New Year’s Resolution – 2018

Georgina Lawton is a family columnist in the Guardian newspaper and a freelance journalist. Her New Year’s Resolution for 2018 is to trace her family and identify her origins. She explains that there has been a family secret kept from her for more than 20 years and she is going to uncover everything that she can. Because if you don’t know where you are from, how can you know where you are going?. We wish Georgina the best of luck with her quest.

There are a number of reasons why people start researching their family origins and the earlier you get started the better. Speak with elderly family members first as they are your link to the past. Generally they will be pleased to tell you about their past although they may be uncomfortable discussing family secrets.

Many people do not consider looking into their family history until later in life as it can be time consuming and expensive. In the past researchers would require a visit to a records office however these days there are a number of websites that can assist with your research. Generally you have to pay a subscription for these websites although you can get a free trial to begin with. FreeBMD is a useful website that you can access for free.

Unfortunately there are many people that pass away without any of their relatives being traced and there assets pass to the government. Currently there are 9723 names on the Treasury list of unclaimed estates.

Perhaps your resolution for 2018 could be to trace your family history.