For explanations for people new to genealogy and family history see:
http://www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html.

For instance genealogy is the study of blood lines, whereas family history the relating of members of your family to social history and the times in which they lived.

If only I'd known ....

Twelve top tips from Eileen Amore on what she wishes she'd been aware of before embarking on her family history research

I wish ...

1. ... I'd realised the importance of keeping careful and legible family history records.  Finding a pencilled note 'Robert Frost 1820' in an old notebook two years later recalls neither place nor event.
2. ... I'd realised sooner that genealogy involves visiting a record office or The National Archives and 'putting flesh on bones' is vital.  Finding a whole set of relatives in Hampshire on the International Genealogical Index (www.familysearch.org) was an amazing find but, in hindsight, I should have checked parish records.  This would have saved many wasted months researching the wrong line.
3. ... I'd not been too proud to ask for help at record offices.  Misrofilm readers are not the easiest of equipment to use.  In retrospect, it would have been quicker to ask a member of staff for assistance.  That would have saved me the embarrassment of crawling under a table to retrieve the spool of film.  I have always found the staff in record offices extremely helpful and friendly. 
4. ... somebody had stressed the importance of finding a cafe in the vicinity of the record office.  This is essential because after a long journey threw's nothing better than a substantial breakfast and a restoring cup of tea.  As a bonus you might bump into other genealogists.  I mean this literally, as family history researchers, so not, as a rule, look where they are going!
5. ... someone had told me not to take family folklore literally.  I was told that one of my ancestors was called Marie Guiton.  It seems that she was the result of an affair somehow connected with the court of France.  It is told that when Princess Eugenie and her family fled to England, they were exiled in Surrey and Marie came with them.  It seems that my gg-grandparents raised Marie and paid for her schooling.  Little Marie haunts my dreams but I don't suppose I'll ever discover the truth.
6. ... I'd known about the usefulness of the 1881 Census much earlier than I did.  This was the first census to be indexed by surname.  It was also the fifth census, so the enumerators had got to grips with this arduous task.  They had perfected the art of saying: 'Line up and be counted, you miserable lot', which is probably why it's often the most reliable census.
7. ... someone had told me that genealogy can be all-consuming and addictive.  On my first visit to a major record office I sat next to a wizened old man.  He was dabbing his eyes with a handkerchief and sniffing.  I was concerned and whispered, 'Are you alright?'.  he murmured, 'I've lost Sarah.'  Trying to reassure him, I said I would try and find her. 'Where did you last see her?;, I asked.  @Eighteen-fifty-one,' he replied.  'She was working in a manor house in Cornwall.  I think the lord of the manor put her in the family way.'  I realised, then, that genealogy should, possibly, carry a 'Health & Safety' warning.
8. ... I'd known that locating an ancestor can often be difficult.  It still amazes me that people were born, married and died and yet it is sometimes almost impossible to find any evidence of their existence.  It is important to bear in mind that in Victorian times most people rented property and it was quite easy for our ancestors to move from area to area.  Also, try and think laterally when searching for a missing relative.  For example, the surname might have been transcribed literally.  Close your eyes and imagine a Victorian speaking in dialect and shouting 'Ledbetter' at a deaf enumerator.  So try different permutations, such as Ladbutter, Lidbooter or even Ludbetter.
9. ... that someone had told me that hands on a record office clock appear to go round at twice the speed of a normal clock.  Another anomaly is that it is often quite common to find vital information five minutes before the office closes.  The practical solution is to conduct as much research as possible before the middle of the afternoon. Then use the last half hour for collating any material you've collected.  Even write a short note of any information you wish to research on your next visit.
10. ... I hadn't said that genealogy sounded boring when I was persuaded to research my family history.  If only I'd known about the hours of enjoyment that genealogy provides.  The thrill of being a private detective and totally in charge of the case.  Due to my tenacious ferreting, I've discovered details of two great-uncles that I didn't know existed.   My grandfather often spoke of his two brothers but due to his fragmented childhood, he knew nothing about them.  On his death we found a box of birth certificates and decided to find out more.  After many months of research, I found members of his family still living in the same small town.  They were delighted to have relatives from the 'Old Country' and my life has been enriched by knowing these people.
11. ... I'd realised sooner that genealogy is not just about collecting ancestors. Details of occupations and areas where ancestors lived not only puts flesh on bones but helps to build a composite picture.  Ancestors then become real, and not merely names on a census or parish register.
12. ... most of all, that I had recognised the fact that ancestors are firmly rooted in the past and are unlikely to go anywhere.  Therefore, it doesn't matter if they are not collected all in one fell swoop: if only!

Member of 'The Smales' on Antelope, about 1950.

