So what Next?

So you now have the beginings of your family history on paper, PAF, or your another programme. So how to get back further and find out more information?

There are various sources that can be used when researching and so it is probably best to start with the basic and most obvious sources.

I make extensive use of the Birth, Marriage and Death Indexes . These can be researched on the internet on Find My Past where you will be charged on a pay per view basis. You can also look at them for free on ancestry.co.uk - you may need to subscribe to view some of the original images.

Civil registration of births, marriages and deaths began on 1 July 1837 in England and Wales. Registration took place at local civil registrars who in turn reported to the Registrar General at the General Register Office (GRO) in London.

So you have the name of your grandfather and you know when he was born and when but you don't know anything else about him and want to find out who his parents were. So look up his birth in the GRO Birth Index. The Index will provide you with his name, possibly the maiden name of his mum depending on when he was born, the district where his birth was registered, and the volume and page number to which his record is located.

Using these details you can then order a copy of his birth certificate from the General Register Office (GRO). At the time of writing this you may order a copy certificate online for the cost of £7 per certificate.

When grandfather's birth certificate arrives it will present you with the information that you will need to fill in his parent's details into your tree. It will detail when and where he was born, his full name, sex, full name of father, name of mother, father's occupation, details of informant (usually the mother), when the birth was registered and details of the registrar.