Tracing Ancestors Is Not As Easy As It Looks – Take Care!

Since the rise of the internet, and the popularity of programmes such as Who Do You Think You Are and Heirfinders, tracing ancestors has never been so popular – or so easy.  With online access to 19th century census records and BMD indexes readily available, it is possible to trace a family back to the 1830s in a fraction of the time that you could when I first started tracing my own ancestry back in the 80s.

But it is this ease and quickness that worries me.  Genealogists who have had no training in research have never been taught to question every record, and are often too ready to believe everything they see in writing.  And while the published trees on sites such as Ancestry are very useful and can help to provide bits of information that you have not found yourself, you should never rely on them without following up the sources yourself.  I have seen terrible errors on these trees, and I find it sad that many people are probably chasing their family up the wrong tree!

I was glad to see in the recent episode of Who Do You Think You Are? that they showed the mistake that had been made with J. K. Rowling’s family tree – where a military person with a similar name and dates had been confused with the real ancestor – and without some careful studying of the actual details the correct ancestor may well have been missed.

Although I am a big fan of this programme, I have often felt in the past that they have made tracing your ancestors look far too easy, so this was a welcome change.  It is as well to remember that months of painstaking research have taken place before the filming of these episodes – it doesn’t all just happen as you see it (I may be teaching my granny to suck eggs here – but even the most intelligent could be fooled into believing it’s all a bit of a doddle).

So, if you are an amateur genealogist, it is ESSENTIAL that you take heed of the following guidelines:

• Understand Your Sources.  When using that most popular of sources, the census, for example, it is important that you understand its origins, the way the information was collected, and attitudes towards it.  The information that you see on census records has very often been written down by the enumerator by what he has heard from the head of household, copied at least once – and then indexed by modern transcribers.  Think how many spelling errors that will result in!   And did you know that many sufferagettes – and their supporters – refused to be included in the 1911 census as a protest against the Government’s refusal to allow votes for women?  Reading up about the history of every source you use will give you a professional understanding of how you should approach it for research.

• Question Your Sources. Just because something is written in ink does not make it true.  Think of all the reasons a human being might have for twisting, exaggerating or hiding the truth.  Always ask yourself, why was this document created, and who was it written for?  It sure as hell wasn’t written for the benefit of future genealogists!  The census was never intended for future publication, and was a statistical record for Governmental use.  Newspapers need to sell interesting stories.  Marriage registrations were merely a legal document – who cares if the name of the father is made up? (which often happens when the bride or groom were illegitimate and wanted to hide that fact…)

• Always Use Original Sources. In other words, do not rely on the indexes, or the information you get from the International Genealogical Index (IGI) or published family trees.  While these are extremely valuable tools for tracing elusive ancestors (I use the IGI all the time), it is imperative that you follow up this information by studying the actual original sources (e.g. parish registers) to make sure that the secondary source information you have seen is correct.  You will often find more information in the original records anyway (such as occupation, or place of origin etc)  The IGI is not complete, nor always accurate, and those who have published their family trees are not always very careful about their own research.  I know it is frustrating when the original sources are many miles away – but that is what we professional researchers are here for!  If you can’t look at the original records yourself, get someone reliable to do it for you!

• When Possible, Back Up Your Sources. Every source you use for each ancestor should be compared with others, and where possible, cross-referenced with similar sources.  This is not always possible – especially as you go further back in time, but doing this can bring up discrepancies and conflicting pieces of information that can be clues to further research.  Check every possible census record for your ancestor and compare each bit of information.  My grandfather has a different place of birth in the later records than for when he was a youngster.  Why?  If this happens in your tree – first make sure you have the right person by checking all other records, then look for other clues.  In my grandfather’s case, he was adopted by his brother-in-law after his parents’ early deaths – and his place of birth and surname from then on was the same as his adoptive father’s.  It is quite possible he did not know where he was born – or perhaps he wanted to disassociate himself with his origins.  We may never know…

• Always Take a Given Age with a Pinch of Salt! Ever since human beings walked the earth, they have had various reasons for hiding their age.  Yet I am always amazed at how many people treat the ages in records as absolute.  We all know of someone who has taken a few years off themselves because they don’t want to be thought of as middle-aged or old, or the teenager who adds a year in order to look more grown up.  Things were no different in Victorian times or any time before that.  Victorian wives or husbands who were much younger than their spouse would often give an older age on the census to make the gap between them more ‘respectable’.  The age on a death certificate was often a guess by an informant or official, who would go by how they looked.  In our age of obsession with facts and form-filling, very few of us would not know our date of birth – but 100 years ago and more  it was extremely common for many people not to know how old they were.  As a general rule, when using the census, the closer to a person’s birth the census is, the more accurate it is likely to be – but you should always give at least 5 years each way when searching for the birth/baptism.

• Study Every Source in Detail – and remember that what’s missing can be just as important as what’s there.  Don’t make the mistake of taking the main information from a source and then discarding it.  Look at it closely; read between the lines; use your imagination and what you know of human nature.  Who were the witnesses on a marriage or a will?  Were they extended family who could help you find the next generation?  Did they marry by licence or by banns?  If by licence, they could be wealthy and have left wills or land records.  Which church did they marry in – the established church or a non-conformist church?  Why is a child born in 1857 missing from the household in 1861?  Did they die?  Are they staying with relatives?  Could those relatives be grandparents who could be your next generation…?  Remember that siblings, friends and witnesses can be very useful for following up lines and confirming family links.

• Always search from what you know backwards. My last guideline, but by no means the least important.  Start with what you know:  your own birth details, and your parents – and then start confirming previous generations using genealogical resources.  Before going back to the next generation, make absolutely sure that your links are sound and that you have the right people.  If you start to go back using a possible ancestor, you can get into a terrible muddle.  Don’t try to establish a link from a hopeful ancestor down to your known ancestors – this usually does not work in practice.  Always work from the known backwards.

Whilst it can be tempting to race from one generation to the next, you will actually find your searches far more enjoyable if you take your time and make sure you are in the right tree before extending your search to the more distant past.  Tracing ancestors is far more satisfying when the result is a shortish tree full of absolute facts, rather than a long, extended tree of mere probabilities and possibilities.