Genealogy Chat

I suggest that you make an Ahnentafel to put at the front of the book - if you have a tree on Tribal Pages then this is one of the options. Then you need a chapter, probably, describing how things were at that time - war, strikes, politics etc., apart from the local geography and history. Local photographs can be included or old postcards will help as well as any documents that you have. Then you have the backdrop for any family members you intend to put in your book. Now you can start telling of the family members - and as has already been suggested from your grandparents to date you should be able to write of each one individually, those who were pre grandparents you can probably put en-bloc unless you are aware that they were of some importance to the community and not just ag-labs or maybe they came from a different part of the country (more geography and history) OR from a foreign land. Already been stated that this can be done on Home Publisher or other program already on your computer rather than going to expense of buying a program that will make your story look similar to that of any other. Good luck. Joe.

nudge for Jay

I've picked one name usually the male! And written his main life points ie date place of birth , marriage, death. And also recorded where he was on each census. After that I have added 'up to date ' family recollections. I've written it so that people who aren't into genealogy can understand. Have also added my own comments regardiing inconsistencies with age. Then haneded it to the relevant family members for them to check and disagree if necessary!have tried to follow the surname through to the present day, though obviously not always possible. Kim

Hi Judith It took me a while to pluck up the courage to start too - but the longer you leave it the harder it becomes!!!!! trudy

Thanks for the input so far. Yes, I think I'll end up with chapters which relate just to Dad (Percy) and his parents etc or to mum (Doris) and her family, as well as later ones which relate to both. The idea of having a list of 'characters' showing full names and how they are related is a good one and thanks for the tip about windowsXP which I do have, so I'll investigate that. I contemplated doing what you are doing Trudy, but kept putting off starting because I needed to find out more about one or other ancestor so thought I would start with mum and dad's story ( which is more likely to appeal to the younger family members at present) and then write up some of the earlier ancestors if this one works.

Hi Judith I have this problem too – but this is my answer so far. Each ‘chapter’ relates to a different relative and is written in the first person from their perpective – at the beginning of each ‘chapter’ there is a note of the important dates in their lives and a note of the names of their parents, siblings and grandparents, so that chapters can be cross-referenced. It seems to be working at the moment – have gone back four generations from myself and every so often get someone else to read a chapter to make sure it makes sense. Good luck Trudy

If this is about Percy and his wife, then they are the main subjects. Mum and Dad would be their parents, not anybody else's. At the back, have a list of names used in the text, together with their formal names. Otherwise, you'll be talking about great-great granny all the time. Does that make sense?

I have not done it myself but have seen family trees where each person has a number(with index at the start). Seems quite sensible as keep typing names gets a bit of a bind. Just a thought, good luck Irene ps. If you have WindowsXP there is some stuff in works you can use.

you could write it in the first person so that you refer to 'My Mother, then Mum, or My Grandad, then Grandad. Or you could use their christian names. The main thing is to be cnsistent and put a foreword to explain how you have writen it. Ann glos

I have made a start on writing up a biography of my parents, born 1904 and 1907 respectively. I've got loads of family photographs, diaries, letters, army records as well as memories of the stories they both told about their childhoods so no problem with content. I have scanned most of the documents and intend to include lots of these and also try to include some more general stuff about what was happening during their lifetimes (eg in mum's school exercise book from 1921 she wrote an essay about the news of the day which included the national coal strikes) My problem is how to refer to all the family members ! If I refer to them by their full names its feels a bit wrong as this will be a family document to share with my brother, my nieces and their children. On the other hand refering to Dad grandad etc gets very confusing as Percy was my Dad, but Emma's grandad and Killian's great grandad, and then when I make mention of Percy's grandad I get even more confused! Any advice on the best style for all this please? Judith

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