Tracing your ancestors is a fascinating hobby, your own personal detective story. If you plan on starting, be warned, it can become addictive, can be time consuming and later intensive.

This site is a guide to tracing ancestors in the UK, with special reference to the North of England.

The information here, is based on a genealogy evening class I taught in 1976 and which subsequently became a series of articles, written for the first three journals of the Cleveland Family History Society (UK). It has been updated to take account of today's technology and prices.