Research Principles

This is where the real fun, detective work begins. Families like this are biding their time on the other side, just waiting for you to find their records!

Now that you’re organized, have your browser set up, and have a smile on your face, it’s time for Step 4 which is: start researching your family.

To research your family, you’ll want to gather as many records as possible about each of your ancestors — or records that include your ancestors (such as a child’s birth or death certificate that would list your ancestors as the parents).

To assist you in researching your family and locating these records, you might want to consider the following:

Seven Amazing Research Principles

Handy Research Resources

To perform the temple work for an ancestor, you need:

Name
Gender
Death information (if person was born within the last 110 years)
A Country for their birth, christening, marriage, death or burial
Enough information for FamilyTree to uniquely identify them (i.e., a date and place for either their birth, christening, marriage, death or burial; or the names and relationships of family members, such as parents, siblings, spouse or children)

The steps outlined below will help you find that information.

There are 3 parts to researching your family. Here’s what to do:

a) Living Relatives — Begin with yourself and your immediate family by recording information you already know. Look for important documents such as birth certificates, marriage licenses, and death certificates that contain names, dates, places, and relationships. Ask your parents, grandparents, other relatives, and family friends for information. Gather as much information from living sources as possible.

b) Internet — Then begin to search the Internet for records that other people may have compiled about your family, such as published family histories, county histories, and genealogical databases.

c) Original Records — Then begin your search for original records about your ancestors.