'Cheap & Free Ways to Trace Your Ancestry'

goody66_2

Thank you for all your replies.

It was not just about tracing my family tree - but also because I have a photograph of my mum and me with Annie Dickens (relation to Charles) in Hereford, in 1982, when I was 16.

I could not find out any information, until today.

I have been informed that there was an Annie Elizabeth Dickens who died in Hereford in 1998, aged 101.

So, I have a bit more to go on now

SailorSam

I've started to write a sort of biography, a diary of my life on the computer 'cos i thought although it sounds petty drivel now, but if i add it to my family tree that i've started, in 100yrs time it's the little day-to-day things that will be interesting.

puddy

TonyMMM wrote: »

Before you start using research sites ...make sure you have got all the information you can from your family/relatives.

If you can - go and talk to parents/aunts & uncles/grandparents. Write down what each says about the family, but be prepared for information that conflicts or doesn't match..what families believe and what is the actual truth can often be very different (but that's what makes it so interesting). Get copies of photos - ask your older relatives to look at them and tell you who the people are (and write it on the back so it's recorded).

Then start with a fact you are absolutely certain of, and have the documents for, maybe your parents births for instance, and start to work backwards one step at a time.

Keep records of what you find (there are lots of computer programs available, free and paid for)... create a file for all the documents you will be gathering.

Record the sources of information as you discover them, and cross check with more than one source if you can. Don't make assumptions .... you could end up wasting a lot of effort and money tracing the wrong family back.

But - although there's lots of stuff available for free out there, you will soon find you need to spend money to really get going. You will need to get a subscription to one of the sites (ancestry, findmypast etc.) - but check if your local library offers free access. One thing you can't really get around is that you will need to buy copies of birth/marriage/death certificates (currently £9.25 each).

If you are anywhere near London, you could visit this exhibition in February .. I'm sure there will be lots of good offers available. (I'll be working there as an advisor)

If your family is UK based, you should find it fairly straightforward to get back to the early 1840s using just birth/marriage certificates and census returns. Beyond that you will be looking at old parish registers, and things get a bit more complex.

It is a fascinating hobby, and can become quite addictive ...good luck.

it is addictive and make sure you have lots of folders to put all your information

i agree with the above, get basic information first and see if you can have copies of other's birth and marriage certs, that will save you some money.

a good site i used to use a lot is http://www.freebmd.org.uk/

not fool proof but used in conjunction with something like ancestry, will give you something to easily cross reference to get the best liklihood of a result.

for accuracy, i found findmypast is best, but for search options and finding something easily, i used ancestry and freebmd. freebmd also had a freereg site that they started for when you get back before general registration but that will be a while yet

so for example. you may know your grandparents names, say arthur witherspoon. you know he was born in say, east ham, around 1910.
but you dont know his parents and you need to get his birth cert to find out.

you can use the 1911 census (which is still a bit expensive) to find a 1 year old arthur in that area, that way you can cross reference to see if you recognise any great aunt names if there are sisters and brothers in the house that you know are your grandfathers siblings. you may then search on freebmd to see if a child of that name in that area was born around that time. you may then order the cert to see if its him, it might not be. when the certificate comes,, cross reference the parents names from the census return to the birth cert.

so i find it best to use several resources and so they will cost more. for value for money and ease of access though i did like ancestry. havent been doing any for a while so ive left it this year

goody66_2

SailorSam wrote: »

I've started to write a sort of biography, a diary of my life on the computer 'cos i thought although it sounds petty drivel now, but if i add it to my family tree that i've started, in 100yrs time it's the little day-to-day things that will be interesting.

I have started to do that too.
I had a lovely childhood, with some funny stories. I once contacted a Ghost Writer - but she told me that only sad stories sell!

goody66_2

Thank you all again for your help

I have discovered a few things now about my heritage.

I have two links and just now need to connect the two somehow

foxgloves

The Ancestry website is good. I used to have a subscription to that. But before you part with your money, pop into your local library & see if you can access it on their public computers for free. Lots of library services offer occasional training for customers wanting to use thie IT packages such as Ancestry, so it's worth a go.....get in before the cuts start to bite, though, as library services are being savaged all over the country.

pimento

Ancestry do a free 14 day trial, as do Find My Past. Make sure you remember to cancel at the end of the trial or they will automatically charge your credit card.



ETA: Unless you decide to take up the offer.

NEH

As my last post was moved here thought , i'd better use the old thread as it were...

What's the cheapest way to buy Ancestry membership? Is it through topcashback or similar or buy Family Tree Planner? Just planning what to ask for for Christmas :rotfl:

I tried my local libraries in vain but so far none of them do, just waiting on one more.

Grumpelstiltskin

NEH I would say through a cash back site.

Now before to do get Ancestry membership you need to work out which membership level you need.

Which part of the country is most of your research in and what time period are you mainly looking at?

NEH

Grumpelstiltskin wrote: »

NEH I would say through a cash back site.

Now before to do get Ancestry membership you need to work out which membership level you need.

Which part of the country is most of your research in and what time period are you mainly looking at?

I'm looking at the Premium membership, my rellies are dotted all over the country and I've got a few stages back already but have really come to that point where i could do with paying. Essentials i think would only help me if i was at the very beginning.

I had noticed that you get 6 months free with Family Tree Maker so that's why i wasn't sure whether £30 for that or going through cashback was the right way to go...:o