Basic research tools
Find out about the documents most likely to help you trace your family's past. Discover which official documents can help with research, and pick up expert tips to help you get the most out of your searches.
Official certificates The certificates that record the most important events of anyone's life - their birth, marriage and death certificates - should be your first port of call when attempting to establish concrete facts about your ancestors. It's obviously easiest to start with known relatives. By Dr Nick Barratt Read full article |
Beyond the family treeFor many family historians, completing a family tree is just the starting point. Although it tells you who your ancestors were, it does not tell you what their daily lives were like, where they worked or where they lived. To get a better picture of the past you need to find out more about the communities your ancestors lived in.
By Dr Nick Barratt Read full article |
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SurnamesWhile given names have been used from the most distant times to identify individuals, the advent of surnames is a relatively recent phenomenon. In Britain, hereditary surnames were adopted in the 13th and 14th centuries, initially by the aristocracy but eventually by everyone.[citation needed] By 1400, most English and some Scottish people used surnames, but many Scottish and Welsh people did not adopt surnames until the 17th century, or even later, READ MORE
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HANDWRITINGAlmost every genealogist or family history researcher struggles once in a while to make sense of an old document or record. Whether it is deciphering the fancy handwriting in a sixteenth century will, or understanding the meaning of obsolete terms in a census record or death certificate, old documents present a number of interesting challenges for genealogists. READ MORE
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Nothing has such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate systematically and truly all that comes under thy observation in life. |