Got back to 1807 what now

[robie]

Hi,

Since i started a few months ago I have followed my ancestors back through my father's side to 1807 and I have now 107 people in my tree. 

The question is I can't decide what to do next.  Do I try and find out about parish records to go further back.  Do I try to fill in all the missing relatives in the 1800 - 1900 range and work forward, or trace my mothers side back? What do other people do?

Robert

[Essex export]

Eventually, all of them!
There's no stopping once you start!

[kerryb]

Robie

a bit of both really.    It is interesting to go back further if possible but that depends on your ability to get sources, depending on which county your family is in you could try www.familyhistoryonline.co.uk which has births and deaths for many counties.  But coverage is not always good for some counties. 

Of course if you live in the same county you could visit your local record office, always an interesting and exciting visit.  And of course you can always post on rootschat to find out if anyone can help with parish registers.

In the meantime you can also look at the siblings and their families to fill in the tree sideways.  This can be interesting and can reveal answers to questions about your ancestors that you have not been able to answer sometimes.

Anyway whichever way you decide to go, good luck.

Kerry

[davidpinkney]

Best advice i can give is don't rush! I became carried away with my tree and adding names. Its worth checking your info with certificates at any possible stage to 100% confirm the identity. I'm back to the middle of the 18th century on my name and need to visit Yorkshire to procede further. In the meantime i'm following maternal lines, doing my partners tree and half a dozen friends' trees too. There's always something to do!

David

[meles]

Parish records can be interesting - it's good to see the old documents. Your local LDS church will have them. And County Family History Centres might have those and other fascinating documents.

It is easier to go sideways, so to speak, as the info is all online.

But as Kerry says, eventually, you'll want to do both.

Have fun!

meles

[Little Nell]

You probably have several leads to go backwards as well as possibilities to go sideways and flesh things out.  I generally tried following a number of leads and saw which one unravelled best!  By the time I had exhausted the available data, something else turned up on another lead.  Although I have to admit this was in the days before so much was available online etc.

I have enjoyed it all immensely!

Nell