Summa Genealogica

When we are researching our family tree, we all want to build an accurate picture of our family history, with proven connections and links. When we begin genealogy, we all learn about the basic and well-known records - birth, marriage and death certificates; before civil registration, church and parish records; censuses... and so forth. These records that we find, whether online, in archives, private collections or otherwise, paired with educated, logical interpretation and analysis of the infomation and evidence within those records, then evaluating and tying those records together to form a proof argument, is the sole way we can build up that family tree with any certainty, or correctly. More frank researchers may say "genealogy without documentation is mythology", but they are not incorrect. Genealogy is addictive, and therefore in an over-eagerness to build a family tree "faster", the largest mistakes that beginners to research make is restricting themself to on...

No man is an island, Entire of itself; Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main.   - John Donne When researching our ancestors, especially as amateurs, it can be easy to focus on records that pertain to our family alone - birth, marriage, and death certificates; censuses; parish registers; wills, and so forth. These documents are the backbone of genealogy, and that process of finding records directly concerning our ancestors can often feel the most productive and rewarding. However, we may be overlooking a goldmine of genealogical insight if we neglect to study local and social history! This first part of the article will discuss why  we should be interested in local history, the second part will discuss where  we can look for sources of local history. Why Local History Matters Without understanding the world as a whole, and the localities our ancestors inhabited, especially as we go further back to pre-census and -statutory times, we can only ever have p...

Avoiding Genealogical Pitfalls In the previous post, we explored how the Genealogical Proof Standard (GPS) provides a structured, evidence-based approach to ensuring our genealogical research is accurate, and how it is the gold standard for allowing us to reach accurate and sound conclusions in our research. Here, we are going to have a look at one pitfall that is easy to avoid and will contribute further to our genealogical search, that being an over-reliance, or complete reliance on Ancestry's Hints and Suggested Ancestors. Collaborative genealogy is certainly a wonderful thing, but it comes with risks. User-created trees are often put together by people who are just as eager to build their family history as you are—but that doesn’t mean they’ve done their homework, or are interested in taking the time to do the proper research necessary. Mistakes in others’ research can quickly become your own, and without proper verification, you could be building your tree on a shaky foundatio...

I began writing this article in an attempt to summarise a few ways in which you can ensure that the conclusions of your family history research are accurate and be content in the knowledge that you are building a family tree that is, as far as is possible to know, correct. However, when I put pen to paper and began drafting my ideas, I realised that one post will just not do this subject justice, there are many sub-topics and off-shoots that could be discussed. What about the FamilySearch "World Tree"?, how can Family Search be used to your best benefit?, what about royal ancestry?, how far can a family tree accurately be traced?, were just a few of the questions I am often asked and wanted to include in this article, but it would become a gargantuan and unweildly treatise, in which most of the information would probably be lost due to reading fatigue. Although I have tried to keep this article a more consise introduction to and explanation of the Genealogical Proof Standard,...