Questions tagged [research-methods]
For questions about how to conduct genealogy research and best practices for genealogy research.
174
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Searching tree by birth or death location
In building my tree, I've found some very interesting groupings of families on both my paternal and maternal lines that intersect in specific areas at specific times.
How can I search my tree to find ...
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Finding more information about Brecon Arms pub and when specific individuals had occupancy as landlords
The Great-Grandparents of my wife were landlords of "The Brecon Arms" in Llanelli, Wales.
I know this for two reasons:
I heard this information first hand from another elderly relative, ...
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Do I have the right to share these records?
I have used several researchers who paid $$$ to have sets of records from the archives of Eastern European countries scanned for them. The researcher then personally did the work of translating and ...
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Is it ethical to perform research on living people's ancestry without their knowledge?
Assuming you do not store, post, or record any information about a living person, is it ethical to use a living person other than yourself or your direct line as a kick-off point to begin research?
...
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Does FamilySearch.org prohibit freelance genealogists from charging clients for research services utilizing their platform to do the research?
If I want to hold myself out as an independent researcher willing to receive for-hire compensation to research a client's family history, and I want to use FamilySearch.org as my primary research ...
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Determining if Medal Card is for relative William James Truckle or another man of same name
I don't know if it is possible to shed light on this record but I don't like to blindly attach a reference to a person without some valid basis to do so.
This question relates to Confirming if ...
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Researching family/genealogy records in Taiwan and China
My parents are Taiwanese and are reluctant to share or do not know much family history. Much of the information they do share is vague or does not lend itself to searching on the internet using sites ...
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Why doesn't my research meet the Genealogical Proof Standard?
I posted a related question here so it might be helpful to read it:
England 1700s - how to decide between two good record matches?
Thomas Fowler
B: unknown England
Marriage: 1766 Stillingfleet ...
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Recording Research Logs / Plans
I am looking for some guidance on how best to record the research I have completed so I do not duplicate the same research. I will also use the logs to plan future research.
Can anyone point me in ...
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How to find additional information pertaining to little known ancestors?
I have an Irish ancestor having a surname of Lynn. Anna Lynn is my Great Grandmother and 100% Irish. Her parents came to either New York or New Jersey around 1870. At some unknown point the family ...
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Term for researching one's own life in detail?
I'm a bit obsessed about recording my own life in detail. I have pretty much all the dates of the main events and eras of my life since I was 7yo. I have also preserved documents, messages, people etc....
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Possibility of tracing my great grandfather's wife's homeland
I have heard stories about my great grandfather's father who was a merchant and traded between India and the Islands nearby Indonesia. Once during some incident probably the World War all the travel ...
user10504
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Changes in place names of birth [duplicate]
How should one report "place of birth" (or death) where the location has legally changed over time?
Many locations experienced county name changes, or birth occurred in an area that later became a ...
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How to identify 19th century birth record in England when uncertain of parent's given names?
This question refers to people in a previously posted question about the identity of the mother of Elizabeth Cowan, b. 29 Sep 1824, England, and d. 14 Oct 1896, Ohio, USA: Could "Our Mother" ...
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Managing MyHeritage messages
I'm wondering if I'm somehow missing/unaware of some features for managing my MyHeritage messages...
I consider myself a full-time amateur genetic genealogist. I need to contact a lot of matches to ...
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Is my source the document or where I obtained it?
Up until now, I have recorded the source of an event, such as marriage, as where I obtained the document eg Registry of Births Deaths Marriages, date obtained and respective location. I then include ...
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Finding name changes and surname usage for children?
The following are from Queensland Australia records.
Margaret married James in 1886. They had 3 children between 1888 and 1895.
From 1897 to 1907 Margaret registered 4 more children. There was no ...
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Norwegian naming conventions
I'm looking for a comprehensive explanation of Norwegian naming conventions, specifically relating to multiple given names and middle names, etc., as opposed to Surnames, patronymics, etc. (even if ...
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Reducing risk of confirmation bias with DNA test results?
This is a follow-up question to Using DNA to link individuals after a name change
My cousins and I are pretty sure my great-great grandfather, Everett T Malcom, changed his name when he moved west. ...
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Medical Family Tree - Information to Obtain [closed]
For most people I'm not going to have any information on them.
For anyone with medical information, I find that I'm only going to get the cause of death.
But for those people who I can obtain more ...
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How to find German battle accounts
I’m wondering if someone can point me in the right direction. My uncle was shot down by a German night fighter, which was apparently confirmed by obtained German documents a year after. The documents ...
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Finding German birth father who emigrated to Canada?
I was adopted in 1961. I think that my birth father was born in Germany and was around 19-20 years old when he emigrated to Canada and met my birth mother. They didn't marry and she later returned ...
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Working with DNA results for multiple profiles across multiple sites
I manage a number of DNA profiles (for related individuals) across a number of sites:
FamilyTreeDNA (5 profiles)
MyHeritage (5 profiles)
LivingDNA (2 profiles which will increase to 5 in the near ...
user6485
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Searching for UK records when only minimal information to go on?
I'm trying to search for more information on a relative, but I'm a bit stumped.
I'm trying to find information prior to her marriage which was in 1912.
The only information I have of any certainty ...
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Searching family roots in Bihar, India?
Could anyone provide clues as how I could trace my roots back to Bihar, India from where my great grandfather emigrated to Mauritius around 1847?
My great grandfather named "Fakun" emigrated from ...
