Ask Your Family.......

Before it's too late

This is the first, and most important, step in your journey. Unfortunately, too many people ignore this and don't realise until too late, when they have lost the most valuable resource they could have had.

Talk first to the older members of your family, and ask them about their brothers and sisters, parents, aunts and uncles.

What jobs did they do? Where did they live? Where did they go to school? Did they serve in the Forces?

Keep notes

Write everything down, even if it doesn't seem relevant at the time. If you re-visit your notes often, you will find that things that aren't important one day will provide vital clues another.

As you put the pieces together, remember to keep an open mind. Memories fade, and in the re-telling of a story unrelated people and events can sometimes merge together in the story-teller's mind.

Talk to your family often. Each time, a new story and more people will emerge. Relatives you didn't know existed, and tales about them, will open new doors for your research.

This is a source of information that will never dry up.

Tangible evidence

As well as memories, they may also have tangible evidence for you - birth, marriage and death certificates, passports, war medals, souvenirs, letters, photographs, family bibles.

There may also be, lurking in someone's loft, a dusty old suitcase full of long-forgotten family memories which will be rich in information.

Draw up your first family tree

Having talked to your relatives you should have acquired an extensive amount of information - more than enough to draw up your first family tree.

You may only go back two, or possibly three generations, but lay it out methodically, and already you will begin to see a picture of your ancestors emerge.

Ensure you adopt consistent standards and make your tree easy to read for yourself, and for anyone else you share it with.