How far back have you got ?

[pinefamily]

egzackery, behindthefrogs. To rely on purely PR's and BT's pre-1837 can lead to many errors being made, although by going back to the original source (rather than a transcription) you can make a reasonable amount of headway. In the original registers you will often find extra pieces of information that either prove John Smth was your ancestor, or rule him out.
I have found wills to be the best source of proof of ID, closely followed by property documents. It is so handy when the same property stays in the family for generations. 

[msallen]

On my wife's side, I have been fortunate enough to make connections into the gentry, and from there, up the social scale. However, I try to stay in the realms of provable fact, and don't try and go past the 14 or 1500's. It is a fact that a lot of the pedigrees of the noble and gentry classes are a blend of fact and fiction.

Certainly many of the published pedigrees for the minor gentry have some very dubious, if not blatantly dishonest links (but of course you'd never just accept a published pedigree anyway would you!). However in general it is much easier to prove the links between 15th century gentry than between 18th and early 19th century Ag Labs. Its all about how much paperwork they left in their wake.

[pinefamily]

That's what I have done with my wife's lines. I have found the existing pedigrees, and then checked each link for myself. Interestingly, there have been on or two discrepancies.
Mind you, who would have thought that there would be an error in the online DNB?

[MajorD]

On my one venture to the nearest relevant county Records Office (all of 10 miles away) I managed to go back to a birth circa 1722.

Haven't got round to a second visit though as I don't feel much incentive to put that kind of leg-work in when all I end up with is a list of people about whom I know no more than that they were born, married, procreated and died. 

All the indications are that I am descended from a group of families who have studiously avoided acquiring property or money or exercising any kind of influence whatsoever.

I am well on my way to continuing that proud tradition!

[colin buckle]

Considering all my ancestors were poor farm labourers I'm quite pleased that I've managed to trace one of my paternal lines back to the marriage of my 12 x Gt Grandparents in 1541. For my surname line I've got back as far as my 7 x Gt Grandfather who was born around 1690.

[DozyDora]

I am afraid I lose interest when there are not many records to prove anything, so I tend to go forward in the hope of meeting more family ALIVE!!

Dora

[behindthefrogs]

On my one venture to the nearest relevant county Records Office (all of 10 miles away) I managed to go back to a birth circa 1722.

Haven't got round to a second visit though as I don't feel much incentive to put that kind of leg-work in when all I end up with is a list of people about whom I know no more than that they were born, married, procreated and died. 

All the indications are that I am descended from a group of families who have studiously avoided acquiring property or money or exercising any kind of influence whatsoever.

I am well on my way to continuing that proud tradition!

What did you look at in the record office?  If you restricted yourself to the parish registers then of course all you will find is baptisms marriages and burials.  However if you can find other documents from the parish chest there is a lot more information to be found for all levels of the community.  Moving from there to the manor records, and higher church records etc. reveals a lot more information.  This sort of research is a lot slower but very rewarding because you are doing real research.

[MajorD]

What did you look at in the record office?  If you restricted yourself to the parish registers then of course all you will find is baptisms marriages and burials.  However if you can find other documents from the parish chest there is a lot more information to be found for all levels of the community.  Moving from there to the manor records, and higher church records etc. reveals a lot more information.  This sort of research is a lot slower but very rewarding because you are doing real research.

Fair comment - I admit I was being a bit facetious. 

As with colin buckle's comment above, most of my ancestors were also farm labourers; and most of those were unable to sign their own marriage certs by the start of the 20th century so I suspect they will have left little trace (possibly applications for parish relief or the like).  In truth, having recently rediscovered my enthusiasm for the hunt, I certainly intend to see what I can come up with.

Ian

[behindthefrogs]

The parish records can reveal a lot more about your ancestors than just an involvement in poor relief.  This can vary between being paid for work done in the parish to being involved issues brought before the vestry.  These small items can often reveal relationships which you are otherwise unable to find.