| Family Tree
Posted: 11/4/2007 11:42:22 AM | | I really want to trace my family history, but do not really want to go down the route of paying somebody or paying a website for the information. Does anybody know how i can trace back some of my family, For example where would i go for information about bitrths or deaths etc?? | |
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Posted: 11/4/2007 12:10:47 PM | http://forums.plentyoffish.com/datingPosts5712011.aspx
might answer the questions you ask. Searching records is the first step to ensure you get facts faster in all manner of pursuits, not least your ancestry and is very helpful in the Forums.
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Posted: 11/4/2007 12:12:25 PM | | umm they dont come up , says "website unavialble" just want a bit of advice of where to go and find out some family history. never mind. | |
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Posted: 11/4/2007 12:24:45 PM | You could start by looking thru public records in the areas where your family have lived.
Voters roll, Births deaths and marriages.
Then you could look at a website called Ancestry.co.uk or .com (one or the other)
That could be pretty useful too...
A spin off of Friends reunited is a site called Genes reunited.. try there
And i am sure these sites have loads of links you can use....
Good luck. | |
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Posted: 11/4/2007 12:27:59 PM | i just put "who do you think you are bbc" in the search engine and loads of options came up. you should be able to make a start. there's a book of the same name too. that will help, although you might have to order it. good luck | |
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Posted: 11/4/2007 1:02:10 PM | Another good place if you have a few family names to go on, is the general Census, it's a great starting place.
Good luck it's interesting the things that come out on family trees | |
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Posted: 11/4/2007 1:04:34 PM | | First port of call I would say would be any known living relatives of previous generations. | |
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Posted: 11/4/2007 3:51:50 PM | | I would say the first port of call is to get some pretty big tracing paper...or at least lots of little ones that you can glue together. How big is the tree and how long has your family had it? | |
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Posted: 11/4/2007 5:06:04 PM | OP, I am no expert or anything but here is what I have learned myself! The first thing to do is to gather as much information as you can from any living relatives! I know how you feel about not wanting to pay though! Genealogy is vast becoming a very popular pastime thanks to programmes like "Who Do You Think You Are?" and the people who offer these services know that and take advantage of that hence the expense! Anyway I am going to write to all my relatives, containing a a prepaid envelope, and ask them for any information they have and copies of Birth Certificates, photo's etc. Any information is better than none and then it is a case of putting a gigantic jigsaw puzzle together. One thing to mention though is if you plan to do this and put any information, photo's etc. they give you online, on a website for example, then ask for their permission! I guess it's only polite to do so as a mark of respect for their privacy?!They might not want the World knowing or seeing what they sent you! 
Then decide which of your parents side you want to trace first rather then rushing in to trace both. Of course it is entirely up to you and you can try to trace both at once but it might just make things a bit more confusing and time consuming!? It normally tends to be easier tracing your Father's side for obvious reasons but when it comes to your Mom's side there are loads of different Surnames popping up which send you out in all directions! 
Lastly join as many sites as you can, like Genes Reunited or Ancestry.com is another good one. Even though you have to pay for records etc. usually joining them does not cost you a single penny and some have forums you can join to ask or receive (hopefully) any relevant information you need. The main thing is to find out as much FREE information you can before embarking on spending any money that may be wasted when all the time the information you needed was already there for you! This certainly is a fun pastime that will keep you busy for years and turn you into a detective where one route will lead you to another! Happy sleuthing!  | |
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Posted: 11/5/2007 3:04:00 AM | I was going to trace my family tree, but soon realised that there were branches everywhere, so decided to leaf it alone!!!  (Sorry, but just had to be done)
OP I have absolutely no idea where you would even start to find out about your family tree, although I guess family members first, then census etc. Good luck! | |
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Posted: 11/7/2007 2:48:22 AM | | Thanks for your replies guys,, so far I have traced back 3 generations on my fathers side of the family and i have found i had a famous writer as a great uncle called A J Macdonald, he wrote books mainly about religion, i will dig some more!!,, brilliant stuff!!! | |
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Posted: 11/7/2007 4:31:23 AM | Genes Reunited is definitely a great place to start. Yes, you have to pay a small subscription to start mailing others on the site, but it's well worth it.
It's been invaluable in my family history search; I've traced relatives I've not seen for ages and found out heaps of stuff from other people who have the same ancestry as me. There's also a forum on there where people will give you loads of help and point you in the right direction if you need assistance.
Happy Family Tree Hunting :0) | |
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Posted: 4/5/2008 10:31:27 PM | Best truly free sites on the web.
www.familysearch.org (the Mormons - enormous databases + 1881 UK census)
www.rootsweb.com ( mailing lists and giant databases - Ancestry.com's "free stuff".)
www.cyndislist.com ( If Cyndi hasn't found it, it's not on the web.)
www.automatedgenealogy.com (Canadian census records)
The above 4 sites will keep any person busy for years. | |
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