How to research your Family Tree
Where to Begin ?
The best place to begin is with the information you definately know and that is with yourself. Sometimes if you are certain of your information and already have certificates at hand it is possible to start further back. Try and find out as many details as possible about your ancestors from relatives; jobs, places, siblings, deaths and burials etc. If later on you have several people who fit the bill for your ancestor these details can help you spot the right one.
It is still possible though if you have no other information by following the paper trail of Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates.
~
The date you are trying to get back to is before the 31st of March 1901. This is the date the 1901 census was taken and from when you can hopefully trace back relatives through the previous censuses.
Censuses are taken every 10 years (excepting 1941) and are available at present from 1841 - 1911. The 1911 census was partially released in January 2009 but to date is only available on a pay per view basis. It does however give extra details not available on previous censuses including completed years of marriage, total children born alive and children still living.
~
Census pages do contain mistakes, the most common being the ages and misspelling of names. Sometimes people gave the wrong age for whatever reason but it wasn't as important in times past to count the years. Also an Elizabeth could become 'betty' or 'bessie' and it is not uncommon for people to assume their middle name.
Ways to view the Censuses
The 1841 and 1851 census are now available on this website.
... more years to follow shortly
There are several genealogy sites online which provide access to censuses for which they charge a subscription fee. After paying the subscription you can then view as many census returns as you wish. Most provide a pay-per-view option but this works out more expensive. If you search and read some of the genealogy forums available this will give you an insight as to what is available.
~
One of the most popular sites, Ancestry, is available free at Thornton Library. Local census records are also held at Fleetwood Library.
~
You can also view the censuses at no cost at your local Records Office but you have to visit in person, it is also advisable to ring and book in advance.
Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates (BMD)
BMD certificates only became a requirement on the 1st of July 1837 and up until 1875 there was no fine for not registering a birth so it is possible but rare for a birth not to be registered between 1837 and 1875.
~
These are essential in your search as they are a source of valuable information. Certificates are available from The General Register Office (GRO) and at August 2010 cost £9.25 per certificate. There are other sites on the internet who provide this service but please make sure you do not pay more than the GRO are charging.
~
A tutorial as to what information is shown on each of these certificates is available from the Links and Resources page. ~
To order a certificate you will usually need the GRO reference number which is made up of a volume no. and a page no. and looks something like this ..
6b 1086. You will also need the registration district. You can find this information on freebmd which as the title suggests is free and easy to use. Sometimes the names are miss-transcribed from the original records eg Gardener might be listed as Gardner . To get around this in the search you can type an asterisk after any part of the name eg G* / Ga* / Gar* etc.
~
It is not necessary but to help narrow the results you can search for the registration district first on Genuki Registration Districts. Click on ‘Index of Place-Names’ then click on ‘Download the Place-Name Index’ which is a PDF file. You may find some of the smaller villages may not be listed but most are.
Parish Records
These are records kept by the individual churches and list baptisms, banns, marriages and burials. These records go back much further, most to the 1600’s and some to the 1500’s and this is the next resource once you have traced your family back as far as you can go through certificates and censuses. Most of these records are now held by the Records Office in the relevant area although a few churches still maintain their own records.