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1) Where do I start?
This is by far the most commonly asked
question by people who want to research
their family history.
One the best and simplest ways to get
started is to draw up a small chart of
your family as far back as you know it.
Once you've gone as far back as you can,
ask relatives, especially parents and
grandparents, to add what they can to
it. This provides you with a useful
starting point and reference, as well as
at a partial history of your ancestors
which will probably go back at least a
hundred years.
After that, there are several useful
resources on the Gathering of the Clans
site itself. If you know you belong to a
clan, you can use our Great Hall of the
Clans to learn more about that clan. If
you're not sure if you belong to a clan
or not, try our Clan Finder to find out
which clan your name is associated with.
2) What is the best source?
The Scots Origins index of the General
Register Office for Scotland's official
births, deaths, marriages & census
records contains nearly 30 million
records extending back to 1553 and is on
the Web at www.origins.net/GRO
One of the world's most well known
genealogy sources is managed by the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day
Saints (The Mormons) and is found at
www.familysearch.com.
An excellent general source of genealogy
information is census records. Census
records go back quite a long way in
North America and usually contain
thorough information.
Another good source is any family
records you may have, such as
photo-albums, old family trees,
diaries/journals, letters, etc.
For more in depth information, we also
offer the services of a professional
genealogist through our Ancestral
Research services.
3) What are some other sources?
As well as family and census records,
there are some other useful resources.
Two on the Gathering of the Clans site
are Your Ancestors and Scots on the Net.
Both are online databases in which
people can enter themselves (Scots on
the Net) or their ancestors (Your
Ancestors), and also search for people
who may be related to or have useful
information.
If you're lucky, you may also discover
another relative is already researching
your family tree, or at least their
branch of it. If so, collaborating with
them can often be very helpful.
Some other resources worth checking
include:
- Wills, Deeds, Etc.
- Certificates and Awards
- Armed forces records
- Marriage records
- School records
- Church records (baptism,
membership, marriages, deaths, etc.)
- Burial/Cemetery records
- Libraries
Newspaper archives also often contain
such things as marriage and birth
records, as well as obituaries.
4) What are some tips?
Be persistent.
It will most likely take a bit of work
as well as trial and error to compile a
detailed family history. Don't let
yourself get easily discouraged, if you
find one avenue of research closed off,
simply try another.
Be patient.
Patience is one of the most important
genealogical tools you can possess. Some
things that may seem boring,
unproductive or time-consuming at first
may turn out to be very rewarding later.
Memories can be faulty.
While jogging people's memory can often
provide you with good information, human
beings are still fallible and it is a
good idea to double-check information
from such sources.
Older the records, greater the chance
they're not completely accurate.
Record keeping wasn't always as accurate
as it is today and some details in older
records may not be as specific as you
might wish. Also, there were many names
with no exact spelling, people often
spelled their name however they thought
it sounded, so don't limit yourself to
one spelling in your searches.
Keep clear, detailed, and accurate
records.
The reasons for this tip are obvious.
These records can provide you with a
quick over- view of all the research
you've done, and if you find out
somewhere down the road that you've made
a mistake, they can help you to see
where you made it and how to correct it.
And above all:
Keep an open mind.
Your research will generally be a lot
more productive if you go into it
looking to learn all you can, than if
you go into it with a lot of
pre-conceived ideas. Pre-conceived ideas
have the unfortunate tendency of causing
people to ignore pieces of information
that don't fit with those ideas,
sometimes important pieces of
information.
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