RootsChat.Com
General => The Common Room => Topic started by: yellowjim on Thursday 29 March 12 15:34 BST (UK)
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hi there, I am new member to the forum, interested in family history more from a art point of view,
as in i would love to design and draw beautiful Family trees for people.
I have seen my dads printed off examples of our tree, and they are pretty awkward.
so i was thinking to see if i could do any better..
having to do a research project for my MA course, i have decided to research this! :D
i would be greatly appreciative if you would take a few moments to click on the link below and fill out my simple and totally anonymous questionnaire. thanks in advance :)
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5LCFBS9
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Hi Yellowjim
Welcome to Rootschat. I have done your very simple survey and hope it helps you achieve your goal.
I am interested in your idea but wonder if it could extend to Family History information rather than just Family Tree. I'm sure most people on RC actually research their Family History rather than just building a tree with names, dates and places etc. I would be interested in what you could put together with - say - 100 - 200 people with details of their lives, photos, pictures etc.
I wish you success in whatever you decide to do.
Rishile
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thank you very much for your reply and doing the survey rishile,
thats an interesting idea, and i have thought about it, i know what you mean about all the information, and thats kinda why i am unhappy with the ways of presenting that i have seen out there.
if i come up with anything interesting i will post it on here
:D
thanks again
yellowjim
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I too did the simple survey, and I'm only posting that to encourage others to do it for you and to assure them that clicking on the link doesn't download anything nasty ;D
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Hi Yellowjim & welcome to RootsChat
Done the survey :)
Agree with Rishile's comments
Good luck with the Project :) :)
Linda
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If it helps (and I'm sure I am not the only one), I tend to agree with Rishile that building a giant tree with names/dates/places is not really what it is about entirely. I find it more relevant to dig as deep as I can into near relatives, so far just 3 generations back, and to write a story around the facts about each one which I shall then pass on to my successors. I can't really feel any affinity with my sixth cousin five times removed even if I know his/her name!
MaxD
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wow, thanks for the comments,
all really interesting to hear your views on it!
gives me stuff to think about :)
thanks
yellow jim
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I've filled in your survey with narky comments about the lengths of field for numbers of years - initially unimpressed for someone interested in designing, but at the end I see you were using a package so sorry for narky comments.
At the moment I am incorporating my research into a historical diary format, showing what my ancestors were doing at interesting (and other) moments in history.
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Hi,
Also done the survey, but No 7 - you could do with a "don't know" box.
As I said on your survey, for me it would very much depend on the cost of something like a hand drawn tree. Lovely idea but... sadly reality means I personally am on a very tight budget!
Good luck,
Copperbeech5
PS Sorry, welcome to Rootschat!
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Done the survey, it was quick.
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Hi yellowjim,
I, too have completed your survey.
I found with my family, things got very complicated very quickly!
Grandfather married 3 times; children from each marriage; divorce; possible illegitimate child :o
I have cousins marrying cousins and informal adoptions by another member of the family.
I even have 5 brothers & sisters in one family marrying 5 siblings from another family!! ;D
All this is very difficult to draw a standard tree - in fact I have yet to find any suitable format.
So I stick to computer generated trees and charts.
These I can generate any time I like, and include as many generations as I desire.
Sorry! I am an IT Professional, and only did CSE Art!
Maybe that's the problem?! ::)
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Hi
Survey completed - Q7 could do with option of either Don't Know or Maybe ie I wouldn't atm, but might if I got a small windfall
halhawk
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Survey done
I agree with other comments about Q7
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I have completed your survey - very short indeed! I would be interested in a hand drawn tree, as long as it was beautiful and tasteful and would look good on my wall!! But also agree that it's usually not that straightforward; families are too complicated. I am more interested in putting together a book, with interesting snippets and stories about my ancestors, and with photos too. I just never feel at "that point" where my research is fairly complete, to commit to a bound book. If I did, I'm sure I'd find some glaring error, or omission. Cost is a main factor.
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If you are thinking of doing something that could be given as a special gift, it's a nice idea. I personally would not be interested in this as I am capable of doing my own ;), but I imagine others may be.
Depending on the detail you intend to include, it sounds like it would be a massively time consuming exercise (I hope you wouldn't charge by the hour ;)), and doing something like this by hand you would need to limit the generations covered and be practical regarding paper sizes etc. Are you thinking of offering different styles of tree for example? Or a long scroll on parchment with illuminated text, medieval style? ;) (I'd like one of those ;D)
I would imagine that something similar, but without the same depth and character, could be achieved and mass produced cheaply using one of the computer art packages, then printed using suitable colours and inks. I think this is what you would have to compete with.
Perhaps in this economic climate it may not be the ideal time to consider such an endeavour as money is tight. But it is a very interesting idea to go back to doing something individual by hand rather than mass produced on the computer. William Morris would approve. ;)
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Hi there.
