The Free Genealogy Guide: How to Trace Your
Family Tree
Copyright 2006 James P.
Wolf
Introduction
Genealogy - defined as 'an account
of the descent of a person or family through an ancestral
line', or alternatively, 'the investigation of pedigrees as a
department of knowledge', is a high faluting description of
what, to the rest of us, is known simply as 'tracing the family
tree'.
Nostalgia, to the fore in recent years, has found a wealth
of collectible interests emerging amongst a public ever eager
to get hands on anything connected with the past: old
postcards, postage stamps, paper ephemera, 195Os and '60s
memorabilia - and family trees! It seems that today we
are not content to know just how our ancestors lived - and I
mean specific ancestors, namely those whose genes,
characteristics and hereditary behaviour are the sum result of
our very being. We want to know exactly who those people were:
where they lived; what they did for a living; whether that
story of highwaymen, criminals and corrupt relatives is
factual, or a figment of Grandma's over-active imagination.
Today so many people are eager to trace their own genealogy
that once desolate Public Record Offices are now able to
operate a timetable system, for which those who now fill its
halls to carry out their own research, must make an appointment
to do so. These treasure chests of registers, records, census
documents and various other documented pieces of evidence on
the lives of those before us, are now little hives of activity,
filled with enthusiastic researchers from the moment their
doors open.
But a day is never enough; a day can sometimes culminate in
mountains of useful information destined to provide a large
proportion of one's family history; it might instead yield
nothing.
Perhaps though, one of the very best things about
researching your family tree, is the wonderful way it can bring
the past to life as you not only read of who your ancestors
were, but can also see the exact same things they saw in the
course of their lives: churches they attended; street scenes
and activities they might have taken for granted; special
events; strikes and invaluable insights into yesterday's
working environment; shops with staff posing outside, and much,
much more.
What Is a Family Tree?
Perhaps so called because of the number of branches emerging
from it, a family tree is very little more than a diagram with
stems originating from one individual and leading to two
parents, from whom two branches stem to each of another set of
parents, and so on almost ad infinitum. Going back in time from
the individual researching the history, the tree gathers
branches with every generation; hence the name.
What Qualities does the Researcher
Require?
Sometimes, especially where unusual names are concerned, and
where families have remained in a particular-area over several
generations, a family tree can be created in a very short space
of time. On other occasions you will reach a dead end, perhaps
spend weeks searching for one odd but essential fact,. which
might not materialise,. but which. might. nevertheless halt
your work perhaps indefinitely.
Qualities then for the researcher include those of patience
and clarity of mind, an ability to keep going when the going
gets tough, an aura of confidentiality, discretion,
subtlety.
What Problems might you
Encounter along the Way?
Not the least of which problems will find the researcher
sometimes faced with relatives who have the exact key required
to open a few more doors on the history currently being
researched; but they won't give you access to those doors.
Sometimes they might even go so far as to directly hinder your
work, their intention being to stop you at all costs from
discovering that X is not the natural child of Y, or perhaps
that Grandma might have been heavily pregnant at the time of
her marriage with Grandad, who as Y is not quite happy to have
his relationship with X called into question. All these secrets
and more, which we in the modern world tend to accept and
tolerate, were very real problems for our ancestors.
Problems not necessarily associated with the living might
include inaccurate entries in records of births, deaths,
marriages and other occurrences, sometimes deliberately,
sometimes accidentally. Again you might find your work severely
hampered because an illiterate relative has had his or her name
entered in official records by a well-meaning clerk who then
proceeds to spell it incorrectly. That 'Smythe' then, could
very well be the very same Mr. Smith for whom you have searched
for so long.
Where To Begin-Getting Organized
Your research should begin by initiating a good filing
system, one which will allow adequate storage and facilitate
easy subsequent retrieval of data. Many forms are available
free on the Internet.
One of the best places for these forms is Family Tree
Magazine.com.
This site has a chart or form for almost any type of
genealogical research.
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