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Big Trees, Little Trees

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  • Big Trees, Little Trees


    Think mine only a 'sapling' with 118 names and struggling to find more unless I go for siblings of siblings "ad infinitum"
    I recently viewed a Tree with 400 plus, it took ages to look for my connection to it and then wondered about purchasing all those GRO records.
    Is there a cheaper way that I dont know about?
    Last edited by AlanC; 31-01-09, 13:47.

  • #2
    Often a tree will extend back past the start of civil registration, in which case you would have to work from parish registers, wills etc. rather than GRO certificates. Also, some families have lots of original certificates filed away! Then there are family Bibles. Plus if you can find someone researching the same family, they might have some certificates they can share with you.
    KiteRunner

    Every five years or so I look back on my life and I have a good... laugh"
    (Indigo Girls, "Watershed")

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    • #3
      I have just over 500 names. I only get certs for the direct line unless it's to answer a specific query - for basic info on siblings I just use the info from FreeBMD, FamilySearch, censuses and parish records.

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      • #4
        If you are lucky you may find a website with your family. There are quite a few where some dedicated person has gathered all the people with one surname.

        If you have a rare surname in your tree you can do a wholesale search on that surname and then see how to piece them together.

        I have Chowns as a surname, from Oxfordshire and then Bucks so I am fairly certain that all Chowns born Oxfordshire or Bucks are related to me, albeit distantly.

        Size of families varies too - my Dad's father was one of 10 children whom I've been able to trace, though still finding relatives descended from them.

        I've got all my direct ancestors back to at least 6 generations and some further, though it does get much harder without census information, especially when there are several parents with the same name living in the same parish!
        ~ with love from Little Nell~
        Chowns, Dunt, Emms, Mealing, Purvey & Smoothy

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        • #5
          I have quite a large tree of about 7,000 people. I have lots of certificates, but mostly to prove that what I have on my direct line back is correct, some to sort out some problem or other and some for curiosity.

          I have no certs for lines I have traced forward from siblings of my ancestors. If these lines are too difficult to do without certs then I don't do them!

          Every single event on my tree is given a source rating so I know how confident I am about information I have collected. If I am lucky enough to make contact with direct descendants of my more distant lines then sometimes these people will give me copies of certs they have, usually in exchange for further info I can give them, or I can tell them what info I have about their direct line, but always point out that I have not got the certs so they should consider buying them to back up my findings!

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          • #6
            Originally posted by AlanC View Post
            Think mine only a 'sapling' with 118 names and struggling to find more unless I go for siblings of siblings "ad infinitum"
            I recently viewed a Tree with 400 plus, it took ages to look for my connection to it and then wondered about purchasing all those GRO records.
            Is there a cheaper way that I dont know about?
            Hi Alan

            My tree (at least the tree I am sure of! - I have three provisional branches - LOL) is smaller than yours :D

            And I have bought many GRO records, which turn out to be the wrong ones.

            I'd much rather have a tiny tree which I am sure is correct, than a large one which is poorly researched.
            Joan died in July 2020.

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            • #7
              I have nearly 3000 people on my personal tree. Most of these people were born before civil reg and I have used a variety of sources, including parish records, Wills, Monumental Inscriptions, Land transfers, local history books and newspapers etc.

              One line goes back to 1496 with very little effort - they occupied the same farm for nearly 400 years and all left wills.

              Yes, this tree does include children of siblings. In my tree, it has to, as there were many cousin marriages. I also have a waste not want not policy for my tree - if I accidentally find some information about the wider family, I put it on my tree. It almost always comes in handy later, if not for me, then for a contact. And of course, the children of siblings are my blood relatives anyway.

              I mostly only buy certs for my direct line, but like others, will buy a cert for a sibling etc to help clear up a mystery. I have been researching my tree for a very long time and would have run out of things to do long ago if I hadn't included siblings and more remote relatives.

              OC

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              • #8
                Small is beautiful. Once upon a time I knew the relationships of all my ancestors that I'd found. Now, I do still know that James Broomfeild bp 1736 is one of my ancestors. And the father of James, who was the father of James, who was the father of James..... but I don't know what any of them look like or how many greats any of them is.
                Phoenix - with charred feathers
                Researching Skillings from Norfolk, Sworn from Salisbury and Adams in Malborough, Devon.

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                • #9
                  Phoenix

                  If I had confined my tree to post-1837 and direct line only, I would have a very small and boring tree! All the exciting and interesting stuff took place long before this!

                  OC

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                  • #10
                    Alan

                    I too have been researching a long time and to be qute honest I am not sure how many I have in my tree, but it is certainly more than 500 but probably no more than 2000. The trouble is once you get back to pre 1837 the lines inevitably get bigger as you collect more great greats and others which you find interesting enough to do further research through the methods suggested by OC, even though they may be sibling twigs. Bearing this in mind I never want to see anybody's tree initially. I just want straight answers to straight questions, for example if I am interested in Joe Bloggs getting married to Elizabeth Whoever June 1896 in Poplar then that question answered correctly, is all I need to know if the person from whom I have made the enquiry, is on my wavelength or not and then proceed with a tree if appropriate. I always find that short questions stop the nonsense of having to wade through masses of "tree", which in the most part is quite irrelevant to what you are after.

