How to trace your family tree: Where to start and what to expect

Tracing your family tree online

The internet has made it easier than ever to research your family tree, as there are countless websites and resources you can tap into.

The best place to start is ancestry.com.au: a global website with millions of members, the site is updated with more than 1.5 million new photos and hundreds of thousands of stories each month.

Here, you can browse census and voter lists, search through legal documents such as birth, death and marriage certificates, and view or post messages on forums.

You can even search for specific ancestors if you have some names to plug in. As the site says, “You don’t have to know what you’re looking for… You just have to start looking.”

Mapping out your family tree

Armed with the information that you’ve gleaned online and from your relatives, begin mapping out your family tree on a large sheet of paper.

Start by listing your own immediate family down the bottom, and branch upwards from there. You may want to download a family tree chart online to help guide the process.

As you fill in each section, continue your online search so you can fill in the blanks. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t uncover too much at first — there’s a lot of information to wade through and it can take time to make headway.

It’s best if you can focus your search to one specific family name at a time, as you’ll have less chance of missing important details. Also, make sure that you search under possible alternate spellings of each surname.

And remember: the more time you spend searching, the more you’ll uncover — and the bigger your family tree will grow!

More ancestry and geneology research info

Researching your family tree