Family Trees

spidereyes

Earlier in the year there was an offer on one of the geneology websites, so I took out a short trial. I knew from what I heard when I was younger that my family tree was a bit complicated.

When I started researching this and building the tree it was incredibly more complex than I first thought, and my ancestors on my fathers side appear to be related in a lot of places where they shouldn't be (as weird as that sounds:o).

I ended up reaching a point that it got too complicated for me to figure out as a standard tree builder just doesn't work for my family situation.
In the end I had to give up and my trial has since expired.

Does anyone know of any other software or websites that might be able to help me out with this and actually begin to make some sence of how my family is actually related to each other, because its just too confusing for me to figure out myself

Thanks

Mrs_Imp

I suspect that there are lots of programmes etc out there to use (disclaimer). I have used something called 'Brothers Keeper' which I found quite useful. I think they have a website where you can download it.

Have fun. Family trees can be quite interesting!

iwilldoitthistime

I use Ancestry which seems to fit all the situations Ive come across so far. It usually has a 14 day trial on so at least you could look at how its built and see if it would suit?

There are also loads of free sites out theree - freebmd and rootschat have been the most use to me.

PM me if you have any questions, as I know how frustrating it is when you start out!

SailorSam

If you go to your local library you should be able to use Ancestry for free and there'll be someone there that can help if you get stuck and guide you through all the local records.

maryroberts

I'd recommend Genesreunited dot co do uk. For a small fee you can contact other members who have the same ancestors and you can share each others' Trees. I've found it invaluable in my own research and it's great to get in touch and share notes with other members. For the actual Census entries, I think Ancestry is the best website. If you can organise your notes so that you have several relatives to look up in lots of different Census, you could feasibly check everything within a free trial period.

Grumpelstiltskin

A small warning about Genes Reunited, there are some name collectors on that site.

What happens is you say you have John Smith born 1832 in London. They contact you asking to see your tree without them saying how they are related to your John Smith.

You let them see your tree and they add the whole lot to their tree even though their John Smith was born in Cardiff in 1908.

Then they boast they have 111, 374 people in their tree. The fact that 110, 894 are no relation to them doesn't appear to matter to them.

BTW I use Family Tree Maker as my programme, if you look around you can usually find one cheap.

*Robin*

spidereyes wrote: »

When I started researching this and building the tree it was incredibly more complex than I first thought, and my ancestors on my fathers side appear to be related in a lot of places where they shouldn't be (as weird as that sounds:o).

Actually that isn't uncommon - when an unmarried girl "fell" her Mum or married sister would often bring up the baby as her own, which leads to some twisty relationships when trying to work out the family tree three or four generations later. HTH.

danlojo

It is very interesting and I have managed to get back to the 1700's with my fathers side but on my mothers side I'm stuck around late 1800's. A few unmarried mothers have scuppered me a little!!

Good luck and it is time consuming

LastFour

I use the Family Tree Maker software. It runs alongside Ancestry, but you can use it without Ancestry membership - although you do get 6 months free Ancestry membership with the software. I got it through Tesco Clubcard Rewards, think it was about £19 of Clubcard vouchers, so well worth it considering how much Ancestry membership is! The software itself is normally about £30/£40 I think but I really do recommend it. It tells you how a person is related to you etc etc. Nice and easy to use!

Mojisola

https://www.rootschat.com/ - a good free site with lots of other addicts who will help you sort out problems, point you in the right direction and do look-ups for you.

Mr_Toad

I've been thinking about doing some family research over the winter months and am in the process of looking at the various software packages available.

As others have said, some of the packages come with website membership included and they are cheaper than the equivalent membership giving you both a discount and making the software effectively free.

It would seem, at first glance, to be cheaper to buy the software again rather than renew a subscription when it expires.

I'm sure someone who knows will be along shortly to tell us what the most cost effective way of doing it is.