Loftus History
Basic, where to start searching
Write down everything you already know about yourself, your parents, and your grandparents. Once you have it written down, you may realise that you do not know much, but get it down on paper so that you have a starting place.
Gather records and information about your birth, marriage and so forth. Look for photographs, documents, old letters, diaries, newspaper clippings, and family Bibles.
Also ask your parents, grandparents, Aunts and Uncles about such items, you never know they might have already started researching.
Rootsweb . Where to start guide.
Local places to visit
Redcar Library & Middlesbrough Central Library:
Census information - transcribed
International Genealogical Index (IGI)
Births, death and marriage indexes
Electrol Roll
Newspapers
Montumental records
plus lots more....
Middlesbrough Archives:
All records are now available on 'Ancestry' or 'Find my past'
FREE websites
www.freebmd.rootsweb.com/cgi/search
transcribed births, deaths and marriages from 1837 to about 1930
not completed but it does help with finding some of the above and an idea of when events happened, these are broken down into quarters.
March, June, September and December.
www.gro.gov.uk
General Register Office - you will need to login in to use the service.
A full search can be done using the mothers maiden name.
If you require a document it will need to be purchased.
www.middlesbrough-indexes.co.uk
Births, deaths and marriages - covers Guisborough, Middlesbrough, Hartlepool and Stockton registration districts.
Also shows spouses in marriages and certificates can be ordered online at a cost
Not complete.
www.familysearch.org/Eng/Search
includes : International Genealogical Index, 1881 census, other Ancestral files, and pedigree files, going way back.
Good to use as a guide but also not complete.
www.rootsweb.ancestry.com
a search can be done under the heading Search family trees you may be lucky and find that someone has already started their tree and added it to the site.