| Let me say straight away that tracing your family | | | | already have access to it, it shouldn't be hard to |
| ancestry is a great hobby but very addictive, so | | | | obtain their marriage certificate. From there until |
| unless you want to get well and truly hooked, | | | | 1837, you can travel back fairly safely with |
| don't start.When I travel around the country to | | | | hatched, matched and dispatched certificates |
| Family History Fairs, I am amazed at the number | | | | from the Family Records Centre in London. Pre |
| of people who say quite cheerfully, "family history | | | | 1837, you have to be able to access parish |
| is so easy, I did mine in half an hour on the | | | | registers, and this is where the going can get |
| internet." If they are happy with that, then good | | | | tough. If you are unsure of the area your |
| luck to them, but for me, if I cannot prove it, it | | | | forbears are from, census returns can be very |
| doesn't count.Family history is not about just | | | | helpful.In case you are planning to have a go at |
| collecting a pile of names and then trying to fit | | | | compiling your family tree, be aware that you |
| them all together like a genealogical jigsaw puzzle. | | | | could be in for a few surprises (shocks). Just |
| You must start with what you know to be true | | | | because granny always seemed prim and proper |
| and that is your birth certificate. On that will be | | | | to you, doesn't make it so. |
| the names of your parents, so, if you do not | | | | |