Ancestry Training Pack
Produced by Lin Bellfield, Emma Dibbins , Deepak Rana
[Images Courtesy of Ancestry.com]
Contents of this pack
1. Logging in to ancestry
2. To begin a search
3. British Birth certificates- a guide
4. Census records -a guide
5. Census dates
6. 1911 Census
7. Key UK collections on ancestry.com
8. Tips on reading old handwriting
9. Practice exercise instructions
10. Practice ancestry chart
Logging in to Ancestry
You can use Ancestry.com on any of Dudley Libraries computers and
those at the Dudley Archives and Local History Service FREE of charge
1. Type www.dudley.gov.uk/libraries into the search bar at the top of
the internet page
2. Look on the right hand side of the screen and click Online
Resources Logo
3. Click on link – Please click here to enter your details
4. Enter Library Card number or Archives ticket number in box:
(Capital X needed at start of library ticket number – Archives ticket
starts with 43)
5. Enter pin number: (last 4 letters/digits of your postcode in capital
letters)
6. Scroll down to bottom of screen
7. Click on Ancestry Library Edition
Now it’s time to use Ancestry!
Page 1 of 24 pages
To begin a search:
Ancestry will not provide everything you are looking for but it will give
useful clues for further research.
You will need to know at least some basic information about the person
you are looking for. If you have the First Name, Surname and Approx
year of birth then that’s a good place to start. Place of Birth is also
useful.
Do not try to search for all of your ancestors at the same time! It is
usually best to concentrate on one line of your family tree and work
backwards - tracing the male side is easiest to start with.
On the first search screen you will be able to type this information into
the right boxes. Once you have typed it in click search [image 1].
This will then bring a list of search results.
Ancestry has a huge amount of records online so you will need to begin
limiting your search results to try and find your correct ancestor.
On the left hand side of the screen there will be a list of categories
where you can limit your search results to particular records [image 2].
On the right hand side of your screen you will have the results of people
found under these search limits. Ancestry will sort the results so the
record who matches the search closest will be at the top.
.
Page 2 of 24 pages
Image 1
.
Image 2- narrow your search to
particular records.
Page 3 of 24 pages
A Guide to Birth Certificates
One of the most important family history tools is birth certificates – they
contain useful information such as the full name of the child, date and
place of birth, and the names of both parents and occupation of the
father. This information helps build up the family tree.
Searching for English Ancestor’s birth certificate
On the left hand side, in the category list, click on Birth, Marriage &
Deaths [image 1]. Another list of categories will appear.
Now click on: Birth, Baptism, Christening [image 2]
You will need to choose another category from the list depending on the
year of your ancestors’ birth [image 3];
 If they were born between 1837 and 1915 you will need to click on
England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915
 If they were born between 1916 and 2005 then click on: England &
Wales, Birth Index: 1916-2005
On the right hand side of your screen you will have the results of people
found under these search limits. Ancestry will sort the results so the
record who matches the search closest will be at the top.
If you think you may have found the right person then click view record
to have a look at the General Register Office for England and Wales
Index which will tell you which civil registration district the birth took
place in and the reference numbers you need to quote to purchase a
certificate from the GRO or from the relevant local registrar i.e. the
register office where the event was registered. You can also print a copy
of this information if you want to.
You can buy a copy of full birth certificates from the General
Register Office for England and Wales. Visit their website at
www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates.
Page 4 of 24 pages
Image 1
Image 2
Page 5 of 24 pages
Image 3
Page 6 of 24 pages
A Guide to Census Records
What is a Census?
A census is a snapshot of a population, so any ancestors who were living in the
country at the time it was taken should have been recorded
Censuses have been taken in Britain every ten years. The Censuses are kept private
for 100 years and then are released for public viewing. On Ancestry there are
scanned Census Records from 1841 – 1901 with 1911 becoming available very
soon. These include Census Records from: England, Wales, the Channel Islands
and the Isle of Man
Information from Scottish Censuses are available but not in the format of a scanned
image. The information from the Scottish Census has been copied down and made
searchable by Ancestry.
Searching Census Results:
To search the census results you follow the same principle as you would for a birth
certificate search.
Type in your basic information about your ancestor in the search screen and click
search
In the list of categories on the left hand side of the screen, click on Census and Voter
Lists
Now you need to select the census year you need. Each census is produced every
ten years.
For example if your ancestor was born in 1892 then you know they will be on the
1901 census and will be 9 years old.
So select 1900 as your census year.
You will now have another list of categories to choose from. If your ancestor is
English then you will need to click on 1901 English Census.
Again: Ancestry will sort the results so the record who matches the search closest
will be at the top.
You will need to look through the list of results and see if any of the records match
for your ancestor.
Page 7 of 24 pages
The census records contain much more information than birth/death certificates. On
a census record you will have the following information:

