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!

Co-incidences, connections, conundrums… What’s your family history looking like?

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NEWS IN BRIEF

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COMMONWEALTH MARRIAGES the separation of church and state • For this month’s Family Tree Academy, David Annal looks at the marriage legislation introduced under Cromwell’s Commonwealth, which, though short lived, represents an interesting precursor to the civil registration system introduced two centuries later

Hidden figures The challenge of finding female ancestors in the official records • Women tend to be less well represented in a vast range of official records. Here, Phil Isherwood tells us the reasons for this, and suggests some strategies that might help us research our female ancestors more effectively

Case study: Gonda van Raalte

TAGG Wrestling • Still deep in the Staffordshire registers, Gill Shaw has one last go at getting to grips with the Tagg family.

Everything you need to go back further

Discover the history of THE REGIMENTAL MARCHES OF THE BRITISH ARMY • Learn about the Army musicians, their roles and the music they played – whether to call the troops to breakfast, to war, to pay their respects or simply to entertain. Graham Bandy provides a potted history and a fascinating selection of examples

The naming of names USING FORENAMES IN FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCH • We are all used to searching for our ancestors by their surnames. But, as genealogist Chloe O’Shea tells us, with a little knowledge of forenames, how and why they’re chosen, and the reasons they can change, we can take our research to a new level, and perhaps even knock down a brick wall or two

Part 5 THE MAKING OF MRS SMITH • Welcome to our step-by-step guide with genealogist Julie Johnson. Over the coming months, she will take you on a journey – telling the story of an ancestor’s life, from cradle to grave. Use the worksheets accompanying the series, to help you gather similar records for your own ancestors so that you may tell their stories too.

Dear Paul • In this month’s Genealogy Gems Paul Chiddicks explores one woman’s research into her family’s Australian links, looks at some more strange and tragic deaths, and delves again into the quirks of margin notes in the parish registers

Extra, extra! Read all about it!

Beyond the Hundred Acre Wood CHILDHOOD IN 1920S BRITAIN • It is 100 years since A. A. Milne’s first Winnie-the-Pooh book was published. To mark the occasion, genealogist and social historian Nicola Johnson explores what childhood was really like for the children growing up alongside Christopher Robin.

What can GEDMATCH do for you? • So, you use the DNA tools that your testing company provides, and very likely you’ve heard of standalone DNA tool GEDmatch too? But in what ways can it help you with your research? DNA advisor Karen Evans is here to explain

What can A DIARY tell us about the...