Free Family History Mini-Class : Lesson 3

Once you’ve identified the repository that holds the records you need to search, you can start to make preparations for your visit there.

Here are my suggestions for ensuring nothing gets forgotten:

☙      Contact the archive in advance to make an appointment, where necessary, as well to pre-order any materials that require notice to consult.  Make the most of archive staff's expertise in the records and the local area by asking them for advice regarding your search.

☙      Make a list of all the records you want to see, alongside the names of the people you hope to find in them.  For instance: Sequestration records - Andrew Byrne, 1911 - and include the reference numbers from the catalogue, to save time looking them up again.

☙      Put together a file or database to take with you that contains details of all the relevant family groups that you will be researching.

☙      Review the rules and visitor information on the repository’s website or in their literature to ensure you are properly prepared, for instance

• Whether you can buy food there or need to take your own, and if there is somewhere on the premises you can eat

• If change is required for lockers or cloakroom - you won't be permitted to take your coat, bags, or food and drink items into the search area. Many archives provide clear plastic carrier bags to allow you to carry essential research kit to your seat

• ID requirements. You may not get into the archive without specific forms of identification, so be sure to take the correct paperwork with you on the day

☙      Practice some palaeography if you’re going to be consulting records with unfamiliar handwriting styles.  I’ve listed some websites to help with that.

☙      Prepare a research log book or use pre-printed log sheets to keep track of what you find, what you don’t find and, most importantly, which records you’ve searched. This is a good safeguard against re-doing the same work. 

Download and use this ready-made log sheet.

In the next class I'll explore some of the 
options for organising your family information.

Free Family History Mini-Class : Lesson 2

In this lesson, find out how to identify which record office, archive or library you need to visit in order to move your research forward.  If you missed Lesson 1, you can catch up here.

☙      Do your homework by reading background material on the place and time your ancestors lived in, and find out what types of records they may have generated: consider court documents, rental rolls for tenants, electoral registers, and school records, for instance.

☙      Use the websites of archives in your ancestors’ city, county or country to learn what kinds of records they hold, and what information those contain.  Specific subject guides are often available to download and study.

☙      Search online catalogues.  Some apply just to individual archives and are found on their websites, while others such as The National Archives’ cover the country as a whole – check out their guide for mining the catalogues. 

☙      Be aware that as well as official government records, archives are held by charitable, religious, business, private, and academic organisations.  If you know that your ancestor worked in a specific profession, for example shipbuilding or medicine, you should consider investigating what relevant archives exist.

☙      Contact the archive(s) you plan to visit if you’re not sure what records will help you.  Staff have an excellent working knowledge of their resources and can advise you on how to get the most out of them.

☙      Make sure that the documents you want to see will be available at the time of your visit.  Some are stored off-site and require advance notice to be produced for searching – you should see indicators of this in catalogue entries.  Records undergoing conservation might also be out of circulation, but staff will be able to check this for you.

The next mini-class will focus on practical

 preparations to make for your research trip.

If you've a question about this lesson, just
post it in the comments below.

Free Family History Mini-Class : Lesson 1

In the first of my series of family history mini-classes, here are some do’s and don’t’s to remember when writing down your family information:

☙      Print rather than write – you may like to use block capitals to highlight surnames.

☙      Pick a format and stick with it. For example, if you prefer to put the surname first, be consistent.

☙      Use pencil when adding information to charts, then go over it in black ink (for permanence) once you’ve confirmed it as accurate.

☙      Write names out in full if known – avoid abbreviating for speed’s sake as you may not remember what the abbreviation stands for!

☙      ALWAYS record a married woman’s details using her maiden name, if known. Don’t be tempted to fill in a blank space with her married name, as this can be confusing.

☙      Write dates in standard genealogical order – e.g. 8 Oct 1840 rather than 8/10/40 which can be interpreted in more than one way.

☙      Write places with smallest area first – parish, county, country – with any farm names or townships before the parish.

And to help you get started, here's a family group record you can print off and use as many times as you like.

Please comment below if you have any questions about this lesson!

The next mini-class will cover identifying record sources.

A bunch of goodies

This week, some freebies to help you organise and grow your family tree.

Keep following the blog for more events and goodies!

1. Research Log - download this handy file to help you keep track of your work.

2.  Scottish Indexes online conference, Saturday 11 July.  Talks will cover a variety of topics like maps, problem genealogy, and the records of the medical profession. Click on the link to find out how to join the event.

3. Download free magazines.  Your public library’s website should offer access to electronic versions of popular hobby and special interest magazines.  These can be read on any device, including computers.  All you need to do is register using your library membership details and you can access as many of the titles as you like, including family and general history mags like Who Do You Think You Are? and BBC History.

4. Legacy Family Tree Webinars.  There are always selected webinars that are free to watch.  They cover many subjects such as DNA, different record types and research in various countries.  

5. Genealogy: Researching Your Family Tree – a free online course from the University of Strathclyde that runs throughout the year.  The content includes research skills, record types, writing your history, and preservation techniques.