family tree

[slinky.kate]

i am wanting to work out my family tree,is anyone else doing this that can put me in the right direction and the best site to use,any hints or tips,this is my new hobby instead of watching telly all the time,thank you.

[Mosaic]

You can get lots of information from the online censuses - 1911 and every ten years going back to 1841 - and these are searchab databases. Sites such as the National Archives at Kew will give you all the links you need.
However to search properly you will need to subscribe. This might seem an imposition but when you add up travel costs it's not so bad.
You can also access the records free from the Peoples network computers in the public libraries (thak you Bill and Melinda gates).
So if you have names, places, etc you can start searching - keep all your info in a file and then you'll soon be able to draw up a 'real' tree.

[jackthehat]

You're lucky. Scottish records show so much more information than the English ones do.

http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/

Will be the best site for you, although you'll need to put your hand in your wallet to get the information you need. :o)

It is seriously addictive.....

[bookbinder]

You might like to try these websites for starters. They're basic, but you never know what might come from them:
www.sbtraining.co.uk/history
www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LIN
www.old-maps.co.uk
I used to be with Genes Reunited, and they were quite good. I found one or two relatives (living) whom I didn't know about. It cost me £9 a quarter plus if I wanted to search birth, death, marriage certificates in detail, that cost another £5, which allowed me to search up to 10 certificates (50p per search).

[bookbinder]

...here are the direct links to those websites:
http://www.sbtraining.co.uk/history
http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LIN
http://www.old-maps.co.uk

[craft1948]

The best site, without a doubt, is ancestry.co.uk. It has English censuses from 1841 to 1911, and Scottish censuses from 1841 to 1901.
It has English and Welsh births, marriages, and deaths from 1837 to 2005, if your ancestors are Scottish you will need to access Scotlands People for the births, deaths, and marriages.
If you want a play around before joining a site ask at your local library as they will have membership of ancestry.co.uk.

[zebo]

There is also a site http://www.familysearch.org which is run from Salt Lake City by the Mormon Church. It is a worldwide database which goes further back than the 1837 start of legal registration in the UK. There are also some good sites depending on where your interests lie in the UK. Lancashire is well served through http://www.lan-opc.org.uk and these are also databases for Derbyshire.

[DaisyNonna]

Agree with craft. Ancestry.co.uk is easy to use and even transcribes documents for easier reading. If you have evidence that something on their site is inaccurate there is a facility to change it.
Have fun! I still am after 4 or 5 years. I have found some fascinating ancestors.