In short, it depends where in the world your ancestor lived and what sort of life he enjoyed.

If your name is Queen Elizabeth II, you will be able to trace your family back to 1066 with little effort! Information to help you is available just about everywhere, from historical publications to family archives. There may be less published information about the blacksmiths in your local town.

What do you want to know about your ancestors? Are you interested in studying the local history of the town where they lived and worked? Or is it their occupation that intrigues you? Or are you simply interested in finding out who their parents were?

In the UK, for the last of these enquiries, you will need to visit your local library or county record office. Since civil registration began in 1837, birth, marriage and death certificates provide details of most people, which is pretty accurate. A name index will be your first port of call, following which you may wish to purchase a copy of your ancestor's certificate to find out more. See How Do I Begin? Before 1837, you will have to rely on parish registers, which record baptisms, marriages and burials often back to the 1600's. This information needs to be analysed in detail to support your research. Remember to take a pencil with you to the record office, and allow plenty of time to complete your research! In addition, there may be documents in other records, such as marriage licences, manorial records - it pays to ask what records may be available locally.

Or you may prefer to employ someone to do the work for you! See What Does it Cost?

Again, for UK searches, the Public Record Office at Kew contains additional information, for example if your ancestor was a public servant, a seaman, etc, etc. Again, you will need time and patience to achieve success.

See the Links page for addresses and on-line information.

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