For all you people out there who are struggling to get started with your ancestry, my new eBook, downloadable on Amazon Kindle, may be just the thing to help get you going, and avoiding some of the pitfalls of amateur genealogy. The book is called Tracing Your Ancestors in the UK – A Step by Step Guide for Beginners and, as the title suggests, it takes you through the initial steps on your genealogical journey.
The book is in three parts. The first part introduces you to the practice of genealogy – its history and uses, the origins of surnames and some of the things you need to look out for when searching. There is nothing to stop you diving into Part 2 straight away – but I do recommend that you read this introduction at some point.
The second part is the step-by-step guide, taking you from the very first actions you need to take when you start tracing your ancestors, through to all the sources you need to search for, providing links and explanations to how to search for and use them. I will explain some of the little tricks I use to get the best out of the search engines, and how to avoid the common mistakes that people make when using the relevant websites and documents. I will also include my own personal experiences of searching for my own family, and as a professional genealogist.
In the third part, I will help you to dig a little deeper, using more advanced sources and documents to find out more about your family, or to help you when you have hit a brick wall. This part should only be read once you have gone through the steps in Part 2.
At the end I provide a comprehensive list of books and websites so you can delve deeper into specific subjects that may interest you (such as military records or Scottish ancestry, for example).
If you have read and found my book useful, please use the comment box to add some feedback – or if you have any questions about the book, please ask!
