Family Tree Research

[dippingmytoeinagain]

Hello there
As the nights draw in, I'm thinking of picking up my family tree research, which I've dabbled with in the past but kept putting down as I found I got quickly overwhelmed with deciding who to research and how to record all of the information, which resources to use etc.

Is there anyone on here who does family tree research as a hobby who can offer me a few simple starting points and would be able to share what has worked/not worked for you. Organisation tips and so on.

I don't have a paid memberships yet, but will get one once I'm a bit clearer in my own mind as to where I want to go with this one.

I'm usually quite an organised person but I find that this just makes my head spin.

Thanks so much

BTW the newspaper archive offered on FMP is the British Newspaper Archive linked above. So it's still accessible for those who can't use FMP.

It also has a slightly better search directly on BNA than through FMP, though BNA are threatening a redesign - which fills me with fear given the appalling hashes made of the sites above.

Oh god, wait till you start reading the newspapers for the war years. They're utterly destroying.

I still can't get out of my mind the detailed official account in the London Gazette (I think) of the bombing of Mill Road Hospital, Liverpool. And I know that it's all happening again in Syria right now.

If you can't find anything by searching on the surname, then try saying it in the local dialect. I have an ancestor named Hancock and I knew there was a record of her. I spent ages looking for it and then it dawned on me. The person who recorded the event was clearly unfamiliar with cockney and had spelled her surname as Ancock

Also, someone whose birth is registered as Arthur William Smith could have also been known as William Arthur, or only ever used his middle name and may appear on other records just as William Smith.

On death certificates, look at who the informant was. If not a close relative, then the exact age at death and any middle names might not have been known to the informant, and errors can creep in.

unexpected causes of death very true! I certainly never expected to read 'Murder by person of persons unknown' on the death certificate of one of mine...

waves to blue

I started about 12 years ago after the death of my father & I was pretty well at it full time for the first couple of years, sometimes spending 12 hours a day on the computer, I was always googling & going off at tangents - I found out all sorts of things about the social history of the 19th century.

One of my most OMG moments was realising that my gt grandmother on my father's side was also my gt gt grandfather's niece! (It explains how they met I suppose.) Other members of that family still live in the village where a headstone lists 3 generations of their ancestors, with dates & ages, going back into the 18th century.

I've had a break for a few years & recently came back to it, and I've found there is more online info available now that's helped with some of my previous brick walls (eg not even knowing where to start on 2 different grandparents on DH's side with roots in Ireland!)

Will second Giddy's post re: names. Quite a few of mine used their middle names rather than their first names, and sometimes the nickname associated with it rather than their proper name. eg William John was Jack, and Jane Amelia was Millie.

This one stumped me though. For the last 10 years I've been looking for a marriage of a Charles XX married to a Mary YY (the Irish connection) The name Charles came from his son's birth certificate. I was almost convinced the marriage was fictional because I'd never managed to find any record of Charles XX anywhere.

A bit of very recent lateral thinking - I just put the surnames in FreeBMD & there's a marriage for the right pair, in the right area/date range. but the groom's surname is Patrick, not Charles.
The baby arrived exactly 9 months later, so you'd think she'd remember her husband's name! What's the clincher though, is that there are now RC baptisms on Ancestry, and its there, with father PATRICK. Definitely the same baby, as his full date of birth is given. The baptism was 2 weeks after the birth was registered. I've come to the conclusion that Patrick is his baptismal name so he used it in church, but in everyday life he's known as Charles.
He died (its registered as Patrick) when the baby was 8 months old.

^ groom's first name

getting carried away with myself

I also feel really sad for the young lives that were lost during the war years. It makes you realise how fleeting life is and how quickly people are forgotten

I once came across the following poem:

Remember me in the family tree
My days, my name, my strife
Then I'll ride upon the wings of time
And live an Endless life
[Goetsch]

It sums up another aspect of why I love family history. I gather details of all of my ancestors siblings too as it can sometimes help to prove I am following the right line and adds depth to the research. By putting the ones that died young or without direct descendants of their own on my family tree that I feel at least in a small way they have been remembered of again & not forgotten.

