This article is intended as a very brief introduction for
beginners (or 'newbies' as they are sometimes known) who want to know
how to start collecting information on their ancestors and storing it.
It is just one of many such articles which will be found on the
internet but should be of particular interest to those with ancestors
in Berkshire, UK and those who live in the Berkshire area. You may
print it out for personal reference.
First . . .
read a simple book on the subject. The BerksFHS has
several on sale - such as
'Beginning your Family History' by George
Pelling on our Boks
for Beginners web page.
Then . . .
write down what you know, preferably in chart form (e.g.
Drop-line chart or Pedigree/birth brief).
Next . . .
if you live near enough to Reading you might visit our Research Centre (see opening hours)
off Castle Hill
in Reading where you can talk to the library assistants. They can give
you information on the research data held in the Centre and useful
publications which are available. They will identify which are the most
suitable for your purposes and guide you as what you might do next.
If you do not live near Reading then contact your local
Family History Society. Details can be found on the Federation of
Family History Societies (FFHS) web-site at www.ffhs.org.uk.
Get back to 1901 . . .
- Rumble . . .
through cupboards and drawers for birthday and address books, copies of
certificates (e.g. Birth, Marriage and Death, Education, Military
Service etc), letters, diaries, the family Bible, memorial cards,
wedding announcements, newspaper cuttings, . . .
- Contact and Interview . . . all your living relatives.
- Search . . . the
General Record Office (GRO) Indexes of Births, Marriages and Deaths at
the Family Record Centre (FRC), Myddelton Place, Islington, London and
obtain certificates. The indexes were formerly known as the St
Catherine's Indexes. For further information see the National Archives web-site at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk.
If you cannot get to London
- apply to the local Supt.
Registrar for your ancestors’ district for copies of certificates.
There is a charge. See the
list
of Registrar Offices in
and near Berkshire.
- many Record Offices, including the Berkshire Record Office in
Reading, have GRO Indexes on microfiche of Births, Marriages and Deaths
which you can search.
In 1901 . . .
search for entries in the 1901 census which is on-line at www.1901census.nationalarchives.gov.uk. You can
seach the index for free but will have to pay 75p for electronic copies
which can be downloaded as .pdf or tiff and printed.
Transcriptions for an individual cost 50p. For a household (only
really useful for institutions) the cost is also 50p. Payment can be
made using credit/debit card or, we recommend, by vouchers which can be
bought from the
society.
Hint: To put people together into families you can
use the 'pageId' (found by hovering your mouse over the 'image icon').
Then get back to 1881 and . .
.
search for entries in the 1881 census which is available
both on microfiche and CD-ROM. Both are available for your use in our Research Centre. If you can get back to
1851 then we also have a large number of Census Indexes (available on
microfiche, in printed booklets or on CDs) for most counties in the UK
which
you can look at. We also have a postal
research service which among other things can be used for the 1881
census, the 1851
Berkshire Census and a Berkshire Name Search..
You can also see census information for 1851, 1861 and
1871 at our Research Centre or all censuses for Berkshire at the
Berkshire Record Office. Their web-site address,
together with others of use to beginners, can be seen on our web-links page.
Then . . .
if you have information of people who were born before
about 1850 you might find details of their baptism or marriage in the
International Genealogical Index (IGI) available on-line at www.familysearch.org or on
fiche in our Research Centre.
Get back to 1837 . . .
using the GRO Indexes of Births, Marriages and Deaths at
the FRC, in local Record Offices or on the web. See our web-links
page for various places these can be seen on-line (viz FreeBMD - an
ongoing project for 1837-1983 though there is as yet little data after
1903 - and '1837online' etc). Obtain certificates wherever necessary as
they contain more information.
Later . . .
you may wish to consult copies of the Births, Baptisms,
Marriage and Burial Registers of the parishes in which your ancestors
lived. Many of these can be seen on fiche in County Record Offices and
at some ROs copies of the fiche can even be purchased for personal
research.
Store . . .
You will need to store the information you have got. In
the past this might have been done in a card index. Today, for all
those with a computer, it will more often be done in one or more of
several widely available lineage-linked data bases specially written
for Family Historians. The mainstream programs are:
| Family
Origins (FO) |
Brothers
Keeper |
| Family
Tree Maker (FTM) |
Kith and
Kin (K&K) |
| Generations |
Legacy |
| Personal
Ancestral File (PAF) |
The
Master Genealogist (TMG) |
| Ultimate
Family Tree (UFT) |
Pedigree |
These are all capable of generating reports in several
forms including 'Family group' tables and charts of ancestors and
descendents. Some provide a great deal of customisation for the
reports. See our handouts
More details are given at Use of Computer Packages
which is background information prepared for a meeting of the Reading
Branch of the Society held on Friday 18th February 2000.
Go on a course . . .
on Family History. These are held in many areas.
Enquire of
for details
of other courses available in the Reading area. Alternatively search
the internet using a search engine such as Google (available from our
Home Page) or www.genuki.org.uk/search.html
(for the UK family history
sites) for courses in your area.
Contact . . .
others who are research the same
names as you. See Members Interests Lists on Family History sites such
as our Members Interests Name
Index. We also have a Birth
Briefs (viz Pedigree) Name Index.
Also . . .
the society runs Computing Workshops for
beginners and improvers in computing aspects of Family
History. Weekly Computing
Surgeries provide the opportunity to seek answers to any computing
questions affecting family history research questions.
Attend . . .
appropriate meetings of your local Family History Society
and get to know the other members who will willingly help you.
Subscribe . . .
to a family history magazine such as 'Family Tree
Magazine' or 'Practical Family History'.