Online Courses In Family History

This is part one of a two-course introduction to genealogy research in England and Wales. It is designed for anyone who wants to get things right from the start. The course provides you with the tools and know-how to confidently find ancestors and record results in commonly used records.

The course focuses on genealogical knowledge, methodology and technological know-how, a combination which makes family history research easy and enjoyable. It is not just about building a tree, it aims to inspire, guide and equip you to enter the world of genealogy with confidence and a clear direction. The course is suitable for those with English and Welsh ancestry.

The course introduces free websites and resources and no website subscriptions are necessary, although students may find they wish to sign up to a family history website to further progress their tree by the end of the course.

* Lesson One: Good Preparation, What Do You Already Know?
* Lesson Two: Basic Records and Websites to get you Started
* Lesson Three: Using the Census Online
* Lesson Four: Birth and Baptism Records
* Lesson Five: Marriage Records

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Relevant Countries: England and Wales

020 Beginners Guide to Creating and Researching Your Family Tree Part One (020)

Starting Date
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Course Length:
5 lessons (around 5 weeks of study)

Cost: £39.99

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Beginners Guide to Creating and Researching Your Family Tree Part Two (021)

This course is part two of a two-course introduction to genealogy research in England and Wales. The course assumes that students have already worked their way through Part One (020).

You will build on the knowledge you have already gained in part one by further practice using tools, common websites and records such as civil registration and the census. In addition, you will be introduced to probate records and be given information to help you make a decision about purchasing any genealogy software. The course ends with a helpful and vital section on solving research problems.

The course is suitable for those with English and Welsh ancestry.

Lesson One: Death and Burial Records
Lesson Two: Probate Records
Lesson Three: Introduction to Genealogy Software
Lesson Four: Problem Solving

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Relevant Countries: England & Wales

021 Beginners Guide to Creating and Researching Your Family Tree Part Two (021)

Starting Date
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Course Length:
4 lessons (around 4 weeks of study)

Cost: £34.99

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Climbing Trees - How to inspire children with family history (110)

This course is written by a primary school teacher with a love of family history. It provides loads of practical activities, ideas, and guidance for passing along your knowledge and enthusiasm to children or grandchildren between the ages of 7 and 11.

Many children enjoy history at school and you can foster or awaken interest by adding a personal, family perspective. The lessons look at ways to make your family stories interesting and relevant, not only with respect to the context of past times but with some help from favourite fictional stories. The course looks at a wide range of material designed to excite children about their history and enable you, with them, to produce creative and colourful projects to treasure. The practical nature of the 'make and do' project suggestions will get children involved, designing, doing and problem solving. The course explores and evaluates the wealth of on-line material about people in the past aimed at children, as well as ways to digitally present and share your children's projects in a simple and easy way. The course also shows you how working with your children on a family history project can help them with their learning skills in school. During the course you consider how different children learn in different ways and each activity will show which particular skills are being used so you can cater your activities to the interests of your children. All activities include a simple list of resources needed before you embark on a project.

The course assumes that you have a basic grasp of genealogy websites and research, that you have gone some way to constructing your own tree, and ideally also have some family photographs to share.

Lesson One: Taking root, understanding the basics
Lesson Two: Climbing Trees at Home - Storytelling and online research
Lesson Three: Climbing Trees Further Afield: Make family history visits interesting
Lesson Four: Creating Branches: Using technology to create present and share your child's learning

THIS COURSE IS CURRENTLY UNDERGOING REVIEW AND UPDATE

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STUDENTS SAID "I very much appreciated the guidance and inspiration for creating slideshows and the helpful direction throughout the course to so many useful websites for children."

Relevant Countries: England

110 Climbing Trees - How to inspire children with family history (110)

Starting Date
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Course Length:
4 lessons (around 4 weeks of study)

Cost: £34.99

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All About Parish Registers (115)

Parish registers, the records of baptisms, marriages and burials maintained by the Church of England, are the most important source for genealogists before civil registration began in 1837. Parish registers start as early as 1538 and continue in use today. They remain an important resource even after the start of civil registration because of the many missing civil records during the years from 1837 to 1874. The registers reveal most to those genealogists who know the most about them, their background and historical context, the legislation that affected the content, and the layout of the registers.