Freereg as linked back up the thread has been very helpful with my Somerset lot. Lo

Agree with bashing everything into Google. I found my GGG Grandmother some way from home listed as 'visitor' on the 1881 census. Googled the address which was a farm, only to find it was about 300 yards from my childhood home and a distant cousin had written a piece for the local paper there as he was doing his family tree too.

He had loads of stuff he could send me which was fascinating. Our old house was built on one of the fields of the farm and the Dairy that was there when I grew up had my family name before it was sold to one of the big milk producers. I used to walk through the Dairy when little as went horse riding right behind it.

We will remember them.

blue I love that poem too!

re wars: my DH didn't know until we started the family history research that his gt grandfather had been killed at the Somme. He'd deserted his wife to go to Canada, and he signed up with the BEF while he was there. That side of the family had no idea what had happened to him. His name is on the memorial at the Menin Gate.

What gets to me is the number of young women who die shortly after giving birth, and if the baby survived at all, it too dies a short while later. I always think the poor thing probably starved to death. I came across one yesterday who had had twins. One survived 3 months, the other 5 months.

I've been using Genes Reunited but haven't found it easy to use. I've just tried Ancestry, using MrFeynman's link. I was wanting to find details of my late father's siblings, but could barely remember any names. I typed in my grandfather's surname and my grandmother's maiden name, as well as the county, and the likely date range, and the result was four possibles plus my father.

I don't think there was any falling-out between my father and his family; my lack of knowledge of his family was probably yet another effect of WWII. My father lived way up north, but joined the army and met my mother, they then married but when he was demobbed he moved way down south to my mother's home town, and he didn't keep in touch with them very much.

I think that kind of enforced mobility can not only make it difficult to track people, but can also lead to false assumptions. My father's surname is quite common in the area where he was born, but for many years was the only one of that name in the local phone book here. Now there are quite a number locally, but I doubt they're related to me.

I've already made a couple of false assumptions when researching my mother's family, based on the addresses where people lived back then. Just because those addresses would be regard these days as "posh", it doesn't mean that they were "posh" in the 1920s and 30s.

I'd almost given up on trying to trace my family tree because I wasn't getting very far, but there's good links posted here, so maybe I'll have more luck via those.

I always feel a bit weird about the wars. All of my direct ancestors and all their brothers came home. It's a strange feeling knowing that some families were wiped out, many were lost, and I'm not a part of it. I was very surprised that they all made it through, although several of them were carried off by spanish flu afterwards.

The online parish clerks can be fabulous way of getting free info on a particular county. They are run by volunteers and so how much info is on there depends on the commitment and resources for that county but lots have really great information and it is put there by people who really know the area so is often very accurate. In the past I have contacted the online parish clerk to ask about info that is not yet online and they have been extremely kind and helpful in looking things up.

The one for Somerset is here wsom-opc.org.uk I've not used that one but it looks good and has lots of parish register transcripts plus extra info like will transcripts which could be really helpful

Dorset wsom-opc.org.uk is here and if you have a parish with a clerk there is also some great info there - the parish registers again and others e.g. trade directory info.

They are often particularly good once you are into the 19th C and beyond.

Be slightly cautious about people contacting you through ancestry. I've had a couple of odd ones.
However I myself contacted one person who had shared people in a tree they had made and got some great and interesting information.

whoops I meant this is Dorset www.opcdorset.org

I am sure that you are feeling even more overwhelmed now op!

