Do you remember the defining moments when suddenly something clicked into place, or you learned something the hard way without reading about it or attending a class? I can count the following seven “aha” moments as some of my best learning experiences. 1. Don’t skip on collecting all relevant information. When I joined the Society… Continue reading The best family history advice I never had
Category: Methods
Posts on genealogy and research methods
Stray Thoughts on the English census
Not that long ago, the large microfilm room at The Family Record Centre in London (God rest its soul) was humming with conversation and the clacker of the census films being wound forward or back. The 1881 census was the first to be surname indexed, (which took a large team of volunteers under the supervision… Continue reading Stray Thoughts on the English census
Playing the elimination game
Which John Smith is mine? This article deals with the common problem of having too many candidates to choose from. How do you separate out this John Smith from that John Smith? Unfortunately, people in the past chose first names from a limited range, so it is possible to have three or even four men… Continue reading Playing the elimination game
Gapology – Finding People in Parish Registers
This article first appeared in Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine, in 2015 and is reproduced here by permission. Are you searching for people in parish registers online and not finding them? Are some members of a family found in a location while others are just not there, no matter how hard you try? … Continue reading Gapology – Finding People in Parish Registers
The art of method
Bringing a little more method into your research helps with many common research problems. Firstly, any research should have a clear aim. The best researcher does not jump around among websites trying a bit of this and a bit of that to see what turns up, and switching families when nothing does, but instead starts… Continue reading The art of method