How to start your family tree with free UK records

Building a family tree begins with the names and dates your relatives already know. You can then work backwards through time using official government records and historic census returns. England and Wales share a central system, while Scotland and Northern Ireland maintain their own separate record services.

Start with what your family already knows

The best first source is the people around you. Before checking any government websites, speak to your older relatives. Ask them for the full names of their parents and grandparents. Note down any dates of birth, marriage and death they can recall.

These conversations often turn up useful clues. Relatives might remember a great-aunt who moved away or a grandfather who served in the navy. Gathering these stories gives you a firm starting point. It is often easiest to ask these questions when you plan a family reunion or gather for a birthday.

Next, look for physical documents in your own home. Check the loft or the back of a wardrobe for old paperwork. You might find original birth certificates, funeral orders of service or military medals.

Looking at old albums for relaxed family photos can prompt older relatives to recall forgotten names. Write down every detail you find.

Draw a simple tree on paper first

Organise the information you have gathered before you go any further. You do not need specialist software to do this. A simple family tree chart drawn on paper works well.

Start by writing your own name at the bottom of the page. Draw lines upwards to the names of your parents. From their names, draw lines up to your grandparents.

Keep the layout clear. Add the dates of birth and death under each name. Use a pencil so you can rub out mistakes later.

If you prefer a structured format, print a basic family tree template from the internet. Filling in a template shows quickly which facts you are missing.

You might know your grandmother's date of birth, but lack her maiden name. Spotting these gaps tells you what you need to search for first. Around work and the school run, it helps to chase one missing fact at a time.

Search the free GRO index of births and deaths

Civil registration began in the nineteenth century. The General Register Office holds all births, marriages and deaths registered in England and Wales from July 1837. This central archive forms the foundation of English and Welsh family history.

You can search the official records without paying a fee. The government website provides a free GRO online index of historic births from 1837 to 1934 and deaths from 1837 to 1957. You may need to register for a free account to use the search tool.

This index is an excellent free tool for searching births and deaths in England and Wales. When you search for a birth, the index reveals the mother's maiden name. This detail helps you prove you have the correct child. If you are looking for a John Smith, knowing his mother's maiden name points you straight to the right entry.

When you search the historic death index, it gives the person's age at death. Subtracting this age from the year of death gives you an estimated birth year. This helps you track an ancestor backwards to their own parents.

Keep your searches broad at first. Names were often spelt in unexpected ways. If you cannot find a relative, try variations of their first name or leave the middle name blank.

Order certificates to confirm a link

The index points you to an entry, but you usually need the certificate to prove a family link.

A birth certificate usually lists both parents' names, including the mother's maiden name, and the father's occupation. A marriage certificate lists the names and occupations of the fathers of the bride and groom. This information lets you step back one more generation with confidence.

You order certificates directly through the General Register Office website. It helps to have the full GRO index reference from the free index, as the prices below assume you have it.

GRO guidance updated on 13 September 2025 says a certificate ordered online with a GRO index reference costs £12.50, or £17.00 by phone or post.

The same GRO guidance says a PDF copy costs £8.00 online but has no evidential value. A PDF is usually enough for family history research. A paper certificate is needed for official uses, such as applying for a passport or giving notice of marriage.

Allow some time for your order to arrive. Once you read the occupations and addresses on the certificate, you can begin searching for your family in the census.

Use census returns to place a family in a house

A census is a snapshot of the country taken on a single night. Census returns for England and Wales from 1841 to 1921 are available online, where viewing full images usually costs money, and each census stays closed for 100 years.

These records show you who was living in a house on census night. They list names, ages, occupations and birthplaces. Most of them also state how everyone in the house was related to the head of the household. Historical households could be large and complex, extending far beyond the idea of a standard nuclear family.

Census returns are especially good for finding siblings. You might buy a birth certificate for your grandfather and then find him on a census return living with five older brothers and sisters. One page can add a whole branch to your tree.

Start with the 1921 census and work backwards every ten years. Track the family through 1911, 1901 and 1891. Pay close attention to the birthplaces. Knowing a relative was born in a specific village makes it much easier to find their birth in the GRO index.

Census returns were filled in by hand. The handwriting is sometimes difficult to read. Names were often written down as they sounded, so spellings vary. Read the letters carefully and say names out loud if you struggle to recognise them.

Moving forward in time, you hit a gap. The National Archives says the 1931 census for England and Wales was destroyed by fire in 1942. There was no census taken in 1941 because of the Second World War. This leaves a long gap between the 1921 census and the 1951 census, which remains closed.

Use the 1939 Register to bridge the gap

You can bridge the missing decades using a different official record. The National Archives says the 1939 Register was taken on 29 September 1939 and records stay closed for 100 years from birth or until proof of death.

The information was used to produce identity cards and, from 1940, ration books. It works much like a census, listing the people living in each house along with their exact occupations.

The register has one major advantage over earlier census returns. It records exact dates of birth, rather than just an age in years. That makes it very useful for matching people to the correct birth certificates in the GRO index.

Because records stay closed for 100 years from birth, you will see black redaction lines across some entries. These hide the details of younger people who might still be alive. If a relative whose entry is still closed has died, proof of death such as a death certificate can be used to ask for the record to be opened.

Keep notes and sources as you go

Family history involves handling hundreds of names, dates and places. It is easy to confuse two people with the same name, or forget where you found a specific fact. Neat records save you repeating searches.

Whenever you add a fact to your family tree, write down the exact source. If you record a birth year as 1884, note whether that date came from a death certificate, a census return or a family bible.

A basic tracking system keeps your research focused. You might want to write down these details for every ancestor you research:

• The person's full name and any spelling variations
• Exact dates and places of birth, marriage and death
• A list of the census years you have found them in
• The specific sources that prove your facts
• A list of the certificates you still need to buy

Work methodically backwards. Do not skip a generation just because you share a surname with someone famous in the eighteenth century. You must prove every link in the chain using official documents.

Take your time with the evidence. If a census says a man was a baker, but his children's birth certificates call him a blacksmith, you might be looking at two different families. Stop, check the index again, and verify the mother's maiden name. Slow, careful research helps your paper tree becomes a true record of your ancestors.