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Any good books or (preferably) websites with where to get started with this? Been meaning to do it for ages and with lots of time now on my hands (like a lot of other folk) it seems a good time to get going.
Cheers in advance.
ancestry.com
We've used a combination of those two sites across our family. You do end up having to request some physical record copies as you go back in time.
We've got some great stories and detail. When Cv19 is over I've got to go to Clipstone as we can ID the house our family lived in for a few generations it seems, working as foresters for a local estate.
Isn't Family Search run by the Mormons or some such other wacky church like the Jehovah's?
Brother & sister have done tons of research & seem happy to use ancestry.com
Becareful if you go down the dna testing route, bil found out some fairly unsavoury stuff as a result 😕
@nickc, it’ll be the Mormons, but I’ve been told that it’s still a good resource, and that they themselves don’t use it for any subversive purpose.
they themselves don’t use it for any subversive purpose.
uh huh. Sure, but they earn from it though, right? It's surprising when you start to dig into* who owns what on the internet how many religious organisations own various sites. Dating sites is a big money earning, for example
* considering this is a thread about ancestry...I'm giving myself 7/10 for that one.
Sure, but they earn from it though, right?
Um, probably? Are they not supposed to? I only said what I said to assuage any concerns that someone would get harassed by the Mormons if they used their resources.
I am not defending the Mormons, and believe them to engage in coercive behaviour, but their ancestry resources are supposed to be good. That’s it.
Depends on where you are, and where your family are. For Scotland, can use https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/
Can do basic searches for free, though got to pay a few quid to see details of certificates etc.
Hi thanks for all the replies. We are in Scotland so some great tips for getting started. Hopefully will keep me off the beer tonight, or at least postpone the first can for a few hours.
Wasn't planning to go down the DNA path (though am sure my ancestors were fine upright citizens!!) but just want to trace my mum's side of the family back a bit. Someone else did my dad's side and it was a dull as dishwater. On my mum's side there's a family story that we're descended from Flora McDonald so would love to prove that. I've long been fascinated by that chapter of history.
Much appreciated everyone.
Wasn’t planning to go down the DNA path (though am sure my ancestors were fine upright citizens!!)
I'm sure they were, just so we're clear, any company offering a DNA test is currently just testing other living (or recently deceased) people. Any company that offers to test your DNA and then tells you you're descended from, say: Pocahontas or an ancestor was a Viking, is at best, making huge generalisations and guessing, or at worst, making shit up...
Oh the skeletons that popped out of closets in my/our family tree's provoked much amusement :o)
Children born out of wedlock was quite common a hundred years ago :o)
I have been using Findmypast and also Myheritage. which offers a free two week trial.
If you can get back to the early 1900, things will be a lot easier.
Find my past has clear hints to others family trees which sometimes can (& something won't) make things easier.
mainly use ancestry.com (or .co.uk)
have used findmypast and genesreunited too. all of those site give suggestions based on records and what other people have put in themselves. believe nothing until you can verify it.
start close to home, write down what you know, ask family members what they know
https://www.freebmd.org.uk/ is a handy one for the first 2-3 generations, and is completely free, and handy for getting the details you need if you're going to request actual birth/marriage/death records (that aren't in ancestry etc.)
i'd seriously avoid the DNA testing thing. Once that closet door is open, there's no shutting it.
Trace enough family and it'll cover practically everything from criminals to policemen, poorhouse/workhouse to nobility. Yup, I have a convicted murderer in my family, and the street corner is named after him.
My tree is kind of on hold at the moment. I've pretty much exhausted the 1911 census and 1939 registers (both are really handy). Now patiently waiting for 2022, when the 1921 census goes public.
One of my uncles did a lot of research on one side of my family (grandmother, on father side). Taken up by another uncle (retired teacher) who took it back to around 1700 in Midlothian I think. They then ended up in Balloch/Alexandria.
I have that research all noted.
I won a competition to do the same for my father's side on his paternal side - they traced back to rural Perthshire around Crieff - again around 1780 I think.
Spurred by that, in the last 3/4 years I've done the same for my mum before she died, hers were very much in west central Scotland and harder to trace - but it did prompt her to recall a lot of relatives, that I had no idea about. And a few skeletons (though not many).
On her mother's side it was down in deepest Lancashire - Accrington - and harder to trace again, but well worth while to get a sense of place and history.
.. which meant I had a good start point. I ended up using the scotlands people website for the search function, and getting certificates where helpful. As above, didn't really trust the external sites - too much folk adding stuff that they thought might be the right people but when you check, aren't relatives at all.
Also stuff like find that grave or some such is helpful to get further details.
I chuck it all into MacFamily Tree package to log it all and refer back if queries arise. Handy for producing charts and graphs at family get togethers as well - we have one every 5 years and I've just been to a different one at end of last year with a lot of my grandfathers relatives, other side of the world and never met any of them before.
An inheritance hunter turned up on my parents doorstep a few years back, turned out my great grandfather owned 8 shares in Arsenal FC, which was nice 🤔 sadly I've not been able to find out much about his playing or refereeing career. If anyone knows of any resources to look into for that sort of info if would be appreciated.