Help me with some geneology/ancestry information!

I have received information from my mother-in-law's mother (is she my grandmother-in-law?) - about her birth family. Her name is Iris.

Iris was adopted right after being born. Her mother and father were unwed. A few years later though they got married when she was 6 months pregnant again, and they kept the 2nd child.

I have copies of Iris' birth parents' marriage certificate, Iris' birth certificate, and the birth certificate of  Iris' half brother.

She wants to know anything she can know about this half brother, namely if he is still alive, but really anything. All she knows is what is on his birth certificate.

So! Armed with all of this information, how on EARTH do I find anything out for her using the magical powers of the internet?

You can try Ancestry.com My DH used them to find out some info on his family. You get a free trial period.

As my madian name and his mother name being the same, we had wondered if we could be related. We found out that one of his great great uncles was said to go to the US. After this they have no record of him, so they do not know if he died on the crossing or came over. We are working on my dad's tree now to see if we can trace the family back to him. Cool eh?

Here's a good starting place from the BBC.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory/

If you have the records I would suggest contacting the local council or even the local library.  Our local library has a whole section dedicated to ancestory.

Hi Marlespo,
Hope the big move has gone ok for you.  I just saw this post and thought I'd throw this out there -- you can look-up the family on Ancestry.com.  Not sure of the age-group we're talking for your grandmother-in-law and her brother, but I'm thinking they would be listed in at least the 1930 Census, if not 1920 and 1910.  You can find out some basic info that way. 
To find out if her brother is still alive, you can try looking him up on the Social Security Death Index, which I believe is free on Ancestry.com.
If you can't access any of the info on Ancestry or even Genealogy.com, you can feel free to let me know and I'd be happy to look it up for you, as I have a full subscription to both websites.
Good luck,
Jeannie