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 Home >  Your Council >  Register Office >  Researching Your Family Tree >
This is an old photograph of a women

Tips for Getting Started
  • Be methodical and organised.
  • Focus on one area of your family tree at a time.
  • Your biggest source of information is your family - ask parents and grandparents for their memories of family events.
  • When fact finding - record your conversations with relatives.
  • Make out a separate record card for each person - show the full name, the relationship to you, parent's names, date and place of birth, religion, occupation, date(s) of marriages(s).
  • Cross reference records so that you do not repeat the same research twice.
  • Copy down accurately dates and names (even when they seem to be misspelt).
  • Use all sources of information - begin at home using bibles, old diaries, photograph albums, wills, family certificates, newspaper cuttings.
  • Photocopy documents and keep one set safe.
  • Store old photographs and documents out of sunlight.
  • Do not write or make notes on original documents.
  • Get help and support by joining one the many genealogical societies.
  • Once you have gathered as much information as possible, sketch out your family tree and then you can decide where to start looking for the documents that will help you to fill in the missing details.
  • Always start from the present day and work backwards. Your birth, baptism, marriage records will show your parent's names, your parent's records will show your grandparents names etc.
  • For instance, if you know when and where your grandmother was born you can apply for her birth certificate to give you the names of her mother and father.
  • To obtain a copy of birth, death or marriage certificates your must apply to the register office for the district where the birth, death or marriage took place.
    (Each certified copy will cost £7.00).



    • Rotherham Register Office

    Rotherham Register Office only holds the records of births, deaths and marriages which have taken place within the Rotherham district boundaries dating back to 1st July 1837. Records are not linked or cross-referenced in any way either by personal or family connection. We cannot access the records for any other Registration district but we can supply you with the addresses and telephone numbers for other offices.

    If you know when a relative was born, or got married or died but not where, then you will have to do some further research on your own behalf.

    Family Records Centre

    If you are within travelling distance of London, you can visit the Family Records Centre, 1 Myddleton Street, London EC1R 1UW which now holds the General Register Office (St Catherine's House Index). This is a national index of all births, deaths and marriages which have taken place in England and Wales since the beginning of civil registration in 1837. There are separate sets of indexes for births, deaths and marriages.

    Names are listed in alphabetical order for each quarter of each year (March Quarter covers events registered January, February and March; June Quarter covers events registered April, May and June; September Quarter covers events registered July, August and September; December Quarter covers events registered October, November and December) and show the registration district in which the birth, death or marriage took place.

    General Register Office (GRO)

    If you are unable to visit the Family Records Centre, there are many regional centres where you can access the GRO on microfiche. Sheffield Archives, 52 Shoreham Street, Sheffield holds the GRO indexes for the period 1837 to 2001. Details of other centres can be obtained from the General Register Office, Southport.

    Sheffied Archives also hold a subscription to Ancestry.com so the public can search on the Ancestry.com website as well as using the microfiche.

    Using the GRO indexes, once you have found the entry you are looking for, make a careful note of all the information shown against the name.

    You can then either apply to the local register office named in the index for a copy of the certificate or to the General Register Office at Southport. See obtaining a copy of a birth, death or marriage certificate for more information.

    Remember where possible to cross reference names to be sure that you have found the correct entry - for instance if you are looking for a marriage entry and know the surnames of both bride and bridegroom check that the reference number is the same. Make sure you check alternative spellings of the surname for example Austin or Austen.

    Sheffield Archives/Family Records Centre

    When visiting the Sheffield Archives or Family Records Centre it will make your visit more worthwhile if you go with the intention of looking up several entries at a time. Family history centres can be very busy and often you have to make an appointment before attending.