Of course, in recent years, the internet has made it much easier in the sense of being able to access sources.  In the past, all family history research involved travelling to county record offices.  In my job as a professional genealogist, my work has completely changed.  I spend a lot more time at home on the laptop than I do in a record office in front of a microfiche reader.

So, in many ways, it is a lot easier to search your ancestors now that the census records and GRO indexes are all online – and many other records, such as wills and a growing selection of parish registers, are also increasingly available online.  If you could not afford to travel across the country – or even to another country – to visit the appropriate local archives in the past, you either had to give up, or hire a local genealogist (which could be difficult if your ancestors came from lots of different places) – but now most people with internet access can – in theory – trace their ancestors back to the early 19th century.

I say “in theory” because it’s not always as easy as it sounds!  Here are a number of reasons why people get stuck:

• Search engines at the main genealogy sites are a great way to find ancestors quickly – but if your ancestor’s name has been badly mis-spelled (which happens far more often than you might imagine) by the original enumerator, or by the modern transcriber, you might find they seem to be “missing” on the census or in BMD indexes, even when you use phonetic searching.

• If your ancestor has a very common name like John Smith, particularly if they lived in a large town or city, it can become almost impossible to work out which John Smith is yours.  The search then becomes more complicated as you really need a lot of information to start with in order to work out which one is the right one, and a large amount of detective work is necessary.

• Where an individual was born in another country, the records in the resident country may not say anything other than “born in England”.  Unless the name is extremely unusual, this can be almost impossible to find, unless you have some other cross-referencing information such as a marriage that took place before emigration.

• Once you get past 1837 (the date when birth, marriage and death registrations became law in England), the records get less reliable.  Parish registers are the main source of information, but as you go back in time, they are often badly damaged, difficult to read – or sometimes lost or destroyed.  There are other records that can be helpful, but the further down the social class your ancestors were, the less likely they were to be on any documentation – apart from paw loor, criminal records or settlement records.  Very few of these are online.

There are all kinds of other reasons why people get stuck.  Sometimes the results just get very confusing, and sometimes documents contradict each other, or ages and places of birth don’t match what you know. We need to remember that most historical documents were not created for the pleasure of future ancestry seekers!  They were there for different purposes, and often we have to read between the lines, look at the context and know a bit about the historical background in order to make sense of them.

I am truly not trying to put anyone off searching their family tree!  Tracing your ancestors is an exciting, fun and fascinating hobby, and the chances are that you will be able to trace many generations of several lines of your family.

The difficulties and frustrations that result from the problems I have outlined above are all part of the fun – and you need to be prepared to come across some or all of these problems as you trace your family.  Just don’t get led to believe that you can trace your tree in a few days.  And don’t forget that every time you go back a generation, the number of people on the tree doubles – that’s a lot of people to find!

Professional genealogists often work very hard to work out puzzles, and get past brick walls that amateur family historians get stuck at.

In fact, for the professional genealogist, this is becoming the main thrust of the work – getting people past brick walls, rather than doing the whole thing from scratch – because more and more people are doing it for themselves.

So, to sum up.  Yes, it’s much easier than it used to be for anyone to trace their own family history – but it is not in itself easy.  If you are interested in history, determined, tenacious, have a mind like a detective, imaginative and have attention to detail, you will find the ups and downs of ancestry research extremely rewarding.  But if you are looking for an easy hobby that doesn’t take up too much brain work, I would try something else – and get a professional to do your tree!

Seriously, though, most people, once they start tracing ancestry, find it completely addictive.  That’s why I became a professional.  Tracing my own tree just wasn’t enough.

And I like a challenge.  Luckily – it still is – and always will be.

Ros

Do you need someone to help you trace your ancestors?  See my RESEARCH SERVICES PAGE.

Normally, I find they are pretty quick at sending out certificates when you order online, but I have ordered several certificates lately, and wondering why they had not arrived within the usual week, I looked at their website and found the following announcement:

Service Announcement – Thursday 29 April 2010

Current Despatch Times
Customers may wish to be aware that standard orders are subject to a delay of 7 working days. This additional time should be added to the estimated date of despatch given at the time of order.
The priority service remains unaffected and orders placed via this service will be despatched on the next working day from receipt of order, if received before 16:00.
GRO apologises for any inconvenience this may cause to our customers. We anticipate that normal service will be resumed by the week beginning 17 May 2010.

I’d better warn all my current clients who are waiting for information!

Anyway – if you’re wondering where your certificate is – that should answer it for you – though It would have been nice if they had given a reason.

Ros

The family tree of Herzog Ludwig I of Württemberg (ruled 1568-1593

It is only in the past 5 decades that tracing ancestors has become a popular past-time for all members of society. However, it is not a new idea. In times when it mattered to be a part of the upper classes, many wealthy people felt it was important to be able to prove their lineage and validate their standing in society. 

However, it was not something that was of interest – or even possible – for the middle and lower classes. It was not thought to be of any benefit to trace your family’s history, and even if it was possible to do so, there would have been no pride in tracing a line of agricultural labourers or tradesmen. Family history was for the noble classes.

Times change, and so do attitudes. In the last century, professional historians have come to realise that social history is just as important as political history, and an interest in family history has grown alongside the growth of interest in the history of the common people.

Tracing your family tree became more popular in the latter half of the 20th century as records became more accessible to the general public, and parish registers had to be held at County Record Offices rather than at the church itself.

However, in the last few years, the internet has made some records even more accessible to people on a global basis, and while some documents still need to be seen in situ, records such as census returns and birth, marriage and death indexes can be searched for and viewed online.

Along with TV programmes such as Who Do You Think You Are, this accessibility of records has made it far easier for anyone interested in their roots to trace back several generations quite quickly.

But what is the attraction of tracing your ancestors? Why is it such an addictive and fascinating past-time, despite being, at times, incredibly frustrating and disappointing? Is it just because, as human beings, we have an inbuilt curiosity, or is it more than that?

I believe it has something to do with our need to establish a personal identity, to understand more about ourselves, and why and how we are who we are. It also gives us a sense of continuity and belonging. We are not totally alone. We are made up of the genes of those who came before us, and our genes will be continued in those who come after us.

Genealogy connects us with the past as no history lesson can ever do. I personally became more interested in history through an interest in my own family history. It had never interested me at school. Now I have a degree in it.

History, whether family, social or political, tells us where we have come from and teaches us that while fashions, attitudes and technologies may change, basic human nature does not. Yet it also teaches us to avoid the mistakes of the past so we can choose a better path.

Nowadays, we are more likely to be fascinated (if a little discomforted) rather than shamed by finding we have a criminal or a workhouse inmate in our family history. It’s interesting. We want to know more about them.

While there are still those who would like to find they are related to royalty, I find that the ancestors I have (tradesmen, factory workers, fishermen, labourers, railway workers) are just as fascinating as any royal – if not more so. I am proud of them because they worked hard, suffered and survived, and because they are a part of me.

Tracing ancestors is a hobby that is never finished – that is both the beauty and the frustration of it! Once started, it is almost impossible to stop. You will be caught in its grasp and it won’t let you go. You have been warned!

In February, I am going to increasing my charges from £15 per hour to £18 per hour….BUT…

… if you order any of my services now, I will keep you at the old charges for the duration of the service you order, no matter how long it takes. 

To order ancestry searches in the UK, go to my services page and choose the service you require.

Here’s to achieving your family history goals in 2010!