Researching others

Our ancestors did not live in a vacuum. They had extended family members, neighbours, business contacts, colleagues, friends and aquaintances. This has implications for us in two ways:

• People tend to do things in groups.
• People tend to follow predictable patterns of who they associate with.

Both of these can benefit our research. In genealogy, researching one member of a group can lead to answers about another member of the group. We can piggyback onto these “other” people to find the ones we’re really looking for.
Look at the people mentioned in wills – who were the executors and administrators of the estate?  Who were the guardians of any minors?  Remember guardians were not necessarily appointed to take care of the children – their role was to protect their legal interests. Who were the beneficiaries?  Wills do not just list surviving children, they often also give the married names of adult daughters and other information. Who witnessed a will?  All these important roles were generally not given to strangers.  How does each person fit in?
Look at godparents at a christening or baptism, not just for your direct ancestor, but for all their siblings as well.  Each child may have different godparents – again, it is not a role given to strangers.  Who are they, and why were they chosen for the role?
Unless they eloped, look at the witnesses to a marriage.  Remember to look at both the civil and church marriage records if applicable, and if a person married more than once, check both - or all - marriages.
The same applies for informants on a death certificate, even the neighbours in a census or electoral roll.  Often families lived close to one another.
What about immigration?  Many of us have a tale of migration in our family. (“Great-great-grandad came to Australia from Italy”) but great-great-grandad probably didn’t do so in isolation. Chances are he either came here with a group of people and/or he was moving to an area where he already knew people.
This doesn’t just apply to moving to a new country. Our ancestors’ migration within a country (or even within a state or county) is often part of a group migration (people moving together all at once) or a chain migration (a few people go out ahead and other people follow later). We can use this to our advantage.
In shipping records, look at where others on the same ship came from.  Look at others already settled in the place your family settled.  People from the same area may have migrated in a group or followed earlier settlers.