Family History after parents passed away.
- Thread starter Greyone
- Start date
As for recording all your data, I make paper copies of anything relevant but I also store it on my PC and always back up using a memory stick. Some people use the cloud but I haven't done that yet.
I like to spread all my new material out on the table to assess it and to work out if it is relevant and set aside some in a pile of things for future research. I have folders for each family and keep all my certificates in separate folders in chronological order.
More material is being added all the time so sometimes it is worth revisiting certain data because there just might some small morsel that will start you chasing all over again. You will find what works for you but be warned, it can be very addictive.
I like to spread all my new material out on the table to assess it and to work out if it is relevant and set aside some in a pile of things for future research. I have folders for each family and keep all my certificates in separate folders in chronological order.
More material is being added all the time so sometimes it is worth revisiting certain data because there just might some small morsel that will start you chasing all over again. You will find what works for you but be warned, it can be very addictive.
Another one recently bitten by the family history bug here 
It was prompted partly by my OH and I having the DNA testing done - OH turned out to be 97% Irish (which our kids described as 'boring'!) - but I turned out to be an incredible mix of mainly Western European, Scandanavian and Irish, with a little Eastern European, Greek, Italian, Scottish, Welsh, English and Asian thrown in I've never felt so exotic in my life! And it got me very curious about where all these bits of my make up slotted into my history.
But it was also prompted by one of the Activity Staff in the care home that my Mil now lives in - this lady puts together books for all the residents, containing copies of old photographs and as much of their family history as can be recorded, and these are used for 1-1 sessions between staff and residents as a talking point. My Mil comes from Ireland, had 3 brothers - and somewhere around 30 nephews and nieces, very few of whom I had either met or knew anything about. But as her dementia has progressed, she talks more and more about her very early life, and also her parents, Aunts and cousins - who I knew next to nothing about either - but Mil expects us to know who all these people are, and so I thought it would be nice for her for us to have some knowledge.
I started off by using the basic searches on some of the websites mentioned and also Free BMD (which is OK to start with but very basic). I also use familysearch.org, (The free service from The Church of The Latter Day Saints) and I also discovered, when tracking the Irish side, that The National Archives:Census of Ireland is free, as is IrishGenealogy.ie. Once I started to find my feet a bit, I subscribed to findmypast.co.uk - access to the 1939 census filled in a lot of blanks for me, so it was worth the cost of the most expensive package.
The other thing I would suggest is checking out on social media sites like Facebook to see if there are history groups for any area that you know you have links with. I joined two FB groups for the area's in Ireland where my Mil and Fil were born - and was blown away by the amount of info I got back. People in old photographs have been identified - others in the FB group have even found their own relatives in some of the group images I shared, which is lovely - I've even managed to find my Mil's two best friends from when she was growing up, both alive and well and I'm now in contact with them, which is giving me a lot of anecdotal information.
Mil was, it turns out, a bit of a hoarder, and in finally going through the boxes and bags that we had to clear from her house, I found that things like mass cards and other memorabilia from funerals were really useful for giving me leads and info. They often provide dates for reatives births and deaths, as well as several providing me with names that have given me a lead when I've hit a wall.
Be prepared, as others have said, for some frustration - missing records, issues with varying dates of birth, and mistakes in the transcribing of handwritten records. One big stumbling block is the number of children in a family who share a first name - I had a John Arthur and a John Henry who were brothers - I assume they were known by their second names? And in Ireland especially I've found that children were maybe christened one thing - then known by something completely different - and the name they were known by is then the one that tends to then be used on marriage certificates and so on! It can mean a lot of time spent cross-referencing to make sure that you have the right people identified.
I've managed to take some branches of the family back to the mid 1700's, which I am thrilled about, and am (for the moment) now concentrating on making paper copies of all the info, to go into a massive binder. I've bought several smaller, fold out charts, to record up to 3 generations, and I also have a huge roll out chart that I am starting to plot the whole tree on. I am also now starting to buy some certificates - just because they are fascinating to have!
