It is usually considered that it is very difficult to draw up a correct family tree of a family, that this requires special knowledge and skills that only specialists possess, the cost of whose services is very high. To some extent, this statement is true - a professional archivist or historian specializing in genealogy will cope with such a task faster and, possibly, more efficiently than the average person. But it's also true that anyone with an interest in the history of their kind can do just as well.
Instructions
Step 1
It is quite possible to draw up the pedigree of your family on your own, without spending a lot of money on paying for the services of professional historians. It is only important to know where to start and in which direction to move. The first thing to do is to ask in detail all living relatives, especially the older generation, about your family history. Pay special attention to names, dates of birth, death and marriage. Places of birth and residence, nationality and religious affiliation should also be recorded. Subsequently, this data will greatly help in restoring unknown links of your kind.
Step 2
Oral information received from relatives is best formalized in the form of detailed stories collected in one notebook or album. Simultaneously with their preparation, it is worth collecting all the family documents at your disposal: photographs, letters, personal diaries and notes, any official evidence or information. Literally everything can come in handy, even extracts from medical records and directions for tests.
Step 3
In order to organize the available information and visualize the structure of your family, it is best to create a primary family tree. A pedigree (genealogical) tree is a schematic representation of intergenerational painting, that is, family ties in the form of a conditional tree, at the roots of which there is a common ancestor. The trunk is made up of representatives of the main line of the genus, and the branches are various subsidiary lines. The traditional family tree was always drawn from bottom to top, imitating the shape of real trees, which is not very convenient for subjective perception. Therefore, for the most part, modern pedigree schemes are made inverted - the ancestor-founder is placed at the very top, and his descendants are located further downward.
Step 4
Today on the Internet there are numerous sites and computer programs that allow you to create detailed pedigree charts. Family Tree Builder is one of the most convenient and popular. It can be downloaded from the developers website (www.myheritage.com) is absolutely free. The program runs on Windows and provides many options for organizing information about relationships
Step 5
The structure of the genus, designed in the form of a diagram, will immediately allow you to see what data is still lacking for a complete picture. In most cases, oral interrogations of relatives make it possible to collect information about the composition of the family only up to the 3-4th generation, then memory refuses. If there is a need to learn more about your kind, you will have to turn to archival research. In Russia, basic data on citizens after the 1917 revolution. were recorded in the registry office, and before it in the church registers. Today, all this information can be found in the respective archives. To be admitted to work in the archive, you will need a passport, two photographs (if the archive is regional or central) and a corresponding application. The staff of the archive will familiarize you with the rules for working with documents on the spot. They will also help you find the right sources.
Step 6
For collecting information about distant ancestors, in addition to church registers containing information about births, deaths and marriage registrations, Revision Tales may be useful. Before the revolution, they recorded data on people belonging to the taxable estates - artisans, peasants, bourgeois. These documents usually contained information about males, including their last name, first name, patronymic, age, place of birth and residence, marital status, information about the presence of children, nationality and property status. It is advisable to immediately enter all new information into the constructed scheme, and the data itself in the form of texts is best arranged in the form of a separate book or album, which could be inherited by your children.
