Sunday 16 September 2012

Q. Who do I think I am?

A. I am Colette, born in Yorkshire a number (which I won't reveal) of years ago and what I would call an average person.
However I have decided to dig a little into my past and find out who I really am - as it were.
I only ever knew one grandparent, the rest having died before I was born so I know very little about my ancesters but I want to find out more. The trouble is that I'm not that sure about the best way to go about it so I wondered if any of you had any advice that you could give me.
So far I kn0w the names of my parent's parents and, although there is a bit of confusion about whether one of them was called Charlie or Tom. Also my mother had an Aunt Suranne (my Great Aunt I guess) which is a very cool name given that if she was around the same age as my grandfather she was born before 1900. I always assumed that was a modern name.
Anyway, all advice and tips will be greatfully received.

4 comments:

Paula RC said...

I've sent you an email, Colette.

Teresa Ashby said...

You might find this helpful, Colette http://deptgene.blogspot.co.uk/2010/12/getting-started.html It's a post from my son's genealogy blog and tells you good places to start your search :-) x

Kath said...

Hi, Colette. I did my own family history a few years ago but, since then, two very helpful sites have come into being - Ancestry.co.uk and Findmypast. Once you subscribe (and there are different subscription packages), you can search in them for both GRO records (births marriages and deaths) and census returns which are particularly interesting because they show you where the people originated, their occupations, who lives with them and what kind of neighbourhood it is.

One tip re birth certificates etc - although the sites will offer to obtain certificates for you, it's always cheaper to get them yourself from the relevant local registration office.

It's a really fascinating hobby, especially at the beginning when you're making new discoveries, so I hope you enjoy yourself.

Colette McCormick said...

Thanks Paula
Theresa - thank you very much I will check that out.
Kath - I've registered with Ancestry.co.uk but haven't subscribed yet.