Tracing your family history used to be a hard slog of paper trails and good old detective work, but with the advent of computers and the Internet, looking up your ancestors has become a damn site easier.

Sue Stafford from the Gloucestershire Family History Society is a bit of a genealogy expert and has helped track down some of her own long lost family members.

She said: "Many years ago I helped a great uncle of mine to find some relatives. He was the executor of a will and helping him find family members really got me hooked.

"I just found out exactly what he wanted to know and then I thought there's stacks of information out there and all it needs is someone to find it."

Sue now spends her time doing exactly that and helps others trace their ancestors.

She can also undertake family history research on a one-to-one basis - for a fee. (Contact her by email: glosearch@hotmail.com)

Sue does this at the Gloucestershire Family History Society HQ in Gloucester, a huge resource centre where others can learn methods of tracing their family line.

Well, there are various ways to start but a good way is to try and remember as much as you can about your relatives.

Start with a piece of paper and write the family tree down as you know it. Then check the information via birth and death certificates. Use any info you have because you don't want to research the wrong family line.

Sue Stafford

Sue said: "Start with a piece of paper and write the family tree down as you know it. Then check the information via birth and death certificates. Use any info you have because you don't want to research the wrong family line.

"Choose something, a family name or maiden name that you can research locally and that will give you a place to start."

Each person can then be identified by personal information, such as the following:

• Name
• Other members of the family
• Dates and places of important events such as birth, marriage, and death
• Ancestral village
• Occupation

Tracing a family history is a bit like being a detective, and there are lots of clues to be found, even lying around the house.

Look for sources in your home that might contain missing or incomplete family information.

Useful sources include:

• birth, marriage, and death certificates
• family bibles
• funeral programs
• obituaries
• wedding announcements
• family registers
• ancestral tablets
• photographs
• jewellery

"Doing your family history is a little like doing a jigsaw puzzle. You can find lots of possible answers to the clues you follow but only one will fit," said Sue.

"After you've written down the information that you know, look around the house for something to confirm what you've written down or to add to it.

"Jewellery can be a clue. Take for example grandma's engagement or wedding ring. If you look at the hallmark, you will have the approximate date it took place. If the hallmark has been worn off you may be able to date the piece by the fashion of the piece."

Old photographs can make valuable pieces of evidence when trying to find clues.

They can narrow the time frame down and give you an idea of which generation they come from.

According to Sue: "You can tell by the composition of a photograph, whether it's a full shot or a head and shoulders shot, as to which period it was taken.

"You can also tell from the type of print. For example, a cabinet print is from the middle or late 1890's, and postcards give clues with their printing and often the stamp.

Fashion is also a big giveaway to the era in which a photograph was taken.

"Turn ups on trousers were normal for men from 1912, and the boater hat was from 1890 to 1900. And a three inch shirt collar is from 1899," said super sleuth Sue Stafford.

"So check the size of the photo, the type, the compostition, whether it's portrait or landscape and the fashion - as these are all great pointers".

Birth certificates are perhaps the easiest and most common form of information people use to trace their ancestors.

They have been available from 1837 to the present day although the earlier certificates were in a different format.

Sue said: "Older certificates were about the size of a piece of toilet paper, with the registration destrict on, the date, the person's name and the signature of the registrar.

"However if they have no parental name or place of birth then you can change it for a full certificate from the register office whose name is on the certificate. So check the sub district and the registration destrict.

"Even though the old type birth certificate may not hold as much information, it is the index to a larger certificate with all the information".

If you want to find the correct registry office, look at the old certificate and at the bottom it will have the subdistrict and a place name.

Then simply call the local registry office and ask them for the address of the area that deals with the district you are looking for.

A full birth certificate will tell you:

• he place the child was born
• the address
• the date of birth
• the father's christian name and surname
• the mother's surname and her maiden name
• the occupation of the father
• the address of the father and where the child was registered.

You need the mother's maiden name and father's name to get a copy of their marriage certificate if you want to research further back.

Full copies of birth certificates can be obtained from most registry offices.

Read on for more tips about tracing your family tree >>

BBC Gloucestershire
London Road
Gloucester
GL1 1SW

Telephone (website only):
+44 (0)1452 308585

e-mail:
gloucestershire@bbc.co.uk