Family History Research
Family history research has become one of the fastest growing pastimes in the UK today.
Thanks partly to popular TV shows, but probably more to do with Family history websites, more public access, through the internet to places such as ,the National Archive, freebmd, freecen and freereg.
Gone are the days of having to be surrounded by hundreds of Old Parish Records (OPR’S). Whilst the serious genealogist will always use record offices as a source of information, it is now entirely possible to research your family tree from the comfort of your own home.
Researching your roots is fascinating. You are learning about history but on a personal level. You will discover that families did not always live in the same house, street or even country. Great Uncle John may have been a farm labourer in the 1861 census but by the time of the 1881 census he may have been a railway guard, and had moved from a very rural location to a larger town or city or even emigrated to Canada or the USA.
Doing family history research can give you an insight into the World Wars. You may access the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) to discover if your family members were amongst the fallen heroes. There are ancestry websites to discover what medals they had won, their service records, their pension entitlement. These people are not just soldiers, sailors or airmen but are your ancestors. They helped to make you who you are today.
The wealth of information out there is growing every day. From Genealogy forums,  census returns, OPR’S , family search websites, International Genealogy Index(IGI), National Burial Index(NBI),   to workhouse conditions, genealogical gift ideas and even creating websites to  allow you to display your own family tree.
There are a wealth of family tree programs, with which to record your family history. Most, if not all, allow you to add pictures, addresses, jobs as well as their births, baptisms, marriages and death. This allows you to build a more complete picture of your ancestors and their descendants.
Few, if any, of your family tree ancestors will be rich or famous. What they will have was their ability to triumph over their harsh lives, long working hours, poor living conditions, and low mortality rates. For the most part, your ancestors adapted to the loss of their traditional industries, learned new skills, improved their living standards and had families to pass on these and other traits to. If any further proof were needed… You are that proof.