Find Ancestors

Can I ask for some general advice?

I am at a stage in my research where (I think) I need to get some firm confirmation that I have been on the right lines by purchasing Birth and Marriage certificates.

I was going to start with my Great Grandparents - do I order their Birth and Marriage certificates or one or the other? Or, do I order certificates for my Great Grandparents and my Great Great Grandparents - if so which certificates for which?

I'm trying to do this in the most logical but economical way - which would you say would be the right approach?

Many thanks in advance for your advice.
Kind regards,
Michelle

Birth certificates should give you both parents names plus the fathers occupation which may be helpful to know.

Marriage certificates normally (But not always) will give you both parties fathers details if known. The witnesses details may also be helpful in establishing family relationships.

The usual approach is to begin with what you know for certain and then to work backwards in time. Go back about 3 generations were it is possible that the individuals may then show up on census records which can also be used for verification.

Hi Michelle.
The most economical thing is to find other family members!! I saved a fortune by sharing certs, so if you haven't already, check for matches by using 'search trees' from search box above.
It's really hard to advise you without knowing the family.
A lot depends on how common the names are. If you have a very unusual name to work with I would get a birth cert. as obviously you will get more info that way. For example, my great-grandfather's name was Harris Horace Powell - I think there is only one! So no problems there.
(I am assuming you are looking at England/Wales as Scottish marriage certs have much more info).
It's quite risky to skip a layer though, so unless you are 100% sure of the birth I would go for marriage certs to (hopefully) confirm who the fathers were.
Jan

Which part of the country are you searching in? Ancestry has images of parish records of baptisms and marriages for some areas, so, if you are lucky you can don't have to buy the certs. London, Manchester and Liverpool are two of the areas.

Jonesey, Jan and Potty ... thank you ... great advice.

Jan - yes, I was thinking of jumping a layer and going straight to Great Great and Greatx3 but thought it might be a bit risky

Potty - i'm also a subscriber of Ancestry so your advice is 'spot on' - i can probably gather enough on the Great's via Ancestry records in order to then progress forward to the Greater Great's

Thanks again :-D

Don't forgot that if you do need help, there are plenty of people on the boards willing to try!

Andy

Thanks Andy

I have used the boards on several occasions when I feel I've reached a 'brick wall' or my research has confused me.

Everyone is always extremely helpful and how they can find and unravel information never ceases to amaze me.

Michelle

Birth and Marriage Certificates

I am soon going to be placing and order for birth and marriage certificates (via GRO) and following on from advice on my previous post I thought I would ask the question here first. I will, of course also check connections via searching trees.

I would like to work with other family connections - however distant to maximise the certificates ordered.

Are we related and have you ordered certificates which link to my family. If yes, it would be great to hear from you so that we can share ... We can then discuss what other certificates are needed which I am happy to order/purchase and then share with you in return.

I have also posted a similar message on an Ancestry message board but am not expecting to receive many (if any) replies as its not as proactive a forum as this one

I look forward to hearing from you
Kind regards
Michelle

Look in search trees for your ancestors names,you can make contact with others who share the same lines and they may have certs etc they may be willing to share .

I have shared and been given info by others who share my own ancestors :-)

It's always a long shot but worth looking on here to see if anyone has the same people.

http://www.bmdshare.com/

A request such as the one you posted at 05:02 is useless, I'm sorry to say

No-one will have the slightest idea of who you are researching, so how can they respond? Even assuming that anyone connected to you is using the message boards, there is no name info anywhere in this thread

Thank you everyone for your advice ... as always your advice is always helpful and very well informed

Reggie - thank you also for your response ... however I find your reply to be extremely harsh and totally unnecessary (indeed in your words 'useless')! My original post was not intended as specific targeted research but a general one asking for general advice and the most recent addition to the post was purely to get connected and to help others who may be related to me ... however remote the possibility may be