The internet is quickly sponging up all the paper records in just about every field and discipline. With so many digital copies of original source documents now available on line, it’s easier than ever to get my relatives interested in discussing their family history. Simply start showing them the great resources that can be found.

Official records such as the Census are the best place to start, some good free places to try are Family Search, Passenger lists, FreeCen and FreeReg. You can also try non official sources such as other people’s genealogy research they they have uploaded to the internet and again Family Search have a great tool for this. We also have a growing database of unofficial genealogy records which you can search here.

Newspaper articles, which include marriages, obituaries, etc are also a great way to spark of memories that once laid dormant. Death certificates can also be of interest as they contain all sorts of informtion about how and where the person died. Birth, marriage and death certifictes can be obtained from Family Search and rootsweb (the rootsweb website can be very slow).   Burial information can also be obtained from the burial records.

Of course once you set someone of with stories about the past, be sure you’ve got a pen & paper ready as there may be no stopping them!