The fact that the General Register Office includes the mother’s maiden name in their Index can be very helpful in tracking down a marriage, making it that much easier to continue research. The one big advantage to the General Register Office’s website is that the index includes the mother’s maiden name from 1837, whereas the Index included on FreeBMD only contains that information from 1911. The index does not currently include marriages.
The General Register Office website provides free access to the GRO Index for births and deaths. Compiled by volunteers, the information contained on the website is largely complete for births 1837-1983, marriages 1837-1983 (1969 is incomplete), and deaths 1837-1983 (19 is incomplete). They can add and/or delete people regardless of how accurate the information being added to your family tree actually is!! FreeBMDįreeBMD provides access to the GRO Index of England and Wales. One drawback with this application, however, is that it allows anyone to make changes to your family tree. One application that is accessible on their website is their family tree application that allows you to upload your family tree to the internet. You should always check the original record, however, because their record only contains the bare minimum of information, not including any additional information that may have been added to the original record by the clergyman. More records are being added daily, however, and it can help you to find a record in a parish register. You can search through many parish registers and census returns that have been made freely available, but it must be noted that the resources are by no means complete, with several parish registers not yet included in their database. FamilySearchįamilySearch is a website that has been created by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Many websites can be accessed free of charge, such as FamilySearch, FreeBMD, or the General Register Office website, that gives access to the GRO Index. You may find that it is cheaper and easier to look at these resources online rather than spending time and money travelling to a record office. Online RecordsĪ lot of information is freely available online, such as transcripts of parish registers, the GRO Index or Census Returns.
Unfortunately, it is inevitable that you will have to pay to conduct genealogical research at some stage, whether that is ordering birth, death or marriage certificates, taking out a subscription to a family history website, travelling to record offices, paying record offices’ charges, or hiring a professional genealogist to conduct research on your behalf. The cost of tracing your family tree can vary considerably as it depends on many factors including how far back you wish to go, how much research you wish to undertake, and the number of locations your family originate from, especially if you wish to travel to these localities. When you first begin thinking about finding your ancestors by tracing your family tree, it can easily become overwhelming because many different options are available to you.
If the information you want is not online or on microfilm, it can be viewed in the search room at the Central Library. A lot of our archived information is not yet available digitally. Most of what we have online are descriptions of collections, and information about how to access them. This wealth of information provides a good starting point. We hold both physical and online archives and local collections that are free to use. It is also a good idea to join a society such as the Manchester and Lancashire Family History Society. We have books about genealogy for beginners, which we recommend you read first. Any clues such as dates, addresses, areas or trades will be helpful in finding the right family.
The first step to tracing your family history is to start from the facts that are available directly from family members. Gather as much information as possible and look at what we have online before visiting the library. Getting started - track your family history.
Getting started - track your family history