Tips for making your writing more interesting

   1. Write like you talk. Try to make the reader feel is listening to a good friend - not reading a stiff essay. Keep the words simple, informal and infused with your own personality.

   3. Include correct dates and places. As years go by, they will be important for future generations.

   4. Paint pictures with your words. Make the reader feel as though he is standing right beside you. Supply colorful details and vivid descriptions.

   5. Use quotations. Another person's own words will give the reader a glimpse of the person's personality.

   6. Include the routine. Ordinary experienced today will be tender memories tomorrow - and important details about you for future generations. Make the effort to write the details of everyday events you take for granted.

   7. Be realistic. Don't write a glossy picture of life without problems. Share your hard times and how you are coping. Tell how you gain strength to endure when you are discouraged. Your experiences will provide encouragement and inspiration to your posterity.
Kathryn M. Kleekamp, Bedford, Massachusetts

Everyone is a unique combination of attributes and features inherited from parents and, through them, from earlier generations. Knowledge of the latter is useful in gaining a better understanding of one's individual background. This very short pamphlet, with it's central chart, is intended to provide an elementary guide to the steps involved in compiling a Family History

   (a)  Exploring Family Sources.  Clearly the most accessible evidence is that derived from conversations with elderly relatives. During such exchanges details of documents, heirlooms, photographs, paintings etc. begin to emerge/ Often the uncovering of such items sparks off further reminiscences which contribute to the overall picture.

Sometimes a family bible turns up complete with entries identifying several generation. Failing this, most families have old diaries or collections of old letters, birthday books, notebooks and newspaper cuttings. Certificates, medals and other trophies tend to survive with useful inscriptions. In this context, evidence from family gravestones should be followed up.

   (b)  Taking account of other relevant data.  It is advisable to visit the local library to see if any information has been published which may have a bearing on your research. The librarian may be able to provide details of any classes in family history which have been organised by the local authority or family history society. Joining the latter could be especially beneficial because it puts you in touch with experienced researchers, gives you access to the advantages of contemporary indexes, including the outstanding International Genealogical Index which most societies have on microfiche, and introduce you to others investigating the same surname(s).

2.   THE USE OF ARCHIVAL MATERIAL
From the foregoing it will be possible to determine which of the various strands you ought to pursue. It is essential to establish a good recording system which will enable you to monitor your progress and plan future searching. there is little doubt that some travelling will be involved either to County Record Offices or the various repositories in london and elsewhere.

All such establishments have catalogues, calendars and other indexes with which you should become familiar so you san arrange to see more then one type of record during your visit(s). Some Archival material has been transcribed and published so it is important to check beforehand to see if the printed version can be transferred to your local library where you can read it at your leisure.
   (a)   Civil Registration.  Births, marriages and deaths have been notified to local Registrars since 1837 (in England and Wales). Details appearing on certificates are of considerable value to the family historian. For instance the information registered at a birth gives full names of the parents thus enabling you to locate the marriage. Marriage Certificates give the names of the fathers of both parties so you can go back another generation. Information on Death certificates is limited but after 1866 age is quoted so an approximate birth date can be calculated. All these Certificates include information relating to places of residence, which, if used in conjunction with the appropriate Census Return, can lead you on to more data.

In Scotland, Civil Registration did not begin until 1855 but more information is recorded than in England and Wales. For instance birth details include the date and place of parents' marriage; marriage details specify the names of both parents of each party and details of death include evidence of parentage. The most significant feature of the Scottish system is direct access to the actual registers at New Register House, Princes St., Edinburgh. For a daily fee of £5.75 you can consult actual entries and abstract [sic] the relevant information without applying for a certificate.

In. Ireland, Registration began in 1864 (for non-catholics 1845) and registers of birth, marriage and death for the whole of Ireland prior to 1922 are held at the Registrar General's Office, 8/11 Lombard St. East, Dublin 2. Births and deaths in the counties of Northern Ireland are centrally indexed at the General Register Office, Oxford House, 49-55 Chichester Street, Belfast. Marriages from 1922 onwards are included but, prior to then details need to be sought from the local Registrars.

   (b)  Census Returns.  A Census has been held every ten years since 1801, but it was not until 1841 that the details provided evidence useful to the family historian, The data recorded, district by district and street by street lists all persons present in each household, their ages, sex, and matrimonial status, occupation and relationship to the head of the household. Some indication of birthplace is given from (1851) together with evidence of certain physical disability such as being blind, deaf or dumb.

Original Census Returns are held at the Public Record Office Annexe in Portugal Street, London WC2 (England and Wales) and at New Register House, Edinburgh Scotland) but all have been microfilmed and copies relevant to their local area are held in many public libraries and record offices. Owing to the Hundred Year Rule the 1881 Returns are the latest which can be consulted, although there are arrangements for very limited access to later returns. The Federation of Family History Societies has published a Guide to the whereabouts of microfilm copies in England and Wales. Irish Census Returns prior to 1901 were destroyed in 1922.

Provided you can establish an address from Civil Registration data or oral evidence, it is worth checking the Census Returns not only to gain evidence of relationship but also to find the birthplace of those members of the family born prior to 1837 when Civil Registration began. It is then possible to proceed to the appropriate Church Register.