Address of ancestor, including house number, street, parish and county

Details of who else is living with your ancestor – e.g. wife, children, lodgers
etc

Details of the ages of your ancestor and their family

It will also include the job each person does.
You will be able to print out a copy of this information.
1911 Census: It is possible to search the 1911 census however the procedure is
quite difficult. Please see the separate sheet for searching the 1911 census.
Page 8 of 24 pages
Searching a census record - example
For this example we are searching for a census record for a John Smith from
Dudley, born in 1813.
From the home screen we type in his name, birthdate and his location as Dudley
and click search.
Now select ‘census & voter lists’ to narrow records down to just census records
[image 1].
For our example we will assume the first record is what we want, so we select it
[image 2]
This page provides a summary of the record [image 3]. You can see who else lives
there and their ages.
More information can be found by looking at the actual image of the record. Do this
by selecting ‘view original image’. See image [3] which provides more information.
Page 9 of 24 pages
Image 1
Select Census & voter lists to
narrow the search down
Image 2
We are interested in this record-so
we select it
Page 10 of 24 pages
Image 3
Select to see the original record
Names of household members
Page 11 of 24 pages
This column shows
the street address
This column shows a
persons occupation
Here you find zoom in/out
options, and a print button
You can save this
record as an image
(jpeg file)
Image 4
Page 12 of 24 pages
Census Dates available on Ancestry
Year
1841
1851
1861
1871
1881
1891
1901
Actual date
6th June 1841
30th March 1851
7th April 1861
2nd April 1871
3rd April 1881
5th April 1891
31st March 1901
If you require earlier records, prior to 1841 you will need to start
using other resources. This may mean visiting local records
offices, archives etc. relating to your search.
Page 13 of 24 pages
1911 Census – Complicated, Hard To Search and not for the Faint
Hearted
Censuses are released for public viewing every 100 years making the
1911 Census the most recent census you can look at. Although the 1911
Census is available on Ancestry it is very hard to search because
Ancestry.co.uk have not finished working on it.
If you want to search the 1911 Census you need to be aware that you
can’t search it in the same way as you would earlier Censuses and
births, marriages and deaths.
Note: As long as your ancestors did not move house between censuses
then the previous census (1901) will provide information that is vital for
searching the 1911 census. The previous census will list the county and
district where your ancestors lived; it will also list the street name and
house number - all of this information you will need to know in order to
search the 1991 census.
In order to access the 1991 census you need to follow the following
instructions:
On the Ancestry home page there is a box at the bottom of the page
called Census Collections. Under that there is a link called UK Census
Collections, you will need to click on this.
On the next page to load up there will be a search box but you CANNOT
use this to search the 1911 census. If you try to use this search box it
will find every person in the UK with your Ancestors name but in no
particular order.
Instead scroll down to the bottom of the screen and you will see a list of
censuses you can look at. Click on 1911 England Census
On the next screen another search box will appear, again you cannot
use this search box. You need to look at the right hand side of the
screen where it says Browse This Collection.
Under the title Browse This Collection it will ask you
to choose the county where your ancestor may have
Page 14 of 24 pages
lived in 1911 from the drop down menu. It will then ask you to choose
the right parish from the drop down menu and you will then need to
choose the Enumeration District.
Unfortunately at this point on then it’s very much a process of elimination
as to which enumeration district may apply to your ancestor. You could
start by clicking on the first enumeration district listed and looking at
what areas that district contains.
With the 1911 census you have to go page by page. The census pages
have the address of the property at the top of the page and each
individual page lists one address and the family that lived there. Some
enumeration districts have as many as 400 pages and you will need to
search it one page at a time.
1911 English Census Summary Books
This is the only tool that may help with searching the 1911 English
Census.
It is listed under UK Census Collections as 1911 English Census
Summary Books
This database holds the summary books for the 1911 Census in
England. The summary books provide the name of the head of each
household, and how many people were recorded as living in that
household. They also reveal the type of property your ancestors were
living in (such as a house, flat or shop), provide a description of the
enumerator’s route (often with a map) and offer statistics on the local
population.
You can use the search box on this page in order to look for your
ancestor; you must have a name and area they may have lived in 1911.
The search results will list all the people with that name living in that
area at that time.
If you click on one, the search results it will provide a summary of the
information that is listed on the Census and will
provide more information that might be useful to
know for searching the 1911 census in full.
Page 15 of 24 pages
Key UK Collections on Ancestry Library Edition
When you begin to trace your family tree there are two main collections on Ancestry
that you will begin to use immediately. They are Births, Marriage and Deaths and
Census Collections.
Birth, Marriage and Death Records ( Civil Registration)
Birth, Marriage and Death collections are split into six categories, they
are:


