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Author Topic: How do you organise your family history research?  (Read 4390 times)
Lady Di
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Re: How do you organise your family history research?
« Reply #15 on: Sunday 18 December 05 12:02 GMT (UK) »

I use exactly the same system as Sylviaann. Use WORD all the way - it's great for all the photos and graphics as well as telling the family stories.

I printed it all out once and I have what appears to be a family history book of (too many) pages and it actually looks like a "real" book as each person has their own story.
I then keep all my research in a separate folder for each family, then a plastic sleeve for each member of that family.

I would love to do a proper family tree - with little boxes etc but I think the 20ft long tree sounds like one may need a new house to show it off - or a VERY large wall.

Happy hunting

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MOULE         :Whaddon/Cambs
SMITH          :SSX/Brighton and Birmingham
TATTERSALL : NSW,SSX/Brighton
GINGER        : London
AGGS           : Norfolk & London
GOODWIN   : Kent


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salamanda
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Re: How do you organise your family history research?
« Reply #16 on: Sunday 18 December 05 15:01 GMT (UK) »

   Embarrassed   I don't!!     I'm afraid if I get too organise I'll never find anything.  As it is I know where to find just what I want.....in a big box.... Cheesy


I do use Family Historian on line and keep it up to date where it's easy to send to anyone that needs info on my tree..

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Berkshire; Woodage, Challis.

Oxfordshire; Gardner. Collett, Geary.
Quinn
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Re: How do you organise your family history research?
« Reply #17 on: Monday 19 December 05 16:48 GMT (UK) »

Organized?  What's that? Grin

I started with my dad's paternal side.  No problem - 1 3 ring binder, the big one.  Then I moved on to my paternal great grandfather's wife's family.  For this one, I made a labeled hanging folder and cleared an area in a file cabinet.  That was 12 years ago.

Now, I am deeply involved in researching EVERY main branch of my father's family and my mother's family.  This is at the bare minimum (!) a total of 12 names.  That doesn't take into account other extended family names that have great bearing on the research.

What I did was allocate one filing cabinet strictly for family history.  EACH family branch has a hanging file folder labeled with the surname.  (In some cases, it's two folders which are labeled for example: QUINN - A  QUINN - B.)

I also use the Legacy computer program.  Slightly confusing until you learn it, but it works for me.

One burp in all of this was the day I received what I thought was going to be maybe 10 pages of family information.  What I got instead was way over 100 pages of lineage, going back to 1435!  It filled a 3 ring binder!

What I did with this was label the binder, put everything in there and it now sits directly behind the hanging folder in my cabinet.

That's my method.  Not the greatest, but it works for me.

Patty
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izabel
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Re: How do you organise your family history research?
« Reply #18 on: Monday 19 December 05 20:29 GMT (UK) »

Im still new to this so the wall does just fine at the moment.  Keep making little charts and sticking them in the relevant places.  Maybe I can convince the long suffering husband to buy me a program for christmas. Any suugestions for simple program for a computer moron?
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wheeldon
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Re: How do you organise your family history research?
« Reply #19 on: Tuesday 20 December 05 18:20 GMT (UK) »

I don't do organisation very well - so I give most of the paperwork and certs to my Mum and she does it for me  Cheesy

Honest, it's a good idea as sometimes when she can't sleep she has a read and drags a memory up that she didn't even realise she had!

The other half of it is all over the computer desk and hubby says one day I will find it all in the bin.  So I will read all your ideas carefully.
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Wheeldon  Derbyshire & Manchester
Willshaw Staffordshire & Manchester
Wilshaw Staffordshire & Manchester
Pugh Manchester, Haston, Hadwell, Shrewsbury, Shropshire
Patrick Coventry, Warwick, Foleshill
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Moffatt/Moffitt County May &, Lancashire
Rachel W
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Re: How do you organise your family history research?
« Reply #20 on: Wednesday 21 December 05 11:15 GMT (UK) »

Brilliant - so many different ideas, I just need the time to get started now!

