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  • New to it all!

    Hi everybody, I'm new to all of this. I've signed up to Ancestry.co.uk but I'm after some hints and tips of where to start. I have got some information but only as far back as my great grandparents, and the information I have is very scant.
    What's the best way to begin??? Thanks

  • #2
    Hello Tan,

    welcome to the forum, as you are new to this very addictive hobby you should look at our Getting-Started and Online-Research guides, these can be found on the 'navbar' that runs across your screen at the top of this forum, they can give you some ideas what to do/look for and how to present your findings.
    Julie
    They're coming to take me away haha hee hee..........

    .......I find dead people

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    • #3
      Thanks. I've already started doing that, my problem is that I'm not sure on birth / death dates for most of them and just don't know how to confirm that people who I come across are definitely part of my family.

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      • #4
        Welcome to FTF. The crucial thing is to check each generation thoroughly, starting with you. That way you will be sure who married who, and that you've got the correct children. It's very easy to "assume" and then go haring up completely the wrong tree. Buying certificates is expensive, but it's the only way to guard against errors. There was an example quoted on "Heir Hunters" today, where they picked up on an online tree with the target person in it, and discovered elementary errors almost from the start. Obviously there are families that start off untraceable because of adoptions, bigamy and other aberrations, but they are in the minority. My family has enough unusual names on both sides to enable fairly straightforward tracing.
        Last edited by Uncle John; 16-04-12, 21:55.
        Uncle John - Passed away March 2020

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        • #5
          Staring with yourself note down the names of your parents using your mother's maiden name then look in the marriage index on ancestry for their names to locate their marriage. Once you have their marriage you send for the certificate to find out who their father's were. if that takes you back to 1911 you can look for the father's concerned using their names and occupations and locations to identify possible candidates. Once into the censuses which are every 10 years from 1841 you can find whole families.

          As has been said you need to confirm each generation with marriage and birth certificates to be sure you are tracing the right family.

          If you want to put up any details you have of deceased people we can help confirm what you find and advise what certificates to get next.

          If you start an ancestry tree the site will give you hints of the records that might relate to your names which makes it easier in some ways but you must be very careful not just to accept what they suggest - look at the records critically and check all the details.

          Margaret

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          • #6
            Thank you for your replies

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            • #7
              Welcome Tan.

              Remember you can always put any questions here......as long as anyone you name is not still living.

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              • #8
                I know I will hit a wall on my mothers side as her GGGM (I think) was left on a doorstep as a baby. And my fathers side is Scottish, and I know nothing about them from my grandad back! But I am determined to do as much as I can.

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                • #9
                  When you get to your Scottish side Tan you will need this site. It's brilliant as you can actually view immediately some old marriage etc certs on line. You buy credits and the number of credits you use to view a certificate (only before a certain year though) is far sheaper than the English ones and gives loads more information.



                  p.s. Don't forget, whenever you get stuck we are here to help Oh - and p.p.s. A warm welcome to FTF
                  Last edited by Chrissie Smiff; 18-04-12, 10:22.
                  Chrissie passed away in January 2020.

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                  • #10
                    Tan

                    Another thing to bear in mind is that not all information you are given by your family is true! The baby "found on the doorstep" may just turn out to be an illegitimate child of the family - a face-saving explanation for its appearance when illegitimacy was such a scandal.

                    OC

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                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Chrissie Smiff View Post
                      When you get to your Scottish side Tan you will need this site. It's brilliant as you can actually view immediately some old marriage etc certs on line. You buy credits and the number of credits you use to view a certificate (only before a certain year though) is far sheaper than the English ones and gives loads more information.



                      p.s. Don't forget, whenever you get stuck we are here to help Oh - and p.p.s. A warm welcome to FTF
                      Thanks for that!

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                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Olde Crone Holden View Post
                        Tan

                        Another thing to bear in mind is that not all information you are given by your family is true! The baby "found on the doorstep" may just turn out to be an illegitimate child of the family - a face-saving explanation for its appearance when illegitimacy was such a scandal.

