Happy Hump Day Genealogy Fam! And welcome to National Family History Month! Or at least, Australia and New Zealand’s National Family History Month – bring on 31 days of genealogical goodness! I’ve got posts planned for the entirety of the month, which I’m really excited about – I haven’t had a solid August of posting since 2019, so I’m super keen to get all this content out into the world. Make sure you keep an on my blog throughout August, and my socials for some extra goodies (especially the Uncovering Family History socials!). But let’s kick things off with a little overview of some important elements to genealogy in the form of the genealogical ABC's! Ancestry It wouldn’t be the genealogical ABC’s if the first word wasn’t the reason we get started on genealogy in the first place – the need to learn more about our ancestry and try to piece together the stories of our ancestors. And of course, Ancestry is also one of the big genealogy websites that can be utilised in your research. If you haven’t delved into the records available on Ancestry, definitely make sure it’s on your to-do list! Brick walls Unfortunately, brick walls are a fact of genealogy research – we’re not going to easily be able to track down all our ancestors. The important thing to remember is to not let the brick walls get you down. Some brick walls will be strong enough to stay, while others we can chip away at under we’ve broken them down. Census records It’s no surprise that census records are one of the important records to peruse in your research – there is so much information contained in these documents that can tell you so much about your ancestors, from where they lived, who was part of their household (including extended family, lodgers, and servants), their marriage and employment statuses, and their age. In the US and UK, the census was conducted every 10 years, and a lot can change from census to census. However in Australia, we don’t actually have access to census records, but we do have the electoral roll, which was actually updated and released more frequently (every 2-4 years). While our electoral roll isn’t as detailed as the international census records, it still outlines the address and occupation information. DNA DNA has become such a fascinating, interesting and helpful aspect of researching your family tree. Many people have been able to connect with distant relatives or break down brick walls with the help of taking a DNA test through one of the major family tree services like Ancestry or MyHeritage. On top of that, it is also so fascinating to see your ethnicity estimate breakdown to see where you genes hail from – there’s always the chance for an unexpected ethnicity popping up! If you haven’t taken a test yet, I strongly recommend you do! Exploring the archives For our family tree to be more than just names and dates, we must delve into the archives! Whether it be in-person or online, exploring the archives can be both the most fun and most frustrating part of family tree research – sometimes we hit the jackpot and find everything we are looking for and more, while other times our ancestors cause havoc from beyond the grave with how elusive they are. As interesting as trawling through the archives can be, try not to get too distracted and off-track – you don’t want to use all your valuable research time tracking down information that, while super interesting, has no relevance to you at all! Family Group Record This chart is probably how most people will record, display, print and share their family history, other than a straight up family tree. As the name suggests, the record puts its focus on one nucelar family at a time and shows at a glance a really great overview of the information you’ve uncovered for them, including: birth, baptism, marriage, death and burial dates and locations; religion; occupation; any other marriages; the parents of each spouse; and a list of children and their birth, marriage and death dates, and any spouses names. GEDCOM You’ve probably heard this term before but didn’t really know what it meant. An acronym for GEnealogy Data COMmunications, GEDCOM is the standard file type used to store genealogical information. If you’re transferring your tree between genealogy websites and/or programs, it will be in the form of a GEDCOM file. Headstones I don’t know about you, but I LOVE spending time wandering around cemeteries, and I honestly could spend hours just exploring every single row and headstone if I didn’t need actually be productive. When it comes to genealogy, headstones can tell you SO much about your ancestors, not only by what’s inscribed on the stone itself, but also by the size and style of the whole headstone. Wealthy families tended to flaunt said wealth with big elaborate headstones, while poorer families stuck with a basic slab, a wooden cross, or maybe no burial marker at all. The inscriptions themselves can also shed some light on new information that you previously didn’t know, like a birth date, parents, spouse or children’s names, and maybe even a cause of death. When you find an ancestor’s headstone, be sure to look around the nearby area for any other family members too as a lot of the time, families were buried near one another. Immigration For most of us, the reason our family or a branch of our family settled in the area they did is because they immigrated to that country – as an Australian, my entire family on all sides is here because someone packed up all their worldly possessions and made the long journey here (and for some of them, it wasn’t by choice). In your research, there is a good chance you will come across immigration information that will point you in the direction of where you family hails from – all you’ve got to do is try and figure out why they chose to immigrate to begin with (easy right)! Journey Researching your family history is one hell of journey, with highs and lows, good and bad, success and failure. Sometimes, our research takes us on actual physical journeys, whether it’s visiting archives in person, traipsing through cemeteries, or visiting the locations where your ancestors lived and worked. We might be on slightly different paths with a slightly different destination, but we are all on the genealogy journey together. Keeper of the family history I don’t know about you, but my family, on both of my parent’s side, usually refer to me as the keeper of the family history. At family reunions, I’m the one lugging around my family tree folders, sharing photos, recording any stories that are being told, and answering any family tree related questions. Like me, YOU are the keeper of your family’s history, and it’s a role that not everyone can take on. It’s sad to think that some families don’t have someone invested in recording the family history... Local history To truly paint a picture of what life was like for your ancestors, it’s really