Heritage Album

How do I trace my family tree without spending a lot of money?

I've been trying to trace my family back through the years but it seems there is cost at every turn & like most people these days I don't have money to spare. My family name is really common so when I do searches on websites lots of results come up but you have to pay to look at the results & they might not even be about the person you want. For example when I tried to look up my Grandfathers service record from WW1 nearly 700 results came up & they wanted me to pay £85(sterling) to look at them. I also don't really have the money to travel to around the country & when I tried to contact the priest's of my ancestors parish's I either can't find anyway of contacting them or they are completely unhelpful. The last priest I spoke to told me that the church records were private & that he didn't want anyone coming to his house! I'm more than at little frustrated at this point. Can anyone gimme some pointers PLEASE?

Public Comments

1. Ancestry does a free trial and you will be amazed how much you can find out but you need to start it when you have plenty of time to get the use from it. http://www.ancestry.co.uk/ And Genes Reunited is cheap and you can find other relatives that have already done the leg work for you.
2. The Mormons have a free site. I'm sorry but I cannot remember what it's called. They have been compiling records for the USA and Uk for some years now. I found some of my family records on there. Also if you go to your local library you can use Ancestry.com for free. Also try Genes Reunited and google Parish records in your area. People in cornwall have been adding to a site for several years. It just takes a bit of research. Good Luck.