Читать книгу Who Do You Think You Are? Encyclopedia of Genealogy: The definitive reference guide to tracing your family history - Nick Barratt - Страница 18

…avoid early errors

1. Cross-reference stories, accounts of names, dates, places and events with as many relatives as possible

2. Be wary of false relatives and aliases – establish exact relationships and find out everyone’s full names and nicknames

3. Use the second-hand information you are given as a guideline for your research rather than fool-proof fact

4. Be ready to substantiate everything with primary evidence

Never assume that dates and places you are told by relatives are correct, even if your source is adamant they are right. These are simply guidelines for you to follow to speed up the research process. Everything should be verified using official documentation where possible, such as civil registration certificates for births, marriages and deaths (described in Chapter 5) which will carry the official date and place that an event occurred. This is often at odds with the supposed ‘truth’ you were told by your family.

When collecting information from relatives, be aware that the names they knew ancestors by may not have been the same names they were christened and registered with. For example, Granddad Liam’s real name was actually Martin William, but he chose to use his second name, and then shortened that; Aunty Julie was actually born Mabel Julie. You will find that when looking for relatives’ documents in the archives it is essential to know their official name because you will usually need this to locate their records in alphabetical indexes. Nevertheless, if a relative was known by more than one name it helps to be aware of the various options, so that you have an alternative to look for if you do not find them under their official name.

False relationships can also be planted in the information you receive from other family members. For example, you may need to do a fair bit of pruning of the family tree to remove lots of aunts and uncles who earned the title through family familiarity rather than blood ties, as well as tidy up the loose use of ‘cousin’; Aunty Marie, who your Granny told you all about, was actually a close family friend rather than a blood relation, and Cousin Joyce may actually have been your Granny’s aunt, but because there was such a close age difference between them they were brought up more like cousins rather than aunt and niece. Make sure you gather the specifics about exactly how each person is related so that you are not misled in your research before it even begins.