Pre-1837, how can you be sure you've got the right person?

No, its not just you. Sometimes it is guess work and dependent on other people helping in their research. I have a "brick wall" that I have all sorts of different guesses and using logical guessing on. But that is about it, nothing proof positive on but that is about 1660. I know it tough, but you just have to keep digging. Look for any family bibles, birth announcements, ect. Here's a site that is a forum for help, the other site is a list of sites that could help.

http://www.cyndislist.com/

http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/roots-l/roots-l.h...

I hate to burst your bubble, but it is NEVER certain. In olden times, babies were born at home. The mid-wife (or whomever delevered the baby) knew for certain who the mother was. Now, babies are born at clinics or hospitals; misups are frequent. The baby you take home may not be yours!

Then there is the problem of infidelity: doctors claim that up to 20% of babies born have a father that is NOT married to the mother! I don't know what you Brits call it, but we Yanks call it "hanky-panky".

I have heard tell that the Brits did NOT establish public records until after 1837, so I am not certain what is the significance of 1837. However, I do know (most of my ancestors that came to the Colonies, or, later on, the States, came from England or Wales) that churches kept records of births, baptisms (christenings), marriages, deaths, et al.

There are 2 major problems with these church records (other than records being destroyed, as when the Germans blitzed London in WWII):

1. The churches charged people a fee to record a birth/christening/marriage/death. Poor people often could not afford to pay; so, no record made.

2. If a rich man caused a poor lass to become pregnant, he might pay the church the fee, but deny the child was his. (A frequent occurence, IAW British/English history.)

As you no doubt know, many times way back then the ONLY name recorded for people (especially women) was their nickname! I have had so much fun trying to find out who, exactly, "Polly" was, for example.

Since I am a Yank, I can only suggest what has worked for me:

You should start by asking all your living relatives about family history. Then, armed with that information, you can go to your public library and check to see if it has a genealogy department. Most do nowadays; also, don't forget to check at community colleges, universities, etc. Our public library has both www.ancestry.com and www.heritagequest.com free for anyone to use (no library card required).

Another place to check out is any of the Mormon's Family History Centers. They allow people to search for their family history (and, NO, they don't try to convert you).

A third option is one of the following websites:

http://www.searchforancestors.com/...

http://www.censusrecords.net/?o_xid=2739...

www dot usgenweb dot com/

www dot census dot gov/

http://www.rootsweb.com/

www dot ukgenweb dot com/

www dot archives dot gov/

http://www.familysearch.org/

http://www.accessgenealogy.com/...

http://www.cyndislist.com/

www dot geni dot com/

Cyndi's has the most links to genealogy websites, whether ship's passenger lists, ancestors from Africa, ancestors from the Philippines, where ever and whatever.

Of course, you may be successful by googling: "john doe, born 1620, plimouth, massachusetts" as an example.

Good luck and have fun!

Check out this article on five great free genealogy websites:

www dot associatedcontent dot com/article...

Then there is the DNA test; if you decide you want to REALLY know where your ancestors came from opt for the DNA test. Besides all the mistakes that officials commonly make, from 10% to 20% of birth certificates list the father wrong; that is, mama was doing the hanky-panky and someone else was the REAL father. That won't show up on the internet or in books; it WILL show up in DNA.

I used www.familytreedna.com which works with the National Geographics Genotype Program.

I do know that Ancestry has a U.K. version. And, since it is "www", you can access ALL of the above-referenced websites.

I might also suggest any of the Burke's peerage/genealogy books, and, of course, if you can get back to it, the famed Doomsday Book. Some of my ancestors are recorded therein.

http://www.domesdaybook.co.uk/

There are also message boards, such as:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/messageboards/newgu...

Not total guess work, but maybe some educated guess work, The further back you go it does get harder, you have Baptism records Burials and Marriages, Then there are all sorts of other records.