FAMILY TREE SEARCH: Genealogy tips

FAMILY TREE SEARCH: Genealogy tips

If your family tree has branched into a dead end, or an ancestor is proving elusive, never fear. Rob Beattie reveals 10 ways to improve your genealogy research

Genealogy free search
Paid-for services like Ancestry.co.uk offer excellent resources and great value for money to help you with all aspects of genealogy. However, there are also some good free alternatives, especially when you're starting out and uncertain how far you want to take your research. The National Archives , Family Records, the Free Census Project and GenUKI are all worth exploring.

Use DNA genealogy
A service offered by Ancestry.co.uk lets you trace your family tree using a simple DNA test. You use a swab to gather DNA from inside your mouth and then send it to the site, which will compare your sample with 15 million other swabs in its database. If your DNA matches anyone else's, you will be sent an email so you can decide whether or not to get in touch with that person. The process costs between $150 (£75) and $200 (£100) and takes four to six weeks. For full details see the DNA genealogy FAQ at Ancestry.co.uk. It's a fascinating idea, and if you're uncomfortable with the notion of your DNA being made public, you can request that both the swab and test results be destroyed afterwards.

Village green gossip
Go to Google and search for the town or village where your ancestor used to hang out. Scan through the results for local web sites, mailing lists and bulletin boards; enthusiastic local historians are nearly always keen to help and may have access to a network of like-minded researchers. Check out an example in the Memory Lane forum.
 

Genealogy advice
Most genealogy sites have thriving message boards or mailing lists. Make sure you sign up to these and check in regularly. Good ones will let you use some form of online moniker so you won't need to use your real e-mail address and risk getting ruthlessly spammed. A sociable site such as Roots Chat is a good place to start..
 

Search armed forces
Comrades in arms often maintain their friendships long after they've left the service which makes sites like Forces Reunited, with nearly 380,000 members, and Service Pals, with 110,000 members, rich sources of anecdotal information. Both are free to search.
 

Genealogy terminology
More than most hobbies, genealogy has a language all its own - and more than its fair share of abbreviations. This helps with research (it's quicker to note that someone was 'b.' in 1728 and 'bur.' in 1779 rather than using 'born' and 'buried') and with printing out finished family trees where there may not be room in each entry for extensive information. Some abbreviations like 'marr.' for 'married' are obvious; others, like 'HEIC' for Honorable East India Company', are less so. Check the Abbreviations page at RootsWeb.com for an extensive list of abbreviations.

Genealogy calendars
Remember that things weren't always as they are today. Surnames for example, were rare until the 1400s after which it became more common for people to take on their father's name, a nickname (thus, 'Little' John) the name of the place where they lived or their occupation. When it comes to dates, England and her colonies switched from the Julian to the Gregorian calendars in 1752, at which point New Year's Day stopped alternating between 24 and 25 March and became 1 January. If you're going back a long way, it's important to know if the calendar adjustment has been made already. Try Genealogy calendars.

Find local people
As well as being patchy until recent times, records are almost always kept differently in different countries, either because of custom or legal requirements. So if you're searching for ancestors in Scotland, you may be better off with a site like Scotland's People. For the rest of the UK, try The National Library of Wales or the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. If you need to look further afield, you can use Findmypast.com to search overseas records for recent birth, marriage and death information. Searching is free but to view the records you will need to purchase credits, either by buying pay-per-view units (from £6.95 for 60) or choosing one of three subscription options.

Family tree help
If you don't know where to start with all this genealogy business, you may find that someone's already done some of the legwork for you. One of the easiest ways to find out is to visit One Name, which lists 7,500 surnames and offers links to the people who are researching them. You can then contact them through the web site to see if they can shed any light on anyone you're interested in.

Gen up on GEDCOM
Although genealogy programs compete furiously, many of them are able to exchange information thanks to a file format known as Genealogical Data Communications or GEDCOM. Software and online services that support GEDCOM 5.5.1 (which is 12 years old but still the recognised standard) are the ones to go for. More on what are GEDCOM files.