Family History at Christmas

26th December 2017

Christmas is often a time when people think about family stories and the past, as it’s a time when many of us meet up with or speak to family. This can inspire us to research our family history beyond what is known, and to check out the family stories we’ve heard.

In January we often get people coming to us asking how to begin, inspired by conversations and reflection over Christmas. January is also a popular time to begin or pick up hobbies, once the Christmas preparations and celebrations are over. Here are a few tips we give people before they start searching:

Gather any information you have. If you are speaking to relatives ask them what they know, see if anyone in the family has already started researching, or has keep old family photos, letters and certificates. A lot of this information can’t be found in official records, so it’s really useful to gather as many family memories and personal records as possible. Family stories may have to be checked out, but often have some truth in them.
Jot down what you know. You might also want to write a brief family tree to help you work out what you know and need to find out. A simple chart can be found here.
After that you will need to search family history sources, such as the census and birth/marriage/death indexes.

We run several different workshops and introductions to help you get started.

Want a full introduction to explain how to do it, what the key sources are and how to search?

We have a three part workshop that helps you start, which includes time each week to go online and help you begin your own family history research.

Thursday 8 February 2-4pm, for 3 weeks £20

Just looking for a brief introduction of where to look in The Hive?

First Steps in Family History runs monthly on Thursday mornings for one hour to show you where to go and where to begin.

11 Jan, 1 Feb, 1 Mar, 5 Apr 11:30 £6

Want to get guidance on the key family history websites?

We have workshops devoted to the Ancestry.co.uk and Find My Past websites. We’ll explain the key sources they contain and how to search, allowing time to have a go yourself and see what you can find.

Ancestry.co.uk Tuesday 20 March, 10am-12pm £6

Find My Past Thursday 29 March, 10am-12pm £6

Prefer something to read that explains all the key sources?

We have a new 70 page pdf booklet which goes into detail about the family history sources, what is available and how they can help you. Find out more about the booklet here.

You can book onto any of the workshops on The Hive website.

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