Discover your ancestors – genealogy from documents to DNA

Your family history

Who are your ancestors? Where did they live? What did they do? How did they help to form who you are?

Expect ancestry research to take you to unexpected places as you explore your roots back into the past.

About the course

Maybe you’re a complete novice or perhaps you’ve already started building a family tree. This course will take you from a total beginner to researching with confidence using some of the best tools and information available. As a technologist I’m excited to show how the internet can open a world of data that would once have needed weeks in dusty libraries.

By the end of the course you will know how to:

• Create and build a family tree on paper or using free software

• Research your ancestors with access to millions of online records

• Follow good practices for tree building and record keeping

• Use family knowledge, census information, birth, marriage and death records and hints from other researchers

• Explore the new field of DNA analysis and what you can learn from it.

I’d love to hear suggestions about areas where I could extend the course to give further advice.

Associated book

The book “Discover your ancestors – Genealogy from documents to DNA”  is also available from Amazon.

It is not required for the course but gives guidance along with the author’s own experiences in building a tree, what I learned and the characters I met along the way.

Course focus

The course is all about how you can explore your ancestors. In every section of the course I suggest practical steps you can take to move your own tree forwards. Each source of data that we explore is a step forward in building your own family tree.

In this course I’ll give examples from how I built my own family tree, with parts back to the 16th century. I’ll outline some of my own research and give a chance to “meet” a few of my ancestors. Their stories inspire me to continue my own research.

The main focus is on UK records, although the course will also be useful or anyone with ancestors who trace back to the UK or of general use to anyone learning about genealogy.

What you need

A computer with internet connection

I recommend a subscription to ancestry .com as a tool although I do explore other tools.  Free time-limited subscriptions may be available.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How long do I have access to the course materials?

You can view and review the lecture materials indefinitely, like an on-demand channel.

Can I take my courses with me wherever I go?

Definitely! If you have an internet connection, courses on Udemy are available on any device at any time. If you don’t have an internet connection, some instructors also let their students download course lectures. That’s up to the instructor though, so make sure you get on their good side!