GeneFrog Family History
      How we started

In every family there is someone who has some family records.  These may not be in any particular order, but they will be there in some form.

We were lucky!  A distant relative had already done a great deal of work on one member of our family, and this demonstrated to us not only how to set it out, but also how to go about finding similar information on other family members.

However, it didn't take long before we began to realise that some of the information was contradictory (or so it appeared at the time).  For instance, some records showed the family coming from Inverness in Scotland - the county of Moray.  Other records showed the family coming from Midlothian (Edinburgh). So the search was on!

...and proved remarkably difficult.  In fact, it still does to this very day.  Why?  Because great-great-grandfather (bless his soul) did not manage to leave a Christening record which we can find, so we have no proof of his birthdate or place.  To complicate things several of the birth certificates of his children show his home county as Moray while others show it as Midlothian.  To complicate things further his age varied whenever it was recorded.  Nevertheless the difficulties we ran into only seemed to tantalise us more.

First stop in our search for any family members was the Mormons.  This group have probably done more collection of family history data than anyone else.  They have a great website where you can happily "waste" hours.  It doesn't cost a cent to search for information, so you can try out all sorts of possibilities.  As with any site though, be a little cautious with the information you find.  The names in capitals have been cross-checked against authoritative records, but a large amount of other information has been submitted by people around the world, and even with the best of intentions wildly inaccurate information can occur.

As you quickly discover, the internet is like most things in life.  You get a tantalising amount of information that is free, then if you really want to go further you are probably going to have to pay.  You need to get an idea of the sort of area any website is covering, and probably as important as anything else, see if you can find your way around the site.  If the site drives you to distraction, you are probably not going to get your money's worth!

If you are looking for some genealogical software, or family history magazines, browse through the links below.

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