Good luck - its a fabulous, frustraing and addictive hobby
It was prompted partly by my OH and I having the DNA testing done - OH turned out to be 97% Irish (which our kids described as 'boring'!) - but I turned out to be an incredible mix of mainly Western European, Scandanavian and Irish, with a little Eastern European, Greek, Italian, Scottish, Welsh, English and Asian thrown in
I've never felt so exotic in my life! And it got me very curious about where all these bits of my make up slotted into my history.But it was also prompted by one of the Activity Staff in the care home that my Mil now lives in - this lady puts together books for all the residents, containing copies of old photographs and as much of their family history as can be recorded, and these are used for 1-1 sessions between staff and residents as a talking point. My Mil comes from Ireland, had 3 brothers - and somewhere around 30 nephews and nieces, very few of whom I had either met or knew anything about. But as her dementia has progressed, she talks more and more about her very early life, and also her parents, Aunts and cousins - who I knew next to nothing about either - but Mil expects us to know who all these people are, and so I thought it would be nice for her for us to have some knowledge.
I started off by using the basic searches on some of the websites mentioned and also Free BMD (which is OK to start with but very basic). I also use familysearch.org, (The free service from The Church of The Latter Day Saints) and I also discovered, when tracking the Irish side, that The National Archives:Census of Ireland is free, as is IrishGenealogy.ie. Once I started to find my feet a bit, I subscribed to findmypast.co.uk - access to the 1939 census filled in a lot of blanks for me, so it was worth the cost of the most expensive package.
The other thing I would suggest is checking out on social media sites like Facebook to see if there are history groups for any area that you know you have links with. I joined two FB groups for the area's in Ireland where my Mil and Fil were born - and was blown away by the amount of info I got back. People in old photographs have been identified - others in the FB group have even found their own relatives in some of the group images I shared, which is lovely - I've even managed to find my Mil's two best friends from when she was growing up, both alive and well and I'm now in contact with them, which is giving me a lot of anecdotal information.
Mil was, it turns out, a bit of a hoarder, and in finally going through the boxes and bags that we had to clear from her house, I found that things like mass cards and other memorabilia from funerals were really useful for giving me leads and info. They often provide dates for reatives births and deaths, as well as several providing me with names that have given me a lead when I've hit a wall.
Be prepared, as others have said, for some frustration - missing records, issues with varying dates of birth, and mistakes in the transcribing of handwritten records. One big stumbling block is the number of children in a family who share a first name - I had a John Arthur and a John Henry who were brothers - I assume they were known by their second names? And in Ireland especially I've found that children were maybe christened one thing - then known by something completely different - and the name they were known by is then the one that tends to then be used on marriage certificates and so on! It can mean a lot of time spent cross-referencing to make sure that you have the right people identified.
I've managed to take some branches of the family back to the mid 1700's, which I am thrilled about, and am (for the moment) now concentrating on making paper copies of all the info, to go into a massive binder. I've bought several smaller, fold out charts, to record up to 3 generations, and I also have a huge roll out chart that I am starting to plot the whole tree on. I am also now starting to buy some certificates - just because they are fascinating to have!
Good luck - its a fabulous, frustraing and addictive hobby
Another one here who has been hooked. I have Scots lineage where there was a much greater tendency to have family surnames as middle names; Dad had two, as did Mum, and neither really knew where they came from. It was such a thrill to uncover the original people they had clearly been named after. My main regret is that I never did it sooner as both would have been so interested.
MIL, on the other hand, was horrified that I was delving into 'her' past, and refused to believe anything I unearthed via public records on the internet. When I discovered, in the 1891 census, that her dad had a second sister who died when she was a child, she was appalled that I could even suggest such a thing. Actually, in hindsight, I wonder if this was a missed sign of the start of her cognitive decline, way back then. That would explain a lot.
MIL, on the other hand, was horrified that I was delving into 'her' past, and refused to believe anything I unearthed via public records on the internet. When I discovered, in the 1891 census, that her dad had a second sister who died when she was a child, she was appalled that I could even suggest such a thing. Actually, in hindsight, I wonder if this was a missed sign of the start of her cognitive decline, way back then. That would explain a lot.
My grandmother was an unforgivable snob and had no issue with changing things to suit her notions of how she wanted things to be instead of how they actually were. Her name was Ellen but I have many records of where she called herself Helen, Helena, Eleanore and Elenora on birth registration forms and communications with the government/Australian army/War Graves Commission etc.
