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Much has been written about researching your family history. There are dozens of books you
can buy, and many of them are very good.
This section details a very brief guide on the main sources of information for the person
who says “I’d love to trace my family history but don’t know where to
start".
Decide which line (or lines) you are going to follow initially
I started with my mum’s maiden name and traced the male line and immediate
family back from there.
Write down what you know
Take a sheet of paper and put your name (or your children’s names)
at the bottom. Under your name put the date you were born.
If you are married put ‘=’ with the marriage date underneath,
then add the name of your partner to the right of the equals sign.
Put your brothers or sisters names and dates of birth to the left and
right of your entry on the same level.
From your name and your brothers and sisters names draw a small vertical
line, and join them all up.
From the middle of this horizontal line, draw another small vertical
line and enter your parents marriage and births in the same way as yours. Keep going
– this is your family tree!!!
Talk to the oldest members of your family
They have valuable information – but be sceptical too!
Dig around for any old paperwork
Papers, family bibles, army papers etc that you or your relatives may possibly have
So what now?
Well to an extent it depends how far back the first four steps got you. If they took you
back to say 1890, it is actually easier to go back from there than to fill in the early
part of the twentieth century. Read on for useful sources of information!
 
Leicestershire and Rutland Family History Society
Join the Society – it costs in the region of £10 per year. You get a quarterly
magazine, access to their research centre (near the Shires in Leicester) which has census
returns and civil registration indexes (see later), access to postal search facilities,
local monthly meetings, lists of useful publications and much more. It is well worth it,
even if your ancestors aren’t local. Their address is in the Information Sources
section; website is www.lrfhs.org.uk
You could also join the local family history society for the area you are researching.
Civil Registration – (ie birth marriage and death certificates)
Started 1837. Information on certificates varies according to the age.
Broadly:
A birth certificate will give you the parents names, the place of birth,
the fathers occupation.
A marriage certificate will give you the age of both, their addresses,
the name and occupations of their fathers.
Death certificates are less useful but still interesting. They give you
the age, cause of death and address.
You can see how from say your parents marriage certificate you can get
your grandfathers name. Or from a birth certificate you can get back another generation
(ie their parents), and by making assumptions about their age,
and searching the relevant periods for their birth (see later), you can often get back to their
parents, and so on.
Certificates cost from £6.50 – but remember it’s less than your average round
in the pub!
If you know the rough date of a birth or death and the place, you can apply to the local
Registrar of Birth Marriages and Deaths. Ring your local County Council for their address.
Leicester and Leicestershire are included in the Information Sources section (all County areas are at County Hall). Send
them a cheque for £6.50 (correct Jan 2003), they will return it if they can't find the
entry. For marriages you must know the parish.
The other place to obtain certificates is from the General Registry Office (GRO) in London
(see the Information Sources section).
This costs £11 per certificate, (correct 2001). You can apply, by letter direct, if you
have names, dates and preferably some idea of area, but the cheapest and most reliable way
is to consult their indexes and provide them with a 'GRO reference'. This involves finding
your probable entry from the brief details in the index and picking up the reference from
there. Quote as much information in your letter as you can. There are separate indexes for
births, marriages and deaths, and then one each of these for each quarter of a year going
back to 1837. They are held in the GRO in London, but more conveniently they have
copies on microfiche at the L & RFHS Centre. If you don’t want to join you can
book in advance and pay a fee for a session. Searching can be time consuming, (depending
how quickly you get success) – but it is easy to do and the volunteer staff are eager
to help. The thrill of finding the entry you are looking for is beyond my descriptive
powers!
Alternatively the L & RFHS do a five year search service for members, for £2 or £3.
You can even commission someone to search and obtain records for you at the GRO –
there tend to be standard rates for standard services, and people advertise in various
Family History magazines available at large newsagents.
Parish Registers
These cover baptisms, marriages and burials. Parish records started in 1538, but I have
never found much earlier than 1600. They are the actual books filled in by the church.
Most are kept by County Record offices. Leicestershire’s Record Office is at Wigston
(see the Information Sources section).
Loughborough Library (Local History section) has copies for churches in the Loughborough
area. They are on microfiche so ring first to book a reader. These will give the parents
(for a baptism), and varying information for a marriage or burial depending on the
century. The very earliest ones only give the father (for a birth), and tend to be in
Latin.
Census Returns
Available for 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1891. and 1901. Often kept at County Record Offices
and sometimes local libraries. Loughborough Library (Local History Section), have copies
for Loughborough and the surrounding villages (including Quorn). They are on microfiche or
microfilm.
The information (depending on date), generally gives the head of the household, the
members of the household, the relationship to the head of the household, marital status,
age, occupation and place of birth. A useful and fascinating source.
The Mormons have put the 1881 census for the whole of Great Britain on CDs. It is
available to buy for about £30, but Loughborough Library (Local History Section) and the
L & RFHS Research Centre have a copy. The search facilities are brilliant! The L &
RFHS will also search for you by post for a small fee.
The 1901 census was available on the internet from 1st January 2002, although there have
been severe access problems. Web address is www.census.pro.gov.uk
International Genealogical Index (IGI)
This has been compiled by the Mormons, who have extracted data for baptisms and marriages
from parish registers and other sources. It is by no means a complete record (not much
after 1840), not completely accurate, and anything taken from here should only be taken as
fact when verified back to parish records etc. Having said that it is a wonderful
resource! Many places hold copies on fiche, split by county and then by surname,
(Loughborough Library Local History Section, Leicester Reference Library, L & RFHS
Research Centre). It is also on the Internet in a slightly different form (www.familysearch.org), and many happy
hours can be spent constructing family trees that might or might not stand up to
verification!
Wills
It is often surprising who did and didn’t leave a will, and the information on old
wills is surprisingly valuable to the family historian. Wills prior to 1858 are usually
kept at County Record Offices. After this date write to Somerset House.
Public Record Office
It is impossible to say what they hold! Refer to www.pro.gov.uk, ie the Public Record Office site.
Other sources to use
Street directories *
Trade directories *
Cemetery records *
Property deeds
Poll books
Electoral rolls
School log books
Court records
Newspapers *
Military records #
Emigration records #
The County Record Office is a good place to start for most items.
For items marked ‘*’, try Loughborough Library Local History Section.
For items marked # use the Internet as a starting point or the PRO.
  
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