More Detailed Information

[kathyhpink]

With the help of a few people on the internet, I have a large family tree going back to the 1600s on my maternal grandfather's side. But all I have are names and dates.

I want to find out more personal details such as occupations, etc. Do I actually need to visit the area to find out these things. They hail from Wiltshire and I live in Suffolk, so not easy or quick!

Is there any other way I can do this?

[Bee]

That's the drawback of gathering info from other people's trees - you can end up with a list of names and dates which are pretty meaningless. You need to 'flesh them out' with bits about their lives, as you're discovering.

You can get info about occupations, relationships etc from the census returns, and if you look at the pages before and after the ones with 'your' ancestors, you may find siblings and parents in nearby households.

The things that mean the most are the bits you've discovered yourself, or with a bit of prompting or clues from other people - 'the thrill of the chase'!

Take a look at the info on this site - there are a couple of links in the header banner of this forum - 'starting out on your research' and 'online research' which might help.

If in doubt, just ask!

Bee.

[kathyhpink]

Many thanks Bee!

[Uncle John]

You may have names and dates, but are you sure it's your family? It's worth working backwards one step at a time to make sure you have some proof that Joe Bloggs is your Joe Bloggs.

[KiteRunner]

Going back to the pre-census years, if you can find some wills they would (hopefully) give you lots of information - have a go on here:
Wiltshire County Council - Wiltshire Archive Catalogue - Wiltshire Wills