FreeBMD Birth Index, 1837-1915
Birth Index: 1916-2005
The indexes were intended to list all births but registration wasn’t compulsory until
1875. Prior to 1837, births were not recorded as a general rule; however baptism
records should help you get back to earlier generations. Bear in mind that baptisms
were not compulsory and it could be many months, even years after the birth before
taking place – they could also have happened somewhere other than where the birth
took place.
For baptisms before 1837 in the United Kingdom, check parish records collections
Most of the online parish collections available on Ancestry covering the local area
are from published transcripts. Not all registers have been transcribed and Dudley
Archives and Local History Service hold many registers for Dudley MBC. Visit the
website for more details at www.dudley.gov.uk/archives


FreeBMD Marriage Index: 1837-1915
Marriage Index: 1916-2005
Rather than being entered together, each husband and wife are recorded in the
indexes separately. The key to spotting your ancestor’s correct entry is identifying
their spouse.
The more recent index includes the spouse’s surname. So, if you know this you can
simply use it in your search – you’ll find that you have far fewer results to wade
through to find the correct one.
The official indexes go back as far as 1837. For marriages before this, your best
resource is parish registers. These are lists of nuptials kept by individual churches all
over the land, dating right back to the 16th century in many cases. Pre 1837, church
registers, however do not give the name of the father’s of the bride and groom.
All Information from: http://www.ancestry.co.uk/cs/HelpAndAdvice/ExploringRecords
Compiled by: Emma Dibbins for use in training
Page 16 of 24 pages


FreeBMD Death Index: 1837-1915
Death Index: 1916-2005
The death indexes for England and Wales between 1837 and 2005 will help you get
hold of death certificates for ancestors who died during this period.
If you’re looking for deaths between 1837 and 1915, search the FreeBMD
collections. Relatively few deaths are missing from the registers, even though
registration wasn’t compulsory until 1875. Deaths before 1837 in the United Kingdom
should be found in parish register burials, so try searching our parish records
collections
Census Collections
Censuses have been taken in Britain every ten years. The Censuses are kept private
for 100 years and then are released for public viewing. On Ancestry there are
scanned Census Records from 1841 – 1901 with 1911 becoming available very
soon. These include Census Records from: England, Wales, the Channel Islands
and the Isle of Man
Information from Scottish Censuses are available but not in the format of a scanned
image. The information from the Scottish Census has been copied down and made
searchable by Ancestry.
Other Collections you may use to begin your research are:
 Electoral registers
 World War I records
 World War II records
Other UK Collections
As you begin to use Ancestry to search for more in depth details of your ancestors
you may use various other collections that are available, these are:
Parish records - From Henry VIII’s reign in the 16th century until civil registration
began in 1837, these registers formed the most important records of births,
marriages and deaths all over the country
Scottish church records - parish registers for Scotland are less unified than those
for England and Wales. However, within Scottish parish registers you can often
All Information from: http://www.ancestry.co.uk/cs/HelpAndAdvice/ExploringRecords
Compiled by: Emma Dibbins for use in training
Page 17 of 24 pages
search records from a variety of different churches. Non-conformist registers are
found within the collections offered for many counties – for instance, there are rare
Roman Catholic and Episcopal records for Aberdeenshire
Immigration and emigration - you can search over 16 million records in the UK
Incoming Passenger Lists 1878–1960. Aside from immigrants and passengers
passing through UK ports, these records include plenty of people who left the UK for
a better life in countries like the United States, Canada, Australia, India or China, and
later returned to visit family, or to resettle.
Wills and probate records - For many years, the Probate Registry summarised all
its cases in a series of calendars. The calendars for 1861 to 1941 have been brought
online to create the single most important collection for tracing your ancestors’
probate records – the National Probate Calendar.
Cases were added to the Calendar whether the deceased left a will or not. So as
long as your ancestors passed on any sort of property, you should be able to find
them here.
Phone books and directories - The British Phone Books 1880-1984 includes the
pages of 1,780 telephone directories. That’s over 278 million listings to search. You
can use these old phone books to find out things like when previous generations of
your family first had telephones installed. You might also be able to discover a little
more if they had a business listing as these usually say what the line of work a
proprietor was in
Newspapers and periodicals - you can search for your ancestor by name in the
pages of a variety of British publications. The most significant is The Times, between
1788 and 1833, and there are also local newspapers available for various dates
covering places such as Edinburgh, Liverpool, Bristol, Dublin and Staffordshire. The
collection is being added to on an ongoing basis.
London records - the unique London Parish Records are part of the London
Historical Records collection, presented in partnership with London Metropolitan
Archives.
Only available online at Ancestry.co.uk, you can now research registers for Baptisms
and Burials from 1812 onwards, and marriages after 1754, by forename, surname,
locality and type of event.
Collections from the Rest of the World.
Ancestry also offers access to records from other countries around the world. There
are in depth Collections from:

