Family Tree UK

Learn how to trace your family tree! Every issue is packed with: family history research advice hands-on learning experiences to help you become an ancestor super-sleuth & step-by-step guides to show you the path to tracing the past. From vintage documents to the latest in DNA, we’re here to help you discover more! Get the latest in genealogy news, software, books, archives and expert answers. Plus enjoy those reader stories that remind what it means to trace your family story. Research & remember your roots with Family Tree!

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Dear Paul • This month, Paul Chiddicks looks at the intriguing anomalies we might come across when examining our ancestors’ marriage records…

Transcription Corner • This month we have some more frustrating and humorous howlers for you to both grimace and smile at.

ANCIENT DNA FOR GENEALOGY • Pushing back the boundaries of pre-history, Diane Brook takes the long view, combining her interests in archaeology and genealogy to piece together an account of our shared human past as revealed by artefacts, remains and DNA

GARAGES, SHEDS AND family treasures • A chance find in a family shed leads Charlotte Soares to contemplate the precious memories that can be evoked by the items left behind in these humble spaces

READ ALL ABOUT IT! • This month, Family Tree Academy tutor David Annal explores the rich world of newspaper archives, and explains their huge value to the family historian

SLEUTHING THE SIBLINGS • Gill Shaw decides to dig into the details of the five adoptive cousins of her relation Catherine Mary. What clues will the puzzle show now?

SPOTLIGHT ON… THE ALDERSON FHS 40 years old and still going strong • Richard Alderson Scott shares highlights from the history of the international one-name study society on the Aldersons over the past four decades

Uncover the clues and pass the stories on…

CLUSTERING: The secret to unlocking • This month, Karen Evans introduces us to clustering, a powerful tool that can help us to rationalise and understand our DNA matches

GETTING STARTED WITH family history • As you may have already realised, family history is absolutely fascinating, but… there’s a lot to learn. Help is at hand, however! Here’s our handy check list to keep you on track:

The Plague Years • Determining the timing and causes of deaths is an integral part of constructing the histories of families. How might we tell which were the probable causes? The plague is well-remembered, reported on and recorded as a cause of death, but here Wayne Shepheard invites us to reflect on the other travails that our ancestors experienced to gain a fuller understanding of their lives and deaths during the toughest of times

My pioneering cousin MARY SELINA SHARE JONES • Genealogist and author Emma Jolly introduces us to a trailblazing Welsh relative, her life of academic achievement, and her determination to challenge the conventions of her day

YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Photo corner • Costume historian and photo dating expert Jayne Shrimpton shares advice to help you date your unidentified pictures and so put names to the faces of the past

Photo-dating study hints • Focus on fashion clues: (14) Ladies’ headwear, 1890s & early 1900s

THE UNDESIRABLES: THE LAW THAT LOCKED AWAY A GENERATION

DIARY DATES • DISCOVER LEARNING EXPERIENCES TO ENJOY FROM ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, PLUS ON-SITE EVENTS

Your letters • The record you want isn’t digitised, you can’t get to the archives… what can you do? Here are some inspiring and practical solutions

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JOIN THE CLUBS

Voices of our GENERATION • Diane Lindsay muses on the myriad meanings of ‘voice’, and of its...