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Representing large pedigree chart as spreadsheet?
I'm working on a family history pedigree that is very wide with over 30 generations. I need to take a lot of notes about the various members and I need to see the pedigree in a semi-graphical manner ...
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Tracking down father not listed on birth certificate?
I am a 31 year old male, my mother is deceased, there is no father on my birth certificate and my last name is that of a prior marriage of my mother's. Over the years the only details I have gotten ...
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Half Sibling Centimorgans
I recently had contact with a person who was matched as a possible first cousin on Ancestry. We only share 753 Centimorgans and we originally thought we may be half siblings/ I am adopted and she saw ...
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Identifying which husband of my great grandmother my father came from
My father was adopted. I believe that I have located his mother. Her father is my GREAT GRANDMOTHER's first husband. I have tested 3 1st cousins once removed??(Female 1 cm=673 on 29seg/female 2 cm=...
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Searching for half-sisters from Switzerland?
I would like to locate my two half-sisters. My father (born in Kabul, Afghanistan) is their birth father from his first marriage to a Swiss born woman woman. My mother and father got married years ...
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Using shared cM to determine likelihood of misattributed paternity?
My ancestor Harriet Smith was born in the mid-1850s in England. Her birth certificate shows both of her parents (John Smith and Sarah Johnson). For the purposes of the birth registration, John and ...
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Researching genealogy in Peru
I am trying to research my mom's family in Peru.
My mom was the only one that immigrated to the US and the rest of the family remained in Peru. I do have some relatives that moved back to Spain and ...
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Researching genealogy in Turkey?
I already signed up for a free trial in Ancestry.com but is not helpful except for creating the actual tree.
I got the data from the e-Devlet app but there's a lot of info missing, i.e. occupation, ...
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Determining if Ancestry DNA results support Half Sibling relationship? [duplicate]
Ancestry DNA results came back on my possible half sister. We're showing 1,329 cMs with 34 shared segments. All it indicated was we were "close relationship - 1st Cousins"
Tracing indicates a good ...
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How do I determine when to search for non-conformist birth/baptism records?
I'm searching for the baptism on my ancestor Mary Darby, who was born between 1811 and 1818, and am trying to assess whether I should search in non-conformist records as well as Parish/Established ...
user6485
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Tracking sources of photos obtained through MyHeritage.com?
I've accepted matches that include photos into my tree on MyHeritage. Now, I'd like to review the sources of some of those photos (for example, I'd like to know the tree each photo came from or the ...
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Evaluating birth year when different on SSDI and gravestone?
The Social Security Death Index (SSDI) states 1883 as birth year and grave stone says 1882.
Which should I believe?
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Where did my 2nd great-uncle William Morris go after 1914?
My 2nd great-uncle, William Morris was born 10 May 1887 in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire. His parents were Henry Morris and Mary nee Green Morris.
I have his birth and baptism.
He is found on the ...
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How do spatial analysis (GIS) and genealogy overlap?
I'm working on my Ph.D. which will hopefully expose some ways in which spatial analysis (using the tool I know - GIS) can prove useful to genealogical research.
At present I am still struggling with ...
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How do I search for the surname SPEAK and not the verb speak?
I'm researching family history and whenever I'm try to search for the surname SPEAK, I always get results with the verb speak included, particularly from newspaper articles, conferences etc. So how do ...
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Next steps once DNA match is found
I've recently made contact with a DNA match I found on myheritage.com.
The match is shown as:
Estimated relationships: 1st cousin twice removed - 3rd cousin once
removed
DNA Match quality: 1.3% (93....
user6485
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What can analyze a tree and suggest what your next research goal(s) should be?
I've been wishing that a program/website existed that would look at my tree and tell me what I should research next. Should I try to find the birthdate of my great-grandfather, or should I try to find ...
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Batch person search by place of residence in historical US census?
My database contains the names of a long list of individuals and their place of residence, and I would like to retrieve the demographic information (gender, race, age, etc.) about the individuals the ...
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I can't see the original images on the website -- now what?
It happens to us all -- we read a local history or a genealogy book from the late 1800s, or someone gives us a list of records they have seen, or we collect links to records from a website, and then ...
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Finding ancestor Nathan Cohen who was born in Russia and immigrated New York City 1900-1905?
My Great Great Grandfather Nathan Cohen was born in Russia.
He had a wife Lissie Bernstein with whom he had a daughter Minnie, born in Vilna sometime around 1886. Lissie died about 2 years later in ...
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Does the available evidence support these assumptions?
I'm devising a complex search strategy to identify the birth and parents of my great-grandmother Mary Ann Harper. She's already discussed here: Where was Mary Ann Harper in the 1881 England census? ...
user104
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Determining what records are available about an individual?
This is a companion to Determining what records are available in a particular locale?
We've all been there. We've asked, or been asked, "What do you want to know about your research subject?" only ...
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Starting pre-1837 research in England and Wales?
What are some effective research strategies for England and Wales, when you are making the transition from the era of civil registration and censuses to the period before civil registration begins?
...
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How to encourage higher standards of genealogical research on a message board?
Everybody is entitled to pursue a hobby like genealogy the way he or she wants to.
A lot of genealogist also know: “Genealogy without proof is Mythology.” (attributed to Mary L. Henke)
With this ...
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Standardizing place names when city sprawls across county borders?
Some genealogical software draws on the API for Google Maps so the user can plot the events on a map. This might be a desktop-based application such as Calico Pie's Family Historian, or a web-based ...
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