One of Jason's ancestors told us exactly when he was baptised and where in England he was from (in a newspaper article). But sometimes working out where our ancestors came from can take intensive research (Jason has a few of those too).
Beyond Our Shores
– Researching Outside of New Zealand
Once you trace your ancestor to a place outside of New Zealand then your research does change a little. You will still be relying on “the bones” of birth, baptism, marriage, death and burial records to support your family tree, but you also have access to different types of records.
One of the main record collections for United Kingdom research are the 1841-1911 censuses. These can be searched on Findmypast and will often allow you to find family groups living together (and if you’re lucky that will include elderly parents). The census records give you an increasing amount of information as time progressed:
1841 British Census |
Where they lived Name Age (rounded down to the nearest 5 years for adults) Occupation Whether they were born in the county they were enumerated in Whether born in Scotland, Ireland or Foreign Parts |
1851 -1891 British Census |
Relationship to the head of the house Condition – married, unmarried, widowed Birthplace Whether Blind, Deaf or Dumb |
1901 UK Census |
Whether they were an employer, worker or working on their own account. If they worked from home. |
1911 UK Census
|
How many years married Number of children born alive Number of children living Industry that they work in Nationality |
To help you keep track of your ancestors, you can download our free Census Check Form.
Census records are just one of the records that can be used to research your family further. There are many other collections that you can search for your ancestors online, but don't forget to also look for records that may not have been digitised yet.
There are some links to other useful websites on our Pinterest page. Have a look.