Tuesday 6 April 2021

Free Family History Mini-Class 2021 : Lesson 1

Coloured spiral notebooks and a pencil

It's time for me to roll out my series of 
10 family history mini-classes

In the first of this series of 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.

      Record dates in a clear format – 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.

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

The next mini-class will cover identifying record sources.

1 comment:

  1. Great tips. I particularly like the pencil then ink tip. I feel like that would make the information easier to remember.

    ReplyDelete