The first step to creating a family tree and identifying your ancestors is to take a piece of paper and write down all the details of your ancestors that you are aware of. Start with yourself, your parents and your grandparents and your great grandparents because these are people that you will know a lot about anyways. Make a list of the date of birth, date of death, places of birth, date and place of marriage and the various places that the person has resided in. other information that you can also put down include church affiliations, military service and occupation.

Identify the people who you feel will be able to tell you more about the family. For example, your father may be able to tell you more about his grandfather and fill in the gaps that you have. Similarly, you mother could do the same for your maternal grandparents. Make sure that you document who gave you the specific information so that you can clarify in case you need to cross check something later.

Getting old photographs from the family members that you contact is another great way in which you can get more information. This will also complete your family tree in a much better manner. Birth certificates, letters, death certificates and other such documents can also be used as proof.

As you start getting large amounts of information, you will need to start putting it down in a structured manner. You need to create an ancestor chart and a family group sheet. Try and source a copy of these from the internet and you should be able to start putting things down.