Is progress possible?

[John123]

Having just retired I would now like to try and trace my family, but I have come across a big block.
All of my family are now dead, with no papers or any info left behind. Unfortunately while they were all alive I was too busy at work to ask them questions etc. And now it is too late.

is it possible to make any progress when all I know is my mum/dad's name, roughly where they were born, and not much else?

i would be grateful for any comments good or bad.

[Jill on the A272]

Yes, you should be able to locate their marriage, the certificate will give their fathers' names. Do you know the names of your grandparents? Your local library service may be able to give you free online access to Find My Past or Ancestry (all counties vary in what they offer) which may also help you.

[Mary from Italy]

If they were in England or Wales, you can start by looking for their marriage on this free site:

https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl

[Darksecretz]

Hello John,

Do you have your own 'full' birth certificate? This should arm you with the information to begin your quest. Did your parents have any brothers or sisters? do you have any cousins that are alive you could verify information with?

many people just dive in and 'presume' things when they should take their time and go slow methodically. If I were you I would be looking at getting at least 3 certs or pdf's of the records of death for your parents, your own full birth cert, and then your parents marriage cert. When you come to order certs or pdf's [you can only order pdf's for births/deaths up to a certain time period] and have to order 'paper' certificates for marriages [unless of course they married in a parish church and the registers have been filmed/stored on microfiche at your local library] OR if you have online subscriptions to either Ancestry/Find my past.


when you come to order certificates you need to use www.gro.gov.uk you will need to create an account and please only use this site for certs/pdf's [there are others such as Ancestry that charge wayyyyy over the top for the same certs, they get them from the same place and charge a massive handling fee!]


if you would like any help, then post away names dates that you know, [as I am sure you do know not of living people] our members would be more than willing to help you begin your journey. Good luck and look forward to your post.

[John123]

Thank you, these comments have given me hope.

[Darksecretz]

Thank you, these comments have given me hope.

That's ok John, if you get stuck just shout up :smilee:

[cbcarolyn]

Hi I have just joined

If you have some good surnames then I would say it would be fairly easy, the 1939 register is now available, so depending on age your parents and their family might be on there. I started mine many years ago, and trawled around and found loads of free info. Already mentioned many libraries have free access to ancestry or/and find my past.

I have used ancestry (i stop subscribing - but my tree remains) on and off over the years, and they are not cheap - but have to say make it really easy to find initial records, look for special offers. You can use them both for free, but they won't let you look at any records, so worth registering.

I have discovered recently - find my past lets you log into your account in the library, where as ancestry just lets you search and you have to keep inputting details for each search.

Also recently discovered in my area - I can join any library - so i have Herts, Beds and MK libraries available, and the Herts libraries have both ancestry and FMP. There is also the british newspaper archive in libraries. and if you have your own laptop - you can use that in the building and it links automatically.

I have just found family that my Dad didn't even know he had - as his Dad cut himself off from them, so you don't necessarily have to have living people.

[John123]

Thank you, I appreciate your helpful comments

[Darksecretz]

Hi I have just joined

If you have some good surnames then I would say it would be fairly easy, the 1939 register is now available, so depending on age your parents and their family might be on there. I started mine many years ago, and trawled around and found loads of free info. Already mentioned many libraries have free access to ancestry or/and find my past.

I have used ancestry (i stop subscribing - but my tree remains) on and off over the years, and they are not cheap - but have to say make it really easy to find initial records, look for special offers. You can use them both for free, but they won't let you look at any records, so worth registering.

I have discovered recently - find my past lets you log into your account in the library, where as ancestry just lets you search and you have to keep inputting details for each search.

Also recently discovered in my area - I can join any library - so i have Herts, Beds and MK libraries available, and the Herts libraries have both ancestry and FMP. There is also the british newspaper archive in libraries. and if you have your own laptop - you can use that in the building and it links automatically.

I have just found family that my Dad didn't even know he had - as his Dad cut himself off from them, so you don't necessarily have to have living people.

Some very valid ideas there Carolyn thank you.