                        OC

                        Very true but I do actually think this was genuine. Trouble is, if it isn't how do you then find out?

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                        • #13
                          Originally posted by Tan View Post
                          Very true but I do actually think this was genuine. Trouble is, if it isn't how do you then find out?
                          You could look in the birth indexes for a registration for the person who is supposed to have been found on the doorstep starting with the name they used. That may show the mother's maiden name if it is after Sep 1911 which may give a clue.

                          I would have thought that if a child is found on a doorstep there needs to have been some official involvement - you don't just take it for yourself like a parcel!! LOL

                          The person involved may know more about their origins than you have been told so if it's possible talk to them.

                          Margaret

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                          • #14
                            Originally posted by margaretmarch View Post
                            You could look in the birth indexes for a registration for the person who is supposed to have been found on the doorstep starting with the name they used. That may show the mother's maiden name if it is after Sep 1911 which may give a clue.

                            I would have thought that if a child is found on a doorstep there needs to have been some official involvement - you don't just take it for yourself like a parcel!! LOL

                            The person involved may know more about their origins than you have been told so if it's possible talk to them.

                            Margaret
                            Unfortunately my Nan passed in 1999 and it was her mother, so not possible. And it was long before 1911, my Nan herself was born in 1912.

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                            • #15
                              In that case, you look on the relevant census to see where she was and who she was with and how she was described. As Margaret says, even back in those days you didn't just take a baby in off a doorstep (especially if you also had unmarried daughters, lol).

                              OC

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                              • #16
                                I have often wondered about that OC. After my very long search for hubby's grandmother I discovered that she was 'adopted'. According to a very old living member of the 'adoptive' family that brought her up she was a 5 week old baby of the couple living next door. One night they did a moonlight flit, taking only the older son and leaving the baby behind. The 'adoptive' father heard a baby crying and when he and his wife went to investigate, there she was. So they took her in
                                Chrissie passed away in January 2020.

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                                • #17
                                  Chrissie

                                  I'd still be fairly suspicious of the unusual circumstances though, especially if the "receiving" family was poor, or already had loads of children.

                                  However, each case is different and always needs investigation. I'm just saying, don't accept family stories as gospel without doing some independent checking.

                                  OC

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                                  • #18
                                    Originally posted by Tan View Post
                                    Unfortunately my Nan passed in 1999 and it was her mother, so not possible. And it was long before 1911, my Nan herself was born in 1912.
                                    In that case you would have to find the birth registration details and send for the birth cert (£9.25 from GRO) which will show parents names.

                                    Margaret

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                                    • #19
                                      Originally posted by Olde Crone Holden View Post
                                      Chrissie

                                      I'd still be fairly suspicious of the unusual circumstances though, especially if the "receiving" family was poor, or already had loads of children.

                                      However, each case is different and always needs investigation. I'm just saying, don't accept family stories as gospel without doing some independent checking.

                                      OC
                                      Yes OC, that was my initial thought. However, many things, including the address on her birth cert, the fact that they weren't poor and didn't have any other children at this time and they kept her original name until the next but one census was compelling. I did wonder if by any chance the 'adoptive' father was her real father. Her (at the time living) 'sister' says that she was very much loved and brought up just the same as ther own children which they went on to have.

                                      p.s. Sorry Tan, didn't mean to take over your thread but it may have similarities to yours when you find her?
                                      Last edited by Chrissie Smiff; 18-04-12, 21:11.
                                      Chrissie passed away in January 2020.

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                                      • #20
                                        Originally posted by Chrissie Smiff View Post
                                        I have often wondered about that OC. After my very long search for hubby's grandmother I discovered that she was 'adopted'. According to a very old living member of the 'adoptive' family that brought her up she was a 5 week old baby of the couple living next door. One night they did a moonlight flit, taking only the older son and leaving the baby behind. The 'adoptive' father heard a baby crying and when he and his wife went to investigate, there she was. So they took her in
                                        Taking this together with the other bit of information that the receiving couple had no children - maybe an intention to be kind to both the child and the people to whom the baby was effectively given.

                                        Margaret

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