USA
All Information from: http://www.ancestry.co.uk/cs/HelpAndAdvice/ExploringRecords
Compiled by: Emma Dibbins for use in training
Page 18 of 24 pages







Irish records
Early military records
De Ruvigny’s Roll of Honour
Ireland, Casualties of WWI
Australian Records
Canadian census records
Slave registers
All Information from: http://www.ancestry.co.uk/cs/HelpAndAdvice/ExploringRecords
Compiled by: Emma Dibbins for use in training
Page 19 of 24 pages
Tips for reading old handwriting
[Following information has been provided by ancestry.com]
There are a number of tricks for reading old handwriting, enough that you could take an entire college
course on the topic. This article is intended to be a crash course in some of the unusual things you're
likely to encounter reading historical documents before you jump in and start indexing.
If you're having trouble determining which letter it is you're looking at, try to find a similar character in
another context on the document. Often, just seeing it somewhere else is enough to figure out what
that character is. With that in mind, there are a number of letters that tend to look very similar.
Compare the v in Novak with the r in Parry. The examples below will give you a good idea of some of
the characters that may get confused for one another.
In some cases what appears to be fs is actually ss. The following example illustrates this case:
Another issue to watch out for is a record-keeper who wrote a string of letters that make up a bunch of
humps in the word. For an example of this, take a look at the name Williams.
From the a to the end of the name, you can see how the person writing the record scribbled until they
got to the end of the name. In a majority of these cases, you can count the humps and use context to
figure out which letters they make up. Be careful, sometimes the person writing the record lost track of
how many humps they'd written.
Be on the lookout for ts that show up uncrossed or is that are apparently undotted. For an example of
both of these hobgoblins, look at the name Mattie.
Page 20 of 24 pages
The cross for the t is above the i, and the dot for the i can be found over the e at the end. You'll notice
that many of the ts above are "crossed" somewhere other than through the upright portion of the
letter. Again, context and page patterns will help you figure out which of these letters should be ts and
which are something else.
The examples below were all taken from previous indexing projects and are typical of the writing you
are likely to encounter.
Page 21 of 24 pages
Page 22 of 24 pages
Practise instructions
We have provided you with a practise ancestry chart with details of a person already
filled in.
Your task is to fill in the empty boxes by using ancestry.com. At the end of the
excercise you will be familiar with searching ancestry the type of information that can
be found in different records.
Start by conducting a search for John Henry Bradley and see if you can find details
about his father and mother and fill empty box 1.
This will now help you to fill in box 2 and so on until box 3.
Page 23 of 24 pages
Ancestral Chart
Box 3
Box 2
Box 1
2
BORN
PLACE
MARRIED
PLACE
DIED B
PLACEO
BORN
PLACE
MARRIED
PLACE
DIED
PLACE
BORN
PLACE
MARRIED
PLACE
DIED
PLACE
NAME OF SPOUSE
NAME OF SPOUSE
R
N
John Henry Bradley
NAME OF SPOUSE
BORN: 1890
PLACE: Dudley
MARRIED: 1909
PLACE: Dudley Port Tipton
DIED: 1969
PLACE: Dudley
This chart is similar to other ancestry charts.
Rebecca Hampton
NAME OF SPOUSE
Box 2 will be filled in with details about the father of John Henry Bradley.
In turn
box 3 will include details of the father of the person identified in box
.
2 and so on.
Page 24 of 24 pages