On what search sites do you find the most info in tracing your roots?

[LorraineJ]

I am new to geneology and was wondering what people would recommend. With the help of a friend I have found all sorts of information, have joined up ancestry.co.uk (14 day free trial) and to be honest, I am fumbling round in the dark. Where should I go from here?

I have also joined a deceased on line site, and TBH I am wishing I hadn't bothered, it hasn't found a single grave.

[Elaine ..Spain]

Firstly, welcome to Family Tree Forum.

It really depends where the majority of your ancestors come from. If we are talking about England and Wales then Ancestry is probably the best site for you. If you have Scottish roots then you would need Scotlands People.

Have a look in our reference library (known as the Wiki) - click on the Wiki on the blue navigation bar and select the Main Wiki page. Scroll down the page and you will see a section on Online Research - if you click on that it will take you to the following page:
Online Research - Family Tree Forum

There are a few free sites mentioned here which you will find of use, particuarly freeBMD which will allow you to find birth, marriage and deaths of your ancestors.

If you need some specific help then give us some details of what information you have found and what you are looking for and we will give you some pointers - please remember though that we don´t allow details of living people to be posted on the site.

Don´t be afraid to ask even the simplest of questions -we all had to start somewhere.

[Little Nell]

www.familysearch.org

www.ancestry.co.uk

www.genuki.org.uk

[Harrys mum]

If you are looking for people researching the same names, I'd say try Curious Fox.
I know a lot of people have no luck, but while I've had not many contacts through them, they have all been good ones.

Google will often throw up hits with others researching as well.

[WendyPusey]

FreeBMD and FreeREG.

FreeBMD Home Page

FreeREG - Search UK Parish Register Indices

[herky]

Hi Lorraine,
Welcome.
Most of mine are Scottish so Scotlands People is a must.
However it is very useful to look at Familysearch and the census indexes at Ancestry to help narrow things down prior to spending credits.
Personally I wouldn't be without Ancestry for all family members.
Don't forget about "google" -it is amazing what turns up there.
A favourite of mine is to write very nice letters to archives - it is amazing how helpful they can be.
Also - and I think this is important - ask others, sometimes we can become so blinkered that asking someone else will shine a whole new light on the subject. So a site like this can really help to broaden our focus.
Good luck to you
herky

[Caroline]

You might find this page from The Wiki interesting - it gives lots of advice and links to many useful places within The Wiki and then elsewhere.

Creating Your Family Tree - Family Tree Forum

[Uncle John]

Why not post up a name as an example, then it can be used as a demonstration of where to look. Each of the resources has its own plus and minus points.

[Janet]

It might be wise to spend some time finding your way around all the free sites first and spend some time getting to know what you already have in your possession as regards your tree so far, and then make a note of all the things you might be interested in like mainly English or mainly Scottish. Do you want Census or are Births Marriages and Deaths (BMD)going to be a priority? BMD are going to be your start point and free BMD is now up to
1930's. Once you have found your way around all the free sites and find out what you require, then that may be the time to start looking at Ancestry or Findmypast or another paying site. The trouble is they all have something different so you could end up paying a lot of money to access. Ancestry does offer one hour for free at your local library.

Janet

[Penelope]

Have you found the IGI yet?

That's free and is a nice starting point.

[Darksecretz]

I am new to geneology and was wondering what people would recommend. With the help of a friend I have found all sorts of information, have joined up ancestry.co.uk (14 day free trial) and to be honest, I am fumbling round in the dark. Where should I go from here?

I have also joined a deceased on line site, and TBH I am wishing I hadn't bothered, it hasn't found a single grave.

I think it depends where and when and how far you are prepared to go.

if you have documentation (ie Birth Marriage & Death certs) to get you back to 1901 then Ancestry is the place to using to get you back further.

once you have got back to 1841 then you can begin looking on the LDS and Hugh Wallis, to help you go back further.

'most' people have an ancestry sub, but hey, we all started somewhere so if you get stuck, or dont know where to look then shout up, people will give you the advice if you ask. or if you cant find it they will usually be able to find it and help you out.

[Dugless]

I'd say try your local library first. Many seem to have free access to Ancestry [ours does] and some, it seems, have FMP. Remember that none of the sites is perfect. A search that fails on one may well succeed on another.

[Joy Dean]

Those mentioned, plus rootsweb mailing lists for surnames, counties etc
RootsWeb: Genealogy Mailing Lists