My ancestors are from
Britain - What do I do
next?
Myko Clelland
Brief Session Outline –
Introduction 
What is Britain and the British Empire, what do we consider Britain, how have its borders changed?

What eras of Britain experienced great migrations to the US and why?

Passenger lists to/from US/the UK

What if we don’t know where in Britain our ancestors are from – The 19th century surname atlas, search
tips using the information we do have
British records –
The bare bones –

Civil registers of birth, marriage, death

Census records – how to read them, what’s special about them and their evolution

The 1939 register – A surrogate census in all but name, but also a living document

Parish records (church baptism, marriages, burials) – their origins, key dates (e.g. parochial registers act,
act of toleration 1689, 1752 calendar date change)

Bishops Transcripts – How to use them when Parish records aren’t enough
Bringing the dates to life

Military records – Major wars (Napoleonic, 1812, Revolutionary, WW1, WW2), Major deployments
(Canada, East Indies) and how to find military ancestors, which records no longer survive (e.g. the 1940
WW1 service record fire).

Local British Historic Newspapers – how to search them for family history, how to use them for historic
context and how to learn more about the area your ancestors inhabited

Court & prison records – what do they cover, what do they show, which ones have pictures? When can I
use these even when my ancestor isn’t a criminal?

Occupational & Apprenticeship records – Why they were created, what was an apprenticeship, which
industries kept records and which are online. When did trade unions become important and what can
these records tell me?

Wills – Who wrote a will? Who would be the beneficiary, What do they include, how is a will arranged
and why (room by room descriptions of homes),

Tax records – What tax records can tell you, how to interpret them
Getting even further

Colonial records – Records from the India Office, many colonial Brits later continued to travel and settle
abroad, what details exist and if I can’t find information why can’t I (how were records transported and
how many records were kept/made it back in one piece)?

Local Family History Societies – Where to find them, what they do and why they are useful
British sensibilities

British record privacy laws – how long we keep our records private, which records are private and how
to get “private” records as a relative

Pre decimalization currency and where to find online converters that help you understand your
ancestors’ property

The Key British Archives and where to see lists of their holdings

Finding the right British researcher to help you when records aren’t online- what to look for.
Regional tips
Can’t see the wood for the Jones’ - Welsh specific tips

Why there are so few Welsh names and what that means

Other pieces of evidence you can use to pinpoint your Welsh ancestors and how to use what you have
Scots records

Important differences between Scottish and English/Welsh research and why these exist

What you can find online and where to find the rest

Which records only exist in Scotland/Which records are named differently