Step 2 - Locate Written Evidence
It may seem obvious, but the first step to locating written evidence which will help you in your research is to know what records exist, before moving onto the second step of find where you can access the records or copies of them.
The original records are collectively called primary sources. This page concentrates on primary sources of information, and in time I plan to add something about secondary sources (copies) and tertiary sources (copies of copies; most of the information available of the web is a tertiary copy, so expect it to include mistakes!).
Basic Information
Your Birth
- Civil Registration
was introduced in England at the start of Queen Victoria's reign in 1837. There is a legal requirement for every birth, marriage and death to be registered within a short period of it's occurrence.
- Birth announcements in newspapers
Many libraries have old newspapers available on microfilm or microfiche
- Baptism records
Although not everyone is baptised, most people were. The records were originally with the church, and all the old registers are lodged with the local record office. So knowing the religious denomination and family church helps to find these.
Your Parents' Marriage
Until recently most children were born within wedlock and after the marriage of their parents. Further generations of researchers will not find it so easy as us since that assumption can longer be made.
So using the same sources as for your searching for your birth, search backwards in time until you find your parents' marriage.