My mother always says ‘work begun is half done’ and when it comes to genealogy, there was never a truer word said. Here are a few tips to help you on your journey to uncovering your heritage and ancestry.
Chat with relatives (especially those of the older generations) write everything down, even the information you may think is insignificant. Again, the most vague of leads may be also be the one that breaks through that brick wall!
We will always report back to the clients several times to double check for any other possible leads. This persistence is necessary as nearly always there is one if not a few extra pieces of information left out. Many clients may deem that the information is insignificant but everything will help from job occupation, religion, criminal records or even a random piece of family lore.
On more than one occasion family lore has dug us out and uncovered a fascinating story. One particular report on an ancestor from Northern Ireland had hit a brick wall until we were told some family lore that really opened up the whole case again. We were told that family lore handed down through the years had mentioned that the person in question was possibly involved in a large skirmish on the docklands in Belfast. As the Belfast docks were world famous at the time (Titanic was a pretty big deal at that time I believe!) we decided to search some newspapers to see were there any reports of a possible incident. To our delight there was indeed a report with significant detail about the clients ancestor. This really opened up the door again to further our clients research and is a great example that every single piece of information can act as a key to another door.
Look through the attic; through old cases, boxes, chests etc… Keep a log of any interesting/important documents you may find. Note: Look even in the places you would think couldn’t possibly contain any important family documents! For example, my grandmother had an old family document (a one hundred year old mortgage document relating to her previous 200 year old family home signed by my great grandfather)… this, she kept in an old corn flakes box!
Did I mention keep a tidy journal logging everything you come across? Write everything down in chronological order to determine which is the strongest lead.
After all the asking around and ‘treasure’ hunting is done, you will likely be a few steps further down the road and you will surely be keen to find out more.
