[Solved] Standard fam. history procedure questions

[Darwinian]

Hello,

Im very new to researching family history and would like to know if Im grasping the core concepts. I have read many of the stickys throught the forums at RootsChat but am still a bit puzzled about the regular procedures to follow (Information overload! But in a good way!). This is how I assume it is best to go about the task of tracing family history:

- Search records on websites such as FreeBMD
- Find a match for a name
- Order birth cert to find out who the parents were?
- Use this info to trace back as far as possible,  then move onto other sources like censuses/parish records?

So say the furthest back I currently know is Jim Jones. Do I search for Jim Jones and then have to order a cert to find out who his parents were, and then do the same to each parent to build a tree?

Is there a free way to find out who his parents were?

Finally, I would be most grateful if some members would be so kind as to detail what steps they usually go through when building a family tree. The more detail the better

Additional info: This is mainly to help out my father in law as Im trying to teach him how to do all of this for himself. He has an English heritage. I have a New Zealand heritage so am I correct to assume that the procedure will probably be quite different for me?

[KGarrad]

Have you thought about using a free trial of a site like Ancestry?

Or use FamilySearch.org - the database from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) - it's free to use.
FreeBMD has sister sites in FreeCEN and FreeREG. They aren't complete, but where information is there is very useful.

Of course, much better is to post questions on RootsChat, and get answeres from helpful members!!

Essentially, to link one generation to another, you need either Birth Certificates, Marriage Certificates or Census information.

[stanmapstone]

You could look at the advice given by Directgov for Researching family history at http://www.rootschat.com/links/0kbm/

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) - the answers according to GENUKI
http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/genuki/faq.html

Getting Started in Genealogy and Family History
http://www.genuki.org.uk/gs/index.html

Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History
http://www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html
Stan

[Darwinian]

Thanks for your replies.

So everytime you want to find out information about a generation you know nothing about you have to order a cert? Doesnt it get incredibly expensive incredibly fast?

Would you be able to give me a general outline of what YOU do when tracing family history?

[KGarrad]

Personally, I use all the free websites (Family Search, FreeBMD etc) and I subscribe to FindMyPast and Ancestry.

I reckon that, for me, it is a good spend as I do lots of research (on RC!) for others!

First step is to interrogate ask as many older members of the family as possible, for names, dates and relationships.
Some of it may be misremembered, but it could prove useful!

And ALWAYS start with living people, and go back one step at a time!

[Darwinian]

So is it possible to do without ordering certs for each generation?

Do the findmypast and ancestry databases give you more info than the free ones?

[carol8353]

So everytime you want to find out information about a generation you know nothing about you have to order a cert? Doesnt it get incredibly expensive incredibly fast?

As long as you're not dealing with a surname like Smith, Brown or Jones   you can usually find the family in the censuses and that will often tell you who the parents are.

Then working out what date the oldest child was born,check Free BMD for a marriage between the father and a lady with the christian name of mum ! Note where they came from as marriages usually occur where the mum was born.

If you sign up to one of the subscription sites,for eg Ancestry,you might find that parish records for the area you need are online.

And lastly ask us  

Lots of us have access to parish record CDs or somesuch and can help you when you get stuck.Please put requests on the appropriate county board though if you can. If you don't know which county don't worry as a mod will move it for you.

Carol

[Darwinian]

Carol - thanks so much Just the info I was after!

[KGarrad]

Some of the sites are pay-per-view, which is great if you only want a few look-ups.
1911census.co.uk is free, unless you want the transcriptions.
Ancestry you can get on a 14 day trial basis (don't forget to cancel the subscription!).

What I did was:
I knew my parents names and dates of birth.
Using GRO Indexes (pre-internet!) I found their births, and mother's maiden names.
That led me to my grandparents marriages.
And that got me back to 1901 and the census (1911 wasn't online then).
From that I got other members of the families, and dates & places of birth.

Repeated this until I ran out of censuses!!