Happy Thursday Family History Buffs! We’re back with the family history content in celebration of National Family History Month, and I’m excited to finally share some of the content I’ve been cooking up over the past couple of months! To kick things off, we’re getting back to the basics. I’ve shared lots of posts that have been geared towards those who have already starting researching their family tree, but nothing to help someone get started on this crazy and wonderful journey. Whenever I post about my family tree on my socials, so many people comment about wanting to start researching their family history but not knowing where to start, so this post is for them – if you’ve wanted to start getting your family history recorded for yourself and future generations, I’m here to help! Hopefully.... Researching your family tree can be as easy or as hard as you make it. You can totally go all in and be a hardcore researcher like so many dedicated family historians, or you can keep it easy and basic, with just enough information to paint a pretty good picture of your ancestors. The most important thing is that you’re recording and preserving your family history. Start with what you know Before you start signing up for the likes of Ancestry or MyHertiage and falling down the rabbit hole of record hints, start by recording the information you already know – the birth, death and marriage information for your immediate family, working your way out and back to include as many family members as you’re aware of. Then, once you’ve exhausted your knowledge, ask family members to fill in any gaps and expand the tree with their knowledge. Information to note: • Birth date and location • Marriage date and location • Death date and location • Burial location • Places where someone lived • If they had war service • Known occupation Protip: Send all your family members/family groups a Family Group Record Sheet to fill out, so you have all their correct information. Then you can quiz them on their knowledge of the rest of the family. Don’t stress if you end up with differing pieces of information for people – you’ll be able to, hopefully, figure out what is correct and what isn’t when you start researching in the record archives. By creating this foundation of information, you’ll be able to better determine if a record pertains to your ancestor or not, which is super helpful if your ancestors had a pretty common name, or if names repeated across generations Get online & plot out your tree Okay, NOW you can sign up for the likes of Ancestry or MyHeritage. Which service you want to use is totally up to you – my personal recommendation is Ancestry simply because it’s the one I’ve used the longest, but stay tuned for a post coming up later this month for some comparisons... Whatever service you choose, start plotting out your tree from all the information you’ve gathered, including all the differing pieces of information – so if you have three death dates for Uncle Arthur, put all three in until you can determine the correct date. Soon, you’ll have a very basic family tree ready to work on! You’ll also see that record matches/hints will have started popping up, but don’t fall down this rabbit hole just yet.. Record Search #1: Births, Deaths & Marriages Once your tree is plotted out, it’s time to start searching the records, and the first stop is Births, Deaths & Marriages. Where you’ll be searching for these will depend on where you are in the world and also where your ancestors lived. Simply Googleing “family history birth deaths marriage [insert location]” should help you track down where they are located. Some indexes are searchable on many of the family history services, while others will be found in country/state archives or other similar services. For example, a large number of my ancestors lived in New South Wales and Victoria, and both states have their own BDM index online where you can view the basic index and order copies of individual records. However, there are also restrictions to what is accessible – in Victoria, births can only be accessed 100 years after the date of birth, deaths 30 years after the date of death, and marriages 60 years after the date of marriage. Similar restrictions will exist in most locations due to privacy laws. Depending on the information available in the index, you may or may not have to order a copy of the original record/certificate. Don’t feel like you need to do this for every single ancestor, especially because it can be quiet expensive to do so. Stick with ordering copies of those more closely related to you, like parents, grandparents or great grandparents (or even see if anyone has a copy of the originals shoved in the back of a cupboard...). The index is usually sufficient enough to get a fairly accurate date. Some locations, like the UK for example, might not have birth information, but will have christening indexes, so make sure you don’t discount these in your research. Likewise, you may be able to find a cemetery index but no death record – add all this to your tree Record Search #2: Census & Electoral Rolls Now it’s time to piece together where you ancestors lived! Not only does the census and electoral roll show where your ancestors were living and when, but they can also provide their age, birthdate, occupation and the makeup of a household. And this is where it’s useful to have a basic idea about where your ancestors were living, just to help you narrow down the correct records. For Australian researchers, we focus on electoral rolls, although there are early census records and convict musters pre-Federation, if your research goes back that far. For the likes of America and the UK the census if what you’ll be searching for. For the most part, these can be accessed through the likes of Ancestry and MyHeritage, but for other locations around the world, you may have to check to see where/if they are available Record Search #3: War Records War records are some of my favourite records to peruse, and because they