Tips tricks and little nuggets to help

So here I am thinking how can I make this blog interesting so that people might actually want to read it. Do people want another blog about how to research your family tree? Should it be a lost of instructions? Should it have examples of what I have researched myself. Is "name collecting" wrong?

Some of you may have read my thoughts on research and evidence. If not you can do so here

 http://katperrywaffle.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-difference-between-right-and-wrong.html

I still stick with everything on here. If you can't back it up you cannot confirm whether it's right or wrong. This leads me to what I believe is the first and most important rule when researching your family tree (or anything to do with local history for that matter). 

So here is my first (very brief) rule! 

You cannot find everything on the internet!

Yes, sites like Ancestry and Find My Past have a huge amount of resources and documents on them.  My new favourite, the British Newspaper Archives boast to having over 8million pages to view. Familysearch.org is brilliant for looking at pre-1837 records and giving a reference as to where the original is.  RootsChat is brilliant for getting help and advice and asking people to look things up if you're not local to the area.  However at some point you will find that you cannot find something on the internet. Not everything is on there.  At some point you will need to check out parish records or you may want to find out some background and this won't be possible if you're just relying on google.

Most libraries have access to these and many libraries (certainly if you're local to me in Northamptonshire) have more copies of local newspapers and many parish records.   Also if you don't have a subscription to Ancestry or Find My Past many libraries have free access to these.  Our central library in Northamptonshire has a massive Local History section in the basement and you can find quite a bit in there about industry or accounts of hospitals etc. However, as useful as these can be in your search for ancestors and riches (come on, you've all wondered if you're related to royalty!!) the resources are limited and tend to be more recent documents.  You may find that you need to research something more specific and the records are held elsewhere.

This is where your local Records Office or Archives can come into play. Local Archives have a massive amount of documents, artifacts, maps and wills.  Also the staff are very helpful and can often point you in the right direction if you're unsure what to check.  Our local RO allows you to pre-order documents which means I get my own little Who Do You Think You Are moment and walk into a room with a massive dusty old book in front of me.  The handwriting is always challenging to read but that's part of the fun.  Recently I looked at a will for someone who didn't live in the area.  3 huge pages from this dusty leatherbound book which was cracking with age.  Some of the writing was hideous to transcribe but it was really interesting to see a document which was written in 1838 there in the flesh.  

There's always a little buzz going into the Records Office.  People are beavering away at trying to crack codes or researching plots of land.  Best of all it's free.  Our local office is on the CARN network so you get given a small blue and white card with a reference number on but that little card gives you access to documents not only in your own Records Office but it others around the country.  There are small charges for copies needed or for a permit if you wish to take photos of the documents but other than that there's no charge to go in and  no charge to look at anything.  

I thoroughly recommend that anyone researching their family history visits a records office at some point.  It's the most valuable resource and is like a treasure trove of goods.