblings in the event of having difficulty locating a birth for example, remember a brother or sister also had the same set of parents as your ancestor and if his/her birth was one of those elusive registrations, then one of their siblings may not have been.
Once you have a good idea of your immediate relatives you can acquire the detail of their births, marriages and deaths from visiting one of the many websites freely available and consequently obtain the certification. Civil Registration began in the UK in 1837 but was not compulsory until the mid-1860s. Unfortunately, the Indexes only give the very minimal data and the certificate needs to be purchased in order to glean all the information. A Birth certificate will name the place of birth, the parents’ names including the mother’s maiden surname, the father’s occupation and their place of residence at the time of the birth. A Marriage certificate is probably THE most useful source of information as this contains details about two respective families, including their father’s names and occupations, but also names of at least two witnesses to the marriage who are usually family members also. The Death certificate of course details the cause of someone’s death, where they died, their age at death and in the case of a female, what her husband’s name was, but like a marriage certificate it also indicates the name of the informant, ie the person who registered the death, who is often the next of kin or a very close relative. There are always exceptions to these rules of course, eg if a child was base-born (illegitimate) then it is unlikely a father’s name will appear and very often if a person died in an establishment, ie Workhouse or Infirmary, then it was often the “Occupier” (head of the establishment) who registered the death. Additionally, some of the information contained therein was not always accurate and this must be borne in mind when looking for supporting information.
Once the basic structure starts to appear then you can begin to “find” your family in the National Census Returns between 1841 and 1911. The National Census was taken every ten years (and still is) to provide the authorities with national statistics about the population. The early census records only gave names, places of residence, occupation and whether a person was born within or outside of the county of residence, however from 1851 onwards more information was included, most importantly the place where an individual was born together with his/her age. From this information it becomes much easier to locate the birth details of an individual and using basic detective skills it is not long before you can locate your ancestor in the household with his/her parents, thus giving you another generation to work on.
By working your way through the Census Returns you will soon begin to see a pattern emerge and you should take note of who was in the household each decade. The absence of children from around the age of 12 usually indicated they had been sent out to work in domestic service and of course by the time they reached the age of maturity the chances are they were married and had a home of their own, so checking the Indexes of Marriages or Deaths should show you if your ancestor was still alive and if so, whether they had married and moved on, possibly with a family of their own. Additionally, it was customary for a widowed mother or father to be taken in by one of their children as they reached mature life and the census records will indicate the marital status of any elders which, in the case of a widow or widower, will confirm that their spouse had died.
Before the introduction of civil registration in 1837, the local Parish Registers were kept by each parish for baptisms, marriages and burials and this was the only record of these events, many of which have survived and are lodged at the respective County Records Offices or Local Studies Archives. As before, when seeking births marriages and death it is possible to view parish registers, usually on microfiche, at the Records Office in the county where the event took place, and obtain copies for a small fee.
Other sources for family historians are Wills, Military information, Directories, local Newspapers, Poor Law records, Land Charges etc etc., all of which are obtainable through the local Library or Records Centre. The staff there is usually very helpful and will guide you in the right direction to try and locate additional information about your ancestor.
If it has not already become apparent, this is a slow and arduous procedure – a bit like piecing together a jig-saw puzzle, but if done methodically and carefully you will be rewarded with an accurate record of where your ancestors came from.
A Genealogist or Family History Researcher like myself can be good value for money in the event of you not wishing to spend your own time and energy tracking down your ancestors. Most professional genealogists have subscriptions to websites that are not readily available to everyone plus the benefit of years of experience in knowing where to make enquiries and locate the correct information.
At the end of the day my advice to anyone starting out would be “Leave No Stone Unturned” – it may just be the pebble under which you will find exactly what you are looking for.
If you have found this to be of interest and require some assistance with your own research, please do not hesitate to contact me.
