Genealogy
 

So yeah, I've never found a single reliable source for my family history apart from stories and accounts from my relatives.

Does anyone know of any online sources that I can use (that don't require a $30 subscription fee), or am I better off going to a professional records keeper?

Re: Genealogy
 

Did you ever think about giving Genealogy, Family Trees & Family History Records at Ancestry.com a try?

Re: Genealogy
 

And yes, I have.

Re: Genealogy
 

What about https://familysearch.org?

Re: Genealogy
 

I've checked almost all the ones whose main purpose is family records and so far nothing has been conclusive: either it's from centuries ago or leads to another website about historical societies which only go up to 1800's.

Re: Genealogy
 

How far does your family history go?

Re: Genealogy
 

Back to the Mayflower on my mother's side, AFAIK.

But I don't really know; I was hoping that perhaps one of the websites could tell me.

Re: Genealogy
 

WOW I'll try to help you as much as I can. Do you want me search
more sites for you?

Re: Genealogy
 

Nah, I'm a bit skeptical of how much good that'd do, but thanks for the offer anyway :)

Re: Genealogy
 

I did come across a website I hope this will help you genealogy.about.com/.../the_Mayflower

Re: Genealogy
 

I found a few timelines, but I still have no real way of actually connecting the dots.

Re: Genealogy
 

I wish I could be more help to you.

Re: Genealogy
 

That's alright :)

Re: Genealogy
 

I guess you and I are in the same boat

Re: Genealogy
 

Maybe we're related :p

Re: Genealogy
 

:rofl:

Re: Genealogy
 

Pease forgive this personal question. What is your last name?

Re: Genealogy
 

PM'ed.

Re: Genealogy
 

It's probably better for you to use a service that gives a subscription fee. I really can't think of one that offers them for free beyond the week they sometimes have for trial purposes.

Places like ancestry.com charge money because they say it's an operating cost for storing all this online and digitizing public records from across the country in one place. There's a lot they have, everything from land deeds to tax records, voting rolls to school records, military records, etc etc. So if you're really serious in going for it, honestly it won't be a big drop in the bucket for you to look and keep the subscription only as long as you need it. If you're not interested in that, then you'll probably have to go to a professional to piece it together.

Re: Genealogy
 

Or, if you'd like a project for your life, you could just attempt to find all the relevant information yourself. I'm pretty sure that's what my aunt did before she died. She had plenty of info that she found about the family line, and as far as I know, she never got any information from anyone outside of the family. It might be hard work, but it is prolly gonna be a lot easier now that the conveniences of the internet are around.

Re: Genealogy
 

Yeah, I may do the 2-week free trial.

Re: Genealogy
 

Mind if I ask why you're interested?

I mean, according to my family, those on my mum's side of things were supposedly Viking invaders, and those on my dad's side of things were supposedly Norman invaders, and I couldn't be less interested because only one of them (an able seaman on HMS Victory, therefore 'just happened to be below decks at the time of a major historical moment but couldn't even see what was going on') has ever done anything remotely noteworthy.

I just don't understand the appeal myself, hence the question. Unless you already suspect some kind of link to greatness and you're after validation.

Re: Genealogy
 

Just curiosity, I guess.

Re: Genealogy
 

Something to be careful of with those places is people like to connect themselves to someone famous, so take every connection with a grain of salt.

Kind of like how every white person in America claims to be the dissident of one of 135 people on the Mayflower.

Re: Genealogy
 

That's what I mean. There's ALL KINDS of info out there but no connections that are close to half-way solid.