Family History : References

When you share your family history research with another person and they ask, “How do you know that?” it is helpful if you can tell them!  Having references to your notes allows you to add authentication to your research.

Unfortunately I never knew this when I first started researching, almost fifty years ago, and I find I now hold some vital information that cannot be verified in any way (a lot of my early knowledge came via my paternal grandmother who was in contact with extended family living overseas).

However, I have been trying to rectify this and have spent much time over the last several years hunting up things online and gathering references for them.

  

When I add information to the Family Page I use, I like to add a reference with it.  For example:

Christening                          Sunday 27 August 1775 Slamannan, Stirlingshire, Scotland ¹¹⁸

Father                                  #224   John BROWN ^{118  264}

Mother                                #224   Elizabeth BROWN nee McDONALD ⁰⁰⁰

At the end of my Family Page I will write the references:

SOURCES OF INFORMATION FOR FAMILY #112

118               Scottish Births & Baptisms 1564-1950

264               Wills : John Brown (#224), held at Scottish Records Office

000               Unknown source of information

I have another folder where I record all my reference information in depth.  This can take many pages for each branch of the family, but does work to keep all my research together and easily accessible if required.

These entries can look like this:

SOURCE #81    England & Wales Marriage Registration Index 1837-2005

The information here was sourced from findmypast.com.au 

#030  Raymond & Georgiana White : WHITE Raymond Alexander – spouse: Georgiana Eliza COPELAND – marriage quarter: Apr-May-Jun – marriage year: 1862 – district: Marylebone – county: London

Of course, this is only an example of how I reference my research.  Look around and find a system that suits what you want to do – and I highly recommend that you do use some form of referencing for your information.

Stay happy J

Margaret

 

Part 1 of this series (Family History: Getting Started) can be found HERE