New at this please help

[chrimbospirit]

Just started tracing tree. Joined genes reunited so have access to records but very limited info to begin with. Basically I have my immediate family and grand parents dates of birth and marriage certificates from there I have nothing. I have found a tree which is packed with names on my maternal maternal side but where do I begin with the rest.
I only know where my grandparents lived when they died not where they were born. My grandparents and father are all deceased so there is noone to ask.
I understand i can search censuses and birth ,marriage and death certs but is there anything else - i could do church records but have no idea which areas.
Can some one give me genealogy for dummies guide on here as I'm chasing my tail in the dark.
thanks everyone

My first bit of advice - don't believe everything you read on someone else's tree. It can often be wrong! Only ever take to be fact something you can prove or back up.

Start with what you know. Ask people who are still around what they remember. People often know their grandparents names if nothing else. You say you have your grandparents marriage certificates, this will give you their father's names and occupations (i.e. your great grandfathers) and where your grandparents lived. That will probably be your best starting point. Depending on their ages you may want to look for your great grandparents (or if you're slightly older (like me!) your grandparents) on the 1911 census www.1911census.co.uk or on Ancestry.co.uk

Great forum for family history is Rootschat.com with lots of very friendly people who will help you along the way.

Good Luck!

By the way - church records tend to be useful when you get further back as people did not move around as much then.
Gravestones can also be useful as they often have snippets of info you can't find elsewhere.
...I could go on all night...

What area are you talking about? Sometimes there are Local family history societies with good web sites. This was a godsend to me as many of ancestors originate from the Vale of Evesham and I found some fantastic info on the web. Otherwise I second JLo's advice. I;m completed addicted, have full on Ancestry access and the software that links into it, so you can do automatic searches.

It is so addictive I agree. The area is Yorkshire for all however my granddad on my dad's side was born in Calcuta as his father was in the military or merchant navy but I have no details.
What is full an ancestry access? I am a completely computer stupid is that the same as what I've got access to on genes reunited?
Which is the best Website?

Porbably Ancestry.co.uk or Origins.net. Although findmypast.com has recently launched the 1911 census online, so they'll be getting a lot of attention.

Ancestry.co.uk has all the census info apart from the new 1911 one, plus birth/marriage/death records and lots more. You have to subscribe to access the info. it cost's more that Genes Reunited. If you have anyone you want to look up initially i am more than happy to do so.

GRU is a great starting point though - certainly where I started. I found a link to my maternal grandmother's family and never looked back. I found out that i was actually related to a guy I knew at work!

When were your grandparents born? More than willing to give you a hand to get going if I can.

Quite happy to help too

Portofino - you must be as addicted as me

www.familysearch.org

excellent free website to use, do treat the entries with some caution, esp if the entry has been added by a "member" as you dont know there source for the information - it could be from a family bible it could be pure and fantasy guess work.

But it does cover other countries and possibly India - never checked for India.

Theuy also have family history centers around the world and in Yorkshire, so you can get to borrow micofilm of parish records that they have filmed - and they have filmed a lot, hugh amounts.

ancestry full subscription, is a fee paying site that gives different sources of information. If you have overseas ancestors it may be worthwhile looking at a dot com subscritption rather than dot co dot uk as it will give far more overseas. A subscription for a year can be pricey. Check your local library and see if they have a subscription, mine do so I can use for free.

HTH