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If you are new to Genealogy, read this page for a few ideas on how to
start this fantastic hobby of sleuthing, and "digging up the dirt on dead
relatives". Then visit some web pages that I have listed under my
favourites.
Beginner's Advice and Check list.
 | Forget about putting your data on computer, until you know what your data contains and
what you want to computerise. |
| Talk to your Grannies, Grandpas, Great Uncles and Aunts and everyone else about the
family, and what you are planning to do. Talk to them while you can! |
| LISTEN to them, and WRITE everything down! I mean EVERYTHING. It may not
make sense now, as they will contradict themselves, (grannies have a license
to do that ),
but you will most likely be able to tie it up later. Don't throw any of the paper
away. ( I still have notes that I wrote down in 1962 !!). Try and file it in a
logical order, with a reference to where and when you got the info. ie Grandpa Dee
told me this on 29th Feb 2000. |
| Draw out 'the Family Tree' - use blank forms if necessary (see my page) |
| Visit them again, and get them talking once more. Show them your version of the
family Tree. If it's wrong, they will correct you!! |
| Look at their bookshelves and at the 'old' books. One may have an inscription in
the flyleaf (to Mabel from Auntie Em, on your 14th birthday, 1st April, 1878) and give you
another pointer or talking point.( clue - Mabel was born in 1878 -14 = 1864 !) Who
was Auntie Em ? |
| Check the family bibles for inscriptions, etc. Ask about the old family heirlooms,
and where they came from. |
| If you have an opportunity, look at their birth certificates, marriage
certificates, passports, their parents wills, household deeds, etc.. Borrow them and
make photocopies if you can. |
| Look at the old family photo albums, and ask about them. A picture may trigger
another memory. Look on the back of the photos. Sometimes there is an inscription,
or date that the picture was taken. |
| Subscribe to a couple of relevant Newsgroups or Mail lists, and "lurk",
reading everything. There are a lot of extremely knowledgeable and helpful people
out there. If something catches your eye that relates to your family, don't be shy
to ask, or post your information. However, make your mail subject line interesting
and eye catching or it probably won't be read by the "old-hands". I have
'harvested' a heap of info from listers, and hopefully I have helped some of
them too. |
| Don't believe everything that you get off the internet. Even my family tree here
will have errors that I don't know about (yet). Verify all your data if you can. |
| Visit your local LDS Family History Centre. You can find more 'verified data'
there in a few hours, than you will in a week on the web. |
| Attend your local Genealogy Society meetings. Talk to the members for ideas. You
never know, one of them may be tracing the same tree! |
| Visit your local library. Check the History, Biography sections |
| Visit second hand bookshops - I've picked up some gems there - most the Fynn and Southey
family tree info came from a book we bought for 7 SA Rand (less than 1 GBP, about
US$1.25 at the time). |
| Now that you have got a lot of info scattered around in lots of notebooks, loose pages,
etc., hopefully filed in some sort of order, have a look at various computer Family
Tree packages, decide which one (or ones) you like, and start capturing the info, notes,
sources, citations, photographs, etc. In general, start with yourself, your parents,
siblings, wife's family, etc. It won't take long before you have a comprehensive
tree! Backup your data often, and print it out. ( I now use three different
packages, one to capture the data which I then export in GEDCOM format, into the other
two, as they give me more suitable reports, and generate decent Web Pages!.) |
| Have Fun. It is fun. |
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