
What you have discovered so far are the bare facts about your ancestors, so if you would like to understand more about their lives then you will need to take your research further.
Firstly, you now know where your ancestors were born and where they lived. Perhaps they originated abroad, emigrated or spent some time in their lives living overseas.
The
World Index and
UK County Index have links to many websites both in the UK and abroad which will assist in your research.
You may also be able to identify where they lived from the websites listed on
Maps and
Photographs. Maps and photographs relating to specific areas and locations can be found on the relevant county or national pages.
You also know what your ancestor’s occupation was. Occupations and other terms you may come across in your research, together with their meanings, are listed on the
FTF Big Book of Genealogy .
Our
General History Section has lots of links to many websites relating to specific occupations, together with other topics which you may come across in your research, such as finding ancestors who fought in the two World Wars.
Our ancestors (like us) were shaped by the world they lived in and the sudden movement of a family, for example, from their birthplace to another part of the country could be explained by what was happening in the wider world.
The Timeline will help you to put the personal life of your ancestors in context with the social and political situation of the time.
To get some idea of how your ancestors lived you could visit many museums and other sites. Some recommendations and ideas for places to visit can be found on
See How Your Ancestors Lived .
The page
Family History Books has recommendations of books which you may find interesting in putting your ancestors into historical context.
The FTF
Costume Gallery and
Costume Past and Present will give you some idea of the fashions of their time.
If you discover a sailor, airman or soldier in your tree, you will find our
FTF Guide: Military and Maritime History very handy.
As you uncover your family’s history you may well discover cases of
Divorce and Annulments,
Illegitimacy,
Stillbirth or
Adoption. These sections of our Reference Library can assist you further in your research.
It does need to be remembered that Genealogy is not a purely computer based hobby.
So much more information is held in record offices and other archives, such as in The National Archives of the United Kingdom in Kew in London. You can find out what’s held there on their website,
The National Archives. Some of the information held at other archives is available on
A2A - Access to Archives.
Our
Records Office Guide has links to a variety of other sources of records:
FTF Guide: Coroners' Records
FTF Guide: Court Sessions and Victuallers Licences
FTF Guide: Directories: Trade, Street and City
FTF Guide: Electoral Registers and Poll Books
FTF Guide: Emigration and Immigration
FTF Guide: Hospital and Asyluma Records
FTF Guide: Manorial, Land and Estate Deeds
FTF Guide: Maps
FTF Guide: Military and Maritime Records
FTF Guide: Newspapers
FTF Guide: Photographs
FTF Guide: Poor Laws and Workhouses
FTF Guide: School Records
FTF Guide: Taxation Records
FTF Guide: Wills and Probate
Lastly, don’t forget to use your search engine e.g.
Google. Search under your ancestor’s names and where they lived. You’ll never know what you may find.