Genealogical and historical information and links for anyone researching their ancestors in England and the British Isles

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The first decision to be made when deciding how to begin tracing your family tree is what will be the scope of your research.

Will you be concentrating on one surname and follow this back as far as you can go, or are you going to attempt to trace back all your ancestral lines, both male and female, to a particular generation.

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When you are clear about your aims and before you start looking into the records available, it is a good idea to write down everything you or your relatives know about your common ancestors.

It should be remembered that memories can play tricks on people and all the information you collect (especially that on events or people from a long time ago) should not be taken as fact and should be checked against records whenever possible.

Also ask your relatives for copies of any documents which may throw additional light on your family history. These may act as a check for the oral information you have already received.

Once you have collected and compiled this information you can decide where you want to begin and from this point work your way methodically back in time, generation by generation.

 To do this you will need to consult the two major resources which everyone doing genealogical research in England normally begin with. These are the census and the certificates.


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The census is useful if you can already trace an ancestor back into the 19th century and have a specific address or the name of a village where they may have lived or been born. If so you can look at the census record at the nearest date for that location and with luck pinpoint your ancestor or their relatives.

Because the census recorded the relationships of people living at a particular address on a particular day and also (except in 1841) their age and places of birth it is possible to use it to find the next generation back and places and approximate years of birth.

See the census page for more detailed information on when it was taken and what each census contained.


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If you cannot at first trace an ancestor back as far as the 19th century then you will need the genealogists second major resource: the birth, marriage and death certificates.

These were first recorded on a national level in July 1837 and are available right up until the present day. Because the birth certificate gives the parents' names and the mother's maiden name and the marriage certificate gives the names of both fathers they can also be used to find the next generation back.

See the certificates page for more detailed information on the different certificates and what they contain.


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Before 1837 parish records were kept by churches and recorded the baptisms, marriages and burials which took place there.

Although not compiled on a national level or in a standard format they are invaluable in tracing ancestors back into the 17th century and beyond. If you are lucky these records can go all the way back to 1538 for a very few parishes. As with the other certificates they can be used to find out the names of the previous generation.

See the certificates page for more detailed information on the parish registers and what they contain.


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At this point your research will branch out into the multitude of other records available and will now depend on the life of each individual ancestor. Their social status, occupation or religion will all play a role in which records are then available for further research. A good quality genealogical book will point you in the right direction.

 One piece of advice that I found helpful in my own research and saved me a lot of wasted time following wrong clues is to always check your information. Remember the information on CD-ROMs and posted on the internet is often a transcription and therefore prone to errors. If possible check the original documents (if you have the luxury of time and money) and remember that even these must be checked against other documents. Any fact should only be seen as proven when at least two independent documents confirm it.

All that is left to say now is good luck in your research and hopefully this website helps you along the way.


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Information Genealogy in England