helpful to delve into the local history of an area, both as a whole and specifically for the time period in which they lived there. Aside from giving you more context surrounding the lives of your ancestors, you may just end up finding their names mentioned or properties and businesses referenced. This is where local history museums and historical societies really come in handy – they have such a treasure trove of information that might not initially seem relevant to you, but can end up providing a wealth of information that you never knew existed. Military service I guarantee that there is at least one person in your family tree with military service, whether they fought in one of the several international 20th century conflicts, or more regional conflicts prior to or since then. So many young men, and eventually woman, took up arms to serve their country, whether voluntarily or through conscription, and it’s important to piece together their story and try to paint a picture of what life would have been like for them during their wartime service. What’s more, many military service records contain a wealth of information on top of their actual military service – there’s enlistment information regarding occupation and family; and medical information regarding height, weight, and hair and eye colour. Newspapers Newspapers are personally one of my favourite areas of research – I could literally spend hours, days, and weeks just sifting through the newspaper archive, and not just for family history research. Aside from finding birth, death, marriage and engagement notices , as well as obituaries, which are all super informative and interesting, there is also potential for finding articles and advertisements that give you an interesting insight into who your ancestors were. And maybe, you’ll even uncover stories that aren’t found in other record databases... Oral historyThis is another favourite of mine – I LOVE getting to chat with family members and recording the stories that are, more than likely, not going to be found in other archives, or could point me to which records to look for. I’ve heard so many wonderful, interesting, and intriguing stories and memories, and have started to record them so they can continue being passed onto the next generation. Nowhere else have I heard about my great grandfather’s fear of Frilled-Neck Lizards, or how my grand aunt abandoned her five young children. If you haven’t started recording your oral family history, you really need to, especially before your grandparents, parents and extended family members pass away.. Not sure how to get started? I shared a post a couple of years ago that should help you start your oral family history journey. Photographs I feel like photos are one of the first thing that gets people interested in learning more about their family history – seeing old family photos, whether it be of your parents or grandparents, or maybe even ancestors further back, just sparks an interest in wanting to learn more about their lives and their stories. Over the years, I’ve been fortunate to amass quiet a collection of family photos, both physically in my collection or digital scans from family who still have the originals. Photos put a face to the names and other records you’ve found and really help you connect with the people you’re researching. Make sure you digitised all your old family photos, and ask extended family members to share any photos they have too so you can build a great digital treasure trove of photos. Quality over quantity Some people choose to tackle their family history by trying to go back as far as possible and out as far as possible, collecting as many names as they can. Others, tend to focus more closer to home, wanting to build out the stories before trying to track down the next person. Neither method is the right method, and a lot of people, like myself, tend to do a bit of both. While it is really cool to be able to say you’ve tracked your family history back 15 generations to the 1500s, or that you’ve found over 15,000 people in your tree, it’s important to remember to learn about whom these people were, not just their name and dates. And it’s important to also ensure all this vast research is also backed up by valid sources. At the end of the day, how you choose to research your family tree is up to you, but don’t forget that quality is sometimes for valuable than quantity. RemovedYou know how one of your relatives is referred to as your ‘second cousin, once removed’, but you’ve never really known what that means, other than that you’re somehow related? Well, it turns out that the whole “removed” thing isn’t that difficult to understand, and is actually really useful in terms of defining connections. ‘Removed’ simply means a different generational line, whether it is above or below you. So your second cousin once removed is one generation below you as the child of your second cousin, who is the child of your parent’s cousin (who in turn is your first cousin, once removed). It can be little tricky to get your head around to begin with, so it’s really helpful to actually be looking at your family tree to visualise relationships better, as well as have a handy ancestral relationship chart on hard Secondary sources Where primary sources are the first-hand record of an event (like BDM records, census, war files, land records, diaries, etc), secondary sources are those that were created after an event (like biographies, encyclopaedias, general histories, documentaries, etc). Most of the records we uncover as family historians are primary sources, but it’s super important to also look at secondary sources too – they will be able to give you a great deal of general history and information about a time period, location, event, etc. and give you more context surrounding your ancestors. They can also give you clues about what records you should be looking for next, or why your ancestors may have chosen to do what they did. Transcripts If we’re not working with the original documents, it’s the transcripts that we will be mulling over and extracting every single little detail from. Also known as an extract, these can be a handwritten or typed version of the original. A good extract is one that is rendered exactly as the original – spelling, punctuation, abbreviations, mistakes and all. Extracts aren’t the only transcripts in genealogy. There are also oral history transcripts that allow you to make accessing oral history interviews a lot easier. Unknowns Unfortunately, it’s a fact of genealogy research that you are going to have unknowns – unknown names, unknown dates, unknown locations, unknown experiences, unknown stories, unknown family. We might want to uncover it all, but sometimes we just have to accept that some things will be forever unknown... Vital records These are the records that are going to be your starting point for each person