I have trees in Word which can be extended when necessary.

Can I just ask how you make trees in word? Cheers!
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Waite, Marchant, Nash, Goddard, Pocock, Hiles, Switzer, Larondie, Harris to name just a few!
scrattletrap
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WWW
Re: How do you organise your family history research?
« Reply #21 on: Wednesday 21 December 05 13:07 GMT (UK) »

       + Grandfather
       |
+----Father
|      |
|      + Grandmother
|
name
|
|
|
+----Mother



This is how I do a basic tree with word.

Sharon
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Sylviaann
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Re: How do you organise your family history research?
« Reply #22 on: Wednesday 21 December 05 13:15 GMT (UK) »

Yes like that

Main name    =   Wife
b.                 |     b
d.                 |     d
                    |     m.
____________|___________
|            |          |
child1    child 2   child3

I tried to add a copy but can't will send a PM.
I then write a page for each family unit with BMD and census information addresses etc.  Also anything happening in the world at the time.  For instance my London family had The Big Stink, Mafeking was relieved, new housing built.  This then is the basis for a book and can be understood by the family.  You can add things as you find them

I prefer family history to just names.

Sylviaann
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Census information is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
Norfolk: Gooch, Loveday, Lake, Betts
Suffolk: Gooch, Crosby, Turner
Hampshire: Laws, Burrows
Kent: Beer
Jersey: Barette, de Gruchy
East London: Middleton, Gower, O'Farrell, Smith, Weston
Sylviaann
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Re: How do you organise your family history research?
« Reply #23 on: Wednesday 21 December 05 16:12 GMT (UK) »

Scattletrap

That is what I call a birth brief.  Very useful for an overall picture of the family.

see an example here http://www.langhorns.co.uk/langhornline/birthbrief.html

Sylviaann
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Census information is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
Norfolk: Gooch, Loveday, Lake, Betts
Suffolk: Gooch, Crosby, Turner
Hampshire: Laws, Burrows
Kent: Beer
Jersey: Barette, de Gruchy
East London: Middleton, Gower, O'Farrell, Smith, Weston
meles
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Re: How do you organise your family history research?
« Reply #24 on: Wednesday 21 December 05 16:43 GMT (UK) »

I use Family Tree Maker as a main tool, as you can put everything there. But, just so I can get an overall look, I use not Word, but Excel. The sheets are all in an Excel Workbook, so I can put each branch of the tree into a connected page, linked by a hyperlink. The electronic Post it note is also helpful as I can make notes on each entry.

meles
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Brock: Alburgh, Norfolk, and after 1850, London; Tooley: Norfolk
Grimmer: Norfolk; Grimson: Norfolk
Harrison: London; Pollock
Dixon: Hampshire; Collins: Middx
Jeary: Norfolk; Davison: Norfolk
Rogers: London; Bartlett: London
Drew: Kent; Alden: Hants
Gamble: Yorkshire; Huntingford: East London

Census information is Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
may
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Love to chat about genealogy


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Re: How do you organise your family history research?
« Reply #25 on: Wednesday 21 December 05 16:46 GMT (UK) »

My problem is not so much storing information which is useful at the time, but keeping information which I cannot fit into my tree at the time, but may come in useful one day, especially from other contacts.

I want to keep contact names etc and their associated names but where??

Anyone got any ideas please let me know Undecided
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looking for Toon in NW Leics. Henson from Peterborough and Leicester, King in London.  Would be happy to chat to others with the same interest in genealogy
scrattletrap
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Re: How do you organise your family history research?
« Reply #26 on: Wednesday 21 December 05 17:37 GMT (UK) »

Sylviaann
Thats excellent, was it also done on word or with some other program.

