Genealogy Chat

I have two large ring binders - one for fathers and one for mothers side of family. In front of each I have a fan family tree (copied from Wakefield FHS site) where I put the names found which I highlight when I have confirmation from the GRO - inked in found in IGI and possibles are put in pencil so I can see at a glance relationships. I then have a summary sheet where I've got all the people in the file with their bmds dates and places of events - again highlighted when confirmed by GRO - inked in for IGI. I have set of A4 dividers with an index sheet where I've put the names of each couple in generation order - so looking for smith/jones great grandparents details are say no 5 etc where I have all the details births/deaths/marriages/census certificates and any other bit of paper relating to that couple in plastic pockets. Each couple have their own number. I've now downloaded from Family Tree magazine FAMILY GROUP SHEETs where I put the couple (highlighted) and their bmd's plus their parents and children of the marriage and their spouses. I'm also in the process of putting everything I know about the couple where they lived and their occupations and I've put this now into a separate folder so I don't have to carry all the certificates and bumf around. On some threads I've got back 8 generations and some surnames are duplicated but not connected - can be very confusing that's why the fan family tree is so useful.

Over the last 7 months I have tried nearly all of these types of filing. In the end I have built a file for each and every person, and have brought myself a three draw filling cabinet. On the front of each persons file I have drawn a small chart showing where in the family tree that they fit, and that persons relationship to me. The only set back is that I have to buy two marriage certs for each wedding. Its not about which is the right way, its about what works for you. Traceylee

One other tip. I have an A5 hardback a-z indexed book, in which I have listed by surname/maiden name every member of my family. They each have a page and I list every life event starting with birth/baptism, listing every census entry, through to death. Children I include on the mother's entry. This is easy to carrry about and saves rifling through mountains of paper and carrying files around. You can take it to a record office and then say you are looking up Bloggs, Joe and find a reference to Nutter, Agnes, you have Agnes' details to check at hand. I found it v. useful as when I was filling it in I found lots of gaps - oops I haven't got gt gt grandma Loopy's death cert etc. Plus, beside each entry I put the relevant ref to the census, GRO cert etc. I keep this little book in a fire-proof safe, so if ever the computer crashes and all my paper is burnt or soaked in a flood etc, I will have the basic info to get started again. nell

Tina I have some huge (really wide) ringbinders - for various branches of the family, subdivided into surnames. I keep all the "raw" data, photocopies of census forms, printouts, notes etc here. I also have several clear pocketed booklets from WHSmith - one for fathers' side - births, deaths, marriages and one for mothers' births, deaths marriages with certificates arranged chronologically. I then complete best copy forms for individuals and families for the master file. (Copies of forms from TNA Family History Starter Pack £9.99). It is laborious, but I save all the filling in and sorting out etc for when I am stuck and can't get on the computer because of the children. [They haven't left home yet but as soon as they do my husband and I are going to move into a one-bedroom flat haha!] I have clear plastic wallets in the "raw" folders for postcards and other miscellaneous items that I can't holepunch and wish to preserve. I am hoping when I become more computer literate to produce a family history on disc complete with scanned photos etc. nell

Thank you so much everyone for all the helpful suggestions. I shall go away and think about what will work best for me. I like the index card idea, but fear I would never be sufficiently disciplined to write in all the info. Printing it off from my family tree prog is more my line. But I do like to keep it in printed form as well as on the computer, because then I can loll in my chair by the fire with my feet up and a cup of tea ignoring the endless football on the box, and study where I have got to and where I want to go next. Somehow, I take words in better when they are on paper than when they are on a screen - must be my age. Also have a problem having to fight for time on my own computer! Will these darn children never fly the nest? I thought I had got rid of them when they went off to uni, but now they are all back home again. I growl at them regularly, but it does not seem to make any difference :-) Tina

I already have an unused card index system, I think I may try that and run it alongside my current system. I also use a computer programme Cumberland Family Tree, which prints off the lists I want. Also with census transcriptions, for one family I may have the 1871, 1881 and 1891 all listed on one page, so you can see how the children are coming and going. Before doing this, I make the transcriptions into a uniform pattern, as everything is in a different order on the 1881 and Ancestry`s 1871 I also put the surnames in upper case for ease of reference.

Zoe, like the idea of a card index system, might give that a go! Mandy :)

You may or may not know that you can download for FREE a Personal Ancestoral File on the LDS (Family search) website. At the top of the page there is a tool bar which includes downloads and products - click there go to downloads - PAF version 5. It is easy to use and there is a help section. You can print out reports - family group pages, ancestoral lists, descendants list, pedigrees, you can add photo's, census images and certificates to the records and include notes that can be printed out with the family details. Worth a look if you are needing a data file Sue...................

Similar to Carol; I have A4 ring binders, one for my 'adoptive' maternal line, one for my 'adoptive' paternal line, and one for my 'birth' maternal line. Everything in them is in poly pockets, with dividers between families. Each person has their own poly, with a simple header sheet containing details and GRO refs (in case the pc crashes!). I then have another file for general tips, instructions etc. I also have a 'smart' notebook in which I keep a list of all useful websites, phone numbers, addresses etc, and a 'rough' notebook for jotting things down as I'm going through websites etc. I'm a pretty methodical person, so I do throw away pieces of paper once I've double-checked that I've got the info neatly elsewhere. Mandy :)

Eventually, I will add printouts on the family from various censuses. Transcriptions on a sheet of paper, with a page number to go to for the census image. That is the theory anyway.

At the front of my folder I have my birth cert, late husbands birth and death certs and our marriage certs with all the info on a sheet at the front. Then a divider followed by my mums and dads birth certs and their marriage cert with sheet of paper on front with all their details including GRO References (saves a fortune on 1837online) and underneath myself and my brother With the parents at the top, I also include a line with their parents names on, so it is easy to reference in the next section where grandparents are. I hope you can follow this, it is a lot easier to do than to explain how I do it.

Wow, Carol, I am seriously impressed. You can get all your bits of paper in an A4 folder!! I am up to 4 box files already, and I have only been doing this for 6 months! You must be far better organised than me. I had this idea of filing all the bits of paper relating to an individual together, with a front sheet giving the individual's details, but that won't work because they keep having children who are also individuals..... And then I thought I would do it in family groupings, but what do you do when the child grows up and starts its own family. Arrrrrrh. I'm going rapidly mad! Tina

Mountains of paper, tell me about it. I use loose leaf ring binders with poly sleeves. Certificates I arrange in families, ie my grandparents - 2 births, 2 deaths and a marriage. At the front of this is an A4 sheet with grandparents details and underneath all the children including my father or mother, whichever side it is. I have one binder for my side, one for late husbands side and one for fiances side. As for the bits of paper that accumulate, they are still all together in an A4 envelope type folder until I get round to sorting it all out.

Has anyone devised a good filing system for the mountains of paper that amass when researching ones family? I want to file certificates I have bought, print-outs from census entries, copies of wills etc, and all the other bits of information one collects about individuals. My problem is, I cannot make my mind up how to do it, as a result of which I am slowly drowning in paper! I should add that I go sideways with my families as well as straight up, so I have info about brothers and sisters of great-great granparents, and then their children and children's children etc. Any advice would be gratefully received! Tina