Finding family

thelifeofpieface

thelifeofpieface

Gold Member
Has anybody used any of the heritage sites where you can find out information about your family? I'm starting a free trial with ancestry online and curious as to whether anybody has had any luck?
I know quite a few names on my mothers side, not so many on my dads. Xx
 
I had an account with Ancestry for about a year, it got me quite far with names and dates, but it didn't give me any of the info I wanted, not really. But the stuff I was after was never going to be easy, I wanted their jobs or lives or interesting facts, and you'd have to search lots of places to find that!

If you know correct dates and mother's maiden names I found it quite easy, but I definitely don't think (for me at least) it was worth the money. I got back to about 1605 with names, but no details. In the end I just ended up confused and uninterested!

Good luck, I hope you find what you're looking for!
X
 
I used Ancestors reunited (I think) ages ago & did quite well. But you have to use these sites with other pieces of information and rummage round. I also got info from the latest census, and I know my great grandmother came from Ireland so I searched for info for her as well, but I mainly concentrated on my paternal side of the family.

What sort of info are you after?

I felt I got my money's worth but it was taking so long out of my day & I realised I was spending far too many hours on it, it had become an addiction. I'd like to pick up where I left off but realise I need to spend less hours per day/week on it.

I found out my grandad's birth was registered a year after he was born which is usual if the parents aren't married, but his parents were married so I'd have liked to have had somebody to ask 'why' to so that's just one of the questions I have which will remain unanswered.
 
Happy Holidays said:
I found out my grandad's birth was registered a year after he was born which is usual if the parents aren't married, but his parents were married so I'd have liked to have had somebody to ask 'why' to so that's just one of the questions I have which will remain unanswered.
Click to expand...

See, that's what bothered me, obviously you can't expect these websites to know everything, but I ended up with more questions than I'd had answered, it was ever so frustrating, I wonder how shows like "Who do you think you are?" find their information!
 
There is a free website called FAMILYSEARCH.ORG which is worth a look.

On the Family Search website you can find information about Family History Centres around the country where you can get free advice and access to lots of websites.

I should point out that Family Search and the Centres are run by the Church of Latter Day Saints, otherwise known as the Mormons. I know this might bother some people, but you don't have to be a member of the church to use their centres, they are incredibly helpful, and there is no religious pressure at all.

I have used the Centre at Reading in the past, and it has been really useful. rfhc.org.uk

There are also other paid-for sites such as GenesReunited and FindMyPast.

All these sites have different information and it is worth looking at each one to see what they hold.

You should also see if there is a Family History Society or Club in your area. There are loads of these, and they often have websites which are very useful.
 
Llamasoks said:
See, that's what bothered me, obviously you can't expect these websites to know everything, but I ended up with more questions than I'd had answered, it was ever so frustrating, I wonder how shows like "Who do you think you are?" find their information!
Click to expand...

I went to a talk not long ago from someone who works on "Who do you think you are". It was fascinating. The speaker freely admitted that the programme made it look very easy to find information - it's a television show, after all, not a serious research guide.

They contact people to see if they would be interested, then go off and do the research. They then get back to the person concerned and say either yes, you have an interesting family history and we would like to go ahead with the programme, or no, your family history is really boring so we won't bother!

They have a team of researchers, and all sorts of resources. If one sticks to the simple family tree format, it isn't difficult to find out the bare bones such as births, marriages and deaths. Finding out the interesting bits requires some ingenuity and a flexible approach - some lateral thinking, so to speak. Newspaper archives are increasingly available online, and can be a really interesting source of extra information.
 
Thank you so much for your replies. I just want to find out whatever information I can, although I think I could easily become addicted!
I'm going to have a good hard look I think, and just see what I can find.
I didn't know if you could find others from your family on there? I'd be interested to see if I had any family members about xx
 
AnnaFaraday said:
I went to a talk not long ago from someone who works on "Who do you think you are". It was fascinating. The speaker freely admitted that the programme made it look very easy to find information - it's a television show, after all, not a serious research guide.

They contact people to see if they would be interested, then go off and do the research. They then get back to the person concerned and say either yes, you have an interesting family history and we would like to go ahead with the programme, or no, your family history is really boring so we won't bother!

They have a team of researchers, and all sorts of resources. If one sticks to the simple family tree format, it isn't difficult to find out the bare bones such as births, marriages and deaths. Finding out the interesting bits requires some ingenuity and a flexible approach - some lateral thinking, so to speak. Newspaper archives are increasingly available online, and can be a really interesting source of extra information.
Click to expand...

What an interesting thing to have been to! I got a bit further with my fathers side of the family, jobs, house numbers etc (oddly, one family who originated in Portsmouth moved and lived 3 houses away from where Me and my OH live now, can never walk past it now without wondering!), if I had more time I like to think I'd have stuck at it. There's a few groups in my village who do family history but they're all at 1-2pm (the coffee morning kind) on weekdays, and I work full time, the joys of a sleepy village!

Quite spurred on to give it another shot!
 
Llamasoks said:
See, that's what bothered me, obviously you can't expect these websites to know everything, but I ended up with more questions than I'd had answered, it was ever so frustrating, I wonder how shows like "Who do you think you are?" find their information!
Click to expand...

I know we can't but we get so much information which just leads to more questions!!!

AnnaFaraday said:
There is a free website called FAMILYSEARCH.ORG which is worth a look.

On the Family Search website you can find information about Family History Centres around the country where you can get free advice and access to lots of websites.

I should point out that Family Search and the Centres are run by the Church of Latter Day Saints, otherwise known as the Mormons. I know this might bother some people, but you don't have to be a member of the church to use their centres, they are incredibly helpful, and there is no religious pressure at all.

I have used the Centre at Reading in the past, and it has been really useful. rfhc.org.uk

There are also other paid-for sites such as GenesReunited and FindMyPast.

All these sites have different information and it is worth looking at each one to see what they hold.

You should also see if there is a Family History Society or Club in your area. There are loads of these, and they often have websites which are very useful.
Click to expand...

My old boss was a Mormon & I used to go to quite a few open days at the Temple, seeing how & being show to use their familysearch.org was something I went to. It is a fantastic website & set out differently than other ancestry websites. The are painstakingly putting data from microfiche onto the internet. Our local Temple has a library with a research area where anyone can go in & search their ancestors foc. There is no pressure to go to their meetings or anything like that at all.

I went to several events at the centre and never once was I pressurised or lectured t about their faith.
 
Happy Holidays said:
So this has renewed my interest in my family history & last night I spent a few hours on 'net searching. I'm going to re-join Ancestors Reunited when I get back from hols & limit myself to just 1 or 2 hrs per night on this project :D
Click to expand...
Im glad to hear it inspired you to search! Let me now how you get on and I will let you know too :) xx
 
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