No Black Sheep in my Family - Getting you started with your Family History By Robyn Fisher VicGUM Inc

Covering  Why  When  How  Tips

What started my passion for my family history  maternal grandparents’ family of 12 on each side – a good starting point  lots of cousins – but where did they fit in?  plenty of spare time...  wanted to know more about my background – why, when, where they came from?  put meat on the bones – not just names, dates, and places – “real” people  enjoy challenge of chasing the elusive fascinating “story”  meeting like minded people and sharing knowledge and resources  Warning - can become an addiction!

Why start compiling your family history?  Get a better sense of yourself as to where you fit in  Share family knowledge and anecdotal stories  Pass on to younger generation information about their ancestors  Any relevant genetic history – eg. twins, breast cancer, heart disease, glaucoma  Publish – short run publication, book, create a web site  Family occasion such as a wedding, birthday, family reunion

Where to start?  Yourself – most accurate information  Parents – reasonably accurate, but can be inclined to not tell the whole truth! Married?  Relatives - less accurate, but sometimes know something “secret”  Others

What records are most useful? The obvious first records you can start with:  Birth certificates – apart from the obvious information as to name, date and place of birth - usually provides names of parents, when and where they were married, and if there are siblings born prior.  Marriage certificates – age of partners at time of marriage, birthplace, other information provided can include names of parents and if they are still living, other marriages. Some change of inaccurate information particularly with age given  Death certificates - can be inaccurate as the informant providing the information does not necessarily know the truth

What other records are useful?  Census records – where they were at a point of time  Electoral records – more recent, place in time, addresses  Photos and images – what individuals look like, family groups, residences, certificates  Newspapers – hard copy and electronic – obituaries, weddings,  Internet

Now what to do with it all?  Hand draw charts to see where you fit in  Type up information so that it is all in one spot  Disseminate to whom? Close family, rest of family, wider public such as libraries, internet  Better way to do this...use a family history program.

Features of a good family history program  Easy to input information  Easy to navigate around your families  Able to print out reports such as descendant reports, ancestor reports, family history reports  Able to generate charts such as pedigree and descendant charts And..

Features of a good family history program  Import/export features especially GEDCOM  Ability to add pictures  Able to generate web (or HTML) pages

What’s available?  PC or Mac  Freeware, shareware also available  Download from internet, purchase software over the counter  Beginner or more advanced software packages

How much?  Free, shareware also available  Download from internet  Purchase from software retailers  Can range from free to around $190

Which one is the best? Depends on the features you want -  most people buy more than one  support available – online and user groups  all good packages have a transfer facility – usually GEDCOM which is a standardised data export so that you can get your information out if you need to

Which program is for me? Examples include:  Personal Ancestral File (PAF) free  Family Tree Maker (FTM)  Legacy Family Tree free version available  The Master Genealogist (TMG)  Brother’s Keeper (BK) shareware  Reunion (for Mac)

Where can I get a family history program? Family history groups (one stop shops) such as:  VicGUM Inc  Genealogical Society of Victoria (GSV)

Where can I get a family history program? Internet – direct from suppliers eg.  Family Tree Maker (MyFamily.co)  Legacy Family Tree (Millenia)  Reunion for Mac (Leister Productions)

Where can I get a family history program? Internet – direct eg.  The Master Genealogist (Wholly Genes)  Brother’s Keeper  Personal Ancestral File (Latter Day Saints)

Where can I get a family history program? Over the counter eg.  Officeworks (though not always the latest version)

Dates and Places – meet the real Mary Hogben

Black Sheep? You be the judge of William Howlett

Any Questions?