Family Tree Research (merged)

Mojisola

tesuhoha wrote: »

I don't know if this has been asked before but there are members of my family who are researching the family tree and I feel that I would like to help. There are several mysteries which are proving difficult to crack. However, they are paying fees to these ancestry companies on line. Every time I key in names etc I find that one of these companies comes up and you can't get anywhere without them wanting your membership/a fee for services.

I am just wondering if anyone knows any websites where you can get some free information. I have tried Direct Gov but just end up going round in circles without getting any information. These companies seem to have the internet sown up. Maybe I am just being a cheapskate, i don't know. However, this is supposed to be a money saving site so I live in hope.

That's because those companies have paid a load of money in order to have that information on their websites and are running a business so want to get their money back.

Many libraries subscribe to Ancestry so you get onto it through their computers.

https://www.rootschat.com is a free site full of helpful people who will do look-ups for you and give advice about how to research your family.

tesuhoha

Thank you. Two people, one an extended family member and the other more distantly related have been researching our family. (One of them has been doing it for over 30 years and is only just making some progress.) One is in England and the other USA. Somehow I'm not sure how they have met up on the internet and have realised that they know the same people.

One of the mysteries is my grandmother. My mother always used to tell me the same story. She was supposed to come from a prosperous coal mining family in Newcastle. She ran away to London to become a dancer and then married a soldier. Although they have researched they can find nothing to substantiate this story and no trace of the Newcastle family.

*emsj21*

tesuhoha wrote: »

One of the mysteries is my grandmother. My mother always used to tell me the same story. She was supposed to come from a prosperous coal mining family in Newcastle. She ran away to London to become a dancer and then married a soldier. Although they have researched they can find nothing to substantiate this story and no trace of the Newcastle family.

When was she born? Assuming post-1837, you should be able to find a record of her birth (try freebmd website in my previous post). If you can order a copy of her birth certificate (£9.25) then this should tell you where she was born. Copy of her marriage certificate would help tracing her husband to see if he was indeed a soldier and where they married (may also have her occupation if she declared it). Have they looked at the census returns to try and locate her with her family? You might wish to look at the Northumberland Mining archives at Woodhorn Colliery (http://www.experiencewoodhorn.com/collections/).

covlass

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1554629

Some good tips here

shopndrop

I have a subscription to Ancestry but need to check some records on 1911 census to help me move on. At the moment you can only view census summary books but not the actual records. Does anyone know when the records will be available on Ancestry or are they available anywhere else yet?

Mojisola

The 1911 is available on findmypast. You can buy credits but first ask at your local library or local history centre. I think some are starting to subscribe to it.

Greenlight77

The 1911 census is also available free to view at the National Archives at Kew - handy if you live in the area or know someone who does

RAS

Most major local history libraraies offer free access to some documents; at least those for their own county.

My local main library offers:

St Catherines Index (all BMD until about 2000 from 1837) for England and Wales
All censuses for the county 1841 - 1901.
Censuses indexes for 1881, 1891 and 1901 for the whole country.
Printed indexes for much of the county for 1851 and some for 1831 and 1841.
Indexes to a lot of parish reords in the county.

Also go to http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp

nad1611

Would have to reiterate the familysearch site it is brilliant. You can get an incredibly long way without needing to resort to payment. Ocassionally you can even find Ancestry Files which others have completed. There is quite an art to using the site so if you get stuck let me know. Aslso as said is the Rootschat Forum. Many very experienced people on here who are incredibly helpful and willing to help. They'll often share their own records that they have paid for. You can also put in Suirname Searches which show up other researches investigating your family name.

http://www.familysearch.org/eng/default.asp
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php

If there are only one or two things you'd like confirming let me know I'll do that for you. Also think about joining the Society for your area. So for example of your family are in Devon look up the Family History Society for Devon. Although these usually have a subscription charge, it's relatively small for your return, they are very helpful and again you can connect to others looking for your family.It's also worth paying a smallish amount and buying a book of which there are several,which deal specifically with accessing things online and getting the most of these sites, you'll be amazed how many there are. I know someone who researched his family and never joined one of the usual sites and was doing this for 5 years before he succumbed. The only thing I would say is that like many hobbies they can come and go, but if you find it's somethiing you'll be likely to continue, then I'd say it is probably worth spending a bit.

Whilst I understand the need to save money, one piece of advice I would give is always follow and back up your family evidence in paper as far as you can. Lots of the facts online have been transcribed and so there's always an element of human error and you can go down a wrong path unless you've actually confirmed findings with paper records.

Wee_Bargain_Hunter

There are some free tickets available for Who Do You Think You Are. It started today & is on over the weekend for anyone who can make it to London. I posted about it here - also with a request for any codes etc that might be available at the show & that others could use to help with their research, photo/cert storage etc. There are usually lots of experts available for free advice & free searches are usually available for the various websites at their stands - be prepared to be patient though! I'm hoping to go tomorrow & maybe expand my tree a little!