Where do I start?
If you have no idea where to start looking, it is best to take stock of what data you have already and plan your next move from there.
Look at the individuals you are going to try and find out more about. What exactly do you know already? Do you know any of the following information?
a ) Dates
b ) Names
c ) Locations
d ) Events
e ) Occupation
Knowing some information can be a great help, often people say they have nothing to go on, when they really have a great deal. The main issue is knowing how to use what you have to its greatest potential. How often have you had James Smith from unknown, born about 1849 parents unknown & living somewhere around the Barnsley area of Yorkshire? What can we use to help us here?
1 ) His name - St. Catherine's
2 ) His approximate Birth Year again - St. Catherine's
3 ) His location - 1851 Census, Parish Records, Starting at Barnsley,Yorkshire
Dates
If you know some dates, these can help you discover: Approximate Birth Years, Approximate Marriage Years, Approximate Death Years. Depending on what the year is, it may well be appropriate for other source material.
An example would be:- 1851, if you know the date you could try all three sections of St. Catherine's Index's, look for any possible names you are researching and make a note of the Place of Birth. It may then be worthwhile looking through the 1851 Census for that place. The Census material would give you an address, as well as the Names, Ages, Marital Status, Occupation, County & Country of Birth of those resident in the property on the night of the Census.
Names
If you know a name this information can help to verify any of the occurrences mentioned in dates above. Births, Marriages, Deaths & Burials.
An example would be:- Knowing the name of someone born after September 1837 would allow you to search the St. Catherine's Index, here you could make a note of all occurrences of that name and note the location that they were registered (please note that the area they were registered does not automatically mean that is were they lived) and you should be able to follow up the entries with the appropriate registrars office.
Locations
Knowing a location of a person at any given time is of considerable help in trying to uncover the details of any individual. This information can be cross linked to Names & Dates to direct you to Census Records, Parish Records, St. Catherine's Index to mention just a few of the main ones.
An example would be:- 1837, if you have an approximate location for a person around this time it may be worth looking in the Tithe Survey Records. These were undertaken between 1836 - 1943 (1836-1850, 1910-1915 & 1941-1943), and were detailed surveys of Rural and Urban landscapes. The information collected during these surveys included:- Location of individual property owners, the size of their landholdings-houses & gardens, names and addresses of the landowners and their tenants - plus how much rent was charged.
Events
Knowing a particular event can be a great help in your search to find out information about an individual. Many everyday events have extensive records, Births, Baptisms, Marriages, Deaths, Burials / Cremations, Court Appearances, Public events, Annual events to mention just a few. The sources of data to these types events include Civil Registration records, Parish Church records, Court records and Newspapers. All of these sources can be used to try and gain further information.
An example could be: - An Annual show, if you know that your person has records showing they were involved with a local annual show you should start with the following list.
a ) Is the show still running - If yes contact the organisers to see what records exist.
b ) If the show no longer runs contact the area's local studies and archives department at the local library. They may well have records and/or press cuttings about the show.
c ) If the show no longer exists and the show was connected to some form of trade or industry, try contacting the appropriate body that covers that trade or industry.
Occupation
Many occupations had official bodies / organisations that represented the people of that profession. See if any such body is still in existence today and contact them to see what, if any, archive material may be available. If the profession is no longer in existence it may well be possible for local studies and or archives to hold local records for that body.
An example could be: - Your person served as part of the Post Office. This is an organisation that holds its own archive service and has the history of a vast amount of people, companies and buildings connected to its service.
Starting Your Family Tree
To help those of you looking to begin plotting your own family tree, we have provided basic starter sheets for you to print out.
Download Chart (pdf) 60KB
Download Sheet (pdf) 90KB