                    My own tree will never be huge, as out of 4 grandparents I have 2 Irish, one Scottish and one English. As far as the Great Grandparents are concerned even my English side managed an Irish side!! The Irish ones will not go back before 1798 and with names like O'Neill/Kennedy it is pretty difficult anyway! So that leaves me with just the Scottish one side and one English side and it is mainly the English side where I have most of my ancestors back to the 1500/1600's. Scottish side is rather vague prior to 1730 as the family disappears from the village in Scotland around that time and with a common name is difficult to track back once the village has been lost! But another Wyllie side is proving very interesting and some of them are siblings of siblings so......

                    Janet
                    Last edited by Janet; 22-11-11, 10:11.

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                    • #11
                      I guess it's different for everyone - if, like me, you are still trying to find out who three of your grandparents were, there is no way that you can have anything but a tiny tree LOL
                      Joan died in July 2020.

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                      • #12
                        Before 1837 it is usually vital to spread your tree sideways as it's often the only way to sort out cousin families where they all have children with the same names etc!

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                        • #13
                          Muggins

                          But NO-ONE could ever say your tree is boring, lol!

                          I agree with Janet, I have no interest in looking at other people's trees and always ask a relevant question before I even enter into any great correspondence - Did Jane Bloggs marry Charlie Farley in 1842? Answer- yes, no, don't know.

                          Only if the answer is yes do we proceed. I might help them to sort out a "don't know". Neither response requires me to look at their tree, although if we have a very good and close relative, I might nosey through it to see if they have the same info as I do.

                          OC

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                          • #14
                            WOW!
                            Merry has 7000, OC has 3000...how you both find time to help others is amazing.
                            I do note other contributions together with their advice which is appreciated.
                            I cant get past 1800 on one side, a William Molyneux (Subject of a Thread) and an Arthur Fell(also subject of another thread) so I'm at a standstill. These are Direct Line and although I have some siblings, I'm not keen to follow up at present.

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                            • #15
                              One other point where certainly it is very useful to know ALL the siblings is that I have been contacted by several people about the siblings of my great grandfather who lived in London but was born in Northants and was from a family of eight, and my first question has always been "Which sibling are you descended from?" That always sorts people out as to where they are coming from.

                              Janet

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                              • #16
                                Sometimes fate determines the size of your tree (e.g. Joan's). Others can choose whether to stick with the direct line or how wide to spread the branches. I've chosen to go sideways when I can't go back. That way little gems sometimes appear - I've just discovered that a married-in family in Barrow-in-Furness had in 1901 a lieutenant in the Japanese Navy boarding with them. He was presumably overseeing the building or refitting of a ship.

                                Other than the direct line I generally rely on correlation of BMD records and censuses. Some families I can place accurately because a mother-in-law or niece or a sister is staying on census night.
                                Uncle John - Passed away March 2020

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                                • #17
                                  Think I should spread some branches in the hope I may find a clue enabling me to track back into 1700's.
                                  Thanks to all.

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                                  • #18
                                    Alan

                                    Do you research all branches of your family? I mean all 4 grandparents male and female lines. Then all great grandmothers etc.
                                    When I get another new maiden name, I research that name as well.

                                    Sometimes people think that researching the female line is more difficult because of names changing after marriage, it isn't once you have the fathers name then you have another male line.

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                                    • #19
                                      Hi Alan

                                      I've got just over 2,500 in my tree, I started it in 2002. If you come from a large family like mine, it's relatively easy to get a huge tree without too much effort.

                                      I'm one of 4 children (I was born in 1962). Mum is one of 11, Nan was one of 18, g-gran was one of 14.

                                      Out of g-gran's 14 children, eight had families of between 12 and 16 children.

                                      Then on Mum's Dad's side, he was one of 15, his parents were one of 9 and 11 respectively. I have found all these children, their spouces and their descendants.

                                      Thats only going back to the 1880's and also on Dad's side a lot of them had very large families. Dad's Mum was one of 9 etc, etc and so it goes on!

                                      I personally have 31 first cousins on Mum's side. Ages ranging between 54 and 14. Most of which have average of 2 children (I have three children) and some of my cousins have grandchildren. So as you can see, it's very easy to have a huge tree without even trying!

                                      On certain lines I have got back to the 1760's, which means I have a tree of 11 generations.

                                      I have only bought certs for my immeadiate lines, but then again I am working on my tree with various 2nd, 4th and even 6th cousins, and we all share certs which help enormously.

                                      Sandra

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                                      • #20
                                        My tree is over 11,000, but I only have certificates for my direct line.

                                        Apart from my Irish Great Grandmother the majority of my ancestors are from the Isle of Wight, and I found it wise to add all the little branches as many, many Island families intermarried and by following one little twig you find you come back and join another little twig. This has happened several times in my tree, and it makes is very difficult to remember how everyone is related!!!

                                        I have got back to the 1500's with my paternal Grandmothers line, as I was able to go to the Newport RO and transcribe all BMD's. They have put every BMD onto a card index, so it is a lot quicker to search, but you can still look at the original documents if you want to.

                                        I have some ancestors in Middlesex and some in Leicester, and I managed to find a lot of info online. I also got in touch with various Family History sites and managed to get people to search Parish Registers for me for a small fee.
                                        Wendy



                                        PLEASE SCAN AT 300-600 DPI FOR RESTORATION PURPOSES. THANK YOU!

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