   (c)  Church Registers.  the church has always baptised, married and buried its members but it was not until the reformation that there was any obligation on the clergy to record these events. Not all Parish Registers date back to this time (1538). Furthermore even if they were started then, not all have survived. Bishop's Transcripts (BT's) dating from 1597 onwards are copies of Parish REgisters sent to the Bishop each year and being centrally held may be

The value of information in Parish Register is extremely valuable. Prior to 1812 baptismal entries may consist of little more than the name of the child and its father together with the date. Sometimes additional information such as father's occupation and place of abode appears. the inclusion of the mother's Christian name is fairly common but maiden names are rare. After 1812 printed register pages made provision for most of these details to be entered. Marriage entries contain similarly sparse  details up to 1753 when printed pages were introduced.; from then on entries should specify the name and status of each party, their parishes and the groom's occupation. Burial entries are normally confined to a name and a date except in the case of young children when parentage may be indicated. From 1813 onwards printed pages encouraged the recording of much extra data, including place of abode and age.

Normally there are no fees for searching B.T.'s but Statutory fees are payable to an incumbent for access to an original Register. in practice these are often reduced or waived but it is advisable to check before embarking on a search.

If you know that you ancestors were Non-Conformists then every effort should be made to locate the appropriate non-parochial register. Many such records were surrendered to the Registrar General around the middle of the nineteenth century but have since been transferred to the Public Record Office (P.R.O.) and microfilmed. Denominational Societies and specialist libraries have some original material or copies of both; others remain and the hands of the local ministers. Access to the P.R.O. is by means of a Reader's ticket which must be applied for in person, although casual visitors to the Portugal Street Annexe may simply sign in at the time of their visit.

   (d)  Probate Records  Wills, Letter od Administration and Inventories are likely to provide more information about your ancestors than most other records. You can glean information about their status, attitudes, property and goods and, where a will includes several bequests to relatives, a great deal about family relationships. Probate Records survive from the mid 14th. century (a few even earlier are known) so information prior to the institution of parish registers can be established.

Wills being legal documents, need to be proved by the court. Prior to 1858 when Civil Probate Districts were defined, the executors would have to approach the relevant Ecclesiastical Court. In trying to find a Will it is essential to ascertain which Court had jurisdiction over the area in which your ancestor lived and held property. Jurisdictions varied from very large, covering a Province like Canterbury or York (Prerogative Court) to very small, representing a single manor or small group of parishes (peculiar Court). Most wills were proved in Courts based on Archdeaconries or Dioceses,, so collections of probate records can be found in the local county record offices. In many instances these have been indexed and the indexes published.

A substantial proportion of the Wills proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury have been indexed and copies of published indexes covering the period 1383-1700 are available in many local libraries. the records are in

Scottish Probates granted in Commissar Courts (equivalent to Dioceses in England) are house in the Scottish Record Office, H.M. General Register House, Edinburgh. Welsh Probates can be found in the National Library of Wales at Aberystwyth. Irish Wills prior to 1858 were destroyed in 1922 but much index material has survived. Since 1858 Wills have been proved at the District Probate Registries where there are indexes. Copies are housed in the principal Probate Registries, Somerset House (for England and Wales) and the National Record Offices in Edinburgh and Dublin, for Scotland and Ireland respectively.

   (e)   Other Records  A wide range of more specialised archives may be consulted including those relating to individual manors, ownership and taxationof land and property, mmilitary and naval service recprds, proceedings in Courts of Law, occupations etc. For further information on these and numerous other sources the reader in referred to "The Family Historian's Enquire Within" and the many other inexpensive publications listed overleaf, which can be obtained through your local family  istory society or by post from the address given.

3.   PRESENTING THE RESULTS.
Having collected the material from many of the sources referred to above, it is advisable to present it in some coherent manner. Most prefer to draw up a family tree or generation chart, and this approach is to be commended. However, this tends to neglect te opportunity of incorporating biographical content. Your ancestors were real people living full lives, moving from place to place, engaging in a variety of occupations and other pursuits.

Some attempt should be made to place them in their proper context bearing in  mind the local and national events taking place at the time. It is essential therefore, to familiarise yourself with the appropriate general land local historical background. What sort of bearing this might be expected to have on your ancestors can be deduced from their circumstances. The establishment of a new industry such as coal mining tended to bring about a rapid influx of population and this could explain why an ancestor migrated from a distant county. There were many similar situation affecting the growth of population in specific areas.

If you have joined a local family history society then it would be in order to publish your findings and articels in the society's magazine. You may choose to organise an exhibition of charts, photographs, maps etc. for the benefit of your relatives or members of your society. Som family historians have given lectures about their research whilst others have prepared  tape/slide programme. Cine or video presentation would be another possibility. if you have accumulated a great deal of information then it might be appropriate to write a monograph or more comprehensive book. Whatever appeals too you will be worthwhile for others to appreciate, not least your descendants.

FURTHER INFORMATION

If you have any difficulty in finding details of your local family history society please write to:-
Mrs. Pauline Saul, (The Administrator),
The Federation of Family History Societies,
31 Seven Star Road,
Solihull
West Midlands B91 2BZ

Please enclose a stamped self-addressed envelope plus  26p in stamps or 3 International Reply Coupons.