| The Ratcliff Family Tree Including the Ratliff branches (and others) | |||||||||||||||||
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Our Family Towns Radcliffe, England
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Genealogy, the discovery of your ancestors and family tree connections, is a hobby that people--like my father Clarence--have spent years researching. This site is intended to give you some resources to help you in your own research. Sometimes we get letters from people who want us to help them find their ancestors. The author of this web page is not a genealogist--I made this page to honor my father's work. Others listed on this web page are, for the most part, not professional genealogists. We have busy lives and cannot do the work of a professional who gives full time to helping people find their family lines. But if you are interested in learning how to do genealogical research, we welcome you to join in the effort to find the missing parts of the family. We all learn by giving what information we have, and then digging to find what others have discovered. This page is a place that, hopefully, will help you begin your work. A good place to start is reading a book about how to do genealogical research. There are many available--check out the resources at Amazon or Amazon UK (see below) or visit your local public library. You may find books about the family from these sources as well. Be sure to explore what others have already found. Download the Richard Ratcliff book on this web site and use the "find" command to see if you or the ancestors you know of are already listed. Check out the Richard Ratcliff Genealogical Bulletin archive. Search the family database system. If the names and details are the same or similar to what you have, you may have discovered the connection you are looking for and you thus tie in with the family. After you have read a book or two on doing genealogy, and checked what has been found by others, do some research of your own. Be prepared to visit musty rooms of courthouses to find old wills and official records of birthdays, marriages, and deaths. You may need to visit cemeteries that are lost in forests or a forgotten corner of a field. Talking with older relatives and looking through artifacts like family Bibles may give you more leads. Some libraries can yield census records and sometimes have entire genealogical departments. You may want to visit the Family History Centers of the Latter Day Saints. But take the time to read and learn how to do your searching before you start so you will use your time effectively and discover all that is available. Share the results you find with the rest of us. If you think you have found a connection, share the information that is not already available. If, after you have looked carefully, you cannot tie in your family, share what you DO know about your ancestors, even if it is just your parents and your brothers and sisters. What you share may be just what it takes for someone else to make the connection with their family as well as yours. How can you share your information? Send an email with information about your known ancestors, including full names, dates and places of birth, marriage, death, and areas where they lived. If you do not have all of this, send what you have. You can post your information on one of the many genealogical boards on the internet (see the resources section). You may add your information to the database but--again--please don't ask the database manager to do your work for you. If you want professional help, contact a professional genealogist. If you have a great deal of information to share, and especially if you have family pictures and stories, consider making your own web page and I will probably link it to this one.
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