Hi everyone
Today I am going to try and stick to one subject but knowing how I get distracted........
Anyway given thats its been Easter Holidays I decided that I would try and break down the inevitable brick walls you hit when doing family history research. Dont beleive all you see on TV the only way its that easy is if you pay millions of pounds for somebody to research for you... and no you cant just hit Ancestry.com or Find my past and it flings things in your face.. you have to subscribe and also have a reasonable idea of who, what, when you are looking. And if you have Smith, Brown, Cooper or Evans (welsh) then you are in for long haul.
OK so you have an unusual name...no problem you think....our ancestors were not literate and had stronger accents so depending what the transcriber knew depends on what he wrote down. Up North Scartho is Scather. Thriplow is Triplow oh and county boundaries changed..
If your relative was known by another name then you may be looking for wrong person. My aunty Flo was Gertrude on her birth certificate even my sister asked who she was. Next door neighbour was known by a totally different name as cousin of same name died young so they didnt use that name. Servants had their names changed if they were too flamboyant.
If you are serious then allow for certificates which cost £9.50 but watch you get onto right order site
because its not the first one that comes up when looking at search engine.
Good sites are FreeBMD,
www. familysearch.org ( this is mormon church site and they have extensive records)
Genes reunited is good but they have now started charging.
Try Rootsweb and get on relevant mailing list
or BBC site ( cant remember offhand)
If you are new ask questions but give as much information as possible, You may be lucky and someone has done previous research into your family.
Birth Certificates should give mothers maiden name, fathers name and occupation, date of birth and address
Marriage Certificates should give bride and grooms father name but only if the kids know it. ( my grandafther was Alfred but down as Frederick on marriage certificate.. also dont bank on them being truthful especially if they are illegitimate they are just as likely to put grandfathers name or make name up. As for them being honest in their marital status ..dont bank on that either ( bigamy was a criminal offence) . Sometimes witnesses are useful..they could be relatives.
Death certificates can list next of kin and birth dates/area again based on what any relatives have been told.
Is it interesting..yes depending what you are interested in. Is it frustrating ..oh yes but if you hit one brick wall you can always side track on another family side.
Think about it..I have 4 grandparents, each of those have 4 grandparents who in turn have 4 grandparents each let alone siblings.
If you are very lucky you might have photos or get in touch with people who might have photos or you might be only one researching.
The one thing I have learnt is that our ancestors were not paragons of virtue that our parents/grandparents would have us believe...they lied, cheated just as much as modern society.
OH and the chances of you being even remotely connected to royalty is very very slim but who wants to be anyway.
I wish you luck if you want to have a go
