Family tracing websites?

Question:I would like to trace my family back for quite a long way - to try and find all those skeletons in the cupboard! Does anyone know any cheap/free websites I can use to get started?

Thanks to everyone who answers!!

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: I would like to trace my family back for quite a long way - to try and find all those skeletons in the cupboard! Does anyone know any cheap/free websites I can use to get started?

Thanks to everyone who answers!!

You could try www.familysearch.org it's completely free and it's excellent.
Hope this helps.
http://www.ancestry.com/
http://www.ancestry.co.uk/
I think the other lady who said ancestry.com is ￡5:00 to enable you to download 50 documents must have made a mistake, as far as I know they don't do pay per view.

I don't know if its free, I've never tried it, but genesreunited.co.uk is one.

ancestry.com,costs ￡5 for downloading about 50 docs

I have just given a best answer for a similar question, feel free to click on my avatar for other peoples answers to my question.

Try here;

http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/

www.genesreunited.co.uk is very helpful and fairly cheap. I wouldn't advise signing up unless you already have the names of at least your great grandparents, though.

Try the web sites below for starters as you move through your tree you will come across many other sites you will need. When you get stuck ( and we all do ) then come back here and we all will endeavour to help you.

The site that I use is:

http://www.genesreunited.co.uk

I have over 2,760 names on my tree, either in Australia, Britain, US and New Zealand.

You can build your tree on this site along with making contact with people who have matching names/dates. It is a cheap site to use when you want to make contacts ($A19-95 which works to around $US17), but is free to build your tree on.

You will still need to access other sites -- look up 'genealogy' on your computer and check for sites that may be of assistance in your country and state. Sites that contain "Births, Deaths and Marriages", shipping sites with passenger names, Voting Rolls (in Australia, Britain, New Zealand etc), Census documents. Google your Surname and you will most likely find a site that is doing genealogy research on that name along with the meaning of your name and many other things.

Talk with your parents and grandparents (if possible) to get as much information about the family that you can, and start with their names and details on the tree, then start using the other sites to expand the tree. You may find some unusual things -- the same family names appearing regularly and different generations, cousins etc marrying, marriages at early ages (12 & 13 for the girls), illegitimate children, large families (12-20 children from one to three marriages).

I hope this is useful, as I have done these things while researching my tree.

Everyone wants it now, everyone wants it for free...some even want it without doing much research. I can help with the "free part"...
Start out by asking your relatives for as much info as they can provide, organize the data, then start out on the web or at your local library. Our library has both www.ancestry.com and www.heritagequest.com, as well as periodicals and books AND a volunteer genealogist to help folks look for those missing ancestors.
Here, then, is my list:
http://www.searchforancestors.com/...

http://www.censusrecords.net/?o_xid=2739...

http://www.usgenweb.com/

http://www.census.gov/

http://www.rootsweb.com/

http://www.ukgenweb.com/

http://www.archives.gov/

http://www.familysearch.org/

http://www.accessgenealogy.com/...

http://www.cyndislist.com/

http://www.geni.com/

Assuming they emigrated from Europe, start with Ellis Island and the Battery Conservancy sites:
http://www.ellisisland.org
http://www.castlegarden.org

For Scotland, check:
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/

For Sweden:
http://www.genline.com/databasen/
-http://www.northpark.edu/home/index.cfm?...
http://www.finlandia.edu/catalog/intro.p...

For ship’s passenger lists, try:
http://www.immigrantships.net/
www.cyndislist.com/ships.htm
www.geocities.com/Heartland/5978/Emigr...
www.immigrantstips.net/
www.searchforancestors.com/passengerli...
www.archives.gov/genealogy/immigration...

For those with native American ancestry, try:
http://www.tribalpages.com/
http://www.cherokee-nc.com/geneology.php...
http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/herita...

Netherlanders: http://www.genlias.nl

For a fee, try a DNA test:
When you really want to know where your ancestors came from, try such sites as: www.familytreedna.com, dnatribes.com, dnaancestryproject.com, and, of course, the National Geographics Genotype program, https://www3.nationalgeographic.com/geno...
For Jewish ancestry, try:
www.israelgenealogy.com

For people from India, try:
http://www.fibis.org/

Have a look at these sites these are South African ones,
http://genealogy.about.com/od/south_afri...
http://www.rupert.net/~lkool/page2.html....
http://www.jewishgen.org/safrica/website...
http://southafricanfamilyhistory.wordpre...

Meaning of names:
http://www.winslowtree.com/surname-meani...

http://www.familysearch.org/eng/search/f...

Here are some general sites with lists of African names:
http://www.swagga.com/fname.htm
http://www.behindthename.com/nmc/afr.php
http://www.familiesonlinemagazine.com/ba...

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/...

Military:
www.military.com
http://www.familymilitaryrecords.com/

http://www.archives.gov/veterans/militar...

http://websearch.about.com/od/peoplesear...

http://genealogy.about.com/b/2007/05/24/...

http://userdb.rootsweb.com/ww1/draft/sea...

Don't forget, use your local library. Ours (a small one, yet) has www.ancestry.com and www.heritagequest.com, as well as periodicals, books and guidance from an experienced genealogist.

Keep good notes on where you find what: sources are very important.

OTHER SITES:

www.nationalobituaryarchive.com
http://www.obitcentral.com/obitsearch/
http://ssdi.rootsweb.com/
http://zip.langenberg.com/

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/howto/w2w/w2welc...
ht

http://www.newspaperarchive.com/
http://ancestryresearchsitereviews.blogs...
http://www.search-background.com

http://www.birthdatabase.com/
http://www.intelius.com/search-summary-o...
peoplesearch.com
smartpages.com. to get to US Search

http://www.intelius.com/search-summary-o...

To find live persons:
www.zabasearch.com and www.peoplefinder.com
http://www.ancestry.com/facts/-name-mean...
http://www.netsleuth.com/

http://affiliates.reunion.com/ads/ads/la...

http://www.peoplelookup.com/people-searc...

http://people.yahoo.com/

http://www.addresses.com/

http://websearch.about.com/od/wendyssear...

http://www.anywho.com/

http://www.whowhere.com/

http://www.nola.com/forums/searching/ind...

http://www.77investigators.com/messagebo...

http://www.voy.com/48081/

http://messages.yahoo.com/

http://www.angelfire.com/va3/search/Mess...

http://www.worldvitalrecords.com
http://www.ntis.gov/products/pages/ssa-d...

http://www.search-background.com

Good luck and have fun!