Steps to success
Doing a family tree
Step one
Speak to family members. Ask about relatives, dates and places. If you are the oldest member of your family write to as many members of as many branches of your family as you can. Encourage them to get involved too. Family stories and reminiscences may or may not be accurate, but usually contain more than a grain of useful facts.
Step two
Gather as many family documents as you can, especially birth, marriage and death certificates (they started in 1837), family Bibles, letters – anything you can find!
(Tip: Copy them and use the copies for your work and travel – keep the originals safe, as they can be expensive to replace).
Step three
Join the local family history society. The Merthyr Tydfil branch of the Glamorgan Family History Society is strong and active and works very closely with the Library Service
We host regular meetings and activities and GFHS members are available to help new starters every week at the Central Library (on Tuesday evenings) and Treharris library every other Friday evening – check with the Library for details.
GFHS organises regular classes to help get people started.
Step four
Read all you can about the subject. There are many books in libraries. It can be helpful to learn more about general history for the period they lived in (as that can help you to understand more about them)
Once you speak, gather, join and read, you are ready for
Step five
Get started in earnest
Start with what you know and work backwards and sideways (the other “branches” of your family “tree”).
Go one step at a time. So, normally begin with your birth certificate, use that to help you trace your parents' marriage, from that you should be able to find their birth certificates, your grandparents' marriage, etc. through the official registration records until they started in 1837. Before 1837 you normally need to use church records and that can be complicated if they did not attend the main churches.
Depending upon what you have found, your next steps will be to consult the sources listed on the related page