I was at a civil wedding ceremony this weekend and I couldn’t help but appreciate that before my eyes a record was being created. One that future family historians may seek out to discover more about their ancestor when many years have passed from now.
It was afterwards, when sitting down to the meal at the reception that one of the guests asked me what I did. Finding out that I carry out family history research they then told me how they never knew their grandfather – but would now love to discover more about him.
So what was stopping them? They had his name and could work out an approximate date when he would have been born and even knew the area of the UK to look in. It was just that they didn’t know how to go about starting to look, or which documents they could use to carry out the research.
To someone who has been doing research for even a short time it was obvious what to do and where to look. But this encounter brought home to me how we sometimes forget that to many it is a complete mystery!
I have put together some Cheet Sheets that are available to download a few pounds or dollars here: Crib Sheets
Hope this helps people in the same situation as my fellow guest at the table this weekend!
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