Are you related to Royalty?
Where do I start?
Talk to relatives, especially older ones. Diaries and letters between family members help place particular people. They might reveal their ages and places they have lived. Once you’ve spoken to relatives it’s all about records. Any records you have around the house can be useful too – especially birth, marriage and death certificates.
These do exist online on sites such as www.ancestry.co.uk but you can track down hard copies too. Most towns have an archive run by the local council. The National Archives is the main place to look.
How much do I need to know before I start my search?
You can start with just guesswork and eventually fill in the gaps with more accurate information.
What difficulties might I face?
The earliest records available online date back to the 1911 census but the most common difficulty is actually getting back to that date. It is a bit like detective work – it becomes a real mission.
What if my search leads to another country – are records as easily available outside the UK?
It can make the search harder but this is where the internet has become so important. Only 20 or 30 years ago you would have had to jump on a plane to look at a foreign archive. Now you can use the internet to access many overseas records. Online, there are 12 to 13 billion records available (and only one billion of those are UK records). They cover America, New Zealand, Australia, India and Germany. The records are growing all the time.
Immigration was well recorded, and there are accurate passenger lists giving the details of all those who sailed on a particular ship.
How far back can I go?
Census records go back to 1841 and the birth, marriage and death records go back to 1837. After that you have to look at parish records, which have been taken since Henry VIII founded the Church of England. It’s a bit harder and there is more work involved but you can trace back to the 16th century.
What are the costs?
A good way to do it cheaply is to look at the archive records yourself. If you know where your family is from, plan a trip to go and look at the town’s records, or the graveyard where you think relatives may be buried. Most local archives don’t charge, although the larger national ones might. When using a website for your search, getting started is usually free. Beyond that, there is a wide range of packages on offer depending on how much time and money you are willing to spend.
How can I display my findings?
It depends on what lengths you want to go to. There are several professional printing services that will print your findings in a book. Ancestry.co.uk offers a printing service that allows you to create a photobook of your findings.
Why should I do a family tree?
It is your personal history and it is real-life history. You can find your family’s place in the First World War or Elizabethan England. It is easy to think of it as a dusty hobby, reading data. But once you get into it, you may learn that a great-uncle won a war medal for saving someone’s life, or a distant ancestor worked in Henry VIII’s palace.
Just add a few facts and you can start to put your family tree together. There is currently a free 14-day trial on offer: www.ancestry.co.uk
Family Search
An easy way to preserve your genealogy online. You can share your own story and see what others have to offer: www.familysearch.org
Findmypast.co.uk
An easy-to-use, build-your-family-tree service. Your tree is backed up and secure and the service is free: www.findmypast.co.uk
Genes Reunited
Boasts the largest family tree tracing site in the UK, offering a lot of free software to help you get started: www.genesreunited.co.uk
Links Genealogy
Gives you a chance to put your family history in the hands of an experienced team: www.linksgenealogy.co.uk
The National Archives
Official archive of some of our most iconic national documents, dating back more than 1,000 years: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
If you're interested in starting your own family tree, this is a great place to start...
Following last year's successful show Who Do You Think You Are? LIVE 2014 is back. Taking place at London's Olympia, from 20-22 February 2014, the world's largest family history show will be crammed full of popular features, as well a special focus on the centenary of World War One. For more information or ticket requests visit www.whodoyouthinkyouarelive.com
Talk to relatives, especially older ones. Diaries and letters between family members help place particular people. They might reveal their ages and places they have lived. Once you’ve spoken to relatives it’s all about records. Any records you have around the house can be useful too – especially birth, marriage and death certificates.
These do exist online on sites such as www.ancestry.co.uk but you can track down hard copies too. Most towns have an archive run by the local council. The National Archives is the main place to look.
How much do I need to know before I start my search?
You can start with just guesswork and eventually fill in the gaps with more accurate information.
What difficulties might I face?
The earliest records available online date back to the 1911 census but the most common difficulty is actually getting back to that date. It is a bit like detective work – it becomes a real mission.
What if my search leads to another country – are records as easily available outside the UK?
It can make the search harder but this is where the internet has become so important. Only 20 or 30 years ago you would have had to jump on a plane to look at a foreign archive. Now you can use the internet to access many overseas records. Online, there are 12 to 13 billion records available (and only one billion of those are UK records). They cover America, New Zealand, Australia, India and Germany. The records are growing all the time.
Immigration was well recorded, and there are accurate passenger lists giving the details of all those who sailed on a particular ship.
How far back can I go?
Census records go back to 1841 and the birth, marriage and death records go back to 1837. After that you have to look at parish records, which have been taken since Henry VIII founded the Church of England. It’s a bit harder and there is more work involved but you can trace back to the 16th century.
What are the costs?
A good way to do it cheaply is to look at the archive records yourself. If you know where your family is from, plan a trip to go and look at the town’s records, or the graveyard where you think relatives may be buried. Most local archives don’t charge, although the larger national ones might. When using a website for your search, getting started is usually free. Beyond that, there is a wide range of packages on offer depending on how much time and money you are willing to spend.
How can I display my findings?
It depends on what lengths you want to go to. There are several professional printing services that will print your findings in a book. Ancestry.co.uk offers a printing service that allows you to create a photobook of your findings.
Why should I do a family tree?
It is your personal history and it is real-life history. You can find your family’s place in the First World War or Elizabethan England. It is easy to think of it as a dusty hobby, reading data. But once you get into it, you may learn that a great-uncle won a war medal for saving someone’s life, or a distant ancestor worked in Henry VIII’s palace.
Where to start
Ancestry.co.ukJust add a few facts and you can start to put your family tree together. There is currently a free 14-day trial on offer: www.ancestry.co.uk
Family Search
An easy way to preserve your genealogy online. You can share your own story and see what others have to offer: www.familysearch.org
Findmypast.co.uk
An easy-to-use, build-your-family-tree service. Your tree is backed up and secure and the service is free: www.findmypast.co.uk
Genes Reunited
Boasts the largest family tree tracing site in the UK, offering a lot of free software to help you get started: www.genesreunited.co.uk
Links Genealogy
Gives you a chance to put your family history in the hands of an experienced team: www.linksgenealogy.co.uk
The National Archives
Official archive of some of our most iconic national documents, dating back more than 1,000 years: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
If you're interested in starting your own family tree, this is a great place to start...
Following last year's successful show Who Do You Think You Are? LIVE 2014 is back. Taking place at London's Olympia, from 20-22 February 2014, the world's largest family history show will be crammed full of popular features, as well a special focus on the centenary of World War One. For more information or ticket requests visit www.whodoyouthinkyouarelive.com