TRACING YOUR FAMILY TREE

Interest in family history is growing in the North West with an increasing number of people tracing their family trees.

We've been looking at the remarkable boom in genealogy.

Genealogy is the study of the descents of families and ancestors.

We'll be your guide as we explore how you can trace your family back to the 17th century and beyond.

Getting started

Meet the ancestors - going back in time beyond the last century is a challenge

Getting started can look a bit daunting, but you can journey back in time easily by following a few basic steps.

A good starting point is to speak with family members to obtain first-hand accounts, memories, and stories.

Births, marriages and deaths records are a vital source of information on family history.

So our second step is to look at official records which can be found in public record offices, parish churches and libraries.

From cradle to grave

Births, marriages and deaths only started to be recorded by the Government from 1837 onwards.

Be a detective - birth certificates are a vital tool for genealogists

Today these records can be found at the General Register Office, and in local record offices and larger libraries.

You can also apply to the Family Record Centre for copies of birth, death and marriage certificates.

The Census is another useful tool for tracking the past. The Family Record Centre has copies of census returns from 1841-1891.

Time tunnel

Getting back further than the early 1800s is rather more difficult.

To trace your early family history, you'll need to look back at parish records.

Most original parish registers are now kept in your local public records office.

An excellent source of genealogy information is the International Genealogical Index (IGI).

This is a primarily a record of baptisms and marriages produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons).

The internet is another major source of information for amateur genealogists.

There's a wealth of advice on how to get started, and access to pre-researched data.

Many archives are now placing their catalogues online, and giving you and I the opportunity to search by keywords.

Families near and far

Many North Westerners have families who emigrated from ports like Liverpool in the 19th and 20th centuries.

For this reason, it's worth looking at records of passenger lists and records from abroad.

Bear in mind that it's often more common to uncover records of arrival in the foreign country rather than departure from the UK especially before the Victorian era.

What next?

Indulge in some time travel back to your ancestors' days

Why not join a family history society or local genealogy study group?

Better still, start by grabbing your grannie or great aunt and make a chart of your recent family history.

Once you're hooked, you'll never know how far you could get back.

But a word of warning, every family has its fair share of insanity, crime and skeletons in the closet! You never know what you might unearth.