Tracing the Tree: Experiences and Tricks

By now you've probably noticed that my posts are either personal, reviews, or something to do with feminism.
I haven't been active the past few months because of technical issues and the fact I was jumping from country to country but I'm officially back!

Anyway, lets talk about genealogy.

So over a year ago I decided to cross something off of my bucket list, and that was to finally trace my lineage. Growing up I was always quite limited in the way of family, in comparison to all my friends. In school people always had 30 cousins and knew who their 2nd cousins once removed were, but I never exactly  had a  clue. I knew immediate 1st cousins and aunts and uncles and that was it. People could also claim relatives in Australia, America, England, Canada, and so on, whereas I couldn't.
Up until last year.

Here is a list of things I learned which I hope you find useful.

Ask your mother and your grandmother

If you read any book on tracing your tree the first rule is always 'ask your immediate family for information and old photos'. (If you're tracing your Irish heritage don't get your hopes up on photos, but do look forward to nicknames).

The Irish Mammy knows everything about everything. From the cheapest way to cure the cold to what Uncle wasshisface ate for his wedding in 1957. Let's face it, she probably knows it. (Another piece of advice, she will probably try to tell you about 'yer man who drove the car' and you WILL be expected to know who he is. Somehow he will be relevant.)

The Irish Nanny is like the Mammy, only with extra experience. While your mother will be able to fill you in on her grandparents (your great grandfolks), your nan will be able to fill you in on HER grandparents (Your great great  grandparents).

Another thing that may occur during these talks (especially if held at once) one of them might remember that 'such and such a person' died during the birth of a child or the year of a wedding, which will make it easier to dumb down a death date and MAYBE, if you're lucky, even a death certificate! (I have yet to find one of those)

The children will find the marriage

Yes, it sounds so odd but it's true. When I first started this thing, I drove my mother insane asking her about cousins and aunts and uncles. In the end we figured out, after long nights lying awake in bed and calculating years, that if you find the eldest child, the marriage year was PROBABLY (but not always) the year before the birth. Et voila, your first marriage cert!

I was so psyched when I finally found my great grandparents marriage certificate, everything felt so real. These people had actually been here, walked the streets that I walked, went to work, had bad days, fought, laughed, everything. And I was holding a simple piece of paper to prove their existence.

Certs are everything

Okay so this one was really learned from the above point. Once I got the wedding cert I learned even more. I learned maiden names, fathers names, professions, even addresses.

So keep a good copy in a folder or something! Sometimes you will need to refer back to it, even if it is just to check the parish.

Writing the graph

Don't. Do. It. By. Hand

It is difficult and it gets messy. Do it by hand in sections in order to keep a physical copy or if you want to show someone but you don't want them to see the whole lot. And put it all into your folder (assuming you have one, I don't, I just have a decrepit brown envelope that's starting to fall apart).

My advice is to join Ancestry.com. It's free to join and create your tree,  You can then download it onto your computer and do as you please. If you have a tablet, the app is free so you can constantly add to it, look at it, and bring it wherever you please. It updated recently and now creates timelines for your ancestors pages so it helps put their lives into some form of historical context.

Nicknames

Prepare to be driven mad. While I originally found them endearing, nicknames have really become a thorn in my side. While you know that some nicknames are obviously JUST THAT, others are complete shockers. It has actually happened that I have grown up with people and only learned their real names in the past couple of years. So if you''re looking up a marriage or birth cert, try every abbreviation or form of the name you're using. Seriously. Prepare to be shocked.

Recycling

No, I highly doubt your great-aunt separated her plastic and paper during the Famine. But I'll tell you what she DID probably do. Named her children after herself and her siblings and parents. Names are constantly passed down onto the next generation. I used to think my own name was original once. HAHA NO CHANCE. This is where the dates and times come in extra handy. So when you say 'Seamus married yer woman up the road', make sure not to start an argument because your brother thinks you're talking about the other Seamus who was his uncle. I confuse myself when looking at records all the time on this.

Website Advice

Honestly? I can give you some but not a lot. If you are lucky enough to have a local library that has a subscription to Ancestry.com USE IT!! I did, until they cancelled it. But I learned so much from the 3 census records I got. In fact I got another two generations back!

Ancestry
If you're daring with your debit card but you are clever with money, try for the 2 week free subscription, or get it for one month only.
Ancestry has worldwide records, which is handy in the event that you realize that your great grand mother was actually born in another country or something. They also offer hints, so if they think that there are other records relating to people on your tree, a little leaf will appear, giving you the option to look at them and decide for yourself.

Facebook
I know it sounds stupid but if you want to find living relatives, they probably are, or have kids, on Facebook. And from there you can establish contact, talk, or even arrange to meet in the flesh, not to mention pick their brains for pictures, stories, dates and information on other members. This is a great way of branching out, rather than further back.

GenesReunited
It's a bummer that you need to pay for it, but apparently this website helps you work DOWN your tree and helps to find living relatives and children of your ancestors. They have a sister site that supposedly help you to find people you went to school with too, but I haven't felt the need to use that.

FamilySearch.org
This site was set up by the Church of the Latter-day Saints, and is free. But again, you can't actually LOOK at the documents. You need to pay for that bit. It's constantly adding to the site, and, like Ancestry.com, allows you to write down your tree. I'm not too certain if they have an app yet.

Last Tip

If you are researching Ireland, don't get too excited. It's badly documented, people use nicknames and your have to go by county AND parish if you want a certificate.
So I hope you end up tracing back your tree to America or Britain. These countries, I know for a fact, are very well documented.
However, what few Irish censuses there are, they can be found online for free. The only problem is that the latest and best ones are 1911 and 1901. Any of the records before that are badly done, due to the loss of documentation during the Irish Civil War.


The over all experience is so eye opening and emotional  when you start. It gets addictive and will keep you up till all hours of the night.
Enjoy your digging!!

Disclaimer, none of the pictures used are my own and are the property of their respected owners.