Smarter tables

I believe I read somewhere that it takes longer to load tables than for other
page elements (except large graphics of course). I am updating a genealogy site
and it currently contains a number of pages that use long tables. These tables
hold info such as Researcher Name/Convict Name/Contact Details (usually 3-4
columns set for 100% expansion). The problem is that the pages grow as the
genealogy info grows and I have had to break up pages which are still 250K in
size. My questions are: Is there a better/smarter way of using tables to reduce
download time? Can CSS be used and if so, is there some article on the subject?
Is there an alternative to tables?

If you store your information in a database, you can access it a set number of
records at a time using dynamic data.
The default is usually ten records, but you can change that if required. The
option exists also to skip back and forth as required. That way your table size
will be greatly reduced.

Got a URL to the site?

Sounds like a good case for a database driven site.

Do you have access to a database e.g. MS Access and a server which supports
ASP, CF, PHP or some other scripting environment?

--
Regards

John Waller