Starting your Family History in the UK
see also:
First . . .
... why not read a simple book on the subject?
Berkshire Family History Society has several on sale in the shop - including 'Tracing Your Ancestors, a guide for Family Historians' by Simon Fowler, 'Starting Your Family History' by Margaret Ward and the soundly principled (although now somewhat outdated) 'Beginning your Family History' by the late George Pelling.
Then . . .
write down what you know already about your family - parents, grandparents, great-grandparents - preferably in chart form (eg drop-line chart or pedigree/birth brief).
Next . . .
if you can travel to Reading you will find it useful to visit the society's Research Centre (see opening hours) off Castle Hill and next to Berkshire Record Office. Parking is free and here you can research your ancestors - wherever in the world they might have come from - it is not just a resource for those with Berkshire interests.
Talk to the volunteers who run the Centre. They can give you information on the wealth of research data accessible in the Centre, whether online - using websites like Findmypast or Ancestry Library Edition - in CD format, in microform, or in print, and on the many useful publications that are available. They can also help you to identify those which are most suitable for your needs, and guide you as what you might do next.
If you are unable to get to Reading easily, either contact one of the Berkshire Family History Society Branches or, if you are further afield, get in touch with your nearest family history society. Details of many (but not all) can be found on the Federation of Family History Societies (FFHS) website www.ffhs.org.uk.
Get back to 1911 and 1901 . . .
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Rummage . . . through cupboards and drawers for birthday and address books, copies of certificates (eg Birth, Marriage and Death, Education, Military Service), letters, diaries, the family Bible if there is one, memorial cards, wedding announcements, newspaper cuttings . . .
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Contact and interview . . . all your living relatives.
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Search . . . the online indexes available from major genealogical web sites, like Findmypast or FreeBMD, for details from General Register Office (GRO) indexes of birth, marriage and death registrations (from July 1837 in England and Wales). Copies of the indexes in microfiche form are also held in some libraries and record offices (including Berkshire Record Office), but online searching is now the method of choice. (The physical indexes once held in London at the Family Record Centre (FRC) and, before that, at St Catherine's House and Somerset House, are no longer available.)
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Obtain . . . copy certificates of births, marriage and deaths occurring since July 1837, either from local Register Offices (using local reference details obtained from sites such as UKBMD or Berkshire BMD) or using the online ordering system of the General Register Office.
IMPORTANT: Certificates cost £9.25 when you order them online from the General Register Office and £10.00 from a Local Register Office with a local reference or event date. Some commercial companies and websites will charge you much more than this - for something you can order for yourself at a fraction of their prices!
In 1911 and 1901 . . .
search for entries in the 1911 and 1901 censuses. These are online at Findmypast and several other sites. You can search indexes for free but will need to pay for transcribed details of individuals and households, and for images of original census returns (1911) or enumerators' schedules (1901).
Then get back to 1891, 1881 . . .
by searching for census entries that are readily accessible on several web sites (and on CD-ROMs and even microfiche). You can access all of these in the society's Research Centre. If you can work back to 1851, the Centre also has a large number of Census Indexes (available on microform, in print or on CDs) for most pre-1974 UK counties and these may help you to locate your earlier ancestors. Berkshire Family History Society also operates a research service see Berkshire Name Search for details.
You can view census details for eight censuses (those for 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901 and 1911) for all of England and Wales (not just pre-1974 Berkshire) at the Research Centre in Reading. More websites that may be helpful to newcomers to family history can be found on our web-links page.
Before 1837, it gets a bit harder . . .
because to discover more information about ancestors who were born before 1837, you need to turn to parish records (for details of baptisms and marriages as recorded in parish registers) and perhaps to other records too. These are generally held in county record offices, like Berkshire Record Office (which holds the original records of the parishes and places of the pre-1974 County of Berkshire). An increasing number of parish records are now indexed and transcribed and some can be found online. The FamilySearch website can be a useful finding aid, although coverage by parish and by time period is far from complete for many counties. Due to privacy laws, the most recent records may not be displayed. (Most of these records were previously to be found in the International Genealogical Index, also known as the 'IGI'.)
To summarise - get back to 1837 . . .
use GRO Indexes of Births, Marriages and Deaths and census details, in the Berkshire Family History Society's Research Centre, in local record offices or online. See the links on the pages of this website for some of the places where online information is available. Where necessary, for example to be sure that you have a true family member (and not someone sharing the same forename and surname) you should also purchase copy certificates, not least because they will also give you vital additional information that can help the next stages of your research. Examples include addresses, ages, maiden names, occupations and also confirmation of relationships.
Later . . .
you may want to search through copies of the parish registers of Baptisms, Marriages and Burials for those places in which your ancestors lived. Many of these can be seen on microfilm or microfiche in County Record Offices.
Storing your information . . .
You will need to organise and store information that you discover. Historically, this might have been done using a card index. Today, it will usually be done with the help of one or more computer programs - there are several widely available programs specially written for family historians. Examples include:
| RootsMagic | Brothers Keeper |
| Family Tree Maker (FTM) | Kith and Kin (K&K) |
| Geni | Legacy |
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Personal Ancestral File (PAF) (also Ancestral Quest) |
The Master Genealogist (TMG) |
| Reunion (Mac only) | Pedigree |
| Family Historian | Gramps |
| Family Tree Builder | Genopro |
All are capable of generating reports in several forms, including 'Family group' tables and charts of ancestors and descendants. Some allow considerable customisation of reports. The society can offer good advice in this area.
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Requirements for a family history program
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The main family history programs
At Computer Branch meetings, there are regular reviews and discussions of the pros and cons of individual programs in their latest editions.
Go on a course . . .
to learn how to research your Family History. These are held in many areas - and Berkshire Family History Society runs introductory programmes too.
Ask about courses available in your area. Or look online, using a search engine like Google or www.genuki.org.uk/search.html (for UK family history sites).
Contact . . .
others who are researching the same surnames that you are. See Members' Surname Interests lists on websites like this one. There are Birth Briefs (also known as Pedigree Charts) that could help you too.
Also . . .
the society runs occasional workshops for beginners and improvers in family history research and also in the IT (computing) aspects of the pastime. On most Tuesday evenings at the Research Centre, knowledgeable volunteers are available to answer your computing related queries - from hardware issues to choosing and using a family history program.
Come along to . . .
the meetings of Berkshire Family History Society (or of your local family history society) and talk to other researchers, most of whom will be pleased to help you and share their knowledge and experience. Meetings of this society are free to attend - and open to all. Look out for the many outreach events too - often in local libraries - where you can drop in for free help and advice with your research.
Subscribe, read and watch . . .
Buy a family history magazine like 'Your Family Tree' or 'Who Do You Think You Are?' and watch out for family history programmes in the TV schedules (10 more programmes in the UK series of 'Who Do You Think You Are?' are expected later in 2012 and programmes from earlier UK and US series are often repeated on various channels). Look out for these.
page reviewed and revised 17 April 2012
