Your Family Tree Online

by Davis, Graeme

• ISBN13: 9781845283445
• ISBN10: 1845283449
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-11-15
• Publisher: How to Books Ltd

Summary

This is a step-by-step guide to using the wealth of online records to trace your family tree from your own computer, without the need to travel to national and regional record offices. Whether you are a novice or an experienced genealogist, and whether you plan to devote just a few hours of your time or embark on a life-time hobby, this book will guide you through the mass of records available - birth, marriage and death, the census, and much, much more - so that you can trace your line back hundreds of years. You will also learn how to upload your results to the internet, both to preserve your family's heritage and to connect with relatives, so that you can exchange photos and reminiscences. AUTHOR BIOG: Graeme Davis is a university lecturer and a professional researcher with extensive experience of family tree research, both on-line and off. As materials developer for a university level genealogy course he is familiar with the records needed by on-line researchers. A writer for Your Family Tree magazine, he is also developing new tools to aid the genealogist. CONTENTS: Welcome! 1. What the internet offers the genealogist 2. How to start 3. Finding records of birth, marriage and death 4. Using census records 5. Other major sources 6. Military 7. Wills and where to find them online 8. Migration 9. Newspapers 10. Occupations 11. The poor and workhouse records 12. Noble ancestors 13. Directories 14. School and university records 15. Working with the wider context 16. Family medical history 17. DNA 18. Working with names 19. Recording your family tree 20. Online recording options 21. Problems of online trees 22. Finding living relatives 23. Genealogical miscellany 24. Accent and dialect 25. Final Key websites Index

Author Biography

Graeme Davis is a university lecturer and a professional researcher with extensive experience of family tree research, both online and off. As materials developer for a university level genealogy course he is familiar with the records needed by online researchers. A writer for Your Family Tree magazine, he is also developing new tools to aid the genealogist.

