"Some people suggest it is imperative to have a computer and printer, to record and store all your valuable information. Yes, I have one, plus a scanner, which I find very useful, and I have installed a family tree program which has facilities to store pictures, scanned copies of birth, marriage and death certificates, and anything else for each individual in your tree, and at a click of a button will type out your tree.
But if you do not want to go to this expense, then that is fine. I suggest two A4 size pads, one for rough work and one for storing your information legibly.
Another way of recording your information is on a card system, into which information on individuals in each generation can be entered from your 'work book'.
Before obtaining my computer I started recording my rough work on loose paper on a clipboard. The inevitable happened - in my haste - I did not secure all the papers, and as soon as I left the building, there were papers everywhere. Lessons were soon learned.
Whilst on the subject of expense, the research itself is free at all Record Offices and libraries, the only time it is going to cost you money is if you decide to photocopy items, i.e. Tithe records, Parish Records entries etc, that can range from 10p to 30p a sheet; it will soon add up.
The other big expense is, if you decide you wish to purchase your ancestors' birth, marriage and death certificates, which can cost from £6.50, at today's rates, depending where you obtain them from.
You can also become a member of a family history society. Most counties have one, Conwy, Gwynedd and Anglesey come under the Gwynedd Society; Denbighshire and Flintshire come under the Clwyd Society. I recommend that if you wish to take the research of your family seriously, then you should join a society that is correspondent with the county relevant to your search. It usually only costs around £10 a year to join, and the wealth of information that they have accumulated over the years is worth its weight in gold.
There are books published by various individuals to assist the amateur family historian make their way through the jungle of information that is available for research at the Records Office. One book that I recommend is Tracing Your Family Tree by Jean Cole and John Titford; it is available in the reference library, but it is only £10 to purchase, and, to me, worth every penny.
So where do you start? If you have a Birth Certificate, you can start there. Birth Certificates hold a lot of information, as follows:
Registration District and County of Birth.The date of birth and address.Name of child.Name and surname of father of the child.Name, surname and maiden surname of the mother of the child.Occupation of father.Signature, description i.e. relation and residence of informant.As one can see, this is vital information to get you started on your tree. You have now the names of both of your parents, your mothers maiden name, their address at your birth, and your father occupation.
The next step is to locate their marriage certificate. This again holds vital information:
Location, District and County of marriage.Date of marriage.Names and surnames of both parties.,li>Age of both parties.Condition. i.e. Bachelor, spinster, widower, widow.Rank or profession of both parties.Residence at time of marriage.Father's name and surname of both parties.Rank or profession of father of both parties.While on the subject of certificate, there is one more certificate that is issued, and that is the death certificate. This certificate does not give a lot of assistance to the family researcher, except confirm the date of death of the ancestor, by name, the place and cause of death, occupation and usual address. The date and place of birth are all hearsay, as the person who could confirm this, as the certificate proves, is dead.
From here, I suggest the next step is to ask the family. If you are fortunate to have grandparents still alive, then you are well on your way, as they can possibly provide quite a lot of information.
Information can also be gleaned from your parents, aunts and uncles. Make a list of questions to ask your relatives and take along photographs, these are invaluable in jogging people's memories. Here are the type of questions to ask:
Have they any birth, marriage or death certificates that you may borrow to take information from and copy.Photographs, especially wedding groups and names.These could lead to other valuable information such as, where the family originated from, was there a certain trade carried out in the family, any wills, war records, education, schools etc., burial records.
The most important thing is to write all the information down, do not rely on memory.
One important question to ask your informants is, has anyone in the family done this research before? If someone has, then get in touch and share information. I have learned along the way that, although you may think that family research, delving into the past, is great fun - and of course it is - it is not everyone's cup of tea, and you can end up sitting on your own at parties, and be known as the 'nerd that bores people to death'. Step carefully."
