How To Become A Family History Detective Using My ABC Guide

Updated and Revised Version (April 2026)

In many ways, being a family history researcher can feel like being a ‘detective’, hunting for clues to solve the latest ‘mystery’. You may have a few uncorroborated facts that you have pieced together, but it is that one piece of ‘critical evidence’ that is missing which prevents you from solving the case. But what happens when that ‘critical evidence’ cannot be found? What alternative records might help you uncover that vital clue and move you closer to solving the mystery?

In this blog, I will explore a range of records, both familiar and some less well-known, in the hope of finding that key document that helps us crack the case.

We have to accept that sometimes, for various reasons, whether intentionally or unintentionally, our ancestors did not want to be found in the records, and there are a number of different reasons why this might be the case. But for now, let’s concentrate on what we CAN do and what records we CAN find that might point us in the right direction to find our missing ancestor! It is only by evaluating ALL the evidence that we can reach a reasoned conclusion. This evidence, in our case genealogical proof, is the only way that we can establish a fully reasoned conclusion. Think of it in terms of trying to prosecute a criminal with very little or only circumstantial evidence, it is just not possible to reach a reasoned conclusion that will stand up in a court of law. Therefore, it is our job to produce sufficient evidence to support our genealogical theory and substantiate the case we are trying to prove.

Gathering The Evidence

When piecing together evidence, we must ensure the facts we find are genuinely accurate. Sometimes we encounter conflicting evidence, or even no evidence at all. However, the absence of a record does not necessarily mean an event did not occur.

For example, you may not find a birth or baptism record for an ancestor, but that does not mean they did not exist. Instead, we turn to alternative sources such as census returns or wills. A missing birth or baptism record does not automatically invalidate other evidence. A death certificate giving an estimated year of birth may align with census data or a will, strengthening your conclusion.

Equally, the absence of a death record does not mean someone is still alive; it may simply indicate they died elsewhere or were recorded under a vague entry such as ‘unknown man/woman’. The absence of a record is not proof that an event did not happen.

Of course, we have to be mindful of how reliable those additional documents that we discover are. For example, if you find your suspects on the electoral registers listed as ‘Mr and Mrs Keyes’, is that enough evidence to suggest they were married? Of course not, but it is another piece in the jigsaw, which at least now gives you their location. Newspapers are always a great resource for looking at supportive evidence. Like you would today, never treat what is written in newspapers as fact, but if you believe that your ancestor was the same man that appeared before the magistrate in a newspaper article on a certain date, then it at least proves that he was alive at the time, living in the country at the time, and you now know what area he was living in and where to start looking.

What If The Evidence is Wrong?

We might wrongly presume that the information given on a birth, death or marriage certificate is one hundred percent accurate, but all these documents are only as reliable as the informant giving the information to the officials. The fact that these documents are perceived as “official documents” does not make the information on them necessarily any more reliable than a family bible. For example, is a deceased father on a marriage certificate actually deceased? For many different reasons our ancestors either mistakenly or intentionally got things wrong on the records they left behind. So it is important to bear that in mind when you come across conflicting evidence while trying to solve your mystery. I delve into this subject a lot deeper in a previous blog, which can be found here.

How Do We Differentiate Between Fact and Fiction

Of course, the fact that your ancestor either mistakenly or intentionally got a fact wrong is not extremely helpful when we are trying to prove a theory ‘beyond reasonable doubt’. So let’s explore some of the more familiar records, as well as looking at some newer records, and examine what these records might or might not tell us.

We use the census returns in our research all the time, and I have written about what to do if you cannot find your ancestor in the census in a previous blog for Family Tree Magazine, which can be found here:

What If A Relative is Missing from a Census Year

But What If A Relative IS Missing from a Census Year

Taking that one step further, let us assume that you have followed all my previous tips and your ancestor WAS actually missing from the census, what could this information tell us? There are of course a number of possible reasons why your ancestor might be genuinely ‘missing’ from a census return. Had they enlisted in the armed forces? Were they in prison? Could they be in the workhouse, or even a hospital or asylum? Have they emigrated? These are all alternative sources to look at, but not all of these are available online, so a bit of leg work at the record offices might be required to rule out some of these explanations. Remember that some of these records are not completed with the ‘full name’ of your ancestor. Hospitals, workhouses and asylums commonly listed people by initials only, so again, you might have to delve a little deeper into these records for that ‘critical piece of evidence’.

Look At What You Already Have

Have you examined all the details on all of your certificates? You think you have, but have you examined ALL the details? Are all the witnesses recorded? Could any of these witnesses have become family members themselves after marrying into your family tree, is that the ‘critical piece of evidence’ that you are looking for? Have you worked out the relationships of all the names on the certificates? Do you know who the informant is, for example on a death certificate? The person who registers the death is known as the informant and in most cases this will be a relative of the deceased, but not always, and this depends on the circumstances of the death. For example, it could be someone who was present at the death and this person might not necessarily be a direct relative, but maybe an in-law for example. So it is important to look at these additional people that we find on our certificates and try to establish who they are and how they are connected, as it could be a key clue.

Parish Registers

Parish registers are the bread and butter of our research prior to the start of civil registration, but are you missing out? Of course, parish registers are available to search and view from the comfort of your own armchair on the main genealogy subscription sites such as Ancestry and Findmypast, but once you have found the entry you are looking for, most of us move on to the next piece of research.

There are lots of additional snippets of information that can be found at the bottom and top of registers, plus a wealth of potential information hidden away at the start and end of a register. Could there be an additional reference to your ancestor tucked away here? Next time you find your ancestor on a parish register online, have a scroll through the remaining pages, you might be surprised at what you find.

Again, it is about drawing every last piece of information from a document, even if that information does not make a lot of sense at the time. Sometimes you will uncover additional information later that helps everything fall into place.

