Family Tree

[Kay]

How can I trace my grans family? I dont know her real name as she had a nickname,I know my grampy's full name and the church they married in but I dont even know her maiden name! Any suggestion?Thanks.

[hopalong]

find you mum or dad's) birth or marriage certificate that will give you the maiden name of your gran

[Clanad]

Having dodne a lot of genealogy in US, the best thing to start is talk to other relatives... following that check appropriate Census, if allowed in UK. Luck!

[Kay]

Thanks for your help both.I dont have relly's I can ask and both my parents died years ago.My gran was my maternal gran so should I send off for my Mothers birth certificate or marriage? Thanks again.

[RevShirls]

which country do you live in FINA? The way to go about this varies from country to country.

[Kay]

I live in Wales UK RevShirls.

[Lindy Loo]

Hi Fina, Yes the best way to find your Grans family name is to get your mothers birth certificate. It should have your Grans maiden name, your grandfathers name and occupation and their address at the time of the birth. The marriage certificate will also show your grandparents ages,(full means over 21) their occupations, names and occupations of the respective fathers and names of witnesses. From the ages on the marriage certificate its easy to work out their birth year, then you can look for their birth certificates. If you want to trace the family tree these sites might help. www.familysearch.org (Morman site) www.freebmd.rootsweb.com (Births Marriages and Deaths)(not a complete listing but they are getting there!) You don't need to register on either and the information is free. www.1837.com is a pay-per-view site, and needs registration, but lists all Births, Marriages and Deaths registered since 1837. www.ancestory.com has loads of info and you can have guest membership (free) www.cyndislist.com - thousands of links to search sites. If there's a Geneology society or group locally to you they could probably give you pointers too. Wish we could give email address here I'd love to help you further!!!! Hope this helps, and hope you find what your looking for. Good Luck!!

[Kay]

Thanks Lindy,You are a STAR!!

[Lindy Loo]

My pleasure Fina. Been doing 'the ancestors' on and off for several months and lost alot of sleep over it. Not with worry mind, its the obsession of finding the next link then trying to refrain from shouting 'Eureeka' at 3am when the rest of the house is sleeping!! Its amazing what you find out...like G.G aunts and uncles that no-ones ever heard of etc...but if my family have another Frank, Charles or Mary I'll scream. I've been luck enough to solve a missing link about a relative who went to Australia in 1857, then married and died in New Zealand....All thanks to Ancestory.com's Family Tree!! Happy searching and invest in a box of matches...they help to keep the eyelids open!!

[Kay]

Lindyloo, I got my Mothers Birth Cert today by post so here goes!

[Lindy Loo]

All the very best Fina. There's another recent question regarding lost relatives. One of the answers suggested looking at family wills, as benificaries would be named and there maybe addresses too. It's one place I hadn't thought of, so....let's stop the housework for the next month and start searching again!! It'd be interesting to hear how you get on, just the mail prob to consider. Wish the Ed would create a link based on our nicknames...!