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| Although I consider the ordinary "Life & Times" the heart of a family history, the body of the work holds it all together. The body of your family tree is all the names, places and dates you collect to make up your family quilt. | |
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I can’t stress enough how important it is to be very accurate when collecting this information. You need to make sure all your information has been documented with where and how you obtained your information. If you wish to be a genealogical researcher, you need to collaborate Aunt Lil’s information with local, provincial or federal information whenever possible. If Uncle Art says "I think G. K. Mills was born (died) around …", you had better try to find a birth certificate, death certificate, or other documentation to ensure the date is correct. You can send for copies of birth, death, and marriage records of your relatives. Usually these records will also provide other information about your family. The marriage register for my great, great grandfather Joseph gave: the age of Joseph and Harriet (his wife), Joseph’s parents’ names, Harriet’s parents’ names and the name of two relatives that witnessed the marriage. |
| Make sure you collect all given names for every
relative. In the example above for G. K. Mills, the "K" does not represent a middle name. George
Mills started using the middle initial K. to distinguish himself from other George Mills
in a time when there were not many people with middle names. Here is an idea of possible questions to ask your family. When you decide to sit down and "interview" a person, it is a good idea to have all your questions laid out that you want to ask. In this way, if the person gets off on a tangent (and that’s sure to happen when remembering family events – and usually great to listen to), you can gently guide the person back to the questions you need answered. If the person feels comfortable, audiotape or videotape the conversation. Some family members will be sensitive to certain questions, so of utmost importance is to be aware of other people’s feelings while on your quest to fill in the family tree. Remember the W5 approach. Get dates for everything! Ask the family related things, and get dates for everything: where were you born; what was the house, street, country/village/city like; where (complete addresses if possible) did you live as you grew up; where did you like living the best; what are your earliest recollections (& how old were you at the time); what school (s) did you attend (get dates); do you have any school pictures (does a friend have any of your school pictures); what was the highest grade you completed; did you attend college or university (where, dates, what was your major); who were your friends during public/secondary/college/university); are you still in contact with any of them (good reference people for you);when, where, how did you meet mom/dad; what did you do on your first date; when, where, how did you decide this was the person for you; where, when, how did you ask him/her to marry; where did you get married; who married you; who gave you away; who was in the wedding party; where did you go on your honeymoon; first job (s) after marriage; where did you live after getting married; how much did life cost (rent, bread, milk, gas, cigarettes, TV, radio, etc, etc.; what did you do for entertainment (dances, house parties, shows, theatre, etc); SAME QUESTIONS FOR THEIR PARENTS, AND GRANDPARENTS; when did your first relatives arrive in Canada; where did they come from; W5 did they get here (ship, land); where did they settle, buy/rent, land grants; do you have any momentos of your parents, grandparents, great grandparents; does anyone else in the family; do we have any pictures of grandparents, great grandparents, great great grandparents. In your search for your family history, always be prepared. |
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