RootsChat.Com
Beginners => Family History Beginners Board => Topic started by: redtail on Tuesday 03 July 12 05:33 BST (UK)
-
Hi all,
Kate here from Western Australia.
I started out researching my family a few years ago, but have had to put it aside for a while.
I have just got back into it, and am loving it.
My question is, should I stick to one branch of the family tree, and follow only that or research what branches I have information on???
Its so interesting and exciting, especially when I came here and found someone else looking for a branch of my family..but I don't want to get carried away ;D and bogged down...
Any advice will be greatly appreciated
Oh I am also a memeber of the Australind Family History Society, and hope to get back there soon
Kate
-
Hi Kate
I had very much the same dilemma when I started my researches a couple of years back - but have finally concentrated on the 4 parental branches of my tree (i.e my parents and my wife's parents).
It is very easy to get dragged onto tangents when you find a plethora of information available to take you in that direction - but there's no harm in looking when you have the time and it's part of the fun isn't it ;D
The real fun starts when you get the same surname cropping up in a number of families but in the same geographical target area - trying to understand the dynamics of those relationships (i.e. how does Bill Blogg's family tie in with Joe Blogg's who lives a few streets away) can be really challenging - but very rewarding when you discover another line of relations you were not aware of.
Thus I would say go where you have the time and where your main interests lie - but don't be too hard on yourself when you find you are drifting from the main focus of your researches - just enjoy yourself
Best wishes for your researches
Dave
-
Thanks Dave,
Its all so intriguing, and interesting.
I find it interesting that my Dads Family, and my Sisters Husbands family both lived in the same wheatbelt town at the same time..... It really is a small world.
Looking forward to spending some time here
-
Hi Kate and welcome to RootsChat
I'd echo Dave's sentiments.
If you restrict yourself to one family, you might miss something that crops up on one of the others'.
I note that you belong to Australind FHS. I visited their rooms a few years ago (when the big FH Congress was in Perth) and found people very helpful. So talk to other members there, too, whenever you can. It's amazing how often you hear of cousins being 'united' at their local FHS.
Recently, two friends of mine at QFHS, who've known each other for some years, discovered they both belonged to one big family!
Happy hunting
Dawn M
-
Hi Dawn,
Thanks for your reply. I shall keep doing as I have been then ;D
Yes I love the Australind group, have only been there a few times, but felt so welcomed.
-
You can miss out on so many interesting finds if you just restrict yourself to one line. You will probably also find that branching out sideways and downwards may be the only way to pick up on some leads that will take you further back on the lines you want to focus most on.
Happy hunting :)
-
I agree with not restricting as I find there 's quite commonly more than one marriage between families and sometimes like as said you may find a lead .
-
thank you, glad I have been doing the right thing.
-
Hi Kate,
Sewell, Parker, Wyborn - all very old W.A. names from the wheatbelt area.
My son-in-law has these names in his family. I think his grandmother was a Sewell from around Northam. I bet someone has written books on these families so it could be worth checking at the State Library of W.A.
Jan
Perth.
-
When you trace one family line, there comes a point when you find it difficult to get back further. When that happens it's equally fun to start migrating sideways. You sometimes find that when you come back to the original line you can pick up a new lead.
-
Hi Jan,
yes all very old wheatbelt families. I have 2 books "Pingelly our people and progress" and "The house of Northbourne Parkers" both interesting books.
My cousin and I went on a tour and visited a couple of the old original homesteads and farms, we had a very interesting time. We also visited all the cemeteries and took loads of photos.
Kate
-
Hi Kate
These books are held at W.A.G.S in Bayswater they could be of interest to you.
The journal of Henry Sewell, 1853-7
From Pebmarsh to the Swan : a history of one branch of the Sewell family of Great Henny Essex,
Goomalling, a backward glance
My mistake about granny being a Sewell on checking I see she was a Wansborough. Not a lot of choice of partners in the early days so the pioneer families all seem to be related somehow.
With a bit of luck you might even find you have an Aunt Rose (Hancock that is)
Jan.
-
Thanks Jan,
will look into those books :-) and let you know if I come across a Rose Hancock!!!
-
Hi Kate
I'm glad you asked that question. I started this research just over two months ago and did wonder if I was spreading my interest too wide, but from the replies you have had, it seems not. I am totally hooked on this now. The people on here are so helpful, and so very experienced - it is a very nice community :D
Anne
-
I wish I could just stick to one line, and be as organised as I was when I first started this lark over 12 years ago.... Now I open up my 'PAF' and am immediately disorganised, oooooo ::) ???
I have all main line branches apart from odds ... so decided to do siblings of descendants and then theres and then even theirs... spelling is important... ;D ;D ;D cos some belong here and some are from overthere...
NOW can you see what has happened... I am totally insane. ;D :o :o :o
Why do all my Sutherlands have to be Robert - George or John, and even their 6th cousins once removed have the same names, aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrggggggg but I loves them all.
xin
-
thank you all so much. I am really looking forward to spending time here ;D
-
You can miss out on so many interesting finds if you just restrict yourself to one line. You will probably also find that branching out sideways and downwards may be the only way to pick up on some leads that will take you further back on the lines you want to focus most on.
Happy hunting :)
I agree 100%. :)
-
I know some people prefer just do direct blood lines only and ignore siblings but personally I think that is too restrictive, after all our own siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins are part of and have influence on our lives whether we want them to or not ::)
Also the wider you caste the net the more chances you have of finding others who are connected. That way you can help each other and collaborate with your research.....two heads are better than one as they say. You might be very lucky and find someone who actually knows the answer to that brick wall ;D
And you never know what others have tucked away in their cupboards. I have gained photos of close family members from more distant relations. For example a descendant of the brother of my great grandmother had a photo of my grandmother. It seems my great grandmother kept in contact with her siblings and sometimes sent them copies of photographs of her family. Those photos had long since been lost from my direct line but had been kept by her brothers family.
What ever you ultimately choose to do, enjoy the journey ;D
-
Speaking from experience, and to reinforce what others have said, researching indirect siblings might be the only way of going further back - I found that out on one of Mrs. Hat's lines, where the parents weren't included on a marriage certificate.
And, I apologize if I'm preaching to the converted, but don't forget to record your sources. When I started I didn't - and it took me six months to redo our trees when I "got lost"!
Good luck to everyone with their research.
'Hat.