Genealogy Chat

Please, anyone got any tips on the best way to make sure you don't go round in great big circles and spend the whole day getting nowhere! I am trying to trace all four pairs of great grandparents at the same time, at least two of them seem to be linked (ie. cousins marrying cousins) and I'm about to have brain meltdown. How does anyone else cope and what's the easiest way of keeping records? Trudy

Thanks Jess, just seem to have paper trails going everywhere at the moment, and have just been told that a tree that we thought was linked and went back another four generations may not be what we thought, although if it isn't then my ggrandfather came out of nowhere!!! Trudy

Hi Trudy.. Try doing what I do..... I make notes. I store that note. I carry on looking for other things. I make MORE notes. I have a once a week tidy up.....find notes on what I have spent three days looking for only to find that I already had the info Doh!!! Say a few swear words, make a cuppa and make a note not to store notes lol In other words...If you have a lead...work on that till it burns out. (if only I could do as I say) but it's fun isnt it? lol (long live our dead rellies ) lol A very untidy Gerri x

Get a good computer program, such as Family Tree Maker! The Genes one is useless, especially if you have cousins marrying cousins etc. Also, keep a "timeline" of each person, recording the census info, BMD info etc in chronological order that relates to that person - that way, it's easier to spot inconsistencies and see where you have missing info. I've managed to follow all my lines at once, but you do need to have a system in place otherwise you'll get information overload! Richard

Thanks Richard and Gerri - Richard the problem I have is working half at home and half at work - I only have a computer programme at home and cant set it up at work. Gerri - you sound like a girl after my own heart - that's exactly the problem I have, just spent three hours finding the piece of info I found last night!!

Aw Trudy ... surely you don't spend company time working on your private hobby, now do you???? Now, I'm sure none of us would DREAM of doing that... lololol!!!

Richard - Only when we have nothing better to do!!

Can't say I am good at following my own advice, but when making rough notes of info, put them into a sturdy, pref hardback notebook. Then you don't have lots of loose pieces of paper. I also have an A5 size A-Z book in which I list ancestors alphabetically by surname, with all relevant details - birth, baptism, censuses, marriages, deaths and put the refs for the certs/census etc as I find it. This way I can quickly see what info I need to find out and its easy to take to records offices etc. I do my direct bloodline ancestors in BIG LETTERS and everyone else in small. The problem with this is that as I acquire info I don't always put it in this book... nell

Hi Nell - like the A-Z book idea - will have to give that a try. Thanks Trudy