Family history is important in instances where you want to write a book about your family, want to create a memorable photo album of family or want to trace a specific illness in your family bloodline. No matter the reason for getting interested in family history you will soon fall in love with the very idea of locating information of ancestors. Some of the useful sources and tips on family history will be shared in this section.

Where to start with your family history?

It all depends on what you want to do. If it is for a school project you simply can ask your parents for their information. If however, you want to create a family tree or even write a book, you will have the option of simply stating the family register. It is useful, but often boring. To make it more interesting, you will want to include pictures of gravestones, places where your ancestors worked and lived, their military records, something noteworthy about them, and also a bit of gossip which you will have to state as speculation.

Informal sources will be good starting point

Informal sources are those sources not seen as legal documents such as birthday cards, family bible inscriptions, love notes, diaries, and correspondence. The formal sources will be made up of documents such as death notices, wills, birth certificates, divorce papers, marriage papers, and more. Interviews are also part of informal sources, and remember, just because your aunt created the most awesome family tree, it doesn't mean the information is accurate. The information has to be verified in some or other way, and that is when you will make use of formal sources such as military records, school yearbooks, directories, census, and more.

Start with your immediate family

Trust me, it is far more difficult to trace a descendant's relationship to an ancestor if you have a few missing links than it seems. It is better to start with what you have available. As such, interview family members that you know first. Keep record of the date of interview and their contact details. This will be helpful later on. First you want the boring information such as name and surname, the spouse name and surname, kids, and then the siblings, the grandparents, nephews, and more. Be sure to ask birth dates, where born, married, dates of marriage, and dates of deaths, where buried, cause of death etc. Don't be concerned, I will share loads of information on the whole process under relevant sections. Enquire about their careers, military history, schools, places where they lived, hobbies, and any awkward moments, travelling and more.

Colour the picture a bit

You will find that people always say that they don't know much until you ask the right questions. Even if they cannot give you exact dates, go with the plus minus dates for a start then. Also go with nicknames if they can't remember the full names. Then ask them if they knew the person well, have they met at funerals - whose funerals and so on. Once you have done the first interviews, check all the names they have listed and then get their contact details from the persons interviewed. Now interview those persons to help fill in the gaps and confirm information. Get a few interesting tit-bits. Ask if they have bible incriptions of which you can take pictures, birth certificates, signatures, medals, and more.

Create a pedigree chart of each

Armed with what you already have, you can now create draft pedigree charts of each as well as descendant lists, and family groupings.Use all the information you have to put together a family history of the maternal and paternal line. The best is to use a family history software program. There are many programs out there that can be downloaded from the Internet for free. You can even create one online. I personally use PAF 5 and will recommend it above many other family history programs. Note your sources each time and whether confirmed or not.You may have reached a few dead ends with the informal information, but don't be concerned. It is only the start. You will most probably have to interview people a second an third time as you gather information and new questions arise. Keep track of the oldest people in your family, they may not be around for much longer and you want their knowledge and stories. They should be priority on your interview lists.

Time to go formal

Armed with a lot of unconfirmed information, but interesting I am sure, you will now have a lot of leads to work on. Use the Internet to find family histories already done on the particular names and contact the persons with your information. Ask the questions you want and give your information freely. Collaboration goes a long way in family history research. You will also consult online databases such as the National Archives of the particular country such as that of South Africa for each of the names. You can find the following types of records: Death Notices, Wills, Testaments, Divorce Records, Marriage Records, Census, Passenger Lists, etc. The above are just a few of the formal sources used in family history research. We will provide a whole list of resources shortly and contact details for the places where you can find such in South Africa.