How we Started

If you are interested in tracing your family history but don't know how to start perhaps our experiences may help

People can become interested in the history of their families for many different reasons. Our interest started in a mild way on a very enjoyable caravanning holiday in Perth , Scotland. Anyone who has holidayed in Scotland will know that the place is buzzing with people from all over the world trying to trace their Scottish roots. The gift shops and souvenir shops all cater for this and there is an endless supply of charts, maps, etc. showing the history of all the Scottish names along with all types of souvenirs with the family name and coat of arms. We noticed many references to the name Gray and bought the usual key-rings etc. and noticed that the name was associated with the Sutherland Clan. This started our interest and we wanted to know more. Little did I know that I would end up at the other end of the country in Dorset.

There are numerous books on the subject of tracing your family tree explaining how to proceed, but the most important message that they will all give you is to immediately talk to your older surviving relatives and get as much information as possible before it is too late. When I think back and realize how much information is now lost forever, I wish that I had taken an interest sooner. Also ask your relatives to show you any old photographs and documents, most important is for them to identify the people in them and to write the name date and occasion on the back. Also do this with all your own photos and documents. There is nothing worse than being in possession of an old photograph of somebody that you know must have been a relative but you cannot identify them. There must be millions of old photographs all over the world of people who cannot be identified because the original owners did not put a name on them. They knew who the person was and did not think about the people who might inherit the pictures. If you have old photographs there is a great site to send them to. Ancient Faces This site is dedicated to recording old Photographs for others to view or you can submit any unidentified photos that you may have to see if others can identify the people in them. A Great idea for a web site and I would recommend as many people as possible to contribute their photos so as to build up a large Database online.

This is a photograph of my maternal Grandmother Ada Annie Wale aged 18. born on the 2nd February 1888. This was taken at M. Bown's Photographic Studio . 577 Garratt Lane. Earlsfield South London. Ada was the daughter of William Henry Wale and Annie Louise Wale (nee Heaven). She was born at 26 Ferdinand St. Kentish Town in the Pancras district which was then in the county of Middlesex. She lived in the upstairs flat of the house that I was born in at 15 Berber Rd Battersea London SW 11. and died in St John's Hospital Battersea on the 7th August 1976 of Cerebral Thrombosis after having several Strokes. But she was a Grand old Lady. Great Fun and a heart of gold. She was aged 88

If you are interested in your family history photographs like these become treasured possessions. So look after them carefully.

Even if you are not interested yourself think of the generations who will follow who may be.

Having collected as much information as is available from your relatives the next step is your local Register of births deaths and marriages or best of all a visit to the Family records office in London. Find the earliest person you have exact dates for and obtain their birth certificate. This will then give you the mother and fathers name , the mothers maiden name , where they were living at the time of the birth and the fathers occupation. If you can arrange a visit to the Family Records Office you will be able to proceed a little quicker as you can search the volumes of indexes and order several certificates at the same time. You will have to guess at the probable marriage date of the parents and search through the volumes of indexes which are arranged in order of the year and then quarters of each year and then in alphabetical order. Marriage indexes are cross referenced with both the bride and groom appearing under their own name alphabetically. They will both have the same reference number alongside so you will know you have the correct certificate. Once you have the marriage certificate you will then know the age of the couple when they married, the husbands occupation, The name and occupation of both their fathers and where they were living at the time of their marriage. You can then search for the couples birth certificates and so on and so on until you get back to 1837 which was when civil registration first started. You will also find it useful to obtain the death certificate as this will tell you how they died and where, what aged they were and where they were living. This will also have been signed by whoever was present at the death usually a close relative. You will also find it extremely useful to look through the census records. A population census has been taken every 10 years since 1841. These are not open to public viewing for 100 years so the most recent census you can look at is 1891 although the 1901 census should be available soon. The census return will tell you who is the head of the household , his or her occupation, everyone who is living with the family their ages and occupations. Also in which area they were born. You can view the census returns for the whole country at the family records office but most local council or county record offices or Archives have copies relating to there own area.

If you are in London and you can visit, this map may be useful

Or click on the Family Records Centre on the map to go to their website

Or click here Family Record Center.

Obtain as many certificates as you can of your ancestors and their brothers and sisters. by having the certificates of Brothers and sisters you sometimes get extra information. For example occupations and addresses. As you get a picture of your family tree forming you will start to feel closer to these people who you may not have known and want to learn more about them. This is the stage where research really begins. You may wish to learn about the area they lived in, the type of work they did, their social conditions, so as to be able to get a picture in your mind of what these people were like and how they lived. There are records kept of all kinds of information, the problem is finding it. If you join a Family History Society they will have all sorts of publications that will tell you what to look for and where to find it. It is up to you to decide which society suits your needs best or you may wish to join two or three. A list of Family History Societies is on this site at Family History Societies most give you the option to join online and will have a list of their publications on their website. Another good site to go to is the Society of Genealogists they have a long list of publications for sale on most aspects of family research. Society Of Genealogists. . If you are really serious about your research you will soon build up piles of information, Certificates, Photo's Etc. and it will need keeping in some sort of order. This can be done by hand but a good softwear programme is so much easier. There are several very good ones on the market. We use Family Treemaker and we are also trying out the Generations suit which also looks pretty good. But there are plenty out there for you to choose from.

This is another photograph of my Grandmother Ada Annie Wale aged about 22 in 1920

You have now got back to 1837 what do you do now

Have a look on the next page. Before 1837

If you are Just Starting your Research then this site will give you all the information on where to go and what to look for

Genuki A-Z of British Genealogical research

A concise guide to researching British ancestry both locally and at a distance. Everything the family historian wants to know about the IGI, using parish registers, the Civil Registration system, the 19th century Census returns and dozens of other archives, indexes and sources, with all the costs, contacts, addresses and tips a professional or amateur researcher could ever need