Daisy Goddard
Researcher
Mon Apr 28 2025
•
< 5 minutes read
Starting a family tree is the easiest way to begin making exciting discoveries about the lives of your ancestors – here's how.
Gather the information you already know
Before starting to fill out a family tree chart, it’s a good idea to collect what you know about your relatives. The following information will be useful:
- Parents’, grandparents’ and great-grandparents' names
- Birth, marriage and death dates of your known relatives
- The names of places where your relatives have lived
- Family stories – perhaps your great-uncle served in the RAF, or you’ve been told that your great-grandmother was born in India
This important first-hand knowledge helps to form the basis of your family tree. The more you can establish, the easier it’ll be to build your tree branches back through the generations.
Start your family tree
There are two ways to build your tree: online and offline.
You can start an online family tree using a tree building tool, offered by family history websites like Findmypast. You’ll be prompted to fill in the necessary information step-by-step, and the handy technology will speed the process up for you.
If you’d prefer to start offline, you can fill out a blank family tree template. You can do this on your computer or by hand, after printing out a template.
Whether you fill out a printed family tree template or build your tree online, you’ll start by adding yourself. Add your name and birth date, followed by the same for your parents. You’ll then add your grandparents on both sides – and in just a few steps, you’ve already added three generations of your family.
Enrich your understanding with family history records and old newspapers
Once you’ve added all the relatives you know to your family tree chart, you’ll need to seek out further information in genealogy records and historical newspapers to expand it further.
Key sources like birth, marriage and death records (BMDs), military records and censuses will reveal the milestones of your ancestors’ lives in vivid detail. Online family tree building software allows you to add a person’s records to your tree – so you’ll never miss a discovery.
Next
Get started with our family tree builder
Trace your family tree to find your family members and their unique stories.
Add the family members you already know, and we’ll start our detective work.
We’ll look for your relatives in our genealogy records and send you hints when we find something.
Find connections you share in millions of other Findmypast members’ family trees.