Advice for a beginner?

[pharmaT]

Take it slowly, one step at a time.  It's easy to get excited when on a roll.  Get as much evidence as you can for each person.  Be wary of researching while tired as that leads to anomalies like a birth in 1870 when it was supposed to be 1780 (I have done this  )

[Edward Scott]

Step 1 should be to talk to every living relative and extract as much information as possible on parents, grandparents, gg parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, nephews, nieces along with dates, places, etc, etc. Family stories are may be based on truth and worth noting.

Use this as a staring point but check whatever you have been fed.

Edward

[heywood]

I've done lots of family history and used GenesReunited.com  then ancestry.com etc.

A friend is thinking of starting out and this seems to be a good place to start without costing the earth. What would people on here advise to get the ball rolling FOC then spend later if getting the bug!?

Thanks
Colin

Lots of advice here and you will be a great help having used subscription sites and done lots of research yourself.
Your friend will be very welcome to seek advice on Rootschat. Everyone is so helpful.

[ThrelfallYorky]

As others say, get as much from family as you can - but don't necessarily believe the stories you get!

Check, check and re-check everything you think you've found - especially if it's from an online tree.

Find local-to-the area-you-are-interested-in sites, and see if there are people there interested in family history. They may well give you a lot of help, as I found when I hit on "Wiganworld" some years ago, seeking help with elusive people on OH's side. Lancs Parish Clerks online was good, too, and lots of areas have similar - 'tho rarely as good, I suspect - sites, quite free to use.
They'll soon become as hooked on it as the rest of us!

[familydar]

If you have a local library, they might have a sub to Ancestry and/or FindMyPast which you can use for free with your library card.  My library also allows users to plug in a usb so you can download records.

Jane :-)

[Colin Gorman]

Thank you all very much.  I will of course advise Nick on my own experiences, also informed by your good selves, should he start getting the bug.  Where would you suggest he starts populating his tree - on the free ancestry bit or another site and later transfer it in?  Cheers, Colin

[Rosinish]

Where would you suggest he starts populating his tree - on the free ancestry bit or another site and later transfer it in? 

I'm unsure exactly what you mean re "starts populating his tree"?

Do you mean where to start an online tree?

If you simply mean gathering info. to populate his tree, my advice would be to follow the direct line 1st before branching out but using census records along the way, keeping note of extended family along the way which can be then be followed up on at a later date.

Once the direct line is in place, branching out can be a bit trickier for a 'newbie' as the research direction starts coming back down rather than going up (if that makes sense)?

Annie

[Colin Gorman]

Sorry I was not clear.  I mean software or app to enter the details that if necessary can be exported as am gedcom.  Is free Ancestry as good a place as any?

[carol80]

Google for free Family tree programs. Every one will have a favorite that they use,  I have my tree on my computer and no longer update on line trees.
Try the free downloads and see what suits you.

          Carol