Relatively few people have the privilege of knowing their great grandparents, especially when they enter adult life. Unless your elderly relatives lived for a long time or the generations of your family are relatively close, you may only know about these people through others.

If you want to find out more about your great grandparents, the Internet can be a truly valuable resource, especially when you make use of dedicated genealogy websites and search tools. However, before you begin any ancestry search you should equip yourself with as much information as possible from one of the most important resources available to you - other members of your immediate or extended family who have memories of your great grandparents and may be able to clear up certain details, including their occupations, places of residence and dates of birth.

When you have as much information as you can gather from those in your family circle, heading online could fill in the blanks and give you a clearer picture of what your relatives were like, including any noticeable similarities or other ways in which you think they might have had an impact on you. Searching census records and other public indexes such as records of birth, marriage and death could give you more details about the people you're searching for, and if they served in the military there may be further resources available in the form of detailed military records.

As your great grandparents will have lived before the Internet took off, they certainly won’t have a web presence of their own, but that doesn't mean other people won't be talking about them. Getting in touch with friends or other relatives in other parts of the country or even worldwide could help you find out more.You may even find that your great grandparents were discussed in news reports and other historical publications that have since been archived online.

Geneology websites can help you find out about more than just a few certain individuals, and all the information you obtain about your great grandparents could give you a helping hand when tracking down other people in your family tree. Some ancestry websites charge a fee for membership, which is necessary if you're hoping to access online archives. This membership fee could be well worth it however, when it comes to the priceless gift of knowing more about significant people from your family history.

Sean Burke writes for a digital marketing agency. This article has been commissioned by a client of said agency. This article is not designed to promote, but should be considered professional content.