Table of Contents

Welcome!	p. 1
What you can achieve	p. 1
Who is this book for?	p. 3
What you can expect	p. 4
How long will it take?	p. 4
Activity-Getting started	p. 4
What the Internet Offers the Genealogist	p. 9
Value of the Internet	p. 9
Activity-Have you Googled?	p. 12
How to Start	p. 14
First Principles	p. 14
Activity-Do these first	p. 15
Activity-What do you know about your family?	p. 15
Activity-For each relative	p. 17
Finding Records of Birth, Marriage and Death	p. 18
Sources for birth, marriages and deaths	p. 18
National and state registration offices	p. 22
Activity-Find your country's BMD	p. 23
Using national BMD records	p. 24
Activity-Find your ancestors in BMD records	p. 25
The International Genealogical Index	p. 27
Activity-Discover the most important single website	p. 30
Activity-Working with the IGI advanced search	p. 31
Using Census records	p. 33
What are census records?	p. 33
Activity-Locate census records	p. 35
Years censuses are available for	p. 36
Information on censuses	p. 37
Accuracy of censuses	p. 37
The 1911 census	p. 38
The 1881 census	p. 40
Activity-Searching the census	p. 40
Other Major Sources	p. 42
Cyndi's List	p. 42
Activity-Countries on Cyndi's List	p. 43
Activity-Cyndi and solutions for problems	p. 45
Religious collections	p. 45
Activity-Nonconformist ancestors	p. 46
Regional collections	p. 46
Activity-Find local record offices	p. 46
Look-up exchanges	p. 47
Activity-Ask someone!	p. 47
Finding relatives	p. 48
Activity-Getting in touch	p. 48
Pay sites	p. 49
Activity-Pay sites	p. 49
Military	p. 50
Military records	p. 50
Activity-Commonwealth War Graves Commission	p. 52
Activity-Regimental histories	p. 52
Activity-Battle of the Somme	p. 54
Wills and Where to Find them Online	p. 55
The problem with wills	p. 55
Activity-Thinking about wills	p. 55
Migration	p. 56
Immigration and emigration	p. 56
Activity-Passenger arrival lists	p. 57
Newspapers	p. 58
What newspapers offer	p. 58
Activity-Connecting through local newspapers	p. 59
An example of a family story in a newspaper article	p. 60
Occupations	p. 61
Job titles	p. 61
Activity-Understand your ancestor's job	p. 62
The Poor and Workhouse Records	p. 63
Records of the poor	p. 63
Activity-Understanding nineteenth century poverty	p. 63
Noble Ancestors	p. 65
Finding noble ancestors	p. 65
Titles and coats of arms	p. 67
A warning!	p. 67
Activity-Heraldry and genealogy	p. 69
A note on titles	p. 69
Directories	p. 71
Working with directories	p. 71
Activity-Directories	p. 73
School and University Records	p. 75
Schools	p. 75
Activity-Schools	p. 76
Universities	p. 77
Activity-Finding ancestors at university	p. 78
Working with the Wider Context	p. 79
Local history	p. 79
Activity-Accessing local history sources	p. 80
Maps	p. 80
General history	p. 82
Activity-Finding context	p. 82
Activity-Finding maps	p. 83
Activity-View a timeline	p. 83
Family Medical History	p. 84
Activity-Focusing on close relatives	p. 84
Activity-Identifying sources of medical information	p. 85
Twins	p. 86
Life expectancy	p. 87
DNA	p. 89
DNA and inherited disease	p. 89
DNA and family medical history	p. 89
The new frontier	p. 90
Deep DNA	p. 91
Ethnic DNA	p. 92
Surname studies	p. 94
Warning!	p. 96
Activity-Testing services	p. 96
DNA studies	p. 96
Working with Names	p. 99
Sources of British surnames	p. 99
History of surnames	p. 100
Changing your surname	p. 102
Surname profiling	p. 103
Activity-Estimating kinship	p. 105
Clans	p. 105
First names	p. 106
Activity-Working with surnames	p. 107
Activity-Do you belong to a clan?	p. 108
Activity-Working with first names	p. 108
Recording your Family Tree	p. 109
Charts	p. 109
Books	p. 110
Activity-Charts	p. 111
Activity-Books	p. 111
Activity-Posting your family tree to the World Wide Web	p. 112
What you can expect	p. 112
How long will it take?	p. 113
Online Recording Options	p. 114
Activity-Data control	p. 114
Option 1-Ancestry.com	p. 115
Activity 1-Know your goals	p. 118
Activity 2-Share your family tree	p. 118
Option 2-GenesReunited.com	p. 119
Option 3-Your own website	p. 120
More about Ancestry.com	p. 120
More about GenesReunited.com	p. 123
Other companies	p. 124
Avoiding re-entry of data	p. 126
More about your own website	p. 127
Activity 3-View examples	p. 129
Problems of Online Trees	p. 131
Online family trees and drawing family trees	p. 131
GEDCOM problems	p. 131
Libel	p. 133
Confidential information	p. 133
Finding Living Relatives	p. 134
Contacting lost relatives	p. 134
Site-moderated emails	p. 135
Personal emails	p. 135
Meeting relatives	p. 136
Genealogical Miscellany	p. 137
Photographs	p. 137
Activity-Photographs	p. 144
Family stories and oral history	p. 144
Activity-Be willing to believe stories	p. 145
Sharing research costs	p. 145
Newspaper cuttings	p. 146
Activity-The Times	p. 147
Publications	p. 147
Activity-Find an ancestor's book	p. 148
Personal belongings and jewellery	p. 148
Activity-Looking at personal possessions	p. 149
Hair samples	p. 149
Accent and Dialect	p. 151
Activity-Collecting information	p. 151
Activity-What does it mean?	p. 152
Final	p. 153
Key websites	p. 154
Name sites	p. 154
Sources for births, marriages and deaths	p. 154
Census sites	p. 154
Pedigree sites	p. 155
National variants of Ancestry.com	p. 155
Heraldry	p. 155
Extensive list of genealogy links	p. 156
Look-ups	p. 156
Directories	p. 156
Charts	p. 156
Some other great sites	p. 156
Index	p. 158
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