Just completed your very easy survey. One little thought for you. I tend to collect pieces of paper and then collate at a later date, although I am now becoming more reliant on advice from RC to copy to an open document.
At Christmas I did just that and hand drew a Family Tree which I then took to a local printers where I was given the choice of paper and script which suited best. The gift was for my elderly Father and I managed to take it back to his Great Grandparents, although I agree that the Personalities/Occupations etc interest me more than time scale.
Anyway the printer charged £18 and a frame from another local shop £7. For a total of £25 the tree now takes pride of place in my Father's home.
Best of luck with your ambitions but please bear in mind that in these financially difficult times most people are taking great care with their expenditure so your pricing will have to be realistic. I admire your enterprise.
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Hello Yellowjim. :)Happy to fill in the survey which certainly only took minutes. Agree with all the other comments. I am much more intrested in creating a Family History than just a list of names and dates. My social hisory has improved by leaps and bounds since I started researching my family and I have already given copies of what I have discovered to the younger generations a part of their wedding presents and this has been happily received It has also, in the case of a neice in Australia encouraged her to make a start on her husband's family.
Good luck with your future studies
isk
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Hi Yellowjim,
I have completed your survey, very simple, thank you :)
My thoughts about your very enterprising idea are similar to the previous posts. Families do have a tendency to be quite complicated sometimes and this could prove problematic for a hand drawn tree. I also like the social aspect of my ancestors lives as much as their names and numbers! Cost will almost certainly be an important factor for you, but it sounds like a super idea - Good luck :)
Lancs lassie
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Hi Yellowjim,
Survey completed.
regards
Bennett
;D ;D
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This topic brought a true story to mind.
My Australian friend was left a family tree that had been drawn up by a great aunt. As she had never done family tree research, she took it all as Gospel and went on to embroider a beautiful family tree in the shape of an oak tree with branches, twigs and leaves showing the descendants.
She relished the details of the Indian princess who had married her East India Company ancestor and other tasty tidbits.
THEN her husband was posted to England for his work and she had 2 years to do some raw research in London, Scotland, Ireland and France.
She had to unpick over half the tree and re-embroider it years later but only after publishing a book for her relations of the REAL story. That went into a second edition with more stuff added by the relations!
The Indian Princess was a myth, she was a camp-follower BUT the husband turned out to be from the French GUISE family and distantly related to the Queen Mother's family.... if on the wrong side of the blanket.......
So, I would never commit my family tree to paint or embroidery as it is and always will be "a work in progress"
Sorry to throw cold water on this idea, as I'm an artist myself ......
Gen in Northumberland, UK
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I have done your survey - I hope you get a big enough sample to make it really informative.
I've always wanted to know more than ust the family tree. Fortunately for me there have been lots of fascinating storeis to follow up along with the BMD data. I set a goal of a printed book by mid-2011 and achieved it, although I'm conscious that the book misses out a lot of what I have discovered. Printing and binding one-off volumes is expensive: I have deposited a copy with the SoG and have also made small deposits of other info or documents with a variety of places. However (in part thanks to RootsChat) the book I've produced needs to go into a second edition only a few months later.
Less convinced of the long-term value of building a website or putting info on to a commercial site as the internet, and the businesses within it, is a shifting, ephemeral place; paper I beleive is still the best permanent record. I also have grave doubts that computer files I . year will be readable by the computers my grandchildren will be using in say 2062.
I do think we should all think hard about the long-term storage and accessibility of the results of our research.
I like the idea of a family tree on the wall and know relatives who have them (and very attractive they are, too); however mine has stretched so much in some places I think I might need a bigger wall or minuscule print!
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Filled the survey very quick and to the point :)
I personally don`t have a tree, just like to collect all the info on ancestors, last christmas I gave my sister a little `file` on our fathers paternal side it was more about where they lived (none ever moved very far from each other) occupations etc rather than just who was related to who, but probably if I was able to trace enough ancestors on both my mothers ( hardly any) and fathers (lots) to make a lovely looking tree to present aswell as the file I would be interesed.
Jill :)
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Having done the survey, I'd like to make the point that while it might be valid to ask how much we spend per year on research, the following question about how much we would like to spend didn't seem to be valid for your exercise. I assume you were asking how much we would be willing to spend on a hand-made tree.
Regarding what format and what information should be on such a piece, it depends on what the purchaser is after. While someone who has done years of research might want to include more detail (a very interesting idea), someone else equally as experienced might like to have a simpler "tree" format, either as a decorator piece in their home, or as a gift. The simpler format would be fine up on a wall, and if anyone is interested to know more, they can be shown more detailed paper/computer files. I am only thinking of the glazed looks I get when I try to detail the latest finds t o family members. My wife often comments, "They're all dead anyway, why do you want to know about them." ::)
Cheers,
Darren