How to research family history?

Question:

How to research family history?

I've been trying to do research on my family history. I have a start from a family members own research. It starts in 1590. There are references back to William the Conqueror, but not with alot of info. The problem I have is that the last name spelling has changed several times over the generations. How do I work with this? Also, is it possible to go back as far as William the Conqueror?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Hello, Cousin. I call you that because William is a common ancestor of ours. Yes, indeed, it is possible not only to go back to William but to Charlemagne and even earlier.

Since you are working in the 1500s and earlier, I would say the way to approach the research is to go with locations and all possible variations of the spelling of the name.

If you go to Cyndi's List (see citation), you may find links to help you. I have also found it extremely helpful to simply use Yahoo Search and put in the surname. For some of the more ancient ancestors you can find whole sites devoted to them. But a word of caution: always check to see what sources are cited.