Quick Questions #1: Ancestry

[tamaranth]

Inspired by a reference in Route 66 AD to Egyptian priests at the time of the Roman Empire, who claimed to trace their ancestry back 10,000 years:

How far back (in years) can you track your family?

Can you think of anyone who can track their family back before the Norman Conquest?

Comments

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

Aha, but the Glasgow Records Office (allegedly) burned down in 1861, taking huge chunks of dark and dirty family history with it -- or so my aunt assured me.

And 2 problems with the census online:(a) my father's side of the family weren't in England, (b) I don't have much info about my mother's side of the family -- e.g. surname. (She used her mother's: I have no idea what her father's full name was.)

[childeric.livejournal.com]

Ouch, yes, the record office burning down is a big problem. There'll still be some centrally-held records, but not extending back very far beyond 1861. It's not insuperable, but you'd be dependent upon luck.

Your mother's birth certificate shouldn't be impossible to trace: that would have details of her father. But, naturally, it all depends on how much info you have.

There's a vast amount on the PRO/National Archives website about this sort of thing. Or try the Family Records Centre in Clerkenwell.

[childeric.livejournal.com]

Presumably you've seen http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ (http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/)