Getting started

8. Branching out

Using the birth, marriage and death records, along with the census returns, you can plug the gaps in your research and build an extensive family tree. There are, however, many more avenues of research you can undertake. As your interest deepens so will your understanding of your family's history, including their movements around the country and perhaps around the globe.

World War One and World War Two cast a long shadow over the first half of the twentieth century. Findmypast.co.uk's extensive military collection is the perfect resource for discovering the role that your family played in both wars, and in earlier ones. Search roll calls and lists to uncover new information about the sacrifices they made, the medals they were awarded, and read notes about their careers. You can then add this information to your family tree.

An ancestor may have emigrated to begin a new life in Australia, Canada, the USA or elsewhere. If that is the case, the exclusive findmypast.co.uk Passenger Lists can reveal when they travelled, who they travelled with, and where they were bound for. With this information you'll have a far better chance of finding them in the records of their new country.

There are over 650 million records on findmypast.co.uk, including other migration records, and occupations listings and directories. Don't forget that genealogy is not merely a study of the past, but of your family's present and future too. The Living Relatives section allows you to find family members residing in the UK using the last published electoral roll.