I completely agree with others that one of the really fascinating parts is getting to find out about the individual and the social history in the area rather than just the dates and places. It takes you down paths of history that you would never think to look at and that can be fascinating. In addition to newspapers (and google!) can I also suggest criminal records. If you have any London ancestors then the old bailey online is brilliant www.oldbaileyonline.org. My DH has a London side and I have found several there as victims, witnesses and perpetrators... I discovered that one of his GG uncles committed a really hideous murder when he was quite young and neither DH nor his parents had any idea. As he was young his death sentence had been commuted and he eventually got out after a period of hard labour. DH's granddad (the murder's nephew) is not far off 100 and I asked if he remembered this man - he did and said he was a lovely uncle. I didn't tell him the truth and if knew he certainly didn't give it away!

There was also a GGGG grandma who was an early 19th C victim of housebreaking and there was very detailed evidence from her about how she cooked dinner, put the children to bed and then went down to the docks with her husband's food etc real insight into daily life for 'ordinary' people.

I’ve been reading another thread – one about names: those on official documents versus those that people were known by.

Decades ago, I worked for a short while for a Diocesan Registrar – who is the legal bod in a Church of England diocese. A query came in one day. A young woman was due to marry in a CofE church but the vicar was unsure what to put as her maiden name. The bio-dad had done a complete bunk when she was very young, her mother had remarried, her surname in all her subsequent records was that of her step-dad, her step-dad was walking her down the aisle, her step-dad was her father as far as she was concerned, and she definitely didn’t want her bio-dad’s name on her marriage certificate. I don’t know why the step-dad didn’t adopt her, but from having read threads here I can imagine some reasons why they didn’t go down that path.

The Registrar’s answer was that by common law, your name is what you call yourself. Nothing illegal about that unless it’s for the purposes of deception/fraud. What he advised the vicar to do was put in the step-dad’s surname as the bride’s maiden name, with a note of “formerly known as ”, but only if the bride consented to that note. If she didn’t, it was her choice, being an independent adult. So, there could be some marriage records that seem to show a genetic link where there isn’t actually one.

Thinking about this whole thing about records has reminded me of one of my aunts. She was born back in the first couple of decades of the 20th century, and named Nellie, which was probably an acceptable name then. But in much later years that name was being regarded as a bit silly, so when she got a new job she decided she would be called Helen. That’s quite probably the name on her death certificate; it certainly is the name on her headstone and probably in the parish records.

That’s at least two ways in which searching for a family history can go astray. It does go to show that documentation is one thing, but the fascination (irritation?) is that people through the ages have made decisions for themselves that can thwart our research, but just for very human and very understandable reasons.

redexpat

My DH hadn't known about his gt grandfather's war service until recently. We found him enlisting in the TA in 1915 but he continued to work as a coal miner, presumably doing training a couple of evenings a week. I hadn't thought about that aspect. He stayed in Lancashire until late 1917, when he was sent to France as a stretcher bearer. I had expected that all reserve units would be called up as soon as they had done their basic training, but I suppose the need for coal (for additional manufacturing output) was just as important as the need for soldiers.

On the other hand, my gt grandfather worked in a steel mill throughout the war. He was of the age where he would have been conscripted so I suppose he was left off because he was doing "important war work"

My gran's brother served in the navy during WW1 but was one of those who succumbed to the flu in 1920, leaving a 2 yr old son.

Oh the family stories!

I think I like reading old newspapers almost as much as Wills!

DH's father told him he'd had an older brother who'd been run over by a bread van, and the family had boycotted Warburton's ever since.

We found the newspaper report.

He was playing football in the street. Which was the main A road into town. OK 1922 so not exactly busy, but probably not a very good idea.
It was a taxi, not a bread van.
But he was supposed to be on the way to the shops to get a loaf of bread.

