FIRST STEPS IN FAMILY HISTORY

Interested in learning more about your family history? But don’t know where – or how - to begin?

Here are five pointers to get you started on the wonderful, enjoyable and exciting journey of discovering your heritage.

The great scientist Sir Isaac Newton once said...if I have seen further [than others], it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. That statement is just as true in family history research as in scientific endeavour!

Yes, it’s quite possible to ‘do’ your family history in complete isolation. But whilst some people genuinely enjoy making every mistake possible, most do not!

Your local Family History Society really can save you both time and money in this regard. These societies are run by volunteers and membership generally costs only £10-15 per year. This can provide you with these benefits – and often many more:

• Meet friendly, like-minded people
• Share your research problems with experts
• Get lots of help, support and advice
• Attend events, talks, classes, etc.

You can find your local family history society through our ‘Find a Society’ tab or simply CLICK HERE for more information (HYPERLINK REQUIRED)

It is important to realise that YOU yourself are already a huge family history resource. Without even thinking about it, you’ve been gathering information about your family for years and years. The clever trick is to make all that information work for you – which initially means gathering it together in segments so it can be used effectively.

Using a standard format can be of benefit for two main reasons:

a) You can more easily identify the gaps in your knowledge and

b) Anyone you approach for help and advice immediately view things in context.

Our My Family Tree booklet has been written with this in mind. You can either download it here (HYPERLINK REQUIRED) or alternatively email (HYPERLINK REQUIRED) with your name and address for a FREE copy (UK only)

Like you, your relatives have also been absorbing information about your family throughout their lives. They will know who people are in old photographs.  They will know dates, places and loads of stories.

You need to talk with them.  But be warned – they are a time-limited resource. The more ancient they are, the more urgent that task becomes.  Of course, some will be much easier to talk to than others, but that’s no excuse for not trying.  Just show you care – and let your enthusiasm show through.  And don’t worry too much about dementia either, because it’s those older memories that last the longest.

Some people like to make notes but, in our experience, conversations flow better when you record them for later listening.  So why not use your mobile phone as a voice recorder? The excellent RODE REPORTER app is available on both iOS and Android devices – and is FREE!  Just remember to download and IDENTIFY each session afterwards …

We all know it’s good to talk, but beginning a conversation can sometimes be difficult.  With this in mind, we’ve prepared a list of ‘starter questions’ for your use.  You can download them here (HYPERLINK REQUIRED). In fact, they’re so useful, you might like to practise by answering them yourself?

After having ‘interviewed’ yourself and spoken at length with various relatives, you might possibly be wondering about the reliability of the information you’ve gathered? Good point!

Memories can become ‘faulty’ over time, either by accident or design. Birthdays (day and month) are often well remembered, but the years less so.  Family stories are sometimes deliberately sanitised and/or romanticised in order to protect reputations – and so forth.

So before proceeding further, you will need to cross-check everything you’ve learned with the official records. Births, marriage and death records are the obvious candidates - as are census records - plus many more. Newspapers are not normally considered as primary sources, but they are so very useful for background information. Ignore them at your peril!

All this may seem a huge task to the uninitiated – until you recall that as a member of your local family history society, help is always at hand when you need it!

Having gathered and verified as much family information as you can, it’s now time to perform some original research.  Of course, everyone’s journey is different, but the really good news is that you now have a firm foundation upon which to build.

It’s true there are lots of commercial websites encouraging you to purchase their wares. Much of this information is of very high quality, but you will likely need significant help in order to take full advantage of your purchase.  But there is also a huge amount of FREE family history information available on the web and elsewhere - if you know where to look!

So before you take this important next step, it really is a good idea to discuss your aims and objectives with a mentor at your local family history society. Their unbiased support could not only save you a great deal of wasted time, but also significant amounts of money!

With the help and guidance of your local family history society, you’ll soon be successfully progressing your own research.  And maybe, just maybe, helping others with their as well!

Enjoy the journey!