Get back to family history basics

The world of family history research is constantly changing; as interest in the subject continues to grow and more and more material becomes available online we’re continually adapting to these changes, learning new skills and new ways of carrying out our research.

Grab Family Tree October for your family history starter guide!

One of the major attractions of this wonderful hobby of ours is the opportunity it provides for us to carry out original research. It’s a chance for us to discover our inner Sherlock Holmes. As we work ever further back in time we’re uncovering details about our ancestors which have long been forgotten by the family. Our great grandfather’s brother who emigrated to Canada; the distant cousin who fought at Waterloo; the great great grandmother who raised ten children on her own. These are all real people who were born and grew up; who married and had children and then fell ill and died. It’s our privilege to rediscover their stories but it’s also our responsibility to record it all and preserve it for future generations.

You will never finish your family history; you might put it to one side for a while and come back to it many years later but you will never finish it. There’s always another problem to solve, another question to answer, another brickwall to knock down. And that, surely, is the beauty of it; family history research is a never-ending mystery which you have the honour of investigating yourself.

So whether you're just starting your family history, or would like to refresh your research skills, Family Tree contributor David Annal's simple steps in the October issue will make sure you're getting the most from your family history, using all the resources of today's ancestor hunters... Get your copy today from our store, or subscribe a save!

David Annal has been involved in the family history world for more than 30 years and is a former principal family history specialist at The National Archives. He is an experienced lecturer and the author of a number of best-selling family history books, including Easy Family History and (with Peter Christian) Census: The Family Historian’s Guide. David now runs his own family history research business, Lifelines Research.