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It's easy to conduct a search for your ancestors using a few online sources

In this walkthrough, we are going to get some reliable data from the web. We are looking for information on the family of Alfred George Hallam, who died in Birmingham in 1931. He married twice. His first wife's name was unknown and there was one daughter from the union, who was apparently called Elizabeth. His second wife's name was Florence Annie Laughton, née Ford. We do not know the dates of these marriages. We do know Alfred was in the King's Royal Rifle Corps (KRRC) in the Boer War, so will be missing from a range of UK entries, probably including the 1901 census. Everything we find counts as 'possible' until corroborated by data from other sources.

1 In the absence of certificates, our first task is to verify Alfred's vital statistics. FreeBMD found Alfred's registered birth index listing, which has the date (March 1891) at the top of the page. The birth index listing gives the parish, book number and page number. Another index identified a page from the marriage register with his name on it. That page also shows everyone else who married on the same day and at the same place. There are two brides: Elizabeth Greaves and Florence Elizabeth Oakes. Because his daughter was thought to have been named Elizabeth after his wife, both are possibilities. You can also view the original scan to check the transcription for accuracy. You now have enough information to order one or all three certificates. The marriage certificate will give the bride and groom's parents, taking you back another generation.

2 Because the search returned marriage entries for March 1891 (registrations between 1st January and 31st March) and the 1891 census was on 5th April 1891, we'd expect to find newly married Alfred and his bride listed together in the census. Searching Ancestry.com returned no results, whereas Findmypast.com returned one. Alfred George Hallam and his wife Florence (eliminating Elizabeth, found in FreeBMD) are living at 3 Stamford Terrace, Bordesley in a four-roomed house - that's four rooms, not four bedrooms. He is 18, a clerk, born in Liverpool, while Florence is 21 and born in Birmingham (although these ages don't coincide with those obtained elsewhere). Unusually, the enumerator has written down where Alfred works: J&E Wright, wire rope maker (transcribed as rope and cailes - probably cables).

	3 Alfred's regiment was the KRRC. We can find out this regiment's history by visiting the regiment's successor's website, the modern Royal Green Jackets at www.army.mod.uk/royalgreenjackets. This includes a paragraph on the South African Wars (1899-1902) when the KRRC took part in the relief of Ladysmith. There's more background at Land Forces of Britain, the Empire and Commonwealth.

4 Alfred survived his military service, so his records won't be online. But his second wife's brother was not so fortunate. His name was William Frank Ford and he lied about his age so he could join the army to fight in World War I. He was still under 18 years old when he was killed in the Dardanelles. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission remembers him. Searching the CWGC website returns name, rank, service number (so you can identify his army service papers), date of death, age, regiment or service, and nationality. You may also get the names of his parents and their address. The age listed is the age he gave on enlistment and he may not have been entirely honest. Not only is his grave or memorial name and reference given, you can also view a photograph of his cemetery or memorial, where he is commemorated. You cannot buy a copy of this, but you can download or print it from the screen.

5 Alfred's parents were John Turner Hallam and Harriet, née Goodman. There are family stories of a separation, when Harriet left him and opened a shop on her own. Kelly's Directories for 1884, 1896, and 1898 contain confirmatory entries for Mrs Harriet E Hallam, shopkeeper, 30 Mountford Road, Sparkhill. She's there at the 1901 census, identified as the head of the family and a widow, a shopkeeper grocer, working on her own account at home. Harriet is still there in 1903, as shown by Kelly's Directory of Birmingham and Suburbs for 1903, one of many published online by Midlands Historical Data www.midlandshistoricaldata.org. Older directories indicate road junctions. For £5, the minimum payment, you get 35 page views.

6 Alfred's second wife's parents were John David Ford (1858-1920) and Emma Moore (1862-1927). We can trace them from the 1901 census in Birmingham to 1871 where John David is living with parents James and Mary in Chelsea, and to 1861 in Gloucester. We can trace his father James to Cheltenham in 1851 and 1841 - when he's living with his parents Jonathan and Jennet, shown here, both born around 1801 - when the trail goes cold. Still, we've gone back six generations in 206 years (1801-2007) just searching the censuses. We have put dates to shadowy forebears, confirmed some family stories and discovered some we didn't know. Each piece of data found validates another, as long as we check the original documents.