Starting Family History

Starting Family History - Fact Sheets

When beginning to research your family history it is imperative to start with what you know. Look through boxes in the attic to find old documents and certificates and most importantly speak to relatives, particularly those of the older generation.

Then you will establish your starting point: what you know for certain and where additional research needs to begin.

The “building blocks” for starting your family history in England and Wales are the records of birth, marriage and death post the start of civil registration in 1837 and the census records of 1841-1911. Your birth certificate gives the names of both your parents. You use this information to obtain their marriage certificate. This in turn provides names of your parents’ fathers which can be used to locate both of their birth certificates and so on. The census records are also part of the process, providing places of birth, verifying information and providing information about siblings.

The family tree packages and research packages all use the following records in the first instance:

•General Register Office (GRO) online indexes of births, marriages and deaths (1837-2005)
•Copies of birth, marriage and death certificates obtained from the General Register Office (GRO)
•England and Wales online census indexes and census returns for 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901 and 1911