A QUICK BEGINNERS GUIDE
TO TRACING YOUR FAMILY by Sara
Donaldson
STARTING
YOUR RESEARCH
Remember
when tracing your family to get as much information from family members as
possible, find out if anyone else in your family has done some research
and is willing to share (most family history researchers are only too
willing to share what they have found – this is a passion not a hobby!).
Have a check on the internet and in research directories, also check
family history society member’s research lists.
Ask older
family members what they remember about the family. It may seem obvious
but the older generation are usually able to remember their grandparents
family’s, taking you back many years. If your grandparents we’re born
in the early part of the C20th their memories could take you
back to the mid C19th. Similarly aunts and uncles may remember
parts of the family and stories you don’t know about.
Also
remember, and this is important, get as much proof as possible.
Birth, marriage and death certificates are vital in establishing family
connections and should not be overlooked. Copies can be obtained fairly
cheaply and can save a lot of research on someone else’s tree.
When you
collect information on your tree have it all written in a way that makes
it easy for you to find individuals and families. Many people use computer
software programs to hold their information, but don’t rely too much on
computers – make sure you have a paper copy as back-up.
A tree
format is useful to be able to quickly look at family groups, but make
sure you are consistent with your format. It is usual to have the males on
the left, with the females on the right, and any marriage information is
usually noted under the female. Children are joined to the parents by a
vertical line, and to each other by horizontal lines. e.g.
Most
family history books will show you how to write up a tree properly, but
give yourself as much information as possible on the tree. It will be a
useful item to take with you when researching.
Try to
include at the very least dates of birth, marriage and death, along with
places involved.
FIRST
STEPS
Certificates
The best
way to start tracing your family is through statutory certificates. From
1855 in
Start
with your parent’s or grandparent’s marriage certificate if you can,
this should give you a good start with the names of the bride and groom,
along with occupations and residences. Taking the ages of the bride and
groom you can now start the search for birth certificates. Remember though
that for many reasons people did not always give accurate information so
searches should always be carried out at least 5years either side of the
dates given. Look at neighbouring parishes if you can’t find a birth
certificate, then widen the search if still nothing is found.
Once you
have found a birth certificate you can search for the parent’s marriage.
Keeping in mind that the child found may not be the first child to the
couple, you could look for other children to the couple working backwards
until you can approximate a time for the couples marriage. If you are
looking for a Scottish certificate you are lucky, in 1855 and from 1860
the date and place of the parent’s marriage is usually found on the
birth certificate.
Death
certificates contain less information than birth and marriage
certificates, but they give vital dates and the informant is usually a
family member. Addresses may also be given adding to your research.
Using
certificates you should be able to work your family back to the beginning
of statutory registration, although your searches may take you around the
country or even abroad.
How
to find certificates
There are
a few ways to search for the certificates you need.
If you
can arrange a trip to the local register office you can usually search the
records yourself with the help of the registrar, or you can use the
internet as a search tool. All of
How
to obtain certificates
Certificates
can be ordered from the local register office, or obtained over the
internet e.g. from the Scotlandspeople website. While you can search for
the certificates and order at the same time for Scottish certificates,
English certificates require you to find the certificate information from
the indexes (known as the St Catherine’s index) then order from the
General Register Office www.gro.gov.uk
or from the local registrar. Local registrar information can
be found at www.Genuki.org.uk
Census
records
The
census is a fantastic resource for family researchers. By tracing your
family through the census you can find the names of children you may
otherwise miss, occupations and places of birth and other family members
may make themselves known. While allowing the researcher to flesh out
their knowledge of the family the census can offer a snapshot in time,
showing the family’s status in the community, how they lived and where
they came from.
The
census basically happens every ten years and has done so since 1841. There
were some before this time but give no real information of use to the
researcher.
To follow
your family through the census it is usual to work backwards in time,
allowing what you find in one year to help in your research the next. The
first census to search is the 1901 census. If you do not know where your
family were you will need to make an educated guess through a birth,
marriage or death in the years around the census date.
Finding
aids such as the CFHS census indexes are invaluable for helping find your
family. By searching the indexes you can hopefully find your family in a
certain area, then go to the census itself to find the information. Most
family history societies have their own census indexes, but often only for
certain years, as the production of the indexes is slow and labour
intensive for the volunteers. The 1881 census for the whole of
What
you will find
Information
shown in the census varies slightly from year to year, for example the
1841 census is basic and shows no family relationships or places of birth
(just whether born in the county or not). However, you can generally find
names of people, their relationship to the head of the household, marital
status, age, occupation and place of birth. Through the information you
will be able to make up family groups, find places of birth and follow the
family around the country. For example, if you have a large family with
many children you may find that they were not all born in the same place
and therefore be able to plot the family’s movement between the census
years. In this way you will also find it easier to find birth certificates
for the family.
Be wary
– not all the information found in census returns is accurate. Like the
information on certificates, people may give false information (from small
absent minded statements about children’s ages to huge whoppers about
the mother’s year of birth!) Places of birth are also to be looked upon
with a pinch of salt – if someone was born at the far end of the country
they may give the enumerator the name of the nearest town they think the
person may know rather than the small village they actually came from.
Sometimes you may just get a county. Remember also that the enumerator may
have written what they heard, and dialects can cause confusion when
filling in forms.
Where
to find the census
The
census is available on-line at the Scotlandspeople website, www.Ancestry.co.uk
, www.genesreunited.co.uk
and www.Freecen.rootsweb.com
. Most websites offer access via pay-per-view, but you can find the census
in local libraries and archives, although most only keep their local
censuses. Some FHS have also transcribed census information, such as those
available from the CFHS.
Parish
records
Once you
have traced your family back to the beginning of statutory registration
you will have to move onto the old parish records. These are the registers
originally held by the Church and information contained in them varies
from parish to parish.
Some
parish records go back hundreds of years, whereas some do not and you are
very rarely allowed to look at the originals. Copies of parish records are
usually kept in local archives and record offices on microfilm.
Unfortunately in
You trace
your family through the registers in much the same way as through
certificates. Find marriages and births by going backwards armed with all
the information you can find. Remember though that once you find yourself
searching before statutory registration it can sometimes be very hard to
say that someone is definitely of your family. Occasionally the best you
can hope for is to say an individual is ‘probably’ of your family and
put a question mark against them until you come up with more evidence.
If you
can’t find your family in the registers it may be because they were not
of the Established Church. In cases like these you will have to locate
records of other churches, such as the Free Church of Scotland, Methodist,
Baptist etc. Research is much easier if you can establish which religion
your family followed.
Where
to find information
Local
archives, family history societies and large reference libraries often
have copies of parish registers for their area. The IGI (International
Genealogical Index) is available on the internet, along with the BVRI
(British Vital Records Index) and are useful starters for identifying
ancestors, although the original registers should always be consulted.
Family history and local history societies often publish indexes of what
is available, and there are many published sources available.
In
Caithness, the