My grandfather was born in Glasgow but this was not good enough for her and she always wrote/said that he came from Edinburgh. It took me years to track him down because I wasn't looking in the right place and these are the little things that be very frustrating.
I had great grandparents who were both illiterate so everything in census records was dictated to and recorded by someone who sometimes got things wrong. Great grandmother was Juliana but in various census she was Julia Hannah, Julia Anna etc and I think they forgot to register the births of two of their children.
Parish records can be difficult to read but occasionally you can see whole family connections and how life was in their village - births and sadly deaths of little children, who was married and who wasn't, and sometimes find clues in marriage banns of who was from the parish and who came from somewhere else.
You can download family tree blank pages from ancestry and they have a system that allows you to link various people in the tree to others.
My grandfather was born in Glasgow but this was not good enough for her and she always wrote/said that he came from Edinburgh. It took me years to track him down because I wasn't looking in the right place and these are the little things that be very frustrating.
I had great grandparents who were both illiterate so everything in census records was dictated to and recorded by someone who sometimes got things wrong. Great grandmother was Juliana but in various census she was Julia Hannah, Julia Anna etc and I think they forgot to register the births of two of their children.
Parish records can be difficult to read but occasionally you can see whole family connections and how life was in their village - births and sadly deaths of little children, who was married and who wasn't, and sometimes find clues in marriage banns of who was from the parish and who came from somewhere else.
You can download family tree blank pages from ancestry and they have a system that allows you to link various people in the tree to others.
Just caught up with this thread again, having posted earlier.
Good luck with the DNA testing SnowWhite - who knows what you may find?
I got my Mum(PWD) to 'spit in the jar' for the test, rather than myself as it was her side of the family where I was looking for answers. Obviously her DNA would be 'stronger', as mine would be 'diluted' with my Dad's genetics.
The result was brilliant and more than confirmed my strong suspicions, that the unknown father of my Nan was most likely the German Banker, who was Master of the house where my GGran was a maid in service.
One word of advice - many family historians are willing to help with a bit of info, but be very wary of persons who get in contact professing to have 'just happened to come across this great piece of information locally, regarding ***** on your tree. They hope it's useful' blah blah blah, and would willingly do some more digging on your behalf'.
The 'great' info provided is inevitably a record that you already have, readily visible on your tree and the contact nothing more than a cheap and dodgy means of touting for custom.
Good luck with the DNA testing SnowWhite - who knows what you may find?
I got my Mum(PWD) to 'spit in the jar' for the test, rather than myself as it was her side of the family where I was looking for answers. Obviously her DNA would be 'stronger', as mine would be 'diluted' with my Dad's genetics.
The result was brilliant and more than confirmed my strong suspicions, that the unknown father of my Nan was most likely the German Banker, who was Master of the house where my GGran was a maid in service.
One word of advice - many family historians are willing to help with a bit of info, but be very wary of persons who get in contact professing to have 'just happened to come across this great piece of information locally, regarding ***** on your tree. They hope it's useful' blah blah blah, and would willingly do some more digging on your behalf'.
The 'great' info provided is inevitably a record that you already have, readily visible on your tree and the contact nothing more than a cheap and dodgy means of touting for custom.
The General Register Office (GRO) has a free site for looking up births (1837-1916) and deaths (1837-1957) in England and Wales https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/Login.asp. You need a fair idea of what you are looking for but it gives the mother's maiden name for births so you can repeat a search for several timeslots to check for siblings who are missing or who have died at an early age.
You can also order certificates directly from your search. A few months ago they ran a trial of sending out electronic copies of the certificate at a reduced rate but that isn't available at present.
Because I never listened to my mum when she was repeating the family history I've found the 1939 register on Find My Past to be very useful to recover much of what she said.
You can also order certificates directly from your search. A few months ago they ran a trial of sending out electronic copies of the certificate at a reduced rate but that isn't available at present.
Because I never listened to my mum when she was repeating the family history I've found the 1939 register on Find My Past to be very useful to recover much of what she said.
My results are back and it's says 42% Ireland, 34% GB, 9% Finland and NW Russia and now I can't remember what the remainder was.
