HOW TO TRACE YOUR FAMILY TREE.

    The first and most important step is to work from the known facts. Most people know who their parents and grandparents are.
    By obtaining your parent's marriage certificate, you will get the two parties concerned. Showing; Details of the name and age of each person, their residential address, place of birth, place of marriage and also both parties' parents will be included.
    From here you can then get the grandparent's marriages, this in turn will give you another four people to trace.
    The Index of Birth, Death and Marriages are on Micro Fiche and are held in some Council Libraries and can be used free of charge.
    From these indexes, you can obtain the numbers for the relevant person's certificate you are tracing, and when applying to Births, Deaths and Marriages, you will then get your certificate for $9.00 instead of $13.00 by not having the number.
    Another good source for family tree research is local newspapers which detail Births and Deaths and in some cases, marriages. The Obituary of a descendant can also be very helpful.
    One of the most helpful places to go is to a Mormon Church Library which holds records for most countries around the world.
    These Libraries are manned by voluntary staff who are only too pleased to help you and will guide you on your way.
    The only cost involved at the Church Library is if you do find an entry which pertains to your ancestor and you wish to order the source film that covers this, it will cost you $5.00 to do so.
    The Archives Office in Globe Street, The Rocks, Sydney, is also a very valuable source of information.
    They hold shipping records, Coroner's Inquests. Government records, Convict records, Tickets of Leave records and so forth.
    The Mitchell Library in the State Library, Sydney is also a good source for an assortment of information.
    We have enclosed in this book, a blank Pedigree Chart and some blank family group charts for you to use. Fill in what you already know and you will be surprised at how much you already have to begin working with..


 Page last updated -  7 July  2006