Research my family tree
Researching a family tree turns names and dates into evidence-based stories about movement, work, relationships and the times people lived through. Start with yourself and move backwards one generation at a time. The aim is not the largest possible diagram or a connection to fame, but a tree whose relationships can be explained, sourced and corrected when new records appear. Interview relatives with permission and scan family certificates, photographs, letters and labelled keepsakes before they disappear. Record who supplied each memory and separate recollection from documented fact. For England and Wales, civil birth, marriage and death registration begins in 1837; earlier research often turns to parish registers. Census, probate, military, newspaper and local archive records can extend the picture, with different systems elsewhere in the UK and overseas. View original record images where possible, cite the archive or reference and test each identity against age, occupation, address and relatives rather than accepting a matching name. Treat spelling, transcription and reported ages as clues. Online public trees can suggest leads but often repeat one another’s mistakes, so never copy a branch without independently checking the records that support it. Protect living people’s dates, addresses, adoption history, parentage and health information. Discuss DNA testing with affected relatives and understand the provider’s privacy, retention and deletion terms before submitting a sample; unexpected relationships are possible. Completion is producing a sourced tree across a meaningful number of generations, with stories and uncertainties attached—not exposing family secrets, presenting inference as proof or counting thousands of unsupported names as progress.