Who will you find in your family history!?? (Researching Your Family History)

Member Name: sugar78

Product:	Researching Your Family History
Date:	04/07/09 (17 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Such fun and fascinating

Disadvantages: Don't be put off with any of the pitfalls

I am a lover of history and had thought about starting to research my family tree for a long time. I started to research my family tree as my boss at the time had started to teach classes on the subject, and a group of us really started to attend the classes to give her some moral support, as this was her first class that she was to teach.
My other half attended the classes with me, and we were both hooked from there!! Some of the information that was passed onto us on how to start with your family tree was invaluable. We started to research our family tree in 2007, so we are relatively new to the process, and have a long way to go!

The best way to start your research is to draw a family tree, starting from yourself, and writing down as much information as you have on your parents, grandaprents etc.
Have a dig around, either at your parents, grandparents house or at a house of another member of your family. If your parents and grandparents are no longer with us, order your full birth certificate. On there will be your mothers details, including maiden name and your fathers details. From that you can find their marriage and their parents names and so forth.
Talk to your family members and try and gain information from them. Write down anything significant that they may tell you. Go through the photographs and see if you can pick up any details from them. It takes time, but can be really interesting.

My research has been a short journey, but i have found it extremely interesting!
I started my research on my fathers side. I knew a lot about my grandmother, as i was very close to her before she died. Every week, when i was little, she used to let me look through all the old photographs that she had kept . She explained to me who each person was, but i have forgotten over time, who some of them were.
I could trace her mother and father very easily, as we still had their wedding certificate from 1901. I started to research her mother, who's maiden name was Tyzack. This did not seem like a common name to me, and i was able to find her father, John Tyzack, in the 1881 census. When i tried to find him in the 1851 census, i found that his name was John Fruza and he had been adopted at birth. There my path has ended on him, as i do need to find out how to find his biological mother and father. On the same census of 1851, his older brother had also been adopted. (Anyone who can help on this, please let me know!!!).
I think the example above can show some of the pitfalls that may happen when researching your family tree, especially the different spellings of the names. Don't be put off with any of them, but persevere with the research. It's not all bad news! At least i found out where John is buried, and am now able to pay my respects.

There are lots of tools out there for you to use, but unfortunately, some of them you have to pay for.
The best website i have found is Ancestry.com. You can either pay a monthly subscription or a yearly one. I used to pay the monthly subscription at £9.95 per month. When your month was up, your next month was automatically paid for on the card details you inputted. I now pay the yearly fee, and last year it cost me £89.95. You can cancel your subscription really easily via the website.
There are hundreds of tools on there for you to use including all the complete census records, create your family tree with all details, war records, marriage records, probate records and many more. It really is worth the money. Ancestry.com can also let you know of other websites that my be useful in your search.
FreeBMD is another website that contains all records on birth, marriages and deaths that have been transcribed. It gives you the number that you may need to order a certificate. As you can guess from the title, this one is free!
As i am from Sheffield, another useful website is Sheffield Indexers, another free website. On there are a variety of tools, including cemetry plans, details of school records, parish records etc. I am sure that if you are not from Sheffield, that there may be a suitable website for your area. Type a request in your search engine and see what pops up. Most areas seem to have something like Sheffield Indexers, as i have looked up cemetry records in Cumbria and Lincolnshire.

Obtaining certificates is an easy process. For a full birth certificate or death certificate the cost is £7 and for a marriage certificate the cost is £7.50. Access your local councils website, and there should be the forms for ordering a certificate on there. Details on how to order should be stated on the website. Complete with as much information as possible. You will either recieve your certificate, or your cheque back stating that the person could not be found on their records, but don't despair, as this just might mean that the person you are looking for was not born etc where you think they were. Double check your records what you have and if you are having problems contact your local archive office, who, i am sure, will be more than happy to help with your search.
Your certificate may take some time to come through to you. The death certificate for John Tyzack, mentioned above, took 6 weeks to come through to me, but the birth certificate for my grandfather took under 1 week. It is exciting though when it turns up in the post!

All i can say is take your time, don't rush things, as the information will probably not rush to you(!), keep good records and enjoy the experience. It is a great thing to find out what your ancestors were doing, where they lived and to find those skeletons in the cupboard! I have certainly found a few!

Summary: Great fun to do, but take your time.