When recording your family history, here are a few tips you might find useful to keep things clear.
1. Enter Names Consistently
Whether you record names in your family tree as you would read them: first name, middle name, surname (last name); or surname first, then first name, middle name - be consistent. Pick one and stick to it, or you will end up confusing yourself - and anyone else who looks at your research.
2. Record Surnames in Uppercase
I always record last names using uppercase letters. It allows me, and other researchers to find certain surnames more easily. It can also aid researchers in deciphering exactly what they’re looking at: a surname, as opposed to a first name or middle name. For example Peter GREEN; Rosa May PIKE.
3. Remember to Input Maiden Names for Female Ancestors
You may well discover that some of your ancestors were recorded using married names, names of prior husbands, AND maiden names. Make sure you include her maiden name in your records - it can help you uncover who her parents were, too. How you do so is up to you - either by recording all female relatives by their maiden names ie Rosa May PIKE, or by including their maiden name in parentheses, and then the surname of her husband ie Rosa May (Pike) GREEN. Again, it is vital to be consistent.
4. Don’t Forget Nicknames
If your ancestor went by a nickname, always include it in your documentation. Don’t replace a given name with a nickname, however, even if your ancestor went by this name more commonly than their actual first name. Instead, include nicknames in quotes. For example, Richard “Dick” Pike. Remember you may have to search under both given name and nickname - just in case.
5. Add Alternate Names
Sometimes you will find family members who have totally alternate names, rather than nicknames. This commonly occurs if someone was adopted or changed their name on their own accord (maybe to escape a shady past). Again you could include the alternate name in parentheses, adding “a.k.a” (also known as) to make things clear. For example: Edward FORREST (a.k.a. Frederick BEST).
6. Variant Spellings
You are also bound to stumble upon alternate names due to variant spellings (they can sometimes change over time due to phonetic spellings or from immigration). My mother's maiden name was PUMMEROY - and our family in Australia are the only ones who spell it this way. Others use POMMEROY, POMEROY, POMROY - at one stage it even morphs into PUMFREY. This is not just relevant to surnames either - you also get anglicised first names as well - Friedrich/Frederick BESELER. One female ancestor of mine was born Suatus KRESST in Germany, married in England as Susetta KRESST and died in Australia as Susan (Kresst) BESELER - it took years to track her down!
A blog by Campaspe Regional Library to talk about genealogy and family history, ask questions, highlight useful sites and share tips.
Thursday, November 3, 2016
Friday, October 21, 2016
What's new on Ancestry?
Title
|
Category
|
Records
|
UK, Burial and Cremation Index, 1838-2014
|
Birth,
Marriage & Death, including Parish
|
1,610,623
|
Ireland, Royal Irish Constabulary Pensions, 1873-1925
|
Military
|
130,318
|
Canada, Certificates of Military Instruction, 1867-1932
|
Military
|
93,655
|
UK, Royal Air Force Muster Roll, 1918
|
Military
|
194,814
|
UK, British Jewry Roll of Honour, 1914-1918
|
Military
|
57,202
|
UK, Naval and Military Courts Martial Registers, 1806-1930
|
Military
|
838,431
|
Iowa, World War II Bonus Case Files for Beneficiaries, 1947-1959
|
Military
|
19,760
|
UK, British Army Lists, 1882-1962
|
Military
|
2,421,506
|
Orange Free State, South Africa, Estate Files, 1951-2006
|
Wills,
Probates, Land, Tax & Criminal
|
218,266
|
UK, Military Deserters, 1812-1927
|
Military
|
302,802
|
Hawaii, Passenger Lists, 1843-1898
|
Immigration
& Travel
|
165,630
|
Cape Province, South Africa, Estates Death Notice Index, 1834-1956
|
Birth,
Marriage & Death, including Parish
|
316,197
|
Western Australia, Australia, Land Leases, Licences, Applications and
Selected Images, 1821-1938
|
Wills,
Probates, Land, Tax & Criminal
|
313,805
|
South Africa, Select Estates Death Notice Index, 1833-2008
|
Birth,
Marriage & Death, including Parish
|
44,432
|
Transvaal Province, South Africa, Estates Death Notice Index,
1855-1976
|
Birth,
