Information you must have to begin your search:

+ Full name of your ancestor (given, middle and surname)
+ Place of birth (country and county - parish, town, prefect, etc. preferred)
+ Religion of your ancestor (important in many instances to access local records)
+ Date of birth (date range is ok, example 1790's)
+ Names of spouse and children (helpful)

Once armed with this information, you will want to visit the country project page and see what resources are available online to assist you. Please note that in many countries, records research is not available online. You will have to obtain addresses of records offices and write formally to the office clerks requesting: the proper procedure and fees for requesting genealogical information. Do not write asking for information on your ancestor directly as it will waste your time and postage as well as the clerks. Usually, the registrar or clerk will respond and will direct you to the appropriate department or office. Also note that fees are often quite high and you must have exact information (such as name, date of birth, place of birth) before you can receive record information back.

In many countries English is spoken and written in governmental agencies. For information at the parish or town level, you may wish to engage a researcher for hire who lives in the country or local town where you are researching. You may also try to find someone who can write in the foreign language and who can assist you in preparing your letter.

It is always a good idea to write and join local societies. Often this is the best method for securing family information in another country. The fee for joining a society (called Family History Societies or Federation sometimes) is usually very small and the benefits usually include some look up services, a newsletter, and reduced searching fees (actual searches on your family name). Please check the country website for addresses for these societies.

Some of our country websites do have records online. Many have links to other records that have been transcribed by researchers with similar interests. These records may NOT be accurate so please keep in mind that you should always note the source and then verify the record yourself by obtaining a second or third source. Also, many of our project websites rely on user submitted information, so while you are searching you may transcribe records for your own use. Please consider donating this information to the county or country coordinator so that other researchers will be able to use it.

Several countries maintain online archives. The United Kingdom is a good example. You can actually search Scottish records online. You can print off records and your credit card is charged for the copies. Many countries are following the same system -- some may have a portion of records available for searching while others may provide basic information and will send the actual records to you. Please note that there will be associated fees for each of these systems and usually a credit card is required before you can download recorded information.

Begin Within Your Family

The first step that you will want to take involves sitting down and making a listing of the family members that you know. Start with yourself, then your parents, followed by your grandparents on both sides, and so on. If there are any siblings, you may want to add that information, also. If there is any information about the person you know first hand, write that down. For example, if you know that your father died of a heart attack or that your grandfather’s birthday is June 21st. If there are any blank spaces, put together some questions you may have and began interviewing family members. Maybe you were too young to remember your grandparents, ask your parents or aunts and uncles any questions you may have about them. When interviewing family, you may want to record the interview to have a back up for accuracy.

Obtain Family Documents

The next step would be to find any family documentation. A lot of family recorded births and marriages in their family bibles. There may also be copies of birth and marriage certificates, wills, and deeds locked away in the family member’s home. You can also find this information recorded at the local Clerk’s Office of the town in which the person was born or married in. You can use these in order to get the most accurate source on dates. As far as death records go, if you can find out the date or social security number of the deceased, a copy of the death certificate can be obtained from the state records. More on family documents will be discussed in later steps.

Visit Your Public Library

At your state and some local branch libraries, you may be able to find information on your family. You can find published genealogies of families in your city town or state. At the state library level, you may be able to find copies of birth and marriage records, newspapers, deeds, wills, land records on microfilm. There you can make copies of this information. Along with these records, some census records may be available at your state library. Depending upon the year, the census has information such as birth, race, and occupation of the persons of that household. This could be very helpful. The downfall is that the census information was recorded by hand, which may be illegible. Also in some rural areas, dates and ages may have been guessed because records were not well kept. It would be wise to check other records to authenticate accuracy. The entire census records can found at the National Archives in Washington, D.C or one of its state branches. There you will also find immigrant and military records.

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