DO's and DONT's

These do's and dont's are taken from my own experience, but most family researchers will have made some, or all, of these mistakes during their time.

Do:

Get organised from the beginning

You will accumulate lots of paperwork which will quickly become untidy unless you organise yourself from the start.

Keep it in a lever-arch file, in alphabetical then date order of your ancestors. It will be easy to find when you need to refer to it.

Record your sources

You will often need to refer to the sources of your information, so ensure you note where it came from.

This includes the conversations you had with your family, to which website you obtained details from.

Verify your sources

Probably the most important 'do'. Unless you see the primary evidence - birth, marriage and death certificates - you can never know for sure that you have put your ancestors correctly on your tree. You don't have to obtain certificates for every family member, but usually one birth certificate from each family, to establish parentage, and marriage certificates at each generation, will ensure you keep on the right track.

Adopt consistent standards

There are no hard and fast rules, but if you adopt a consistent standard in the presentation of your family tree you will make it easy to read and understand, both for yourself and for others.

Capitalise surnames. Do this also in the subject section and body of e-mails and messages. It will make it easier for people to see when they're scanning rather than reading.
Adopt the format dd mm yyyy, or dd XXX yyyy. (XXX being alphabetic characters - limit to 3 or 4). Always enter the year in full. If not, you'll put a husband and wife together who are generations apart, or make a child the offspring of his great-great grandparent.
Unknown maiden surnames. Underline the blank space beside the first name, making it clear that the name is known to be missing.
Unknown first names. For children who died young, use 'Son' or 'Daur'. For older generations, 'Mr', 'Miss' or 'Mrs'.
For people who died without children of their own, mark an 'x' in the place where a descendant would have been. This makes it clear that it's the end of the line for that person.

Use the same abbreviations throughout the pages of your family tree.

c = circa
b = born
bp = baptised
d = died
m = married

Whatever standards you use, the important thing is to be consistent, and your tree will be easy to read.

Keep an open mind

Age - In the 1841 Census the age of over-16's was rounded down to the next 5 years, ie, a 44-year-old would have had his age recorded as being 40. Under 16's were recorded correctly. However, in any census, bear in mind that many people weren't well educated and didn't know how old they were, so their ages may be a 'best guess'.

Names - When you view census images, what you will see is the enumerator's own handwriting, copied from the head-of-household's census form (schedule). Often, because many people couldn't read or write and didn't know how to spell their names, the enumerator would have completed the schedule on behalf of a family. He would have written down how a name sounded, or how he thought a name should be spelled. 'Shepherd' is a classic example of a name with many different possible spellings. When searching, make sure you search different variations.

Reading transcriptions - When you view transcribed records it's important to bear in mind that a transcriber often reads from poor quality images. Combine that with old-style handwriting, and the fact that enumerators made many marks, notes and crossings-out on their schedules, then you will understand how errors and omissions can occur.

Don't:

Jump in feet first

Although the temptation to go searching on the internet will be almost irresistible, start properly and lay solid foundations for your tree. Talk to your family first and draw up your first tree based on the information you find. Take time to understand the details you will need to be sure you're tracing your ancestors' steps correctly, and you will give yourself a head start.

Assume anything

People living in the same Parish as your ancestors (or even the same road) with the same name may not be related. Families tended to remain in the same area for many generations and there will often be several families with the same name not closely related.

A man's wife may not have been the mother of all (or any) of his children. Men very often re-married and the second (or third...) wife would take on his children.

If you 'lose' someone part way through your search don't assume they died. There are many reasons why people seem to disappear. Until you see a death record, keep an open mind.

Contents page

A step-by-step guide through your ancestry

DO's and DONT's

Do:

Don't:

One step at a time

Miscellaneous