Genealogy Chat

I am stuck, where do you start with searching to find family members, i.e.. 1905 my grandfathers family lived in Aberystwyth, he came to oxford in 1932, but left two brothers and one sister.( I know their births and baptisms)
They had family and it is their family whom I'm trying to trace.
How would you start. Someone must of come across this in searching in their tree too. much appreciate some help.

First of all think of anyone you know in your family who was alive for either the 1901 census or any earlier ones.

If you can't find yourself then ask someone on here......give dates of birth plus full names and place when known.

You have to work backwards gradually and collect information about each generation as you can.

We may be able to help if you give us what you already know.

Sue

As I understand you, you are searching forward for brothers and sisters of your grandfather. As you know their birth dates then the next probable event is their marriages. Then you much look through all the marriage registers from about the time that each was 18 years old - the entry will show where the event took place and the name of the spouse.
From the marriage date look forward through the Birth registers in the surname of the father until you find a birth with the mother's maiden name and district.
And repeat the process generation by generation.
I will say that this is not necessarily a free ride and if the surname of grandfather and his brothers are 'usual' as with many Welsh families i.e., Jones, Roberts, Williams etc., then you may be in need certificates to confirm your findings - YOU will find yourself in the final analysis.

On the other hand you can work backwards from yourself (as is the usual case) and the birth register will show your name and place the birth was registered together with the maiden name of your mother. From that point you can then look back in the Marriage registers until you find the marriage of your parents. Reasonably you then require the birth certificate of your father/mother (you haven't said which grandfather was in 1905) to determine who was the wife of the grandfather - and once you know the maiden name of granpa's wife you can then start looking back through the Birth Registers again ......... Verification of each name is only by purchase of birth/marriage certificates.

The maiden name of mother in the Birth Register only features from about 1911 and same date for name of spouse being shown in the Marriage registers - the petriod 1901-1911/12 is rather a grey area and in that period you may find that you will buy certificates that MAY be wrong - finding the right one is part of the joy of this 'hobby'
On the other hand if you know the name of grandfathers parents - then you may be able to identify them in the 1901 Census together with any children they may have had at that time.

Hi Kerry,

It is normally a long and laborious job moving forwards but can be done. I normally check 20 years post birth and write down all marriages for a 15 year period for that person. Then I try to narrow it down. If you list the names of the people you are trying to find marriages for and the area that they lived in you will generally find a very nice person on here will have a look for you.

This can spoil some of the fun of finding out yourself but it depends whether you want a result sooner or later.

Kind Regards

Jane