Find Ancestors

if i have little or no info on birth,death or even areas where certain family members are from,how do i try to locate info??im new to this and wish to trace as far back as poss.my grandad can only give me names and estimated yr of birth of his mum and dad and just names of grandparents.i know his parents lived in thornton but am at lost end where or wot to do nxt,any help or advice from sumone with experience greatly appreciated,thanks!!!!!soz to be a pain.

hi cherie, sounds like you can get lots of info from your gpa. if you can get pre 1901, ask on here for someone to search for them on that census. lots of people on here have the 1881 census [myself included.] the people on here are really helpfull. do it stage by stage. if your gpa knows his gparents names you are off to a good start anyway. sue.

Start with yourself and work backwards - write down everything you do know about each person, even if birth place or year is vague it will give you a starting point. Sue

Cherie, Don't despair. I started researching my husband's family, and all I knew was his parents names for definite, and he had vague recollections of his grandparents. Everbody that could be asked had passed away, but I'm now back to late 1700's, and have even made conatct with some 3rd cousins. You just need to be methodical in the search, and go one generation at a time. People here are very helpful as well. Good luck Pauline

Hi If you know what your grandparents names were, rough area of where they came from and if they would have been alive when the 1901 census was taken you could try finding them on there. That is how i started all i knew was my nans parents names i found my great grandfather on 1901 census, then found his birth registration on 1837online(which has the birth marriage and death indexes from 1837 to 2002) and ordered his birth certificate and traced backwards from there one generation at a time. Hope this helps you. Sharon