How to do Family History – Say before you pay

What do we mean by ‘say before you pay’? In simple terms, don’t pay for any website, until you have found everything you can use or need. Before we begin, you don’t require all of the information below – this is merely just a guide!

Before starting, what do you need to find out?

  • Mother’s maiden name
  • Mother’s date of birth
  • Father’s date of birth
  • Mother and Father’s marriage date
  • Siblings of every generation

What do you do?

Have a chat and let them go off on a tangent – this can give you some of your best information and it may help you to be in a group. Using the tips below.

  • Have a cup of tea/coffee (and a slice of cake on the side!)
  • Take notes
  • Use their Facebook proflie (if they have one!)
  • E-mail them for information, if you are unsure of any thing

Make sure you prove what they say, with documents

Now you have to decide which route to go down.

Go back as far you can

This is often quicker as there are less people to trace However, you can lose a lot of detail due to the fact you don’t have a full picture it is easier to trace the wrong family.

or

Get a detailed family tree

You get details helping bring people ‘back to life’, by undersanding the history of where they lived and why. It’s harder to trace the wrong family, as you know more about them. However, it may take a little longer to get all the information.

Download this as a powerpoint.