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What is Genealogy and What Does it Mean?

What is Genealogy and What Does it Mean?

The word genealogy comes from the Greek words “genos” meaning “race” or “family” and “logia” meaning “study of”. Genealogy, therefore, refers to the study and tracing of family lineages and ancestry. It’s the science of identifying and documenting one’s family history, including ancestors, descendants, and relatives. How do you keep your Genealogy Records? Paper or Online? For many people, genealogy is a passion and a way to connect with their past, understand their heritage, and learn about the history and…

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How to Identify all Possible Alternative Surname Spellings

How to Identify all Possible Alternative Surname Spellings

Most if not all surnames have been passed down over hundreds or thousands of years. The vast majority of holders would not have been able to read or write so we get massive discrepancies in surname spellings. Below are some great ways to make sure you’re searching for all available alternative surname spellings. How do you keep your Genealogy Records? Paper or Online? 1. Soundex This was developed before the Internet existed and has been a staple in genealogy since…

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Recording Unnamed Infants Guide

Recording Unnamed Infants Guide

Once you start digging into individual family units you’ll quickly realise the unfortunate fact that a lot of children were stillborn or within a few days of birth. Recording Unnamed Infants is often crucial when trying to understand the mindset and mental health of ancestors. How do you keep your Genealogy Records? Paper or Online? An example I came across recently was my 2x Great Grandmother. I had three recorded children in my tree and I was in the stage…

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Websites To Help With Researching Italian Ancestors

Websites To Help With Researching Italian Ancestors

Below are three great websites that can help with all of your Italian research and finding your italian ancestors. How do you keep your Genealogy Records? Paper or Online? 1 – Antenati “The Portale Antenati (Ancestors Portal) – promoted and sponsored by the Direzione Generale per gli Archivi (Italian National Archives) – was born out of the necessity to make available the huge treasure of documents that are stored in the State Archives, not only for the purposes of genealogical…

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How Can I Work Out What Relationship Someone Is To Me From DNA cM Shared?

How Can I Work Out What Relationship Someone Is To Me From DNA cM Shared?

Sometimes, you’ll get a match on AncestryDNA, 23andme, FTNDA or another commercial DNA test and not know who this person is, or how they fit in to your tree. Using DNA Painter you can eliminate the relationships that aren’t possible and narrow your list down to a few possibilities and find out what relationship you have based on DNA shared. How do you keep your Genealogy Records? Paper or Online? Firstly just enter in the cM shared or percentage between you…

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Does DNA Testing Show Both Maternal and Paternal Ancestry?

Does DNA Testing Show Both Maternal and Paternal Ancestry?

Many commercial DNA tests such as Ancestry or 23andMe offer up a massive wealth of information on the tester’s ancestry, however some information is sometimes misinterpreted when researching DNA tests. A lot of people seem to think that if a male takes a test they can only see their Paternal Ancestry and if a female takes a test they can only see the Maternal part. This is not necessarily true, there are three main types of DNA test. Autosomal, Y-DNA…

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Searching The UK Protestation Returns of 1641/1642

Searching The UK Protestation Returns of 1641/1642

The UK Protestation Returns of 1641/1642 are the closest thing that we have to a census. If you are lucky enough to have traced your ancestry back to this time and you know the exact parish that they lived in, then it could be worth taking a look at these records to see if their names appear in them. How do you keep your Genealogy Records? Paper or Online? In 1641 by order of the House Of Commons, every adult male…

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Validating Old Place Names That No Longer Exist

Validating Old Place Names That No Longer Exist

Often when looking for ancestors, you will come across a place name that you don’t recognise and when you try to look it up, it doesn’t exist anymore. There are ways you can validate old place names. Usually you’ll find these in places that have changed governments or allegiances to differ countries throughout the last couple of hundred years. It’s good practice to record the place as it was at the time that the particular record was written. Some steps…

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Open Ended Questions to Ask Older Generations of Your Family

Open Ended Questions to Ask Older Generations of Your Family

Almost everyone will have older members in their family that might not be around for that much longer, so it’s great to ask them about their lives and the lives of their Siblings, Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Parents and Grandparents. Below is a list of great questions to ask older generations. The majority of the time they will jump at the chance to give you what you’re after as long as you don’t go down the ‘survey’ avenue. I’ve seen a…

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Websites To Help You Find Old Local Maps

Websites To Help You Find Old Local Maps

Whilst it’s great learning about your ancestors, a lot of people neglect to learn about the places they lived or even the land they they might have owned or worked on. The majority of us will have ancestors that lived and worked in rural areas, be it in the United Kingdom, Europe or the USA. There are websites dedicated to preserving and displaying old local maps. What’s your preferred storage method for Family Trees? 1. Old-Maps.com (USA & Ireland) Old-Maps.com has…

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