Family History Home Page

A basic start to your family history is to talk to your older relatives before it's too late. Make a note of what they tell you, including past events and places - as these may reveal much needed clues.

Sometimes, for many reasons, members of a family may not tell something as it truly is; it may be some detail has been passed down by word of mouth, or that an argument has caused a family rift.

Old photographs and photograph albums can also be a good source of information. Though, people tend not to give any indication as to who the people in the photographs are.

Only start with the information you are certain is true and work from there, otherwise you could find yourself on a totally wrong track.

When you have gathered all the existing information from your family, start with all the details in birth, marriage and death certificates. These give vital information about maiden names, fathers names and occupations. A witness may also be a relative.

Always remember someone may well have lived all their life in one part of the country, yet actually have been born in another. There could be relatives in the birth areas as well. This often occurred in times of war - such as the 1940's, when not only children were evacuated, but young families moved to stay with relatives in the countryside.

In the mid-Victorian period large numbers of workers, especially from the industrial cities of England emigrated to America to work in the mills. Subsequently, Canada and Australia were popular countries.

Tracing your ancestry not only involves researching their births, marriages and deaths, but also the places in which they lived and worked and their relation to local history.

It may be fairly easy to trace a professional family (e.g. lawyers, officers of the army or navy), but it becomes more difficult the lower down the social scale they are. Class distinction in the past was far more marked than today.

Using abbreviations will become a necessity as you gather more and more information:
b. born d. died unm. unmarried bapt. baptised dau. daughter =. married bur.buried
s. son g.f. grandfather wdr. widower w. widow h. heir inf. infant ynr. younger