These days we live very busy lives, and in the rush to keep up with the present it’s easy to lose sight of the past.We tend to l

These days we live very busy lives, and in the rush to keep up with the present it’s easy to lose sight of the past. We tend to live and work further away from our families, and therefore become disconnected from where we’ve come from and who we are related to. But a sense of who we are—our roots—is very important to us.
      Researching your family’s history is a great way to discover your roots and keep that information alive. It may sound obvious, but the best place to start your research is with members of your own family, particularly older relatives, who can tell you about names, dates and places relating to people you may never have met. Some of the stories they tell can be a bit painful, so don’t push them too hard; but they’ll give you enough information to get you started in the archives.
      Another place to look is on the Internet. More and more countries are putting information online and allowing people the opportunity to search it. In Britain and the United States, for example, it’s now possible to find detailed information about births and deaths from the past two hundred years. There are also records of marriages and divorces online that go back more than a hundred years. This information is held at their national archive sites.