Who to include in Family Tree???

[eadaoin]

I do the siblings of my direct ancestors .. everything about them, because I feel that they have contributed to my ancestors life.

Ex: both my parents knew many of their cousins very well, and these come into family tales ..
And my Gran was a younger one of a large family of mainly boys, some of whom left home soon after she was born .. how did this affect her personally?

And many of them, even second cousins, lived in each others houses .. so these ones aree important

[clayton bradley]

Sometimes you need to go very wide because of brickwalls. I have a direct ancestor named Ann Smith born in 1800 in Clayton le Moors in Lancashire. I have researched Smiths in Clayton le Moors and several neighbouring areas in the course of looking for her. Of course, most of these people aren't related to me but I've put some on an Ancestry tree as it may help someone  else, claytonbradley

[ThrelfallYorky]

I tend to agree with Clayton Bradley, often a peek into the development of sibling lines can help to push over a brick wall or two - I "mislaid" an ancestor for years, until from boredom I followed another line - and there she was, ensconced as "Auntie", all the time! There are no hard and fast rules, but I do rather wonder about just collections of names with nothing else

[Paige20]

Currently, I'm just doing my direct ansectors through the male line. They're a lot easier to find, although after I can't go back any farther I'll go back to the females. 

[Carra]

I am full of admiration for those who take a disciplined approach to research. The trouble is I am easily distracted. I'm back to the late C18th with my direct line and they are located about 6 miles from where I am currently sat!! They had probably interesting lives as farmers, publicans and mine workers and the fact that I know the area so well means I can often quickly work out where they actually lived. However they appear to have done nothing much of great note and there is little background information to fill the gaps. I continue to come back to them but when it all becomes a little difficult I become distracted by the lines of siblings of my direct ancestors. By doing this I have found a relative who fought, and died, in the Battle of Britain. Much has been written about him and excerpts of his letters home have been published. I also found two who went into nursing, both of whom became Matrons and one of whom was awarded the Royal Red Cross (First Class). There is much information about both and even a letter from one printed in the Nursing Record. As long as I continue to find interesting stories I think I will continue to be distracted and what the heck its my research 

[Guy Etchells]

It depends what you call a family tree.
Are you researching your pedigree or are you researching your family history?

If you are simply researching your pedigree miss out all collateral lines and only research the pure blood lines.

If however you wish to research your family history then prepare for a lifetimes work/hobby. Research all lines of the family as far and wide as they go, up and down, including stillborns, research the people who were an influence on your family these may include neighbours or in a village even the whole village.
Research the history of the time and place your family lived in, in other words include everything that may have a bearing on how and why your family lived the way it did.
Everything has a part to play in who you are and why you are who you are.

Cheers
Guy

[maggbill]

Guy,

You have put it so clearly - the aim of "Family History"!!  I have gone through a stage of thinking that I have strayed a bit far in researching side branches of our family, - but what a wealth of interesting and educational information I have found!!

"Everything has a part to play in who you are, and why you are who you are"!!!  You have hit the nail on the head!  And that is why so many of us find this a lifetime hobby!  "Researching the time and place your family lived in - ... everything that may have a bearing on how and why your family lived the way it did". 

Well said!

[bibliotaphist]

I agree in spades.

I've realised what I'm really interested in is just history. And this sounds a bit pretentious, but my family tree is a tool for learning more about the history of working class people in England and the places and times they lived in, which I can do by following a path of connections that lead directly from me and my children.

[alanmack]

I've realised what I'm really interested in is just history. And this sounds a bit pretentious, but my family tree is a tool for learning more about the history of working class people in England and the places and times they lived in, which I can do by following a path of connections that lead directly from me and my children.

Me too! I dropped history in school in favour of sciences, etc., so having found the basic structure of my family, filling in the gaps is a history education in itself, e.g where your relatives were in India and why.