Getting Started Help

10 COMMON SENSE RULES WHEN STARTING TO TRACE YOUR FAMILY TREE

Rule 1

Don’t try to trace your connection down from some historical figure you may be told you are related to.

Always start with yourself and work backwards.  Interview EVERYONE in the family and see what documents and photos you can obtain or copy.  Be careful with family stories, they tend to be sugar coated and sometimes connect the wrong event to the wrong person or generation.  In my foundation book, The A to Z of Genealogy, I have cross-referenced the various entries.  Interviewing Relatives is cross-referenced with Lies and Date Discrepancies!

Rule 2

Remember to record all women as who they are when they are born, not by their married name.

Rule 3

Don’t be a chauvinist – your father’s line is only a twig, not a tree.  The name you are born with falls either way of the wedding ring.  Many babies born before marriage are recorded under their mother’s maiden name.  Always remember your mother's line is more accurate than your father's.  Think "Mother’s baby! Father’s maybe?"  After all, your father’s line is only as good as your mother tells you.

Rule 4

Trace the lines of least resistance, those that are not German if you can’t sprechen zie deutsch, those that are not Irish if you want instant success.  Do the easy ones first, i.e. those who are born where they said they were born.

Rule 5

Don’t look for a marriage date nine months before the birth of the first child.  Many children were born within a few weeks, months or hours after and before the parents were married.

Rule 6

You will need to check the indexes to Births, Deaths and Marriages for the appropriate State and look up your ancestors' entries.  In some States the reference numbers means cheaper certificates.  Death certificates may be informative in Australia but they are the least correct.

Rule 7

Get organized from day one.  You’ll be killing a lot of trees with the paper trail you’ll be gathering.  Get the correct stationery or computer program to handle recording the data you will be collecting.  A good starting combination is a Stationery Kit and my book How to Trace Your Family Tree and Not Get Stuck on a Branch (Hale & Iremonger publishers) or the same book with Family Tree Maker for those who are computer literate.

Rule 8

Make sure you take good notes stating what you read, when you read it and whether it held any information crucial to your search.  This will save duplication of genealogy and keep you organized.  The Stationery Kit and Pocket Workbooks contain the necessary forms and charts needed to record your research notes.

Rule 9

Check to make sure someone hasn’t already traced your family tree. You can search through a series of books called the Genealogical Research Directory (GRD).  These are annual publications showing who is tracing whom in the family tree.   They can be found at most genealogical libraries, LDS Centres and major council libraries.  The Internet also provides a wealth of sites for free advertisement of names you are researching.

Rule 10

Lastly, invest in TV dinners and takeways, you won’t have the time or inclination to cook, garden or do anything but dig up your roots.  As one husband bemused, "I used to have a wife until she started genealogy."

Some Useful Web Sites

Newbies’ Guide to Genealogy & Family History

Cyndi's List  great gateway to genealogy

LDS site

UK Contact Page

Top of Page

AUSTRALIAN & NEW ZEALAND BIRTH, DEATH & MARRIAGE INDEXES

See What can you expect to see on Certificates?

See BDM Certificates, Costs and Online Searches

Some, or all, of the following can be searched at Libraries and Genealogy Societies

NEW SOUTH WALES

Pioneer Index 1788-1888 (Births, Deaths and Marriages)  CD-ROM

Federation Index 1889-1919 (Births, Deaths and Marriages) CD-ROM

Between the Wars 1920-1945 (Marriages and Deaths only) CD-ROM

Births, Deaths and Marriages 1870-1902 microfiche

Deaths 1824-2004 Part 1 CD-ROM

Pioneer Index 1829-1889 (Births, Deaths and Marriages) CD-ROM

Federation Index 1890-1914 (Births, Deaths and Marriages) CD-ROM

Births Index 1890-1919 microfiche

Deaths Index 1890-1964 microfiche

Marriages Index 1890-1939 microfiche

SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Births 1842-1906 and 1907-1928 CD-ROM

Deaths 1842-1915 and 1916-1972 CD-ROM

Marriages 1842-1916 and 1917-1937 CD-ROM

Births 1842-1928 microfiche

Deaths 1842-1970 microfiche

Marriages 1842-1937 microfiche

TASMANIA

Pioneer Index 1803-1899 (Births, Deaths and Marriages) CD-ROM and microfiche

Federation Index (Births 1900-1919, Deaths and Marriages 1900-1930) CD-ROM

Births 1900-1905 microfiche

Deaths 1900-1919 microfiche

Marriages 1900-1919 microfiche

Tasmania Collection of Records (baptisms 1830s-1950s) CD-ROM

Pioneer Index 1837-1888 (Births, Deaths and Marriages) CD-ROM and microfiche

Federation Index 1889-1901 (Births, Deaths and Marriages) CD-ROM and microfiche

Edwardian Index 1902-1913 (Births, Deaths and Marriages) CD-ROM and microfiche

Great War Index 1914-1920 (Births, Deaths and Marriages) CD-ROM and microfiche

Death Index 1921-1985 CD-ROM and microfiche

Marine Births, Deaths and Marriages 1853-1920 CD-ROM

Marriage Index 1921-1942 CD-ROM and microfiche

WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Pioneer Index 1841-1905 (Births, Deaths and Marriages) CD-ROM

Marriage Index 1829-1896 (brides and grooms cross-referenced) CD-ROM

Death Index 1906-1980 microfiche

Marriage Index 1906-1965 microfiche

Other Indexes available

Argus Newspaper Victoria Index of Births 1914-1931, Marriages 1931-1941 CD-ROM

Bounty Immigrants to NSW 1828-1842 CD-ROM

Immigration to Victoria 1852-1879 CD-ROM

Inquest Index Victoria 1840-1985 microfiche

The Paracensus of Australia 1788-1828 CD-ROM

Victorian Divorce Index 1861-1900 microfiche

Victoria Federal Referendum 1899 CD-ROM

Victorian Sands & Kenny's Melbourne Directories 1857-1861 CD-ROM

NEW ZEALAND

NZ Marriages 1836-1956 CD-ROM

BDM Indexes pre-1900 microfiche

BDM Indexes 1901-1990 microfiche

BDM Maori Indexes 1911-1961 microfiche

New! Search BDMs online

Top of Page

Back to Main Page

Janet Reakes helped thousands of people because she believed

"A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle."

Her web site is maintained in her memory by genealogy friends who share that belief.