How to find out your pedigree? How to make a genealogy of your family?

2024 Author: Priscilla Miln | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 00:21

How to find out the pedigree? Everyone would like to know their family history. However, before starting the search, it is necessary to get the clearest idea of which documents will carry the greatest information value for us. And also how to structure the acquired knowledge so that disparate facts line up first in the biography of a particular person, and then unite into a holistic drawing of a family tree that can tell you the story of your family.

Where to start?

Searching for a family tree, no matter how exciting it may seem to you, is not only an opportunity to conduct fascinating investigations, touch the mysteries of the past, but also a lot of routine work with papers. That is why, from the very beginning, accustom yourself to order. Clearly systematize all the data you find; lack of order at the root will ruin your work, nullifying all your efforts.

It is best to store the found information in special folders with the time and placelocation and source. We will talk about the most significant documents a little later. In the meantime, we need to focus on the preparatory work, which will help you save a lot of time and effort in the future. Try to keep documents relating to relatives on the father's side and mother's side in separate folders.

And for information on each specific person, let a separate envelope be assigned. If you are thinking about how to make a family tree of your family, you should approach this issue as seriously as possible.

How to work with documents?

To learn the basics of working with documents is for everyone who thinks about how to find out the pedigree. It is best to start your work with certificates and other papers containing key information about a person. These include mainly birth and death certificates, concluded and dissolved marriages, documents on education, certificates and military cards. Having at least this information on hand, you will be able to highlight the key dates in a person’s life, thereby forming its framework. Pay special attention to passport data: they open up opportunities for you to search for data in archives.

After you have collected all the necessary documents, conduct a brief inventory of them. Number the envelopes you have. If you managed to find old, dilapidated photographs and documents, you do not need to restore them. However, if possible, indicate in pencil on their back all the necessary information (in particular, who is depicted onpicture and when it was taken). It is best to store documents in expanded form; it is highly undesirable to paste them into albums.

Sources of information

One of the most extensive sources of information at all times was considered human memories. That is why you should not be surprised that by asking your loved ones just a few questions about your relatives, you will learn as much interesting information about them as the world's most extensive archive would not provide. That is why it is quite logical to start the search, armed with a notebook and a pen. And, if possible, also a voice recorder and a camera. This will allow you not only to collect the most complete information based on the stories of your loved ones, but also to photograph many interesting details - family heirlooms, valuables, etc.

You can find the people you are interested in using the phone book of the city.

The Internet (in particular, social networks) also provides modern people with wide opportunities for searching. An effective way to search for a person who is registered with the military will also tell you his military ID. It is enough just to contact the military registration and enlistment office, providing the personal data of the person and the city in which he has ever been registered.

When making an appointment, be sure to inform people about the purpose of your visit, and also warn that you will be taking photos or videos. It is best to prepare a list of questions in advance. Moreover, it is very desirable to build them in such a way that it is impossible to answer them.monosyllable. Try to learn as much as possible not only about the ancestors themselves, but also about the house in which they lived, the family traditions that they adhered to. Can your loved ones remember vivid cases in one way or another connected with your family? What failed events could somehow affect the course of its history? Pay special attention to the reaction of the interlocutor and whether he is willing to share data with you.

Creation of individual cards

So, you already have the first data you have collected in your hands. You already understand how to find out the pedigree - yours or someone else's. Now it's time to organize the information. A good way is to make individual cards. What data should be included first?

Sign the card, indicating the last name, first name, patronymic, as well as the year and place of birth of the person, the date of his death. For women, a maiden name is also required. Then enter the data of his parents, godparents and other immediate relatives on the card. For those who were born before 1917, also indicate the class to which he belonged. Where did your relative spend most of his life, did he change it and, if so, at what time and for what reason? What was his religion? What kind of education did your loved one receive and where did he/she study in different years of life?

Caring about how to find out your pedigree, also indicate the place of work of each of the people, positions and titles. If your relative participated in the hostilities, had certainawards, medals, orders and insignia, be sure to indicate this as well.

Try to find as much information as possible about the person's marital status, as well as about their children.

The conceptual apparatus of genealogy

After all the cards are formed, it's time to ask yourself how to make a family tree. To make it easier for you to navigate this difficult process, learn some new expressions for yourself.

Ascending lineage begins with a specific person in ascending line from father to grandfather. Descending, on the contrary, begins with the most distant ancestor, after which it refers the person to his descendants. Male pedigree indicates exclusively male representatives in a particular family, mixed - all its representatives, regardless of gender.

Building a family tree

The family tree is one of the most common ways of organizing pedigree data. If you figured out how to find out the pedigree, your table will be pretty easy for you to create. You can take ready-made templates for decorating a tree or make your own. Special programs for creating such tables can greatly simplify the task for you, which automatically organize the data immediately after they are entered.

What is a family tree painting?

Have you thought about how to make a genealogy of your family, and have you already compiled a family tree? For convenience, you can also briefly retell it verbally by including indescription is a bit of information about each name included in it. This way of storing information will be called "pedigree painting".

Checking results

When asking how to find out the pedigree of their family, everyone probably asked themselves how to check the reliability of the results. In order to verify the truth of the information found, apply the laws of genealogy to your tree. In each of the following generations, the number of people should double. The duration of every three generations should be one hundred years.