Borough Life Spring 2006: Grow your own family tree
Top tips on getting started
Eric has some great tips for anyone starting out on the road to tracing their family tree.
His first bit of advice is the obvious one:
- Use the History Shop. Eric says: “It’s a great facility and it’s been extremely useful to me. The staff are always on hand to put you on the right track if you haven’t conducted this kind of research before.”
- Always be armed with some dates and names as a starting point. Eric says: “If you can trace your family back to the 1901 Census you have a real chance of being successful.”
- Be patient, persistent and enthusiastic. Eric says: “It can be frustrating at times but it is well worth the effort. It’s surprising what you can find out about your own family!”
- The last message is simple: “Just do it!” says Eric.
Celebrity TV searchers make family tracing more popular
One person who agrees that family history research can open up a whole new world is the borough’s family history officer, Christine Watts.
Christine can routinely be seen amidst the archives helping enthusiastic novices get started.
And she says that the subject is now more popular than ever thanks in part to the current BBC programme Who Do You think You Are?
The series has seen the likes of Jeremy Paxman and Stephen Fry provide fascinating insights into their backgrounds by unearthing their family roots.
“We are getting a lot more people coming to the History Shop as a result of this programme and it’s nice that it is generating such interest. We are here to help in any way we can,” says Christine.
“This could be with advice on how to use the records, the microfilm readers or the computers through to leading people on to other possible sources of research.
“I’ve even been asked to help a couple of 80-year-olds trace their childhood sweethearts through the History Shop. That’s one we’re still working on.”
Christine adds: “We are also lucky enough to have a great network of volunteers at the History Shop thanks to groups such as the Wigan Family History Society.”
So has Christine researched her own family tree?
“It’s endless!” she admits. “And to be honest I’ve had to put it on hold. I’m too busy helping other people with their trees!”
The History Shop is located on Library Street, Wigan, and opens on Monday from 10am until 7pm, Tuesday to Friday between 10am and 5pm and on Saturday from 10am and 1pm.
For more information you can visit the heritage pages at Wigan Leisure & Culture Trust’s website: www.wlct.org/heritage or call the History Shop on 01942 828128.
History in the making
Fountain of knowledge Eric Winstanley pictured in the Wigan History Shop.
When Eric Winstanley suffered an injury at home that left him unable to work he suddenly found he had a lot of time on his hands.
Never one to sit idle, Eric, who hails from Ashton-in-Makerfield, was keen to put this time to good use. So when a friend suggested he could research his family tree, he thought he’d give it a go.
And so began a 12-year journey that has seen the 55-year-old former accountant trace his ancestry back to 1677 and unearth more than thirty THOUSAND close and distant relatives.
Over the years Eric has found family links across the country and across the world. What began as a way of filling time has become an overriding passion and made the father and grandfather somewhat of a self-taught expert when it comes to genealogy.
At first Eric’s research came in the form of asking his parents about the past but he soon became a regular at the borough’s flagship heritage centre, the History Shop.
With its vast array of family history information from census data to electoral rolls, newspaper archives and all manner of records, Eric was soon elbows deep in distant relatives.
Eric says: “A friend was researching her tree and we found that our families were related some 150 years ago. She and I decided to take a branch each and she recommended the History Shop as the best resource to begin my research.
“This led me to doing more research at home, but I still come to the History Shop to access parish records. I am now in the process of trying to pull together a history of the Downall Green and North Ashton areas.”
So what started as a family tree has grown into an entire forest!
Eric has discovered that his earliest ancestor so far is a Thomas Lowe of Wigan from 1677. He’s discovered that he is related to famous Lancastrian father and son ice skaters John (also known as Our Nell’s Jack) and Thomas Hill, who rose to prominence in the 1880s and 1920s respectively.
“Sometimes it is strange how the information comes about,” says Eric. “For example I came into to contact with two cousins living in other parts of the country, who I never knew existed, because they were both also researching their family trees.”
Eric adds: “The social side of the research is a real bonus as well. You meet and chat with people in the History Shop who are conducting family research and as it develops you make contact with people from across the globe.
“There’s one guy from Australia who contacted me through the internet. His wife is a member of the Downall family and we actually met up when they came over to Wigan last year. We’ve since been invited to Sydney to visit the family.”
For a man obsessed with the past, Eric also has one eye firmly fixed on the future.
“I am always getting asked by friends and neighbours to help them with their research and I’ve just started a project tracing family trees at my grandson’s school. Freelance researchers can charge quite a bit for their services and I’d certainly be keen to give it a go if I ever needed to do it.”