I have sent several messages to the DNA matches it threw up but had no replies whatsoever. I got 2 second cousins, hundreds of 3rd and 4th cousins and I don't know what to do now.
I have sent several messages to the DNA matches it threw up but had no replies whatsoever. I got 2 second cousins, hundreds of 3rd and 4th cousins and I don't know what to do now.
Hi Snowwhite.
I assume you mean your Ancestry DNA. Do they actually say what the percentages signify ? I'm not really sure about that part of their service. Knowing who your 3rd and 4th cousins are is one thing, but the percentages. Do they tell you anything meaningful ?
I think what you are saying is a timely warning. You certainly seemed to be awash with relatives. I cannot image what your family tree looks like in terms of your 3rd and 4th cousins. It's a bit of a warning really thanks.
I assume you mean your Ancestry DNA. Do they actually say what the percentages signify ? I'm not really sure about that part of their service. Knowing who your 3rd and 4th cousins are is one thing, but the percentages. Do they tell you anything meaningful ?
I think what you are saying is a timely warning. You certainly seemed to be awash with relatives. I cannot image what your family tree looks like in terms of your 3rd and 4th cousins. It's a bit of a warning really thanks.
I found the percentages breakdown helpful in tracking my great grandfather whose birthplace was in Ireland but who I suspected came from Scots who frequently moved across the sea. The Irish bit in me is quite little so I think it confirmed my suspicions and helped me eliminate some of the options in trying to go back further in his background.
Yes I do mean Ancestry DNA. I'm bound to have lots of matches because my mother is Irish and is one of a huge family and they all have huge families too.
I haven't had much time lately to do anymore than read the results as I've been clearing my Mums house which has taken an awful lot of my time but After next week I'm going to get into it properly.
We never knew who my late Dads father was so you never know, something might turn up!
Just popping in as I noticed you talking about DNA testing to search for ancestors/cousins
I belong to a family history site called LostCousins and they guy who runs the site, Peter Calver, has a vast amount of experience of using DNA testing to search for relations
https://www.lostcousins.com
I belong to a family history site called LostCousins and they guy who runs the site, Peter Calver, has a vast amount of experience of using DNA testing to search for relations
https://www.lostcousins.com
We always had a fairly limited family tree as kids but then my Dad's cousin did some more extensive work showing that, despite our French name, we have been in this country more than 200 years. More recently, a distant member of the family has done some extensive research, with a little help from me, which has taken us back to the 1400s and includes at least one murder and a lord in the tree. I made use of MyHeritage because it provided free tree-building software (small trees only, after that one has to pay) but any of the other commercial packages would do just as well.
My top tip would be to find others in the wider family who may have already done some research - I did so purely as a result of a link provided by the software and it has enhanced my tree and understanding of my roots without significant work. It has also put me back in touch with members of the family not seen in many years.
My one regret is that my Dad and Mam are not here to share in all the new findings.
My top tip would be to find others in the wider family who may have already done some research - I did so purely as a result of a link provided by the software and it has enhanced my tree and understanding of my roots without significant work. It has also put me back in touch with members of the family not seen in many years.
My one regret is that my Dad and Mam are not here to share in all the new findings.
My advice, be very careful of information on the internet of others family tree until you check it out yourself
If the tree has references, then I guess you can "trust" the information
I say this because when I started, 20+ years ago, in my novice state, I put some incorrect info on my internet tree and it is still "doing the rounds" in other people's tree, who have, tempted to say stolen, but better say borrowed my research. I have since corrected my research mistake, but the others have not
No relation to fork handles, I have a couple of spoons in my family tree
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My advice, be very careful of information on the internet of others family tree until you check it out yourself
If the tree has references, then I guess you can "trust" the information
I say this because when I started, 20+ years ago, in my novice state, I put some incorrect info on my internet tree and it is still "doing the rounds" in other people's tree, who have, tempted to say stolen, but better say borrowed my research. I have since corrected my research mistake, but the others have not
No relation to fork handles, I have a couple of spoons in my family tree
I ought to have said that it pays to verify rather than just accept and also be aware of programmes that offer matches which may not be the same person at all. I have an unusual surname which makes checking of facts and relationships relatively easy but I have also come across some 'facts' that are anything but.
