Concentrating on ancestors I have found.

[Guy Etchells]

Whatever works for a specific researcher is the best way.

Pedantic records of everything is one way, but its time and resource consuming.  Yes each record needs verification but you can easily accrue a mass of baptism and death records, just how many do you need.

Initially I created our tree based on known family members, then went back as far as the 1841 census returns, using census returns on each family member 1841 to 1911 to fill out sideways.

Years later its time to fill in the sideways details and many more family members we never knew existed have been found and in turn we have been found by others.

So it is whatever works for you.

Only advice I would suggest is to be very sceptical of hints on the likes of Ancestry where in my own family’s case many other researchers have blindly copied incorrect family details from each other without verification.

It may be time and resource consuming but how many times do we here "I have just deleted x years of research as I discovered I was chasing the wrong line"?

As my woodwork teacher used to say, "measure twice cut once".

I have found it very useful to compile full families including the siblings as dates of birth for siblings may point to a wrong choice for the initial ancestor, in a similar way checking baptisms for births between 1836 and the present day is valuable as it gets the researcher accustomed to parish registers etc., meaning breaking the pre 1836 barrier is not as daunting as it appears to many. That is before even considering families with common names.

You ask "just how many do you need" the answer to that is very simple as many as possible especially when dealing with records that may contain multiple copies such as Parish Registers. It has been known for a section of a parish register to have been copied 5 different times plus Bishop's Transcripts, by studying the copies one may work out which is likely to be the most accurate version of the register.

I don't particularly care how people research or whether they have error filled trees on Ancestry etc., that is their business; but this is a forum, a place to air thoughts and suggestions where ideas and views on a particular issue can be exchanged and so I air my views on the subject
Cheers
Guy.

[Mike in Cumbria]

Can you comment, Mike?  Anything known to you?

Afraid not - West Cumbria is another world altogether. It's an odd place, stuck on the wrong side of the Lake District mountains with a collapsed industrial heritage, high unemployment and some very disadvantaged post-industrial societies.

[gemmanoon]

My genealogical research has moved more to social history for each of my ancestors, trying to place them into the context of the time and place they lived to better understand their lives and challenges. Ths had led to a proposal for a PhD in socialnhistory (fingers crossed) and I find it far more rewarding and satisfying than just adding names to the tree.

Our ancestors were people, with complex lives and loves, interests and challenges. As almost all of mine were dirt poor or working class, there is very little from them directly. As most were from Liverpool, the modern city is unrecognisable from the one they lived, worked and died in. I know I can't reconstruct their specific lives beyond the events I can find records for, but by understanding what was happening in the city, what their surroundings looked like, what pressures they were suffering from at the time, I feel like they are becoming people again, and not just names on a chart. The poor "nobodies" of history are my personal heritage, and they are as important as the rich and famous. As fantastic as it is to break through that brick wall and confirm a missing ancestor on the tree, right now I'm getting so much satisfaction from working with maps, old architectural drawings and public health records.

It's a great alternative if you're stuck or getting fed up with trying to go backwards.

[IgorStrav]

Can you comment, Mike?  Anything known to you?

Afraid not - West Cumbria is another world altogether. It's an odd place, stuck on the wrong side of the Lake District mountains with a collapsed industrial heritage, high unemployment and some very disadvantaged post-industrial societies.

You've got to feel very sympathetic to the Dronfield steel workers -

A new industry, lots of jobs introduced in the 1870's giving hope and opportunity to Ag Labs  in the area

Then a decline in competitiveness resulting in a move right across the country

A decision to be made to follow - or not - leaving family and friends for a new life somewhere and surely little likelihood of being able to return to visit (even if they could afford the rail fare, could they get the holiday to do so?)

And then the decline of that business in the end.....

Still, they founded Workington Football Club apparently.

[IgorStrav]

My genealogical research has moved more to social history for each of my ancestors, trying to place them into the context of the time and place they lived to better understand their lives and challenges. Ths had led to a proposal for a PhD in socialnhistory (fingers crossed) and I find it far more rewarding and satisfying than just adding names to the tree.

Our ancestors were people, with complex lives and loves, interests and challenges. As almost all of mine were dirt poor or working class, there is very little from them directly. As most were from Liverpool, the modern city is unrecognisable from the one they lived, worked and died in. I know I can't reconstruct their specific lives beyond the events I can find records for, but by understanding what was happening in the city, what their surroundings looked like, what pressures they were suffering from at the time, I feel like they are becoming people again, and not just names on a chart. The poor "nobodies" of history are my personal heritage, and they are as important as the rich and famous. As fantastic as it is to break through that brick wall and confirm a missing ancestor on the tree, right now I'm getting so much satisfaction from working with maps, old architectural drawings and public health records.

It's a great alternative if you're stuck or getting fed up with trying to go backwards.

Absolutely agree.

And very best of  luck with that PhD proposal 

[pinefamily]

An example of background information for our ancestors.
Reading up on Bideford in the 17th century, who knew that Bideford was the second busiest port for tobacco, only surpassed by London? I was amazed.

[Lalzovi]

I have also taken this approach and agree that it brings up quite a spectrum of historical interest - it can feel like studying British history all over again but brought to life by the characters who lived through it. Detailed sources containing the basic facts still demand further interrogation - did the church look different at that time? why did they work in that profession? who were the major landowners in their area? were they at the cusp of a new industry? what were they doing while they were staying with their distant relatives? who were their bosses? what new laws and acts had been passed at that time that affected them?

For me the main reason I started was to make my research more accessible to my family members. It is hard to make a tree or list of dates interesting but presenting the same information in narrative form with as many pictures and contextual detail as possible has been appreciated so far. I have sent first drafts to people who share my interest and have personal knowledge to add, and then once it is more refined it can be distributed among other relatives and kept for posterity and revisions by future generations. Meanwhile, the tree itself along with sources is kept private and separate but I can give access to relatives who are more curious.

I think writing out the story can also help people avoid the common pitfalls we hear about on 'bad trees' - it would take a high form of mindlessness to write a story about an individual flitting between continents, travelling in time and having children after their death! If something doesn't make sense, it compels you to go back and check the sources again.

[Lalzovi]

...in fact one of the most interesting characters in my tree would not have been found if it had not been for my desire to flesh out the details - the discovery was done with the help of some of you Rootschatters on another thread here.

I had an individual who consistently listed his birthplace as Colne in census records but I could not find a record for his birth or any likely parents. If I had stuck to just listing records I would have just stated "born in Colne" or "from Colne". However, we later discovered that he had been christened in Sowerby where his parents were originally from, but since his father was an itinerant Methodist minister largely based in Colne the individual had grown up considering Colne to be his birthplace. His father's fascinating life is well recorded in Methodist documents, but he would not have been found if I had not cared about his son's story.

[pinefamily]

That's a good point you make Lalzovi. To look back and see how they lived their lives, and why they did certain things, in the context of the time they lived in. It is easy to look back and apply our modern ideas and prejudices to our ancestors. Looking at the bigger picture, their occupations, how they lived/dressed/ate, and the world at that time gives us a better understanding of their mindset.