(from an article in Practical Family History magazine)

Ten golden rules of genealogy

1. Always work backward from the known (yourself) to the unknown (forebears).
2. Never believe everything on a birth, death or marriage certificate.
3. Never completely trust the spelling of surnames, place names etc.
4. Always check surname variants when researching (use soundex etc).
5. Always have at least two separate sources of proof for each event.
6. Everything is speculation until verified by certificates etc.
7. Always photocopy original documents and keep originals safe and a shoebox for doubtful connections.
8. If a document exists read it and store information in your shoebox until it's verified.
9. Join a society or group or use websites such as Ancestry UK or Genes Reunited to help you.
10. Share your information with others, there could be a link.

Would you like to research your family tree and don't know where to start?

Well, here are a few ideas to get you started:

• Get yourself a good-sized notebook
• Write down what you know already: births, marriages, deaths, names of any relations, places they lived, their occupations, any other snippets which may seem unimportant.  The more you write down now the less there'll be to remember . . . .
• Talk to family and friends, especially the older members, noting all details, even tiny ones which seem irrelevant at the moment.
• Obtain certificate for all events about which you are certain.
• Back-up everything - 'just in case'.
• Use the information gained from the above to start looking further afield.
• Start a file making a note of which details you have about each person.
• Look on the internet - a good place to start as it saves shoe leather and petrol.  Various sites are given to the right of this column and in a separate spot on this site. Also see my article Recommended Sites from the April pages.
• To be continued .....

Example
I remember my grandmother (Violet Florence Gasper) saying that her husband was born on Valentine's Day in the same year as her, that her mother had the same first names as my grandmother but reversed and that Violet and her husband had been in a terrible accident in the mid 1930s on the way to a family funeral.

I had Violet's Death Certificate (above) from 1987 which gives information about her date of birth, and her husband's name.  This Death Certificate say that Violet was born in 1898, so I knew her age and could then look up her birth on http://www.freebmd.org.uk/.

I went onto this site, pressed on the word 'search'.  On the next page I keyed in my grandmother's maiden name and the approximate year of her birth (as some ladies have traditionally been economical with the truth about their ages) and then highlighted the word 'birth' in the top left hand corner.  Then I pressed on the word 'find' in the bottom left corner.

Up popped Violet Florence Gasper, born Hackney, in the quarter ending June 1898, volume 1b, page 508.  This gave me the information needed to send off for her birth certificate from: http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/default.asp.

On the first page which came up on this site I clicked on 'order a certificate online', to register with them.   Then typed in my email address and chose a password.  This saves giving my address details every time I order.   Then when asked I give the details gained from freebmd: name, year, which quarter, volume and page.  This service costs just under £10 for each certificate and is very prompt.

Here is a copy of Violet Florence Gasper's Birth Certificate 

ordered from gro.gov.uk (see above) . 

When it arrived we had a big surprise - there was no father mentioned: so my grandmother was illegitimate.   Well, at least it gave details of her mother, mother's job and place of residence and where little Violet  had been born.  I looked up on the internet and found a photo of, and some information about the place:

The Mother's Hospital (above) was a Salvation Army Maternity Hospital at 153-163 Lower Clapton Road, Clapton E5. It was opened on 18th October 1913, replacing an earlier Salvation Army hospital at Ivy House 271 Mare Street, Hackney E8, which had been opened in 1884. 


The next thing to do was to start the file, so there would be birth, marriage and death certificates, plus any other documentation and photos.  I like to keep a photocopy of everything so the originals can be kept somewhere safe. Then, if I go to the library or to visit someone the originals won't get lost or spoilt as I don't need to worry about the photocopies.

There are several ways to file information.  I like to have a ring binder with plastic pockets so everything can be seen at a glance.  Then I have tabs to separate each part of the family.


At present I have a different colour binder for each part of the family and start with the latest generation (me) at the front.  On the front inside cover I put a family tree, so I can easily see who is in that particular binder and where they're likely to be. 

Family Tree to go on front inside cover

On the back inside cover I put a tree with the oldest person first, cascading down to me and all my cousins.


I also started to do a page for each person, giving the following: name, date of birth, parents, spouse, children and death.  To this page I added census information when  located and any other details, pictures or references.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now that we've covered how to start saving all this information that's accumulating, I must warn you that researching your family tree is somewhat addictive and the more you find out the more questions you'll probably have.  


Family history seems to seep into every subject: geography, history (of course), then there are the occupations of your ancestors, the wars in which they may have been involved.  Then there were the social conditions of the time, how some women had so many children which died in infancy, or indeed some mothers themselves died very young.  


Also you may well find relatives who've crossed continents and researching them may be not quite as straightforward as those who've stayed in one village all their lives.  Having said that, my husband's family mainly stayed in one place but unfortunately there are many people in the same village with the same name - so which Robert Fry are we to look at!?