NEWS
2010/03/02
For immediate release
Top Tips for your Genealogy Holiday
There has been an explosion of interest in genealogy in recent years as witnessed by
websites such as Ancestry and a plethora of magazines. On Friday night this
specialist sector will receive a further boost as network television takes up the story.
Friday night sees the first episode of NBC’s new Who Do You Think You Are? series
which follows celebrities retracing their family’s footsteps. The stories are often
hilarious, always emotional and will undoubtedly convince many more people to take
their own family’s journey.
If you’re thinking of taking the plunge, what should you bear in mind? Joanna
Masters runs a specialist company organising genealogical tours for people of Welsh
extraction, Where You’re From. She advises people to do as much research as
possible before leaving home.
“Don’t leave it until you get to your destination and think you can do the research
then,” she cautions. “Do as much as you can before leaving home then you can
enjoy your trip and soak up the atmosphere.
“A lot of initial research can be done online using resources such as Ancestry. For
those tracing English and Welsh ancestors, www.freebmd.org.uk provides an index of
all births, marriages and deaths after 1837. If you have Welsh ancestors check out
the online resources at the National Library of Wales www.llgc.org.uk which amongst
many other things have indexes for wills before 1858 and crimes 1730-1830.
Don’t forget that the celebrities on Who Do You Think You Are? have teams of
researchers working behind the scenes on their behalf so take a leaf from their book
and hire a genealogist who specialises in the area your ancestors lived.
Advance planning is also important when it comes to the vacation itself. “Be sure to
contact records offices, churches or anywhere else you want to visit in advance, it’ll
be too late when you get there and find them closed.”
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“A bit of research may also yield gold when it comes to accommodation,” advises
Joanna. “Perhaps your ancestors’ old farm now offers bed and breakfast
accommodation, or the big house they worked in is now a country house hotel.
Check before you leave home, it will be too late when you get there and are booked
into a hotel chain down the road.”
And a final word of advice? “Contact the national tourist office concerned such as
Visit Wales, www.usa.visitwales.com . There is growing number of small specialist
companies like ours which exist to take the strain and do all the research and
planning for you. “
Visitors to Wales can contact Where You’re From at info@where-youre-from.com or
visit the website at www.familyhistorywales.com
Further media information from Joanna Masters at joanna@where-youre-from.com or
call on +44 7816 873465