General Chat

Carol The best place to start to get more information is by asking family members ie. can your mum and dad tell you their grandparents names? Did/do your grandparents have brothers and sisters?,etc. Once you get some information going back a few years (there's not much free stuff on the net after about 1906)you can check the 1901 or 1881 Census (see links page in left hand column)and try to find them. There's also BMD (births,marriages & deaths)site which has a lot of information from 1837 to about 1906. Also the Family Search site, besides having the 1881 Census, has church records of christening, marriages and burials for many areas, sometimes going back centuries. Once you have added a few more names to your tree you might find someone on Genes Connected who has relatives with the same surname as you or your ancestors, from the same part of the country. Then (if you fork out your fiver to become a full member)you can email them to see if there is a connection. I have been working on my tree for only a few months and have found three 'cousins' directly through this site and two others through another site. It's time consuming and beware, can be totally addictive. Good luck with your tree and don't be afraid to ask for help on the tips board. There is usually someone out there willing to give some advice (even in the middle of the night!)