Family history and libraries


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Does anyone know if local libraries still do the free access to ancestory or similar? I tried tracing my family tree a while back but had no luck as nothing was free, My great grand parents names are as far into my family history that i know, so i didnt do too well in finding anything. If i can do it at a library, does anyone know if the one next to fire station in carlton does it?

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Cant really go to derby on a whim, but its allways good to know lol

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central libary also have free acess dont know about carlton but worth ringing them or walking up there to ask.

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Its something id like to do myself really, i think its more rewarding to do it yourself. But itd be pretty expensive to get someone else to do it.

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its very expensive and if they happen to go down wrong track its more expensive as they often charge by the hour

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I've been digging around in family history in quite a big way for a couple of years. As others have mentioned, you can get 1 hour per week free on computers in the main library in Nottingham - assuming you have a City Card/Library Card. You can have more than 1 hour by paying £1 per hour on top of that. It means you get free access to all the features on the Findmypast website. That's a big saving because if you were to pay for membership and do it at home it works out pretty expensive. At some other libraries the free access is to ancestry.com (eg some of the Rushcliffe libraries).

As lynmee says, the other place to go is the Archives on Wilford Road who, as well as having computers for census info, also have a big collection of Electoral Registers., and that doesn't cost anything.

The thing to remember is - it takes time. It's not difficult (sometimes) but it's not quick.

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some times you just seem to come up against a brick wall and no matter what you try it dose not always work so be prepeard for some frustrating times but other times it can all fall into place for you and sometimes you need someone to help you get on the right track then you can get to your next station , anne was a great help to me when i was stuck.

i have been asked by my skills exchange if i would help one of the young men who wants to get some info on his family history the only problem is he has got a serious speach disorder and you cannot always under stand what he is trying to say to you so i have asked him to write down as much as he knows or can find out from his parents and grandparents . then i could possibly go with him to the archives and help to get him started and point him in the right direction. he is a nice young man but as i say sometimes very difficult to understand.

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  • 3 weeks later...

There are a couple of free sites you can try... Free Cen for the census , Free BMD for Births etc , Family Search for the Mormons site , this site goes back further then most of the others , you just have to make sure you put ENGLAND in !!

All these are free sites but I find they get busy during the weekends & in the evenings. But its all part of the fun finding out where your ancestors lived & worked.

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the mormon church in west bridgeford has a family history libary you can use on a friday and they are very happy to help you if you get stuck with anythingand they dont push there religion at you

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  • 10 months later...

Just to add my bit to this, in case anyone else is interested. The Nottinghamshire County libraries have free access to Ancestry and Nottingham City libraries have free access to Find My Past. I think there could be some charges in city libraries but County libraries at this time are free to access but do have some time constraints. Most of my family history research has been done in the libraries and Nottinghamshire Archives and has cost me very little. I have found the most expensive outlay to be sending for birth marriage and death certificates from the General Records Office. Look out for short courses in libraries or Archives about researching family history.

Sheila

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A friend of mine was talking to me about family history, iv managed to trace some of my family back to india & australia. seems like my family are from all over the shop, its fascinating. But my friend, bless him, was adopted by his grandparents on his fathers side, and only knows his mothers name, although it was changed when she was in her teens, he has no idea what it was changed from and he doesnt know a dicky bird about her relations. is there any way of tracing his history on his mothers side?

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I think he can try and trace his records through the adoption agency . There is more info here from Citizens Advice :

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/scotland/relationships_s/relationships_children_and_young_people_s/tracing_your_birth_parents_scotland.htm#adoption_records

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Were his parents married? If so, it should hopefully be possible to find out her father's name from the marriage certificate. I suppose any adoption records, although he should get them, if he wants to, will only give his mothers new name. How does he know her name was changed?

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I spoke to him this morning and asked about how he knew, he said he got in touch with his mum a few years back but the relationship between them was very sour and didn't work. now he has nothing to do with her. he has also stood me corrected, he wasn't adopted but his grand parents were given a residence order when he was 2 and they have brought him up ever since. he isn't in contact with his dad either, bot entirely sure why as I didn't wanna ask him too much about such a personal matter. but he's interested in finding out about his ancestors on his mum's side as he's done his dad's sides research. they werebt married either, they had a short relationship during their teens, she got pregnant and unfortunately was an awful mother and that's how his situation got to how it is. he's in his late 20s now.

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he did say his mum grew up in foster care, I think he's going to really struggle to do any research on her side. poor man.

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