Help finding possible heritage ?

Question

I'm from Northern Ireland and would like some help to find out what probable heritage would be for my family . A lot of my family has come from Belfast and I have traced links from Scotland and England .

Known family names on Mother's side : Ferguson , White

Known family names on father's side : Everitt , Sommerville , Couthberth , Smyth

I would greatly appreciate any assistance and information as I am new to this kind of research . I would like to know possible types of ancestry such as Celtic , Norman etc .

Many thanks in advance :)

Answer 1

Try looking up Genealogy web sites. Post messages about your family and names. You might get some answers of relatives who know.

Answer 2

Try the ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITTANICA people.They made a book for me once about my family name.

Answer 3

The quickest tip I can offer you...

Realize that you are researching your own ancestors.. NOT family names.  Build the records, one step at a time, from yourself, and zero in on being explicit.

NOTHING is more worthless than persons who post a huge list of 35 surnames that they are 'working'.  After 4 emails back and forth, you finally get to the point where it finally is clear that they descend from John Smith of Berlin, Germany in 1927.. while your John Smith was raised in San Francisco, Calif in 1835.  Experienced genealogists don't even read such lists.

If you are hunting for James Sommerville (fictional name to illustrate), and his parents, and you suspect he was born about 1850 in Nottingham, England.. post that.  A number of our regulars here are in England.. and they will jump on this, and be able to give you resources, if not the actual facts themselves.

Make yourself comfortable here.. it can be fun.

Answer 4

You have just taken on a bigggg job !  First, talk to every living relative for help. . .check old photographs. . .get help on the Internet , like Ancestry .com, etc....there are many free sites out there . . .check out DNA tracing..Cost ? ?   Check out books, Ulster, the Scottish Plantation . . .There is a lot of help but it takes time searching . . there are no instant answers. . .