Here are a few simple tactics to help you work out where to start your family history - so that you can start finding clues, building your family tree and discovering more. They will help you think about: • what it is you wish to find out • how to build an online family tree • where to look for records and documents • & will DNA help you find your ancestors?
In tracing your family history you will learn so many fascinating new things. These tactics below are to help you make the most of your research time and energy and have the maximum fun along the way.
What do you wish to find out in family history?
This is a great question to ask – ‘What do you wish to find out when doing your family history?’.
It might seem a silly or obvious thing to ask. However, keeping this question in mind will help to keep your thoughts organised, and your eyes on the prize (your research goal).
You may have a very specific family history question that you're seeking the answer to. If you don't here are some ideas of family history research questions to set yourself to help you formulate your plan.
- I'd like to trace my family tree (building back to all my great-great-grandparents.
- I'd like to trace our Scottish ancestors.
- I'd like to find out what Grandma did in the war.
- I'd like to discover when and why the family migrated to Australia.
Where to start in family history?
START at the beginning with yourself: Whatever the nature of your research question, the place to start in family history is at the beginning - with yourself. The key to success is to work from a piece of information you know, and to branch out from there. If you just helicopter into the records of the 1800s looking for McPhersons in Stirlingshire you may not know if you have found your precise relations. By working from what you know, you can be much more certain that you are following the trail of clues correctly.
ESTABLISH the details that are known already: let's say you'd like to learn more about your Scottish ancestors, write down everything you know already. Clues to people's names, occupations, addresses. Clues about when and why they left Scotland. Clues about where they went next. Ask any family members you may be lucky enough to have to help you - to see if they have details they can share. They may even have documents, letters, diaries. They may not, but it's worth asking!
Top family history research how-to tip!
- Get into the habit of looking carefully at every record you find.
- It’s tempting to rush on to the next thing.
- However, by taking the time to explore all the details you will be helping yourself to discover more – there and then.
Question 2: Where do you find family history records?
This depends where in the world your ancestors were. Each country organises its records differently: some have many national collections, whereas others are held at a more localised level.
An excellent place to start finding out about the records available for your country/countries of interest is the FamilySearch wiki: www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Main_Page
It has more than 150,000 genealogy topics worldwide that you can explore by place or record.
Download FREE printable family tree charts from the Family History Workbook for Beginners’ resources web page:
(What? You're giving away free printable family tree charts? Yes we are because we're nice like that - enjoy your genealogy 😉).
Question 3: What sort of records are useful for family history?
Typically the sorts of records you are looking for are:
• census records
• birth, marriage and death records
• newspapers
• Plus: electoral registers, phone books and trade directories, maps, military records, parish registers, passenger lists.
These are just a tiny selection of the many sorts of records that can be used for genealogy.
Top family history keeping organised tip!
Get in to the habit of making a note of what you have looked at. This includes BOOKMARKING useful webpages (so that you don’t lose that gem of a site you’ve found), and also creating a RESEARCH LOG.
What is a family history research log? And how do you make a family history research log?
Your research log can be paper or digital. Set up a file with a few key columns:
• Date of research
• What & where you were researching
• What you found (and what you didn’t find)
• What you want to find out next time
Need a hand setting up your research log? Head over to www.family-tree.co.uk/information/fhwfb and download your template research log. (Yes we really are that nice, just head over there and download it. We want to help you create a great family history research log).
Top family history research tip
Get in the habit of learning about the record collections you use (whether online or in an archive).
Why is it important to know about the websites and record collections that you search for your ancestors in? It's important, because if you don’t find your ancestor in a record collection you need to know whether this is because ...
a) the online collection isn’t complete (and is a work in progress) - [i.e. your ancestor's details may turn up in the collection in the future]
b) the archive collection isn’t complete either (perhaps records were lost in a fire) - [i.e. your ancestor's details are not turning up because the record has been destroyed - that ancestor may well have lived in the place you thought, worked in the line of work you thought, etc - but you are going to need to seek out alternative record collections to find them]
c) there are spelling mistakes/variations that you are not aware of and haven’t searched for - [i.e. your ancestor's details may have been written in handwriting that is hard to read today - so the modern-day people who made the search database may have made a mistake when working on the file, or your ancestor may have spelt their own name a very different way (or number of ways), way back when]
d) Or is it that your ancestor really was never listed in that record collection? - [this can be for any number of reasons]
Question 3: Where can you create an online family tree?
There are numerous places to create a free online family tree. Examples include:
• FamilySearch
• Ancestry
• Findmypast
• MyHeritage
• TreeView
• Wikitree
Question 4: How do I make a good online family tree?
1. Think about privacy of living people
Wherever you build your online tree it’s important to think about protecting the privacy of living people. Most online trees will do this automatically (hiding living people from public view, so that only you, as the tree creator, can see them).
2. Think about family photos, stories and memories
Have a think about photographs, stories and memories that you add to your online tree, however. These are not always automatically set to ‘private’ by the online tree providers. So, in order to be a best-practice family history researcher, you have a choice:
- You can ask living relatives for permission to share items relating to them on your online tree.
- You can set your entire tree to private (where settings of the online tree provider allow).
- You can decide not to include such items in your online tree, and instead share them with family members another way.
3. Keep notes of what you do and where you found the information
Hopefully you are keeping notes of where you look, what you look for and what you find.
This will save you time - as you won't unnecessarily be doing something twice.
It will also mean that you can validate your research steps. You will be able to look back and reflect on what you found, where you found it, and why you assessed that that bit of information, that new fact, was correct. Using these details, you can create 'source citations' to show exactly where you found your detail about your ancestor. This does take time to add source citations to your family tree but - a few weeks, months or years from now - you will thank yourself if you start to do this today. Most online family trees have provision for you to add a source citation when you add a new piece of information about your ancestor.
Question 4: Will DNA help you?
Definitely yes. DNA will help you learn more about your family history. It will help you verify the family tree you are building and it will also be of vital assistance if you are seeking an unknown parent or grandparent, for instance. It is also extremely enjoyable to make connections with DNA matches – distant cousins with whom you may never have made contact otherwise.
As with all types of family history research, with DNA research you do need to be very aware that you may receive unexpected information about your relatives – or may find new relatives. If you were to receive such information you need to have a think about how you would feel, and if/how you might share such information with any relevant family members.
That said, for millions of people DNA testing is simply an excellent addition to the range of tools and resources that family historians use to trace their family trees.
For more tips and ideas to help you trace your family tree, see the Get Started section of the Family Tree website
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