Although it is possible to begin compiling your family history with access to the very minimum amount of information, you can never have enough of it. Even the most insignificant piece of news can be of use to you in some way. Take, for example, copies of old newspapers. Apart from the stories they contain, which can often provide the lead you are looking for, the majority of these published works contain a 'Births, Marriages, Deaths and Obituaries' column and these have proved invaluable to me over recent days. As an example I will relate a brief account of Edwin Senior Atkinson, solicitor, of Knottingley.

I have not yet located the 1861 census for Edwin, but the 1871 census shows him with his wife Harriette and their two children born in 1862 and 1865. Likewise, the 1881 census records Edwin and Harriette as husband and wife. Edwin married Harriet Oxley in 1858 and upon her death in 1904 Harriet was buried in the cemetery at Knottingley alongside her husband who had earlier died in 1886. However, the Harriet buried with him at Knottingley was not the Harriet that Edwin married in 1858.

From a newspaper I discovered that Edwin Senior Atkinson was twice married and that both his wives were called Harriet. His first wife died in 1866 and Edwin re-married in 1869.

You can never have enough information to hand so don't discount anything, however insignificant it might at first appear. Even if the information you are looking for isn't referenced, there is a possibility that it could enable you to discount another of your theories.