Homeland Research Pages

Learn the essentials for researching families from Belgium.

Step 1: Identify your ancestral town in a gazetteer and familiarize yourself with jurisdictions over time.
Step 2: Learn which research steps and other unique aspects of Belgian research.
Step 3: Learn to read the records.

Learn the essentials for researching families from Canada.
Step 1: Trace the family in the census.
Step 2: Become familiar with jursdictions and geography.
Step 3: Find birth, marriage, and death records.

Learn the essentials for researching families from Czechia.
Step 1: identify your ancestral town in a gazetteer to identify the relevant parish and determine the archive in which the records are held.
Step 2: learn to use the relevant archive website to access records.
Step 3: learn to read the records

Learn the essentials for researching families from England.
Step 1: Trace the family in the census.
Step 2: Consult gazeteers and maps to determine the civil registration district and parish.
Step 3: Find civil birth, marriage, and death registrations.
Step 4: Find church baptism, marriage, and burial records.

Learn the essentials for researching families in France.
Step 1: identify your ancestral town.
Step 2: learn to use civil registration records.
Step 3: learn to use church records.

Learn the essentials for researching families in Italy.
Step 1: identify your ancestral town.
Step 2: learn to use civil registration records.
Step 3: learn to use Catholic Church records.

Learn the essentials for researching families from Japan.
Step 1: Identify your ancestral town.
Step 2: Learn to request the records.
Step 3: Learn to read the records.

Learn the essentials for researching families from Mexico.
Step 1: Identify your ancestral town and familiarize yourself with naming patterns.
Step 2: Learn to use civil registration records.
Step 3: Learn to use Catholic Church records.

Learn the essentials for researching families from Poland.
Step 1: Identify your ancestral town in a gazetteer and familiarize yourself with jurisdictions over time.
Step 2: Learn which archives and websites hold the relevant records.
Step 3: Learn to read the records.

Learn the essentials for researching families from Scotland.
Step 1: Trace the family in the census.
Step 2: Consult gazeteers and maps to determine the civil registration district and parish.
Step 3: Find civil birth, marriage, and death registrations.
Step 4: Find church baptism, marriage, and burial records.

Learn the essentials for researching families from Switzerland.
Step 1: Identify your ancestral town in a gazetteer and familiarize yourself with jurisdictions over time.
Step 2: Learn about research strategies.
Step 3: Learn about online records.