Building a family tree from scratch can feel overwhelming — the scope is unlimited, the records are scattered, and you may not know where to begin. The approach that works best for most people is the same approach that works for most large research projects: start with what you know, work outward, and use free tools before paying for anything.
Start With Yourself
Open a document or a piece of paper and write your name, date and place of birth. Then write your parents’ names and what you know of their dates and places of birth. Then their parents if you know them. Write everything you are certain of. Note what you are unsure about with a question mark. This is your starting map — the foundation from which all research extends outward.
If you have older relatives who are still living, interview them before you do anything else. Living memory is a non-renewable resource. A conversation with a grandparent or elderly aunt can provide details — place names, approximate dates, siblings’ names, migration stories — that would take months to reconstruct from documents. Record the conversation if they are comfortable with it.
Free Digital Tools
FamilySearch (familysearch.org) is free and maintained by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has digitised an enormous volume of historical records including birth, marriage, death, and census records from countries worldwide. The collaborative tree allows you to see whether other researchers have already documented relatives you share. It is the largest free genealogy database available and the most useful starting point.
Ancestry (ancestry.com) offers a free account with limited access; a subscription unlocks most records. However, the free tier allows you to build and store a family tree and to access certain public records. Ancestry’s strength is its depth of US and UK records, and its hint system which automatically suggests matching records based on names and dates in your tree.
FindMyPast (findmypast.com) is particularly strong for UK and Irish records — parish registers, census records, military service records, and newspapers. It requires a subscription for most searches but offers free access to some collections.
Cyndi’s List (cyndislist.com) is a curated directory of free genealogy resources organised by country and record type. It is an invaluable index for finding specialised databases you might not know exist.
Vital Records
Birth, marriage, and death certificates are the most reliable primary sources in genealogy. In the UK, civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths began in 1837; Scottish records are held separately by Scotland’s People (scotlandspeople.gov.uk). In the US, vital records are held at the state level with varying degrees of online availability. The General Register Office in the UK (gro.gov.uk) provides certificates for a fee. Many US states have digitised vital records accessible through state archives or FamilySearch.
Census records are the other foundational source. UK census records from 1841 to 1921 are available online through FindMyPast and Ancestry. US census records through 1950 are publicly available through FamilySearch and Ancestry, with more recent records still restricted.
What to Do When You Hit a Wall
Every family tree eventually reaches a point where records stop — pre-registration eras, missing documents, destroyed archives, or ancestors who used different name spellings in different records. At this point, local historical societies, county archives, church records, military records, and specialised DNA testing (through services like AncestryDNA or 23andMe) can open new paths. DNA testing in particular has transformed genealogy for people researching families where written records are sparse — particularly those researching ancestors who were enslaved, or from countries with fragmented civil archives.
Start simply. Write down what you know today. The research will follow from there.