Sharon
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Glenpenny
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Re: How do you organise your family history research?
« Reply #27 on: Wednesday 21 December 05 17:54 GMT (UK) »

I use Roots Magic 2, which I think is great, having tried first Family Tree Maker and Personal Ancestral File.  I especially like the fact that you can have separate data bases but can see two or more on the screen at the same time for comparison, so if someone sends me a ged.com I can check it out thoroughly before combining them.  I also like the "To Do" feature as it reminds me what I need to check out.

So far as organising goes, I have four large lever arch files, one for each of our grandfather's names, using the acid free pockets to keep photographs, memoriam cards, newspaper cuttings etc., and another foolscap binder, again with acid free pockets, for storing certificates and Will copies.

I also have more lever arch files to keep information downloaded from the web, contacts from other people (e-mails etc), all sorted into alphabetical surnames.  If I get too much on one name, I put a marker in the alphabetical stuff telling me to refer to a separate ring binder. 

Works for me except I'm a bit lazy about printing the e-mails off and lost a load one time when the pc crashed. If anyone knows how to back up your "In box" please let me know.

Each to his own method though, whatever works for you.......

Glenys
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Benson - Greenhalgh
Hankinson - Freckleton
Roobottom - Barnsley
Drelincourt - Ireland
McLintock - Barnsley
Catlow - Colne, Newchurch-in-Pendle
Bowker - Newchurch-in-Pendle
Bambridge - Stebbing, Essex
Lagden - Thaxted, Stebbing
Perry - Stebbing
Wileber - Farcet, Huntingdon
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runner
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Re: How do you organise your family history research?
« Reply #28 on: Thursday 22 December 05 00:30 GMT (UK) »

Hi May

Like you we gathered a huge range uf bits & pieces.  Now we keep it in a big lever arcg file with dividers labelled for each family group. Several times that certificate from 6 months ago has turned out to be the one we were looking for all the time  - but why did they change a child's name or give wrong ages on the census???

The ones which have no direct links we put all together at the back and trust to memory to find them later.

If, eventually you decide they are no longer relevant you could post them on ther appropriate thread elsewhere on the site. They may be just what someone else is looking for but doesn't have credits to download!

Russell
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JAP
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Re: How do you organise your family history research?
« Reply #29 on: Thursday 22 December 05 00:58 GMT (UK) »

Rachel,

Apologies to all but I can't believe that, in this day and age, anyone is not using one of the excellent genealogical computer programs which are available.  Using Word, or Excel, or Access seems to me like re-inventing the wheel.  Most genie programs are good, their developers have run across and tried to solve all the problems that you will surely run across yourself if you try to start from scratch, and the choice depends on what suits you (just as if you were buying a car).  They range from free to various prices, and from very simple (i.e. fairly inflexible) to quite complex (i.e. very flexible and allowing you to choose your own way of doing things).  Use a smallish sample of your people to try out some of the free ones, and to try out trial demos of others - you will soon see what you like, what you don't like, and what features you really want to have.

And back up, back up, back up your computer records ...  (That is - do as I say, not as I do).

But it won't be a paperless office.  You'll still have heaps of folders and piles of papers.  And you'll probably change the way you organise them several times along the way.

And, even so, there will still be the situation where you just KNOW you have something relevant but can't put your hands on it!

JAP

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Scotland - HALL, HARLEY, LOCHTY/LOCHTIE/LOUGHTIE/LOUGHTY (very rare), MCLAUSE/MCLAWS/MCILHOSE/HOSE (quite rare and many very variable spellings - close to 100 to date), PHILP/PHILIP, VASSIE; Ireland - BOURKE/BURKE, DONOHUE (many spellings), DOOLEY, KINSELLA, MAXWELL, OSBORNE, RAFFERTY, STA(U)NTON, SULLIVAN; England - BAYES, BROWNELL, DALTON, FREEMAN, HACKING, PIERCY, SIDDLE, SWIFT, SULLIVAN, TINK(L)ER, TRIPPIT.  Any spellings and many other names!
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