We are delighted to announce the launch of our two-part beginners’ Foundations of Family History course for research in England and Wales. This is an Anytime course, so there is no fixed start date, you simply work through the material at your own pace.

When you embark on your family history journey there can be a lot to take in, with so many different records available, how do you know where to start? Developing an understanding of the records you work with increases your ability to get the most from them. Just as important is methodology and technique, how to most effectively build a family tree in which you can be confident.

This two-part course will introduce you to the four fundamental genealogical sources in England and Wales: records of civil registration (birth marriage death certificates), census records, parish registers and wills and probate records, and start you off with some good methods and techniques that you can continue to apply as you progress your family tree further. The topics covered in the two parts of this course are as follows:

Foundations of Family History Part 1 – Getting Started

• Lesson 1 – Gathering information and interviewing relatives
• Lesson 2 – Storing your family history research (including software options)
• Lesson 3 – Civil Registration (birth, marriage and death certificates)
• Lesson 4 – The census records
• Lesson 5 – Building your tree with confidence

Foundations of Family History Part 2 – Next Steps

• Lesson 1 – Introduction to parish registers
• Lesson 2 – Deaths, burials and obituaries
• Lesson 3 – Getting started with wills and probate records
• Lesson 4 – Problem solving

Starting with an Anytime course gives you a feel for how Pharos course materials are presented, without the need to set aside fixed times for tutorials or complete work by particular date. Anytime courses are made up of a number of ‘lessons’, where one week is about equivalent to the amount of material we would teach on a tutor-led course in one week, but you can set your own pace. Each ‘lesson’ includes exercises for students to work through, websites to visit and search techniques to try out, so there is plenty of ‘doing’ as well as reading.

You can read more about how different Pharos Tutors courses work here: How Courses Work.

You can read more about the new courses here:
Foundations of Family History Part 1 – Getting Started
Foundations of Family History Part 2 – Next Steps

LAUNCH OFFER: We are offering students who buy Part 1 and Part 2 of this course as a single purchase a £10 voucher off their next Pharos Tutors course*.

* voucher will be sent out within a few days of purchase