Hot tips for family tree research
Building a family tree can be a huge task to take on. Ensure your experience is as seamless as possible with these top tips.
Be specific
Consider searching by category when you’re looking into your family tree. For example, a search through census or military records. Or, if you know where and when you’re looking for your ancestors, you may want to look into particular record collections.
Think local
Start your search by looking for records in the relevant country. Then move your search wider as you need to.
What’s in name
It is not uncommon to find that names were spelt differently in the past, so search under the first and last names. However, also take the time to search for other possibilities yourself (for example Mark and Marks), as this can be more effective.
Movers and shakers
You’ll often find that your ancestors moved across towns. So as well as focussing your search on the town/region that you entered, you should consider any bordering areas.
Family members
Consider that they may be many Colin Smiths on record, but far fewer who were married to a Mary, and fewer still with a daughter names Katherine. Alter your search to include other relatives.
Think outside the box
If you’re finding you’re coming up against road blocks searching a particular person, another option is to simply search for a different person in the same household. For example, say you can’t find Colin Smith? Try searching for wife Mary or other family members with more unusual names, and see if you can spot Colin elsewhere on the record.