Case Study

My 2x great-grandmother is Elizabeth Bishop and I have her birth, marriage and death certificates, plus all relevant census returns, all of which corroborated each other. Did I really need her baptism record? Of course I did, but what did it reveal? Baptised in Romford, Essex on 13th April 1849, Elizabeth Bishop, daughter of John and Caroline, who were living in Romford at the time.

Nothing out of the ordinary here, but take a look at the two entries above. There were two further baptisms that took place on the same day, Clara and Henry King, born to Caroline King, who was a single woman. The Caroline King named in the other baptism entries was also Elizabeth Bishop’s mother, who later married John Bishop. The two children were in fact half siblings of Elizabeth, and all three children were baptised at the same time. Had I just taken the transcription from Ancestry, I would have missed the fact that Caroline King had two additional children born out of wedlock. This vital clue could easily have been missed.

Tithe Maps

Other records to consider include tithe maps, which can help you find the location of your ancestor prior to 1841. The 1841 census was the first to list the names of every individual, making it the earliest useful census for family historians. However, less information was collected in 1841 than in later census years. We can therefore use other records such as tithe maps to help establish a precise location for our ancestors prior to 1841.

The 1836 Tithe Act was brought in by the Tithe Commission, which was set up to assess the value of each piece of land across the country. The Act mostly covered rural land; urban areas were not included. However, if you have agricultural workers in your tree, there is every chance you may find them in tithe records.

These records are normally held in county record offices, but if you have a subscription to The Genealogist, you may also find them online. They list details of each piece of land in pre-printed schedules known as apportionments, arranged by parish. These include landowners, occupiers or tenants, land use, and value. Each piece of land also has a number that links it to the associated map. These records can help locate your ancestor and provide the ‘critical evidence’ needed to take your research back another generation.

Old Photos

Old photo albums or family bibles can also hold key clues. Have you checked the reverse of photographs? Does the studio location give a clue to where your ancestor might have lived? Have you examined every detail to extract hidden information?

The photographs of my great-grandfather Frank Day highlight this perfectly. They show how a single image can provide ‘critical evidence’ that changes everything. Had my aunt not passed these photographs to me, so much of his story would have been lost.

Picture 1 shows the studio address: 480 George Street, Sydney, Australia. At the time, I had no idea he had ever been to Australia. When I mentioned this to my aunt she said, “Oh yes, he was a steward on a ship, haven’t I told you that?”

This proves that you don’t know what you don’t know!

Picture 2 shows three generations of the Day family. The elderly gentleman seated is Frank’s father, Thomas Elisha Day, the child is Frank’s son Francis Norman Day, and the standing man is Frank Day himself, taken around 1912/1913. But hidden behind this photograph were newspaper clippings regarding Frank Day’s death.

LOCAL MANS SUDDEN DEATH

Mr Frank Day, of 58 Salisbury Road, Grays, collapsed and died at Gloucester on Sunday…

All of these newspaper clipping contain vital clues in building up a picture and life story for Frank Day. We have work and career details, different locations and addresses, all hidden away behind a photo frame.

The last image of Frank Day is even more revealing, this was taken during WW2 and is a studio photograph. I previously submitted all these photographs to Family Tree Magazine’s professional fashion historian and picture consultant, Jayne Shrimpton, to confirm if these were all indeed, the same person. Jayne kindly confirmed they were the same person, but what she also identified, which I had completely missed, was the fact that Frank Day is actually posed with a Royal Field Artillery Badge on his lapel. Without that attention to detail from Jayne, I would never have made the connection to The Royal Field Artillery.

In the words of my good freind and Photogenealogist Ann Larkham, ‘never under estimate the power of a photograph’.

Other Records

I will leave you with one last thought and I wonder if anybody ever thought they would hear me say that taxation is a good thing? Over the years there have been many different forms of taxation, including to name but a few examples: Window tax , Brick tax , Glass tax , Wallpaper tax and Hearth tax all of which are now now thankfully abolished. There are far too many to mention them individually here, but I would like to point you in the direction of two specific blogs on taxes. The first is a blog by professional genealogist Richard Holt on Marriage Duty Assessments and the second is from professional genealogist David Annal on the subject of Hearth Tax These blogs will give you a valuable insight into the records available in archives and county record offices and why in many respects taxation is a good thing, especially if you are a family history researcher, purely for the potential clues they leave behind.

Only by piecing together ALL the evidence and exhausting all of the available records, can you be certain that you have built yourself a solid enough case to solve your own particular crime. Sometimes the actual piece of ‘Critical evidence’ you seek is already in your family history records, but you might just have overlooked it or missed it. It’s only by looking at everything together that you can see the full picture.

Consider looking at all your pieces of evidence again, think about creating a timeline and instead of looking at ‘what you do have’, look at what’s missing from your research. Dr. Sophie Kay has a wonderful series of blogs about Negative Space which I can highly recommend. Using these tools in conjunction with examining all the available records will hopefully help you to find that key piece of ‘Critical Evidence’.

Conclusion

Researching your family history can be compared to investigating a crime, no one single piece of evidence is enough to confirm your suspicions, but it is about piecing together all the bits of circumstantial evidence, before you can reach a reasoned conclusion or verdict. Sometimes our family history research mirrors those of the criminal justice system when it comes to reaching a final conclusion, but if you follow my strict ABC rules you will always reach the correct conclusion.

A = Accept Nothing 

B = Believe Nobody 

C = Check Everything 

Final Call to Action

If you enjoyed this guide, consider exploring more of my genealogy case studies and research tips on this blog. You can also bookmark this page or share it with fellow family history researchers who might find it useful.

Have you ever uncovered a “critical clue” in your own research that changed everything? Feel free to reflect on your own discoveries as you continue your journey.

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