Family search
05 Feb 2013
If you wander into the middle of a group of people interested in researching their family histories, don’t be surprised to hear about ‘call me’ notes left on headstones, stories of dark family secrets, discoveries of adopted family members, and revelations of royal bloodlines.
No wonder it’s one of the most popular hobbies in the world.
When Joan Matthews was six years old her father died and her family began moving from town to town. “We lost touch with our extended family a little more with each move,” Joan remembers. “After a while, I knew nothing about my father’s family.”
After the birth of her son in 1980, Joan began looking into her family history.
Skip forward 30 years, and she has used the latest technology, including DNA testing, to piece together her family tree.
When she hears how ancestry research is becoming more and more popular, she knows why.
Ancestry research is addictive, time-consuming, frustrating and attracting new enthusiasts at an exponential rate. A conservative estimate suggests 100 million people worldwide actively research their family history during any month, and this number is still set to rise.
The trend is largely to do with technology that has made archival resources quick to access and more easily available than ever before.
Techno trends
No one doubts the benefits of digitised family history records. Online resources can save you money, plug holes in your family tree and connect you with a community of researchers who might hold a much-needed piece of information.
Brad Argent, from ancestry.com.au, is in charge of choosing which records from around the world are indexed or digitised on the popular website.
“Today, within 90 seconds,” Argent claims, “you can find and view records that, ten years ago, an Australian could only have flown to London to see.”
While the average age of family historians has dropped from 62 to 55 in the past 4.5 years, it does not necessarily follow that fewer people over 60 are researching their families. What it does suggest is that more young people research their families today, and that family history, as much as it can tell you about your ancestors, also has the potential to connect living generations.
There are other advantages as well, including familiarising researchers with technology and creating communities of researchers. “A lot of older people are using family heritage technology as a way to learn about computers,” Argent says.
“Local libraries and local family history societies have become community-based entry points into both technology and family history.”
Using the latest technology in family research is good, but only if it is part of a rigorous approach to research.
Jenny Higgins, Family History Reference Librarian at the National Library of Australia, believes that internet search engines can mean that people are more shallow in their approach these days. “They take a lucky-dip approach – searching but not researching.”
Dealing with misinformation
Every family historian knows someone who followed a false lead, usually someone who flew around the world before realising the mistake. The internet makes such mistakes more common, even if you no longer buy an around-the-world ticket to realise them.
“It’s become easy to start your research online on Monday and share it online on Friday without having verified your documentation,” according to genealogist Health Garnsey.
Joan Matthews has heard plenty of stories about people wasting years following bad leads. But there are bad leads in hand-on archives as well as online, so no matter where you get your information, double-check it.
“Verify the information you find from at least two other sources,” recommends Matthews.
Websites
There are some great websites to get you started on you search and they're very user friendly.
National Archives of Australia
This is a great starting point if your family members served in the Australian armed forces or if they migrated to Australia during the 20th century.
www.naa.gov.au/collection/family-history/
Find my Past
Find my Past works with archives around the world to bring you exclusive records. However, they're not free. There is a subscription fee depending on how wide you plan to go in your search but they do offer a 14-day free trial.
Ancestry
Ancestry.com.au is definitely a useful starting point. It is the world's largest online family history resource. You start by adding what you know about your family and then Ancestry guides you with finding the rest. Again, it's not free, but they do offer a 14-day free trial.
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