Family History
While it may be of interest to read about other people’s family
history, your own is personal to you. More and more people
want to trace their ancestry and it is difficult to know where to
start. Most people start with the paternal line, and then
search their mother’s or grandmother’s next, we suggest that it is
easier if you concentrate on one family at a time.
Stage 1
- Make a list of all known relatives
- Contact them asking if they have any old photos, papers,
general information which will help in tracing your family
tree
- Record the information they may provide – names, relationships,
dates etc
- Sort through the information obtained and make a chart showing
each generation with names, dates, places and any other facts you
have
Stage 2
Search public records for:
- Birth certificates – this provides information on the date and
place of birth; the registered names of the child, its sex,
parentage (including the mother’s maiden or former name) the
father’s occupation and the name and residence of the
parent(s).
- Marriage certificates – contain the date and place of the
ceremony, who performed the marriage, denomination (if a church
wedding) names, ages, current martial status, occupations and
residences of groom and bride plus the names and occupations of
their fathers, plus the names of two witnesses
- Death certificates – give the approximate year of birth,
occupation, martial status, name, address and relationship of the
person who applied for the certificate. The date, place and
cause of death are also incorporated onto the certificate.
In England and Wales central registration of births, marriages
and deaths began on 1st July 1837, and these records are
held at the General Register
Office in London. This office is open Monday to
Friday but only the indexes are available to the general public.
Their postal address and telephone number are given below:
Smedley Hydro
Trafalgar Road
Southport
PR8 2HH
Tel: 0870 243 7788
There is no fee to look through the indexes but for every copy a
fee will be charged. Central Registration began in Scotland on
1st January 1855 and in Northern Ireland on
1st January 1864. In Scotland, (New Register
House, Edinburgh) Registers containing certified entries can be
searched, together with indexes, on payment of a search fee.
For more information on records held in Scotland and Northern
Ireland, see below:
Census
This will supply you with the names of everyone who was living
in a particular house on the night it was taken, together with the
occupation, age, birthplace and relationship.
Information on the census for England and Wales can be found at
the Register General’s Office in London although many County Record
Offices and Libraries may have copies of their own area.
Parish Registers – these contain records of baptisms, marriages
and burials.
These records may be found in the Parish Church, or
alternatively, in the Diocesan and County Records Offices.
Finally
In our offices, we have records of burials that have taken place
in our ten cemeteries and two crematorium.
If a burial has taken place within the Council’s Cemeteries,
then we can supply you with the following information:
- Name, age and date if burial of the deceased
- Grave number and its location with the Cemetery
If a cremation has taken place in one the Council’s Crematorium
then the following information is available:
- The date of cremation
- The age and last address of the deceased
- What happened to the cremated remains
In order to most easily search our records, the following
information would be an advantage:
- Whether it was a burial or cremation
- Name of the deceased
- Approximate date of death (within 12 months)
- Grave Number
A nominal fee may be charged for staff searching the
records.
Further Information
More information can be obtained from the following
contacts:
- Cheshire Record Office, Duke Street, Chester
Tel: 01244 602574
- General Register Office, Smedley Hydro, Trafalgar Road,
Birkdale, Southport
Tel: 0151 471 4801