Beginning Your Family History

Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies Inc.

Beginning your Family History

Regardless of where your family came from, it is possible to find records of your ancestors and discover how they lived. Join us in a fascinating and enthralling voyage of discovery.

How Do I Begin?

Always begin with yourself

Draw a Family Tree with yourself at the bottom

Fill in all the dates of births, deaths & marriages that you can

Add the places where these events took place

Collect all the family documents you can

Work systematically.

Family Documents

These can include letters, diaries, papers, photographs, birthday books or, with luck, a family Bible.

Analyse your findings, placing items in a logical order.
Look for clues as to ages and possible locations.

Visit your Family

Think carefully about what you want to ask and how you will approach relatives. Remember some will not want to talk about the past

Have possible questions prepared

Let people talk freely

Avoid any topic which may be sensitive

Take any old photographs you may have

Where it seems feasible, use a tape recorder

Maiden Aunts could well have nursed their parents and be a mine of information.

Carefully copy each document and put the originals safely away.

Which branch of the family do I begin with?

Choose one branch of the family to begin with. Maybe the one with an unusual name; maybe one holds a particular fascination for you.
Never try to start on several lines.

Primary Sources

Primary sources are original records created at the time of the event. They have NOT been copied or transcribed.
Always try to work with primary source material.
Mistakes will always be made in copying from old documents and can lead to a waste in both time and money.
Prove each new fact by cross referencing with at least two prime sources.

Indexes

All indexes are liable to contain mistakes.
They are there to help you access prime source records and should NEVER be used as proof of any event.

Family History Societies

Family History Societies such as the AIGS are usually run by the members to help anyone interested in family history research.
You will find them friendly and always willing to help those beginning their research.
Most societies have:

Large reference libraries.

Courses on various aspects of research including starting your research.

A variety of services to assist their members to obtain overseas records.

Regular talks on various aspects of Family History.

A magazine providing background to research.

Putting Flesh on the Bones!

Find out about the area in the period you are researching.

Check newspapers and other publications.

Find out about occupations and pastimes.

Birth, Death & Marriage Certificates

Civil registration began at different times in each of the Australian States and in the U.K. Indexes to most of these
are available at the AIGS Library. The Index references enable you to order the certificates.
Civil Registration began in:

New South Wales
1st March 1856

Northern Territory 24th August 1870

Queensland 1st March 1856

South Australia 1st June 1842

Tasmania 1st December 1838

Victoria 1st July 1853

Western Australia 1st September 1847

England & Wales 1st July 1837

Ireland Marriages 1st April 1845

Ireland Births & deaths 1st January 1864

Scotland 1st January 1855

Wills

Most people leave a Will.
Indexes to these Wills are known as Probate Calendars. Most of these are available at the AIGS Library.
Any possible Will of an ancestor should never be ignored as this can provide you with a unique insight into your ancestors' lives and family relationships.

Census

Australian Census, with a couple of early exceptions, have not survived, but the ones of the U.K. often have.
The AIGS Library has a unique collection of these as well as most of the available indexes.
Census records can give you details of your families including their birthplace and occupations.

Computer Programs

There are many computer programs for Family Historians, some free.
Always make sure any program you choose has the 'Gedcom’ facility. This enables you to exchange data between programs.

Keeping Records by Hand

Computer programs may not be available or suitable for your purposes; or perhaps you just prefer the comfort of paper records.
If that's the case, you might consider beginning to capture your family's information on our Family Data Sheet, a PDF which you can download and print double-sided if you wish, and/or
recording individual family members' pedigrees on our Pedigree Chart, which is also a PDF.

The Internet

The Internet can provide information on:

The location of records

Indexes

Others researching the same name.

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