Family tree

[Laur89]

Hello, I'm wanting to do. Family tree for my husband, has anyone got any recommendations on how to do this? What sites to use etc? Thank you!

Ancestry dot com is a very good place to start and it is quite easy and (I found) intuitive to use.

There is a fee for using the site but they do regular discounts if you google it.

What I would also suggest (if you have the money) is to also get a DNA test done with them and also maybe with 23andme as well.

Ancestry often give you a big discount if you get both the DNA test and sign up to the site at the same time.

The DNA test will then link you up to other people on their database that have taken the test and who are related to you.

I certainly found a few second cousins and other relatives that I didn't know about.

Since Ancestry is probably the biggest site, if you have any problems using it then there's always lots of people to help if you get stuck with using it.

Agree Ancestry is the easiest to use, but have also found Find My Past very helpful (better search function, some different records). You're looking at £15 to £20 pcm each depending on your subscription. They offer free trials so worth trying one of those to see if it really is something that interests you.

Be warned it is very time consuming and (for me anyway) very addictive.

Don't take anyone else's research for granted. Ancestry in particular allows you to see others' trees where you (appear to) have ancestors in common. These are not infallible. Question everything, check the logic, make your own judgements.

The DNA test has been useful to me to confirm research I'd already done, and to indicate new routes (roots??😄) to explore.

Other costs - you may find yourself ordering birth, marriage & death certs from the General Records Office. You can get birth and death ones as PDFs emailed for £7 each; marriage ones are £11 and posted.

Personally I like Findmypast the best. You can also search the GRO index for free once you have created a free account and FreeBMD is a useful site especially for marriages I find. The GRO index is only an index but if you want to see the actual birth, death and marriage certificates etc you can order them from there, but you have to pay. Also gather any information you know from relatives and family documents.

When doing family trees you need to work backwards into the past. Try to get a skeleton tree of parents and children going backwards and then fill in details around siblings etc. There was a census every 10 years from 1841 to 1921 and there was a register taken in 1939 of everyone in the country at the start of WW2. These are very helpful for finding out places of birth and confirming who is together in a family.

It's really fun, but I would suggest reading a basic guide about how to do it properly rather than just relying on suggestions given to you by Ancestry or Findmypast.

100% FreeBMD but also its sister sites FreeREG and FreeCEN for parish records and censuses. Much higher quality transcriptions than pay-sites as they're done by volunteers.

DH found his birth father via Ancestry. He had been given a name but wasn't sure it was correct. It took a while as his paternal side don't appear to be much interested in Genealogy and matches were few (and distant) relations. He would have got clarification much sooner ( 18 months sooner ) if one woman had bothered to reply to his message - her tree was private so he couldn't view it.
But he got his answer eventually and would recommend it.

I love Ancestry and also use freebmd. You can build your tree online and it gives hints where there are potentially matching records.

I haven't sent of my DNA test yet though. I have the fear that somewhere there will be an incorrect link and it will throw out loads of the tree.

Speak to his relatives and get as much information out of them as you can first. It will make your task a lot easier, as hopefully they will be able to tell you the maiden names of married women etc, and you could get back to great-grandparents quite easily that way.

Be aware that just because things are on the internet, it doesn't mean they are actually true. Loads of people have uploaded their trees, and errors can and do creep in, which are then perpetuated by people linking into their research. You can end up literally barking up the wrong tree.

Also be aware that there may be things that family will not tell you, either because they don't know themselves, or because they don't want you opening a can of worms and uncovering family secrets or scandals.

Depends where your family roots are. I very much like FreeBMD but it doesn't cover Scotland. I prefer Ancestry over FindMyPast, which I find clunky and difficult to refine searches.

Also agree to take other people's trees which you might find online with a MASSIVE pinch of salt.