Who else is researching your family?

Once you start looking you will be surprised at how many people around the world will have your family in their trees.

There's no point in spending time trying to seek out for yourself what others already have, so make yourself known, and publish your tree.

This will give others the chance to see your tree, to make contact and exchange information.

WorldConnect Project at RootsWeb

With over 550,000,000 names, this is the world's largest collection of family trees.

You can search the database, search websites, join mailing lists and read and respond on message boards.

You can also submit your own family tree.

You will first need to create your tree with a software program, and a good one can be found here at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints' website.

You will be required to register your name and e-mail address but this doesn't commit you to anything.

Download the PAF (Personal Ancestry File) from the link on the Home Page and start to build your tree.

Share your family tree at GenesReunited

At Genes Reunited you can build your family tree and publish it, at no cost.

It's main advantage over WorldConnect Project is that you won't need a software program to do this.

However, you will need to pay a registration fee if you wish to contact other people, or reply to messages you receive. The registration fee is very small - approximately £8 per year.

The site also contains bmd indexes, census records, and WW1 and WW2 death indexes. Whether you pay a registration fee or not, these indexes are available only on a pay-per-view basis.

Know what you're looking for

Once your tree is 'up and running' you can establish which pieces of information are missing. Don't forget, start with the most recent member you have missing information for, and work backwards.

So get focused, be methodical and be organised. The detective work is about to begin!

Where you start your search will depend on what information you are looking for. You probably have gaps from the mid-20th Century back to the mid-19th Century, so you'll be looking for dates of birth, death or marriage after 1837. If so, you will need to understand a little about how indexes work.