Family Tree.

[Margaret Pilkington]

I have been helping my niece research her family background......and though I thought it would be boring I am now addicted.
Has anyone out there done this? If so have you any practical hints or tips?

Thanks in anticipation.

[Uncle Mick]

I`m doing my family tree at the mo and went after all four branches at once, paternal and maternal grandparents, not the best way of going about it! A few of the golden rules are;

Get oral histories from living relatives, it will back up the evidence you collect or you may need ot quash it. Auntie Jean may not be your auntie just your mothers best friend!

Start with a quick family tree written down to show relationships, it could soon get complicated.

Get some lever arch files and plastic wallets for documents and keep them in order.

Use the local history societies, they are always pleased to help.

Genes Reunited is always a good place to start, someone may have already started research on your family. I have about 12 contacts with various members of the Allonby clan from all over the world.

It can be expensive, sending for birth, marriage and death certificates are £7 each and subscription to sites like Ancestry can be quite dear. Most libraries offer free access to Ancestry which is a very useful site.

Use the library. Accy has parish records and census returns together with transcriptions of various cemetaries and back editions of the Accrington Observer

You need a lot of patience!!!

Good Luck

[Margaret Pilkington]

Thanks for the tips Uncle Mick. I am doing both my parents, and helping with research on my Husbands parents. I have already amassed quite a bit of information from living relatives......but there are a few gaps. I plan to use whatever the local library can offer and then take it from there. I wish i has asked my grandparents more about their lives.
Mick has also very kindly offered to lend me some resources too.
I am getting square eyes from online researching.....and a square BTM too.

[Margaret Pilkington]

I have planned to write some kind of narrative about what i know about my relatives who were alive during my lifetime. I don't know how long it will take, it took me a year to transcribe a four week trip to Oz with my Mum.......so don't hold your breath.

[cashman]

hope you suceed margaret, one thing you will need is= More Patience than me, i had a do n gave up.

[Margaret Pilkington]

Patience is a definite requirement, but you also have to have some pretty damn good detective skills too......and be able to think 'outside the box'.
I have already found out some pretty mind blowing things.....not that I have found anyone famous or anything like that......bit I found out that my Grandma married someone old enough to be her father. That my mum and dad only knew each other for 3 weeks before they got married....and it wasn't a shotgun affair either....and the marriage lasted for something like 42 years until my dad died.
It is also quite exhilarating when you find a 'missing link'....and manage to put names to faces on old pictures. Yes, I think you could say I'm hooked.

[West Ender]

One of my brothers started to research our ancestors over 20 years ago. If I tell you he's still doing it, avidly, you'll know how involved you can become and how much there is to research.

He has been to St Catherines House many times, visited Registrars' offices all over the North of England and used dozens of internet sites. Having traced both our parents' ancestors back to the early 17th century he has, since, diverted into various branches and is constantly turning up "new" distant relations, many of whom he's in touch with.

There are a few sites on the net that I've looked at though my efforts are nothing compared to his. The 1901 Census is useful and there's a site called Free BMD (births, marriages and deaths) which has records back to 1837. The Mormons' site is also very helpful and gives details from various censuses if you find the right person.

Good luck with your research but remember - it can be very absorbing. The stories you unearth are sometimes amazing and sometimes very sad.

[Margaret Pilkington]

I have used the Lancashire BMD, and Ancestry too, but so far only the free stuff. I didn't want to get into a subscription thing and then run out of enthusiasm....though I think that i am going to HAVE to purchase something that will let me view the 1901 census.
My mother never knew that her own dad had at least six other siblings....or that he was born in Horncastle in Lincolnshire. She was fascinated when i told her. And now she is considering taking a trip to her fathers birthplace for her 80th birthday.
I have so far only gone back to the 1860's.
My niece in Australia is doing her British side of the family, her Oz side and her hubby's Irish root as well.
West Ender, you are right about it being absorbing.....compulsive too.

[panther]

I wish i could start my family tree, but dont know where to start from because i havent a clue about my ancestors, only up to me granny on both sides thats about it, it looks really interesting and would love to know who im related to, in the old days, could be a mass murderer!!!scared0011.gif

[Margaret Pilkington]

Well, Panther that is all that I started with too...so I guess you could start from there...but be warned it is very addictive.

[grannyclaret]

Who knows what we would find if we go back..maybe we are decended from mad axemen or raving banshies.. i think i will leave well alone....

[mallard]

It,s a good thing to do but its take,s your time up but i think there is no end to it. good luck with it

[Margaret Pilkington]

Granny, you could be right, but whatever you find does make for interesting reading......and it doesn't take anything away from me as a person.
We can only guess at the life pressures of our ancestors....and if some of them prove to have been less than 'savoury'.....it isn't really our fault.

I wish history had been taught in my school via this method....it would have made it more realistic and personal....and I'm sure I would have been a lot more interested.

You only need to do as much (or as little) as you want in the research of your background.
I'm not under any illusions as to having anyone famous, or infamous in my family past.

I also plan to write some kind of narrative about what my own background has been.....not for publication, just for the folk who come after me. So they will know a bit about me and my immediate family links. I am going to call it 'The Memoirs of an Ordinary Person'

[Uncle Mick]

Originally Posted by Margaret Pilkington

My niece in Australia is doing her British side of the family, her Oz side and her hubby's Irish root as well.

My paternal grandparents were both Irish, which is a difficult root to go down, but the Haslingden court reports provided plenty of useful information when they were brought up before the judge!!.

Not related to Thomas and Bridget Pilkington of Clayton are you?

[Margaret Pilkington]

Well, I haven't come across them yet......We have Joseph (m) Mary Dewhurst......but I am still finding relatives that we never knew existed.