in your family tree – birth, marriage and death information. Once you have any or all of this information, you will be in a much better position to delve into other records. These records can be in the form of the actual certificates and indexes, or even in the form of announcements in newspapers. Who Do You Think You Are? If you have any interest in genealogy, chances are you’ve heard of the television series Who Do You Think You Are? which sees celebrities tracing their family history. The series originated in the UK in 2004 and has since spawned over ten international versions including Australia, America, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and Ireland. It is well worth checking out this series if you haven’t already, even if you only watch episodes featuring celebrities that you know, rather than bingeing the whole series. It is always really interesting to see what stories and sources they uncover, and it gives you a nice boost of inspiration and motivation for your own research. And you never know, you may just find out that you’re distantly related to someone famous... X-mark signature It was sadly not uncommon for some of our ancestors to lack the ability to write. While it is a common misconception that all our ancestors were illiterate, many in lower social classes were unable to read and/or write. So there’s a really good chance that you might come across a document where they signed it was an ‘X’, rather than their name. Your story We can so caught up in recording our family’s history and stories that we sometimes forget about our own! Our story is just as important as everyone else’s, so you need to make sure you’re taking the time to write down your own history, your own memories, and your own story. How can we pass our research onto the next generation if there’s a massive gap where we, the family historian, should be! Zzzz I have no doubt that many of us have missed out on catching some valuable zzz’s because we’ve been sucked down a rabbit hole of research. It’s always “just one more search” or “just one more page of results” or “just one more chapter” and suddenly it’s 4am, the birds are slowly starting to stir, and you can see the horizon starting to lighten as the sun starts rising on a new day. And honestly, I wouldn’t have it any other way. And there you have it, a genealogical alphabet! Some letters were an absolute nightmare (I'll let you guess which), while others had several terms I could have used, so this is definitely not the be-all and end-all. As I said at the top of this post, this is just one of five genealogical posts coming out this month in honour of National Family History Month, so keep you eyes peeled for more content over the coming weeks. Plus, make sure you check out the NFHM website to see what other events are happening this month and how you can get involved! Until next week, happy researching! Victoria :) Genealogy Document Bundle
A$10.00
Get a handle on your family history research and recording with our Genealogy Digital Download Bundle! Packed with essential tools and resources, this bundle is designed to help you piece together your ancestry, create a detailed record of you family’s history, and keep track of your research. Whether you’re a seasoned genealogists or just getting started on this wonderful journey, this bundle has something for everyone. BUNDLE CONTENTS
All files are formatted as fillable PDFs (except the Circular Generation Chart) for convenience, but also work well when printed and filled in by hand. Instant download after purchase. Also available: Australian Genealogy Document Bundle with two extra documents for Australia-specific records and research. Australian Genealogy Bundle
A$12.00
Get a handle on your family history research and recording with our Genealogy Digital Download Bundle! Packed with essential tools and resources, this bundle is designed to help you piece together your ancestry, create a detailed record of you family’s history, and keep track of your research. Whether you’re a seasoned genealogists or just getting started on this wonderful journey, this bundle has something for everyone. BUNDLE CONTENTS
All files are formatted as fillable PDFs (except the Circular Generation Chart) for convenience, but also work well when printed and filled in by hand. Instant download after purchase. Also available: Genealogy Document Bundle without the two Australia-specific documents. Genealogy Record Templates
A$5.00 - A$7.00
Give the historic records in your collection a refresh with record templates that make it easier to read and extract information from important documents. While it’s great to have the original record, you cannot deny that they can be difficult to decipher - these templates allow you to transcribe these documents to make the information easier to ascertain and share with others. PRE-MADE TEMPLATES:
CUSTOM TEMPLATES If you’re seeking a template for a particular historical document, record, or event not covered by the pre-made options mentioned above, there is the option to request custom templates in the drop-down menu. Once purchased, we will be in touch to request a digital copy of the document you would like a template for. Template creation time varies depending on the complexity of the template, the current work-load, and the general ups & downs of life. We will endeavor to complete the template within a week. Please note that the records need to be in English. All templates will be fillable PDF files, where possible, and will be emailed to the address provided at the time of purchase - please allow at least a full business day for pre-made templates to be sent out. **This is NOT a transcription service - the templates are provided for YOU to transcribe your own records.** Family Group Record & Ancestor Timeline Bundle
A$2.50
Uncover your family’s intricate history and organise your genealogical research with precision using our Family Group Record and Ancestor Timeline templates! These templates offer a structured approach to documenting family relationships and tracing the chronological timeline of your ancestor’s lives. CONTENT Family Group Record: Capture essential family unit details, including births, marriages, and deaths; spouses and children; significant life events, and a space to include a photo of your ancestors. Ancestor Timeline: Visualise and map the significant milestones and events in your ancestor’s lives, creating a chronological sequence of important life events and cross-referencing that information with sources and records. All files are formatted as fillable PDFs for convenience, but also work well when printed and filled in by hand. Instant download after purchase. Also available: Genealogy Document Bundle and Australian Genealogy Document Bundle with even more useful templates to help with your research and recording. |
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