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So you want to meet your ancestors?

Before the days of the world-wide-web genealogy was expensive and time-consuming, and for the amateur genealogist it was difficult to obtain information.

Today, family research is the world's fastest-growing internet hobby, and there are tens of thousands of websites devoted to every aspect of the subject.

This site will guide you through the process, and show you some of the best places on the internet to find the information you need to grow your family tree.

Most of the links will take you directly to FREE sites (What do I really mean by FREE?).

A logical process

Growing a family tree is a logical, step-by-step process requiring patience, tenacity and an eye for detail.

You will only find your ancestors and put them in their correct places on your tree if you take an ordered, disciplined approach and work back through time, generation by generation.

Start your search with your most valuable and easily accessible resource - your family.

If you don't do this now it will one day be too late and you will find you have lost their contribution forever.

Subscriptions v Free sites

Subscription sites abound and, for the serious family researcher, are both time-saving and cost-effective.

Billions of records are made available in one place, avoiding the necessity to hop from site to site which, unless you're focussed and know exactly what you're looking for, often achieves very little.

But there is also a lot of information on the internet free of charge, so take a look at some of my favourite FREE must-visit family research sites.

You will find bmd indexes, census records, cemetary records, military records, emigration records and much, much more.

Get organised

During your research you will accumulate a lot of information and piles of paperwork.

Organise yourself from the beginning - use a lever-arch file, fill it with a packet of poly-pockets, and an A-Z index.

File the paperwork associated with each of the main 'characters' in your tree in their own polypocket, in alphabetical order, then in date-of-birth order.

DO's and DONT's

There are plenty of 'traps' to fall into when researching your ancestors. Learn some of the DO's and DONT's before you begin. Give yourself a head start and avoid some of the more common mistakes.




Discover your ancestors at Genes Reunited.co.uk