The gift of heritage: Discover your past and put down some new roots with TheGenealogist.co.uk/FamilyRoots
June 2009 (Golden Goose PR) Family history website, TheGenealogist.co.uk has teamed up with Trees for Cities, the charity that plants trees and re-landscapes public space in urban areas to create the perfect gift package. Family Roots includes a six month subscription to TheGenealogist.co.uk and a tree planted by Trees For Cities in some of the world’s bleakest urban spaces. Available at TheGenealogist.co.uk/FamilyRoots the package is priced £49.95.
A six month membership to TheGenealogist.co.uk allows unlimited access to over 500 million names through award-winning birth, marriage and death records, census transcripts, parish records, trade directories, landowner and military records, electoral rolls, wills as well as Popular Institution and Non-Conformist Records as far back as the 12th century. Through these records, members can discover how their ancestors lived and build their own family tree online. There is also the chance to meet fellow researches in the forum to share stories and help with the search for your ancestors.
The other half of the Family Roots gift package will allow Trees for Cities to plant and care for a tree that will continue growing for years to come. Planting an urban tree with Trees For Cities is a unique, living gift, which will help make cities greener, healthier and cleaner. The tree will be planted in one of Trees For Cities urban projects around the world, from London ’s East End to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia , and will help combat global warming, create vital wildlife habitats and beautify the urban landscape.
This gift is available at www.TheGenealogist.co.uk/FamilyRoots priced £49.95. Recipients will be sent details of membership and personal login to TheGenealogist.co.uk, as well as a letter of thanks from Trees For Cities via email.
TheGenealogist.co.uk is one of the UK ’s leading family history websites. Founded in 1999, TheGenealogist.co.uk offers members access to over 500 million names through award-winning birth, marriage and death records, census transcripts, parish records, trade directories, landowner and military records, electoral rolls, wills as well as Popular Institution and non-conformists with records going back to the 12th century. TheGenealogist.co.uk has indexed an extensive range of historical records making it fast and easy for members to search and build their own family tree online using Tree View. Users can also meet fellow researches in the forum to share stories and offer advice. For more information visit www.TheGenealogist.co.uk.
Trees for Cities is an independent charity that plants trees and re-landscapes public spaces in urban areas of greatest need. The charity’s vision is to stimulate a greening renaissance in cities around the world that will impact on global warming and beautify the urban landscape, as well as encouraging greater social cohesion through the active participation of local people. A special effort is made to involve children and young people in all of the projects. The public can get involved by sponsoring trees, registering as a volunteer, enrolling in training programmes and going to fundraising parties – see www.treesforcities.org for more information.
TheGenealogist.co.uk top ten tips for getting started with your research
- Work backwards in time. It is easier to work methodically from a fact such as the date of birth or a marriage of a relative rather than a person you do not know much about.
- Ask the family. Ask relatives what they remember about their families. Make a note of any nicknames or name changes, family stories, what your ancestors did for a living and what they looked like. Also be conscious that there might be conflicting stories about an event.
- Take notes. You never know what information will come in useful in your research so get into the habit of taking notes.
- Check out the web. The Internet can be a useful tool for contacting relatives and finding data. There are some superb websites that will help you start your family history such as www.TheGenealogist.co.uk.
- Meet other family historians. Family historians are an incredible help to each other. The Society of Genealogists www.sog.org.uk is the largest genealogical society with a remarkable library and education programme of talks, workshops, seminars and tutorials on all aspects of ancestry. The forum at TheGenealogist.co.uk allows members to share stories and get advice on how to continue with research.
- What’s been done before? It is worth checking if anyone else is doing research into your family before you start. Your local family history society may hold talks and have relevant indexes to help you. The Society of Genealogists library collects published and unpublished family histories and research notes. Genes Reunited and TreeView on TheGenealogist.co.uk may also have relevant family trees.
- Read up on the subject. Family history is a popular hobby but it might seem hard to get started. There are many good books, websites and magazines devoted to discovering the subject. Your local library will have a wide selection and dedicated magazines have tips and detailed accounts of records and sources.
- Ask questions. Who are you dealing with? Where did your ancestors live? When were they alive? What did your ancestors do in their lives and will that affect what information you can find? Finding answers to these key questions will help you build up the family story.
- Get some documentary evidence. Your family history will be drawn from myriad of sources throughout history. Birth, marriage and death records, censuses, wills, church records, occupational records, education, military service, tax records, criminal records, poor law, newspapers, trade directories, ecclesiastical licences, church court records and tombstones might all reveal valuable information.
- Stay focussed. It is easy to get overwhelmed with all of the information available. Remember to have a clear idea of what you are looking for and why you started the search in the first place. Family history is fun and thoroughly absorbing. If you like detective stories and have a mind for solving puzzles then it is definitely the hobby for you. Happy hunting!
