Whether you are an experienced genealogist or a new comer to the hobby, it’s always good to have some help when you don’t know where to start. The following is a kind of checklist you can use to help you get past obstacles in your research. Download a family tree template then use this checklist of 10 steps as a basic guideline to get started in building your family tree:
Are you ready to meet your ancestors? My new free family tree research guide is about how to find your ancestors, where to look, who to ask, what records are available, and how to fill in your family tree template. Download Family Tree Help! The Basics of Tracing Family Genealogy to get step-by-step instructions on how to research your genealogy. Once I finished with all those family tree templates, I got a ton of email asking me for advice on …
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A while ago, I announced that there were new free family tree templates available to download on my website. Since then, I’ve received about ten e-mails from people looking for help on how to print the larger generation templates at home, using their home computer and printer. Issues people are finding when they print out the nine generation family tree template or some of the the circle family tree charts on standard printer paper are: the spaces aren’t large enough …
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Asking your family is the best place to begin in tracing your family tree. But there are other things you can do to begin your family tree research. Official Documentation Quite possibly you’ll find a wealth of genealogy treasure and history right under your nose at home. Your mother or grandmother most likely have some official documents stashed away somewhere that can be of immense value. Some of these would include:
Often when genealogists are researching their family history they become interested in their family’s Coat of Arms. We’ve all seen the gorgeously varnished plaques emblazoned with colourful crests featuring lions, weapons and other medieval type decorations, and one can’t help but be drawn by their romantic allure. Coats of Arms are a means of identification used to verify official documents and ascertain ownership of property. The unique design painted on a family’s Coat of Arms identifies a particular family or …
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Many of us begin our genealogical quest after either: • hearing something exciting about one of our ancestors, or • if we have the same surname as someone famous – just to see if we might be related. As we begin our search for our infidel ancestor or our wealthy relative, it is possible to come across some information that we rather wouldn’t have. This could be an ancestor being involved in criminal behaviour; murder, theft, fraud, etc, or something …
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You might be one of the millions of American’s who are! When Barack Obama became nominated as a presidential challenger, much interest arose in his background. Researchers discovered that Mr. Obama’s great, great, great grandfather was born in Eire. Much was already known of his Kenyan ancestry. However, the fact that an African American could have Irish descendants had a profound effect on many people. It is well known that the Irish flocked to America in droves. Since President Obama’s …
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In Part I, I examined the claim that Tiger’s father, Earl WOODS, is one-quarter Native American, one-quarter Chinese and half black. The black is fairly easy to establish because as far back as I can go on Earl’s father’s ancestry, the family is listed as black (I am using black as this was the terminology on the records of the time). I realize there is the “one drop rule” that means any black in your ancestry no matter how far …
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