Marriage & Death, including Parish
|
449,990
|
South Africa, Slaves and Free Blacks Records Index, 1658-1835
|
Census
& Electoral Rolls
|
22,128
|
UK, British Army Recipients of the Military Medal, 1914-1920
|
Military
|
88,543
|
Dorset, England, Poor Law Apprenticeship Records, 1623-1898
|
Wills,
Probates, Land, Tax & Criminal
|
2,739
|
Bavaria, Germany, Lutheran Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1556-1973
(in German)
|
Birth,
Marriage & Death, including Parish
|
3,625,488
|
UK & Ireland, Medical Directories, 1845-1942
|
Schools,
Directories & Church Histories
|
738,852
|
UK, The Midwives Roll, 1904-1959
|
Schools,
Directories & Church Histories
|
398,334
|
UK, Medical and Dental Students Registers, 1882-1937
|
Schools,
Directories & Church Histories
|
92,436
|
UK, Dentist Registers, 1879-1942
|
Schools,
Directories & Church Histories
|
124,647
|
UK, Roll of the Indian Medical Service, 1615 -1930
|
Schools,
Directories & Church Histories
|
8,443
|
Friday, October 14, 2016
Scotland's Places is now free to search
Big news for those with Scottish ancestors - the Government-supported website ScotlandsPlaces has removed the subscription fee from its digital collections, meaning users now have unlimited access to millions of historical documents including the following :
Historical Tax Rolls
- Carriage Tax, 1785-1798, (20 volumes)
- Cart Tax, 1785-1798, (14 volumes)
- Clock and Watch Tax, 1797-1798, (2 volumes)
- Consolidated Schedules of Assessed Taxes, 1798-1799 (32 volumes)
- Dog Tax, 1797-1798, (2 volumes)
- Farm Horse Tax, 1797-1798, (13 volumes)
- Female Servant Tax, 1785-1792, (28 volumes)
- Hearth Tax, 1691-1695, (43 volumes)
- Horse Tax, 1785-1798, (33 volumes)
- Inhabited House Tax, 1778-1798 (64 volumes)
- Land Tax, 1645-1831, (129 volumes)
- Male Servant Tax, 1777-1798, (27 volumes)
- Poll Tax, 1694-1698, (88 volumes)
- Shop Tax, 1785-1789, (8 volumes)
- Window Tax, 1748-1798, (218 volumes)
Ordnance Survey Name Books
- Aberdeenshire, 1865-1878, (91 volumes)
- Argyll, 1868-1878, (81 volumes)
- Ayrshire, 1855-1857, (64 volumes)
- Banffshire, 1867-1869, (28 volumes)
- Berwickshire, 1856-1858, (41 volumes)
- Buteshire, 1855-1864, (7 volumes)
- Caithness, 1871-1873, (15 volumes)
- Clackmannanshire, 1861-1862, (7 volumes)
- Dumfriesshire, 1848-1858, (55 volumes)
- Dunbartonshire, 1860, (18 volumes)
- East Lothian, 1853-1854, (55 volumes)
- Fife and Kinross-shire, 1853-1855, (135 volumes)
- Forfarshire (Angus), 1857-1861, (84 volumes)
- Inverness-shire, 1876-1878, (86 volumes)
- Kincardineshire, 1863, (20 volumes)
- Kircudbrightshire, 1848-1851, (159 volumes)
- Lanarkshire, 1858-1861, (50 volumes)
- Midlothian, 1852-1853, (135 volumes)
- Morayshire, 1868-1871, (23 volumes)
- Nairnshire, 1869, (7 volumes)
- Orkney, 1878-1880, (26 volumes)
- Peeblesshire, 1856-1858, (47 volumes)
- Perthshire, 1856-1858, (79 volumes)
- Renfrewshire, 1856-1857, (21 volumes)
- Ross and Cromarty, 1848-1852, (187 volumes)
- Roxburghshire, 1858-1860, (42 volumes)
- Selkirkshire, 1858, (15 volumes)
- Shetland, 1877-1878, (26 volumes)
- Stirlingshire, ca 1864, (27 volumes)
- Sutherland, 1871-1875, (35 volumes)
- West Lothian, 1855-1859, (69 volumes)
- Wigtownshire, 1845-1849, (88 volumes)
RCAHMS Archives
- Alexander Curle diaries, 1908-1953 (14 volumes)
- Inventories, 1909-1992 (30 volumes)
Burgh registers
- Aberdeenshire Burgh Registers, 1398-1511 (8 volumes)
Official Reports
- Medical Officer of Health Reports, 1891
- Land Ownership Commission Reports, 1872-1873
Published Gazetteers and Atlases
- Hay Shennan, County and Parish Boundaries, 1892
- An Atlas of Scottish History to 1707
Hydrographic Surveys
- Bathmetrical Surveys of Scottish Lochs, 1898-1909
Friday, October 7, 2016
PROV Website Test Available
The new PROV website is now available in test (beta) form: beta.prov.vic.gov.au. The new site has been developed to provide you with a
faster search and simpler navigation, making finding what you’re looking
for a lot easier.
It includes:
It includes:
- topic pages for our most popular collections
- common questions for new and experienced researchers
- a photographic page listing both our digitised and non-digitised collections
- a page featuring online exhibitions about Victorian state history.
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