21 Aug 07

Getting Started on your Family Tree - the basics

Posted in Getting Started, Uncategorized at 6:47 am by yourgene

Getting started in Genealogy involves a fair bit of asking yourself, and other family members, questions. The first question that I would suggest you ask yourself is this:

Are you willing to accept the bad with the good?

I was quite amused to find that my great great great Grandmother had married four times, and her last husband was 20 years younger than her. I was a little shocked to find my husbands great great Grandfather in Military prison in 1881, but then it just spurred me on to find his army records to find out why, (drunkenness, insubordination and continually breaking out of camp). I find that facts like these puts ‘flesh on their bones’, and makes them seem more real than just a list of names and dates, but not everyone would feel the same.   

Most family trees contain a skeleton or several. Life was very hard a 100 years ago. Infant mortality rates were high, there was little or no primary health care. Illegitimacy was considered a stigma. Mental illness was not understood. I have seen many a tragic tale played out on pages of census records, death records and workhouse records. 

At the same time, the fact that we are here to look into the past is a testament to the determination and resilience of our ancestors.

You will also find success stories, love stories and strange coincidences. Perils on the high seas and valour in battle. Most importantly, you will find how they lived, and how their lives helped to shape you.  Starting your genealogy research can be a roller coaster ride!

So if you still want to trace your family tree, start from yourself and work up. Take a piece of paper and sketch out your own family tree putting in your parents and then their parents and so on. Add as many names, dates and places as you can.

Next, move on to family members and ask them.  Older family members can be an invaluable source of ‘oral history’. Record them either on paper or tape. You will probably start to learn things that you never knew straight away!

Remember that people’s memories can be shaky, names and dates can easily be mixed up. Oral history, when passed down verbally, can lose and gain elements, like a game of Chinese whispers.  Hurtful memories may be omitted completely, and a person’s right not to talk about anything that could distress them should be respected.  

Gather together as many copies of original documents and photographs and letters that you can. Look into any family heirlooms, such as family bibles, medals, cups.

Document everything you find out,  try some of these record sheets. Add all that you have learnt to your initial family tree. Add the names with dates of birth, marriage and death, with places. If you don’t know a date, but can estimate it, write est. before the range of years you think that the event took place in. If you don’t know a person’s name, write a question mark. You can then see where many of the gaps are, and if you can, go back to your sources for more information. Don’t forget to add in siblings names. In the 19th century, people often followed a fairly strict pattern with naming their children. An unusual first name or group of first names, that is passed down, can be used to identify your family through generations, especially if the surname is popular. 

For more information on how to gather your initial set of information have a look at the videos from the uk national archive.

With UK family research, the main aim is to get back to pre-1900. Why? Because the last published census for the UK, (England, Scotland and Wales), was for 1901. As the 1901 census is fully transcribed and digitised, it can be searched and give clues to get you back even further. Once you have decided that you are ready to start your research into your genealogy, you can begin with the basics. 

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