This course provides you with that knowledge. In the first lesson you will learn about the history of parish registers and the many formats in which they appear. More details on the specifics for baptism, marriage and burials, including how to find social status and occupational clues within the registers follows in the other two lessons using case studies. A separate handy section on old handwriting and Latin comes with Lesson Two. In the final lesson you will also learn how to bring everything together to construct a family tree.

STUDENTS SAID "The course was packed full of useful hints and tips, I enjoyed the exercises."

The history of parish registers
More about marriage
Baptism and burial at the Parish church
Appendix on Latin and Handwriting

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Relevant Countries: England & Wales

115 All About Parish Registers (115)

Starting Date
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Course Length:
3 lessons (around 3 weeks of study)

Cost: £24.99

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Tracing Beneficiaries and Living Relatives - A Step by Step Guide (741)

When you have to administer an estate, the process can be more complicated and cost more if you also need to trace a missing beneficiary. Sometimes the value of the legacy or estate does not merit hiring a genealogist or a specialist probate genealogy firm to trace them.

This course, designed specifically for solicitors, executors and legal staff, but also relevant to anybody wishing to trace living relatives, takes you through the basics of finding named beneficiaries and proving family connections where there is no will. It will cover easy, low cost sources and methods, where to access records (both online and historical) and advice on building a family tree. You will be shown how to present your evidence and advised how best to make an approach to possible beneficiaries. The course concentrates on resources for locating people in England & Wales, although some advice for the rest of the UK will also be included. The course will not teach you how to be an "heir hunter" or give any instruction on how to administer unclaimed estates advertised by the Treasury, but it does show you some of the techniques that heir hunters use to locate people.

A basic understanding of family history research will help you but is by no means essential as all resources and procedures will be explained. Some websites and databases in the course are subscription only or will require a fee.

The Basics of Probate Research
Civil Registration Records
Electoral Registers, Wills and Credit Databases
Online Historical Resources
Practicalities and Pitfalls

THIS COURSE IS CURRENTLY UNDERGOING REVIEW AND UPDATE

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Relevant Countries: England & Wales

741 Tracing Beneficiaries and Living Relatives - A Step by Step Guide (741)

Starting Date
Join Any Time

Course Length:
5 lessons (around 5 weeks of study)

Cost: £39.99

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My British Isles Origins - When and How do I Cross the Pond? (931)

This 4 week course concentrates on the period from 1600 to 1830. It begins with advice on identifying your immigrant ancestor in America, supported with historical information on population movements before and after the Revolution. Sources most likely to offer clues about origins are explained and presented with research strategies.

The focus changes in the second lesson to your ancestors origins in the British Isles. The topics covered include: major migrations out; when, where from, where to; sources for searching within particular migrant groups; and, advice on searching for people who do not fit any patterns. There is also advice on how to make the best use of surname information and survey techniques. Lessons 3 and 4 look at records in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, discussed according to time period. The emphasis is on using Web resources and on helping you develop the skills to initiate searches after the course. You will try out online indexes, sites that lead you to sources, and finding aids that help you locate sources that may or may not be online. The course shows you how to identify and select the best records to search based on your problem, minimum information required for a search, and ease of access.

At the end of the course you will understand the challenges to be faced in "crossing the pond" and have had some practical experience such as locating places, searching online records and catalogues, and transcribing an early will.

Lesson One - Preparation is Essential
Lesson Two - Where and How do I Venture into British and Irish Records?
Lesson Three - Sources, Finding Aids and Tactics 1713 - 1830
Lesson Four - Seventeenth Century Challenges are Good for You

THIS COURSE IS CURRENTLY UNDERGOING REVIEW AND UPDATE

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STUDENTS SAID: This course provided me with new tactics to try, a better way to approach 17th century genealogy, great course notes and bibliography. Most importantly, it made me aware of my ignorance about British history and geography!

Relevant Countries: USA, England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland

931 My British Isles Origins - When and How do I Cross the Pond? (931)

Starting Date
Join Any Time

Course Length:
4 lessons (around 4 weeks of study)

Cost: £34.99

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Anytime Courses

Beginners Guide to Creating and Researching Your Family Tree Part One (020)

Beginners Guide to Creating and Researching Your Family Tree Part Two (021)

Climbing Trees - How to inspire children with family history (110)

All About Parish Registers (115)

Tracing Beneficiaries and Living Relatives - A Step by Step Guide (741)

My British Isles Origins - When and How do I Cross the Pond? (931)