Genealogy Chat

l.ve not long started doing family history, there is so much to learn. what is the best! or easiest web site for me to go to.nobody ,as far as l know has ever lived abroad,but l believe my great grandfather was born in scotland in 1825 l,d be grateful for any help or advise lrene buckley

Hi Irene, on the records board theres a message called 'helpful ways to use the board' That might help on where to get started, good luck, Laura xxx

Yours is a fairly short question, but with a potentially massively long answer!!! There are so many different sites depending on what you want to find out. Do you know details of any family living in Eng/Wales in 1901? It depends how confident you are of the info already known to you as to where you need to begin. There are a lot of threads on here with tips for ''newbies''. Try putting ''newbies'' in the little search box on this Tips Board and you will find some to read. Good Luck Sarah

Hi Irene, Don't know how much you've done up to now so I'll assume very little. Forget your gt grandad for now as it's a big jump back and might not even be true! Start with you, your parents and their siblings, then your grandparents etc. If you are looking in England and Wales then there's FreeBMD for (incomplete) birth marriage and death indexes from 1837 up to about 1910. FamilySearch has older parish records - again incomplete and need to be verified against original sources. This site also has the 1881 census. For other censuses you need to go to record offices or subscribe to Ancestry. A local record office or good central library will have complete BMD indexes and possibly electoral registers for the local area. Where do you live - are you near any big places that will have good resources? Also be aware that this hobby carries a health warning ;-) It is seriously addictive. Happy hunting, Janice

Hi Irene I have nudged( ie:moved up the board) a thread by Grandpa Jim............you may find it useful. Other tips can be found by typing in the word NEWBIES in the search box on the tips board , just above where the messages start. You can of course ask questions on the tips board or ask for look ups on the records board............you will find folks VERY helpful Good Searching Ann

thanks so much laura.l.ve never heard of the message you refer to so i,ve learnt something today irene

hello sarah,thanks for your advise,i,ve never heard of newbies,sounds just the thing for me.l,m also fairly new to the computer,but its been a godsend for me.l cant get out .(sick husband)l.ve found my grandfather John Mcfee on the 1901 census,living in stoke newington london that told me he was born in Brighton,how did the family get from scotland to brighton and then to east london where he got married,and in the same church as my husband and l its a mystery. that is all i.ve found out. i really wanted to know what was best,ancestry co uk 1837 online or bdm or is there anything else. lrene

hello ann l.ve just looked at the thread by grandpa jim as you suggested,its just what l was looking for lots of good advise thanks so much lrene

Certificates are a good place to start, start with your parents first. Birth gives mothers maiden name and fathers name and occupatipn, marriage gives both parties fathers and also the bride and grooms agaes (normally). You can search them on 1837 which is pay per view. When you get back to 1900 you can search the census at Ancestry, 1881 is free on the IGI as are older bdm. If you dont want to subscribe just yet, ask for a look up on here or the records board, something like 1901 Cambridge look up or birth 1878 london. Hope this helps, Laura xxx