Hi
I think now that my Gran is Alice holderness born eton 1892. cant seem to find her on any census to try to trace her parents. ( she's like the illusive pimpernel)
thanks
Beef
Although it might seem expensive to obtain certificates the reason i quoted you last post is to illustrate why they are useful
The words "i think " worry me, if you try and jump back to Alice without knowing for certain she is your grandmother then trying to find her in the census is somewhat wasted.
You might find there are one or two possibles and making a note of the family in the household and other details can be useful for eliminating later searches but until you have worked back generation by generation and confirmed that she definately is your gran, and confirmed her place and date of birth then you can never say with any certainty that you are following the right family.
You really do need to spend some time confirming that Alice is your grandmother, discover when and where she was born then you can work backwards with a lot more confidence.
Don't dismiss obtaining certificates because of the cost, in the long run it is far cheaper to get the right information first time round, it saves hours of following the wrong family and can have huge savings in both time and money later on. Above all the accuracy of your tree is also ensured too.
It is true that the cost of subs to different sites and the cost of certificates add up to potentially large sums of money but with a little care and patience it is possible to build an accurate tree reasonably quickly and without a huge expense although to be fair there is no need to rush research, after all the names and dates will remain the same whether you discover them tomorrow or in ten years time.
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