Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT

WCDT Strips 3686-3690 (26th February to 2nd March 2018)

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TheEvilDog:
In one of my old jobs, we used to deal with a lot of people looking into their family histories. In doing so, I learned some tips for people who have gotten stuck.

- Depending on the nation, check local census. Depending on how far you go back, these might be somewhat difficult to come back. Usually the ones dating back to the early 20th/late 19th centuries serve as a stepping stone.
- If you know the area where your ancestors came from, check out local churches. The Church (depending on which side of the Reformation you're stuck on) kept extensive records on people in the local parish. (Before anyone asks, a lot of this was to prevent bigamy and consanguineous marriage, but also to act as a record of marriages, births, deaths and people moving from one area to another). In some instances, the Church records will often be better than government and can reach as far back as the 16th Century.
- Check local graveyards. The stones might be worn but sometimes you might be able to gleam some names, especially if you do the paper and chalk rubbing trick.

There is a point where you can't really go back any further through historical records, usually conflict or even time will have destroyed them. When it gets to that, you can try a DNA marker test to try and trace paternal lineage. We did this last year, and I thought I'd just be Irish and Welsh. Turns out there's also Scottish, Greek, Finnish and Latvian markers there too. You'll never know what you'll find out.

Cornelius:

--- Quote from: pwhodges on 07 Mar 2018, 05:12 ---
--- Quote from: Cornelius on 07 Mar 2018, 04:24 ---I've got my genealogy documented back to the late 1500s,
--- End quote ---

Both lines of every generation?  Without that, any conclusion about belonging to a particular place is likely to be hard to justify.  When the genealogy in incomplete, the places where most records can be found are obviously going to come up top!

--- End quote ---

The question is, what do you need to justify that, then? Can we quantify it?

The point is, despite that genealogy, that indicates we have been around here - in an area of 20kmē tops - in a small village like this, my father, having had the misfortune of being born 2km out, is still regarded an outsider. As was my grandfather, when he died at 86, having been born a similar distance to the other side, but having lived here for over 60 years. It's not a question of not accepting them, but they've not been raised here, as some people will still remark. With the influx of newcomers of the last few years, it's a bit less, but still around.

And yes, we might not have both lines for every generation complete, but down to the beginning of the 19th, we're all in the same region.


--- Quote from: Castlerook on 07 Mar 2018, 06:12 ---In one of my old jobs, we used to deal with a lot of people looking into their family histories. In doing so, I learned some tips for people who have gotten stuck.

- Depending on the nation, check local census. Depending on how far you go back, these might be somewhat difficult to come back. Usually the ones dating back to the early 20th/late 19th centuries serve as a stepping stone.
- If you know the area where your ancestors came from, check out local churches. The Church (depending on which side of the Reformation you're stuck on) kept extensive records on people in the local parish. (Before anyone asks, a lot of this was to prevent bigamy and consanguineous marriage, but also to act as a record of marriages, births, deaths and people moving from one area to another). In some instances, the Church records will often be better than government and can reach as far back as the 16th Century.
- Check local graveyards. The stones might be worn but sometimes you might be able to gleam some names, especially if you do the paper and chalk rubbing trick.

There is a point where you can't really go back any further through historical records, usually conflict or even time will have destroyed them. When it gets to that, you can try a DNA marker test to try and trace paternal lineage. We did this last year, and I thought I'd just be Irish and Welsh. Turns out there's also Scottish, Greek, Finnish and Latvian markers there too. You'll never know what you'll find out.

--- End quote ---

Those are helpful tips. Even if the church does not have its records anymore, someone is bound to be able to tell you where they have gone to, if they still exist. And when in a graveyard, people willoften be able to point you to someone who has taken an interest, and might help you along. It's worth it to look through whatever records they have, even if they are incomplete; often, but not always, the priest will have crossreferenced them, even when people moved outside of the parish.

Is it cold in here?:
This is a good fascinating discussion. I'm going to give it its own thread when the coffee and exercise are done. Offhand I can't decide between DISCUSS, the top candidate, and RELATE, because it's people talking about their own lives.

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