The process of accumulation continues. until eventually the trail dries up. It might take you to various little known sources of documentation, perhaps relating to small religious orders or now outdated trades and professions. It might even bring you to the genealogist's dream of finding his or her family recorded in the Doomsday Book, which commenced records in 1086.

If your search is local, your task might well be extremely easy in the initial stages, given that our ancestors were not frequently renowned for a travelled existence. Many in fact lived their entire lives in one county, and it is quite conceivable to derive a great deal of information from one day's sifting through county registers, nearly all of which, when completed, are stored in local county record offices. Of course if you are tracing the history of a well-travelled family, then your task becomes more complicated and of necessity far more costly to you.

Returning to the subject of County Record Offices, here one will find official census returns providing names, ages, marital status, occupation and county of birth of everyone living in one particular household. Such records are released to the public only after 100 years, but when opened are generally pounced upon by, genealogists for the wealth of information they contain.

Another useful source of information is the International Genealogical Index, produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, more commonly known as 'Mormons'. Most information is-stored on microfiche, and includes parish registers for much of Britain. Many Mormon Churches in larger communities have information which they will readily allow access to with prior approval being requested.

How Far Back can a Family be Traced?

Though it is not impossible to trace back to the 11th century, the task obviously becomes far more difficult the further back in time one travels, not the least of one's problems being the level of intelligence, writing ability and accuracy of those responsible for whatever records were made of births, marriages and deaths, if, that is, the record was made in the first place.

Another problem frequently found to impede access to information is that of the family's surname. A common surname will ultimately present very many difficulties as one begins to sort through the hundreds of Smiths, Joneses, and other such names which have survived the passage of time virtually unchanged.

An unusual name however, or one known to originate from a particular region, and your task becomes far, far easier. Some names also derive from the family's primary occupation as we discussed earlier.

Civil Registration

Official registration of births, deaths and marriages, has been compulsory in most of Europe and the U.S. since the mid 1800's

In theory, and often also in practice, it is easy to trace families back to these dates of compulsory registration. This must not however be taken for granted since those. 'skeletons' known to exist in most family cupboards can often lead the researcher off on a false trail, or perhaps worse still, not come to light in the first place. Here is where a little detective work comes to the rescue.

The astute researcher might uncover various information the less seasoned historian might instead have dismissed or perhaps not considered at all. Birth certificates for instance are dated on the day registration takes place, which could obviously be days or weeks after the birth. When registration was made compulsory a fine was introduced for registrations made more than 42 days after the birth, as a result of which parents late in registering adjusted the date of delivery to suit their own requirements.

And given that not all people, even those responsible for completing official records, enjoyed the greatest degree of communicative skills, it was not unusual for parents to produce variations of their surname to the official recorder, or for the latter to hastily enter a name he 'thought' the respondent had uttered.

Amongst many inconsistencies that can make life anything but easy for the researcher, are the tendency for many names to be reversed on entry to official records. John Henry, for instance might be entered with his surname featuring first, therefore to all intents and purposes making him today's 'Henry John'. Some Christian names and surnames are still unlikely contenders for their alternatives, but it must not be assumed that this is always the case, and even the most unlikely of transpositions can find its improbable counterparts mellowed with time. That 'Henry John' might for instance become today's 'Henry Johnstone' - a far more likely proposition.

Much useful information can be derived from birth certificates, which amongst other things  include the child's; name and date of birth, the mother's name and maiden name, and usually the father's Christian name, address and occupation. After 1875 the father of an illegitimate child can only be named on the birth certificate with his consent. Other anomalies which might lead to red herrings, or indeed to camouflaging useful information, include such as the actual time of birth of a child, a fact not usually entered for other than to indicate the debut of siblings - multiple  births - a fact which might go unnoticed due to the high infant mortality  rate of years gone by, when short lives faded quickly into oblivion.