Hints & Tips How you can help yourself

Ilford Town Hall

Are you missing someone? Someone from your childhood, or maybe a relative who you have lost contact with? Don't lose hope, here's some help for you.

1) See if anyone is looking for you on this very website! Click 'View Person Requests'.

2) Check this List of School Reunion Websites to see if your school has a reunion website

3) Use UK Phonebook or BT. If you are looking for a company additionally try the Yellow Pages and Thompson Local.

These services search the public phonebook for phone numbers nationwide.

For international directory enquiries you can try this website, which links to specific country directories.

4) Use 192.com

This performs the same function, but this site also has the ability to search the Electoral Roll register, which can be quite useful. Note: Not many people know this is available but it is, if you are concerned about privacy and don't want someone to find out about you, there is an opt-out form somewhere on the site.

5) If you know the last known address, why not send a letter to the present residents to see if they know the address or know the previous resident who may know? You don't know until you try.

6) Try posting a request on: Knowhere which is a message board.

7) Try typing their name into a search engine...you may find a reference to them. Type their full name in quotes.

8) Try a internet 'people directory' such as that on Yahoo or Bigfoot. This is more likely to work if they use a computer. Alternatively if you have Windows try 'Start > Find > People.

9) Try writing to the Ilford Recorder (539 High Road, Ilford, Essex IG1 1UD) They sometimes have requests like this. Try to provide as much information as possible and if you have a photo then you are more likely to be included.

10) Post a request on this site by clicking 'Make a request'.

11) If you know the postcode of your friend, but cannot remember the number, this may jog your memory. If you type a postcode it tells you which range of houses fall into that postcode.

12) Keep trying. Look up John Guare's play Six Degrees of Separation - referring to the hypothesis that everyone on Earth can be connected using six associations or less, or in other words you will always know someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows the person you are trying to contact, wherever in the world they may be.

Good luck!