As previous posters have said, be careful to cross check information even if it is on an official form - people lie or officials get it wrong! Be creative when looking at a source. I spent a frustratingly long time looking for my great grandparents marriage on Scotland'sPeople. Eventually I decided to try them individually. I immediately found my great grandmother but the registrar had used a wrong name for her husband (other details make clear it was him).
First names in censuses can be rather hit and miss. Check nicknames and similar names. The Helen I could not find turned up as Nellie.
FutureLearn (which does free online courses) had one on family history research. Courses are often repeated so it would be worth checking as it would give help on how to start.
Be prepared for surprises. I discovered great grandparents who were step brother and sister!
It ia a fascinating hobby and you will probably find yourself spending more time on it than you meant. It is easy to lose hours following trail!

I'm on ancestry, which is why I'm still up.
I find that I get overwhelmed if I try to do too many branches, so leave some for a while and do some from another branch.
I think the key is to work on one bit, don't leave it until you hit a brick wall, then do the next bit.
Unfortunately, I'm at a brick wall on most of it now, but Ancestry is good because other researchers help by adding their details.
Well worth the £119 per year, which I have for a birthday pressie.

I wholeheartedly agree with Blue about it being good to remember all those short lives. So many grieving parents :(

That sort of expands to all my nobody ancestors. Ordinary people in the early 1800s living in rural poverty. And their names persist. DH's family have notable people in so it's quite entertaining but I like my nobodies :)

Your local library may give free access to ancestry. Mine does and I think most libraries in Scotland do, not sure about England but might be worth checking.

I don't pay a subscription to ancestry, as I use it at the library, but I do have my tree up there, privately, so that I can keep track of everyone.
If you do use it at the library, and you have your tree on ancestry, you won't be able to log into your own account, it will be the library account to give you access to records. At least that's how my one works.

The message boards on ancestry can be really good too.I have posted lots of messages. I once posted a message and although it sat on the thread for about 5 years before someone connected to me found it and got in touch, that didn't matter, they got in touch that was the main thing.

Ancestry also have free weekends now and again, there was one at the end of August for the bank holiday weekend. they can be useful to check records and attach them to your tree, if you have have it on ancestry.

One thing to remember, and as others have said always try to check the real record if you can. I have a great grandmother who is listed on a census on ancestry as being born in Lochgelly in Fife and another branch where the kids are all listed as being born in India. Neither of these birthplaces are true and when you look at the actual record it doesn't say Lochgelly or India, it doesn't even look like a similar spelling, it quite clearly says Berwick upon tweed. Also the spellings can be very hit and miss. My local studies historian told me that a lot of Ancestry records were transcribed abroad by people whose first language is not English.

Big thanks to everyone who has contributed to this thread - not only is are the links and advice invaluable, but the personal stories are fascinating.

I have a feeling that, like giddy I'll be finding a lot of hardworking, manual workers in my line. I found an address in Plymouth related to one ancestor and googled it. On the map today, it's a lovely little mews type house in a narrow street. When I googled what that street was like in the 1800s it was a filthy, disease ridden slum for want of a better word. Hard to think of your relatives, not too long ago, living in conditions that we today would find appalling. I suspect that family history, when viewed beyond the date and place of birth, marriage and death is also a great educator too.

I am about to do a free subscription to ancestry and will be back later. I have but sadly I think it's too early for

So...my early morning, clear head, quiet house research has suggested that the census documentation I have from previous attempts is quite possibly...the wrong family

In a way I am kind of pleased as it helps explains my general sense of confusion when I looked at it, with the dates not quite matching. I suppose it's easy to convince yourself in the excitement of the moment, that the record you've found is the right one. I think all of the comments that posters have made about checking and double checking were ringing in my ears and made me look at everything anew.

I'm also using the opportunity to bring myself up to date with some bookmarking and getting downloads properly organised. A steep learning curve as I'm a bit technologically challenged, but I think this will help me keep a sense of order and calm to my research.

I am desperate to make a trip to Devon to wander around the church and village, I'm wondering if I should maybe just leave it a little longer though in order to have a bit more purpose.

A lovely sunny day here, so probably won't get chance to do much more today, but baby steps are the way for me I think.