can contain so much information on a person, they’re definitely a must-search when you’re just starting out. I can guarantee that you’ll find you have way more ancestor’s with military service than you had realised, so definitely stick with who you know of initially, and when you get your tree fleshed out more you can come back to those who are a little further afield. Where you, or your ancestors, are in the world will determine where enlistment forms and personnel files will be found. For the most part, you will probably find that you have record matches/hints that allude to war service and enlistment forms, but in some locations, you’ll have to venture away from likes of Ancestry and MyHertiage to find more. In Australia, for example, the Australian War Memorial has everything you need to know about military service, while enlistment forms and war files can be found by searching with the National Archives of Australia. One thing to remember for UK records is that the Blitz destroyed a fair chunk of the World War One records, so if you know an ancestor had war service but you can’t find anything, there could be a good chance that the records were destroyed To Note: People often increased or decreased their age accordingly in order to enlist, so don’t take their birthdates and ages listed as 100% accurate. Record Search #4: Newspaper Articles The newspaper archive is my all-time favourite area of research as so much information that doesn’t necessarily make the other documentary records can be found in the newspaper. The amount of amazing stories and tidbits I’ve been able to learn about my ancestors has been incredible, which is why I think it’s a definite must early on. Most countries, I think, around the world have a newspaper archive, so do a quick Google search to see what is available – it might be its own entity or created by the national archives or national library service in your country. In some areas, you’ll be fortunate to have a digital archive online, while in other areas you’ll have to visit a physical location to read through the physical or microfilm collection. In Australia, we are super fortunate to have Trove, run by the National Library of Australia. Trove gives you FREE and UNLIMITED access to digitised newspapers, with more editions and newspapers added all the time. It’s an absolutely amazing resource and one that I utilise all the time. Because we are so spoilt here in Australia, I’ve found it a struggle to search newspapers overseas, in part because my ancestors had common names, and because other databases require a subscription or pay-to-view in order to even see if the article is about the person you’re searching for. Even if you aren’t planning on diving too deeply into your family tree, I do recommend at least trying to do a bit of newspaper research, because you’ll be surprised by what you can find Tackling record matches & hints Once you’ve hit all these other records, you can come back to your record matches and hints to see what else is possibly out there. It is important though that you don’t just blindly accept every record hit as an accurate match. Many record matches won’t actually be about the ancestor you’re researching, so you don’t want to be adding this information to your tree and messing everything up. Some records will match your ancestor, but may have a slightly incorrect date or spelling, as it’s based off what was written and transcribed, which might not be 100% accurate. You can still accept these matches and add them to your tree, but just make sure you don’t completely alter you information with these inaccuracies. Record matches and hints can also include other people’s family trees. Now, this can be a super helpful way of connecting you with possible relatives, and it may seem like a quick and easy way to grow your tree, but you do have to be super careful. You don’t know where these peoples have sourced their information and if it’s completely accurate. By all means make notes off of their trees, but then go on and do your own research to check the validity of the information. If you can’t find a source for a piece of information, it might not be something you want to add to your tree. By now, you should have a pretty damn good family tree, even if there are still more people and records to discover. But don’t feel like you need to go back as far as possible or branch out as far as possible. If you just want to keep the tree your direct line, then keep it your direct line. If you just want it to be the descendants of you great great grandparents on your mother’s side, then just focus on that area of the tree. As I said at the top of this post, this process can be as easy or as hard as you want it to be, so don’t feel like you need to go all-in if you don’t want to. Again, the most important thing is that you’re recording and preserving your family history. And, if you want to go one step further, consider digitising all your old family photos and any other records you, or your family, may have, that way they are preserved for future generations. I’ve written a number of other blog posts that you may find useful if you are starting out or still only new to researching your family tree, so do check them out if you’re interested. Plus, head over to my Store page to check out my digital download document bundle to help with your research and recording, as well as templates for transcribing records. Happy Researching! Victoria :) YOU MAY ALSO BE INTERESTED IN: • Five Family Heirloom Finds | April 2021 • Recording Your Oral Family History | Family History Month 2020 • Apps I Use For Family History | Family History Month 2020 • Colourising Old Family Photos • Colourising MORE Old Family Photos • Online Genealogy Resources | Family History Month 2019 • Genealogy Research & Recording • VIDEO: Recording My Family History • VIDEO: Family History Flip-Through • VIDEO: Trove & Family History 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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