Family History Month - Ancestry experts' top ten tips on how to research your past - The Malvern Observer

Family History Month - Ancestry experts' top ten tips on how to research your past

Malvern Editorial 30th Oct, 2020   0

AS FAMILY History Month comes to an end, experts at Ancestry.co.uk have revealed their top tips to help people research their and their relatives’ pasts.

The advice also coincides with Season 17 of ‘Who Do You Think You Are’ which also makes it a timely moment for people to look into where they have come from.

Whether it’s confirming a family legend or discovering a war time hero, Ancestry has a few simple steps for those wanting to get started with your own family history search.

And as keeping in touch with loved ones and feeling connected to family is at the top of many of minds at the moment, sharing findings and stories can be an easy and enjoyable way to engage with relatives – particularly when we people cannot be physically together.




Top Tips: How to get started with your own family history

Have your own ‘Who Do You Think You Are’ moment by discovering untold stories from your family’s past. People can delve into billions of records from the whole of the UK on Ancestry including the 1939 Register which is an amazing resource created just at the start of the war and is the closest thing we have to a Second World War census. People can also find records on what their ancestors used to do for a living via the trade directory or see if a family member received a medal during their war service too via UK Military Campaign Medal and Award Rolls, 1793 to 1949.

Ancestry experts even found the founders of Worcestershire Sauce – John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins.


John Wheeley Lea is listed as a ‘Chemist’ in the 1841 English Census, whilst his business partner William Henry Perrins is recorded as being a ‘Chymist’, which is a slightly older spelling, in the same document.

1. There are over 2billion UK records on Ancestry, but it is always worth you starting family history research with what you already have. Collect all of the records, whether that’s family diaries, letters, photographs or newspaper clippings.

2. One of the most important things is, making time to talk with family and friends of family who may be able to share nuggets of information, or new records you haven’t come across before. Older generations have stories you may have never heard and often these can be the most meaningful. It’s important to preserve these stories for the future.

3. Sign up to a 14-day free trial on Ancestry and start building your family tree. Input the names and dates that you have for parents and grandparents (as well as any other information you have) and you’ll find Ancestry will send you hints to records and ancestors that may help you on your journey

4. It’s then time to start delving into the records available online. The 1939 Register, available on Ancestry, is one of the best places to start, as it’s the most recent example of a country-wide record. The Register was taken due to the onset of war and helps bridge a 30-year gap in census data – the 1931 census was destroyed during the Second World War and no census was taken 1941 due to the ongoing conflict.

5. The 1939 Register and the great selection of Parish records available on Ancestry can help you find key pieces of information such as names, ages, addresses, occupations, or siblings for your family who might have been in England and Wales at the time.

6. Use this information to search for other records – whether that’s a Census or Electoral Roll, a birth, marriage, or death certificate, or schools, directories and church histories. Occupation records and trade directories can also be a great way to find more personal information about your ancestors’ daily lives, and even their personalities. Records include personnel cards, indexes, registers, and certificates but you might find details such as name, residence, age, birth date, date of employment, employer, and marital status too.

7. If you wish to find out more about your military family history like Jodie Whittaker did on the first episode of this season’s Who Do You Think You Are, you can check out the millions of military and home front records on Ancestry including UK Military Campaign Medal and Award Rolls, 1793-1949, WWII Civil Defence Gallantry Awards plus UK and Ireland Nursing Registers, 1898 to 1968 which focuses on the nurses who worked during the Second World War. Other sources include Post Office Appointment Books, 1737 to 1969, profiling the women who kept the country’s postal service running in wartime.

8. Ancestry Hints® are always working hard in the background to help suggest records which might be of interest, based on the information in your tree. The more information you add to your tree, the more hints Ancestry will share, ensuring you’re able to find as much about your family history as possible.

9. Ancestry will also help link you through hints and search results to other public member trees who you may find have been researching the same people or family lines as you. You can use these trees to help build your own and perhaps help you discover new relatives.

10. Finally, if you’re interested in learning more about your ancestors from a specific region like Worcestershire, Warwickshire or the West Midlands, you can visit the local pages on ancestry.co.uk where you’ll be able to uncover record collections, history and genealogy resources specific to those areas.

Russell James, Family History expert at Ancestry® said: “With Family History Month occurring at a time when so many of us remain separated from our loved ones this year, it is the perfect time to delve into the untold stories, memories and legends of your family history.” said

“By exploring your family history through asking, sharing and listening to stories from your relatives it helps connect you with your family today and of the past.”

For more information on starting your family history research, visit ancestry.co.uk where you can also sign up to a 14-day free trial.

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