| When you begin to build your family tree, you | | | | Do you have COLLECTIONS of documents and |
| may not be aware of the rich source of | | | | memorabilia? As you find items, this is your |
| information to be found in your own home, or in | | | | opportunity to study them as a researcher would, |
| relatives' homes. Follow the Genealogy #1 Rule: | | | | looking for all possible clues to follow in searching |
| Start with what you know, and work backwards | | | | out your distant ancestors. You may well |
| from there. | | | | remember STORIES or have other MEMORIES as |
| Here are ideas to guide your searches through | | | | you find items. For instance, photographs or |
| your attic, basement, cupboards, closets, drawers, | | | | names may trigger memories of when |
| and various other memorabilia found in surprising | | | | Great-Aunt Mary came from England to visit |
| places. Start with Yourself - you are #1 in your | | | | Vancouver in 1958. If your father's father's only |
| Family Tree. | | | | sister Great-Aunt Mary would have been about |
| Pull out your own BIRTH CERTIFICATE and see | | | | 70 or thereabouts in 1958, that detail gives you |
| what specific information is on it. If you only have | | | | more clues to find more details of her life. Finding |
| a small wallet-sized version, try to find the | | | | a photograph of a young girl: "Oh, look at this, |
| "official" long version; you may need to purchase | | | | there's a photo of Mom's older sister Dot, and the |
| a copy from Vital Statistics. However, families | | | | back says Jordan NY, 6 yrs". This detail means |
| usually filed away the official version in a baby | | | | you know the family was either living in or visiting |
| book, or a first photograph album or, with other | | | | Jordan NY in about 1921, and you can search the |
| official family documents. On the full form, you will | | | | 1920 NY Census for more details. If they were |
| usually find both parents' full names, both parents' | | | | visiting, who could it have been they were |
| birthplaces, and father's occupation; occasionally | | | | visiting? A Grandmother? Aunt & Uncle? |
| more details are to be found. Do you have a | | | | Clues, clues. |
| BABY BOOK filled out over your first few | | | | Did your mother or grandmother save every |
| months or years? A friend of mine has one that | | | | FUNERAL CARDS and OBITUARIES of all |
| lists with details three generations of relatives, all | | | | relatives? If so, there's a tremendous amount of |
| of them, including maiden names for the women, | | | | detail you will be able to follow up on in your |
| and birthplaces. What a treasure! Sometimes | | | | researcher. As my sister and I dug through my |
| families have BAPTISM certificates and/or | | | | parents' boxes, drawers, and chests after they |
| Confirmation certificates filed away. Start digging. | | | | died, we uncovered a strange mishmash of items, |
| You went to school, and possibly your parents | | | | from funeral service cards to photos, letters, |
| saved your SCHOOL REPORTS, YEARBOOKS. | | | | booklets, and other documents. All of these |
| You'll be looking at these for hours - definitely a | | | | provided clues for future research when I |
| trip down memory lane! | | | | became interested in genealogy. I'm glad we |
| Move on, and start looking for PHOTO ALBUMS, | | | | saved them all! |
| and SCRAPBOOKS for various purposes (trips, | | | | You may find even more SOURCES in your |
| events, projects). Our family had photos and | | | | home, or perhaps at a relative's home: Grandma's |
| slides in drawers and boxes scattered over the | | | | cookbook with her notes and other details, |
| house, many of them unsorted. Make it this | | | | perhaps including her signature; personal letters in |
| years' project to go through all of them, sort, | | | | their envelopes; postcards; birthday or other |
| label carefully and lightly; you could number each | | | | occasion cards; sometimes death records and |
| one, then use a master list with possible names | | | | burial certificates; imagine finding old wedding |
| years/places/events. | | | | albums of parents, grandparents, aunts and |
| Some photographs may be totally blank and be | | | | uncles; military medals or photos of military |
| of groups of people. Don't throw them out, even | | | | groups; copies of wills; marriage certificates; old |
| if you know no one in the photo, don't recognize | | | | cheque books or bank statements may give you |
| any details and can't figure out the year let alone | | | | more residences to check; what about family |
| the decade! A cousin or aunt may be able to | | | | heirlooms, jewellery or art work with details of |
| easily identify all the details with ease. Make a | | | | when/where/why purchased. You may also find |
| guess and keep notes as well; perhaps that group | | | | expired Passports, cruise or other travel tickets |
| of men were colleagues of your grandfather, or | | | | and memorabilia, copies of citizenship papers, and |
| those 3 women in very old-fashioned clothing may | | | | more, right in your attic or basement. |
| be sisters since they look to be similar. In the | | | | Start digging and delving right at home, and you |
| latter case, you may be looking for an ancestor | | | | will begin to add long-term value and personal |
| who had several sisters in roughly 1880-1900. | | | | interest to your family tree research. |
| Clues, clues, clues. | | | | |