How do you start to find out about your ancestors?
To start you off look at information you may already have i.e. your own recors and any BMD information on your parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins plus of course family stories - this is what grandparents are for. After that the simplest way to progress is to use the internet: there are many free and paid for internet-based resources for anyone searching for their ancestor: many of them are listed and explained here. Perhaps the fullest (and free) site is Family Search which you can read about here. A particularly useful site for searching UK records is https://www.freeukgenealogy.org.uk/ There are other sites you might use, some are partly free, some paid for and some you can "try out" for free before needing to pay. Examples of major sites are: Ancestry, Find My Past, Geneanet, MyHeritage and TribalPages.
What does BMD mean when you are researching your family history?
BMD simply means Births, Marriages and Deaths, these are the records held by the public records office, with the basic information searchable online but you need to apply and pay for copies of specific certificates, you can find out more at https://www.gov.uk/research-family-history.
What is a census?
A census was a survey and record of households and their occupants. The earliest useful census record in the UK was in 1841 and was repeated every 10 years with a slight hiccup for WW2 when a 1939 register was held instead. Family relationships, ages and employment can usefully be tracked using these records. A useful source of census records can be found at https://www.freeukgenealogy.org.uk/ as can BMD and Parish Records
Parish Records - what are they?
Before government BMD records were started in 1837 records were held by parish churches where the related birth, marriage and death services were held. Again these can be researched at https://www.freeukgenealogy.org.uk/
What are other useful sources of family history information apart from BMD, Census and Parish Records?
Much useful background information can be founds from Trade Directories, newspapers archives, wills and probate records, war graves and family tree records deposited by other family history researchers. There are also sources called One Name Studies, Forums and Message Boards which you can find on family history websites; you can find information on all of this here.
How can I find out about my grandparents?
It all depends, how old are they or when did they die - records of an individual are not generally made publically available until 100 years later to preserve private information of people currently alive, so for instance the latest census information is for 1921 and the next release will be for 1931 in 2031, with luck.
Where else can I go for help?
Your local library can be helpful, particularly if you still live in the same area as your ancestors. There may be family history books in the library or access to family history internet sites for free on the library's computers. There may be family history group meetings there where you could get advice. If you are lucky enough to be near a major county or metropolitan area libary they may hold the area records which you could access.
How can I record all the information I collect?
The short answer is not on bits of paper or hand drawn charts! Proper family history software can be obtained from various sources for keeping your records on a home PC but I can recommend some software called Ancestry Quest. It has a free version which may be all you need, certainly for starting, or a full function reasonable priced payed-for version if you get seriously interested. Family history search sites will usually encourage you to store you family tree with them but you may not want to rely on them for your record retention,. You can learn more here.