General Chat

I am in the very fortunate position of having enough information on my family history to begin recording it all in longhand. I have bought an album and plan to do a scrapbook style record with photos, letters, certificates and snippets of information, and eventually hope to hand this down to my children (and eventually grandchildren). After all, with technology advancing so quickly, we cant be sure that future generations will be able to access our software.

The purpose of this post is twofold....

Firstly I want to thank everyone on Genes who has ever helped me when I have hit a brick wall. I truly believe that not even half of what I have achieved, would have been possible without those people who have helped me time and time again. There are too many to mention individually, but I think you will know who you are - so thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

The second point is - has anyone ever recorded all their findings on paper in this way? Does anyone have any good advice for beginning a project like this? What works and what doesnt?

I hope that every single one of you has as much success as I have (from 26 members in my family tree to almost 1000 in 18 months, tracing back on all branches, many as far back as the 1500s). If there is ever any way I can help, or share what I have learned, please, just ask.

Thank you all once again

Julie xx

Hi, Julie. I have what I call "heritage" scrapbooks. I have one for my side and my husband's side of the family. They have photos, copies of certificates and other bits and pieces such as a photo of my FIL when he was in the London fire brigade during the war and his discharge papers, family military records etc. My advice to you is to use acid-free and archival quality papers and glue so your work will last many years and to make sure you put the info. in using your own handwriting as this will be lovely for future generations to read. Good luck Julie and have fun.

Sue x

I have my photograph albums set up in this way. I started with the albums which have the plastic covering over the page. Have now decided that was not really wise as some of the photos tend to slip out of position.

I also have certificates, cards, menus, and other documentation interleaving the pages of photos. Each photo has a caption.

It would be possible to incorporate the family history information as well. I agree with what you say about technology. When I started the project I thought I was being old fashioned and that putting the photos onto CD would have been better. However this way you have a tangible record of your family. The family history for which you do not have photos can also be presented in an album in exactly the way you have described. If you use albums which expand you can add additional information.

Remember it will take patience and time. It took me over three months just to put 40 plus years of photos together. Good luck.

Wow guys, I am inspired! You have been really busy, all of you, with both research and recording, well done, Im am very impressed.

You all have some really good advice there and I appreciate you taking the time out to reply to my post.

Sue - I was going to type and print everything, but your suggestion of my own handwriting is much better - I know how excited I was when I was given letters written by the grandfather I never knew - to see his handwriting was heartwarming and made me feel closer to him.

Mac - documenting your own life - what a fab idea! It will make fascinating reading. I cant pretend to have had as varied a life as yours but maybe I will jot down a few things for my descendants to read about. (what does OH mean, by the way? I cant work that one out)

Aunty - I bought an expandable album and have got some extra pages as you suggested - I know that this project is just going to grow and grow. A good idea to have captions for every picture too. I know I will need to be patient - thank you for your reminder of this as I am already anxious to get going but want to take my time as well, to make sure its an heirloom worth leaving.

Thank you all so much, once again.

Right - now to get planning!!!
xxx

I'm working on mine as chapters.

I have a couple of chapters on "The Women in My Family" which are about the slightly trollopey gr gr grandmas - one on dad's side and one on mum's side. That's been fun.

Then there's the chapter on OH's grandfather - who achieved a lot. We re-traced his WW1 route this year with our Battlefields Trip. He fought for Canada so his movements are well documented. Plus, in his way he was a bit of a philanthropist - he had his own shop and made sure his elderly customers were well cared for. Plus he was a local councillor and pushed the building of council houses in Northfleet in Kent - he even has a road named after him. So, he's a good "project".

Then the rest I'm gradually building per line. Where I have a fair bit of info on a particular ancestor they get a chapter, otherwise they are part of that line. It's all very much a work in progress but is fascinating to do.

I've also noticed that writing things down is a good way to spot the "gaps". Although that tends to slow me down while I dash off to do some more research!

Good luck with it!

Jill

Mac - wow, what an amazing project, restoring the helicopters - well done. Must be very satisfying.

Jill - I know what you mean about showing up the gaps. I have only been going a couple of hours and already have a load of questions that still need answering!

Rita - oh for a box of papers like your fathers - how wonderful to have all that! Maybe I should get my parents and only surviving grandmother (who will be 91 in April but is still as sharp as a pin) to document their lives too.

Thank you all for sharing. Its given me lots to consider. This project is going to be bigger than I had anticipated!

Another thing to think about doing is a timeline. I find it useful when I'm stuck on a particular person.

I did this for one of my trollopey gr gr grandmas. I wrote down all the events as they affected her - it was helpful in clarifying that my "theoretical" gr gr grandfather could not be father to my gr grandfather but I now have a fairly clear idea of who might have been his father. Strong evidence - no proof (yet). But, it will all go down in her chapter - it's very much a warts and all exercise!

Jill

Julie, my Uncle aged 80 + wrote his memoirs of his life from birth in Poland until he emigrated to Canada in 1955. He put in lots of pictures (with help from a computer-literate friend, who also typed it).
Then he had it ringbound, so it's easier to read.

So it's never to late to start!! I am attempting to write one about my adoption and search for birth relatives. it is difficult to know where to start, at the end or in the middle,lol.

Using a card file may help if you jot down a bit about each person with dates, then you can juggle them around.

Good luck
Sue

Sue - wow thats wonderful! What a wonderful memory your uncle has for his age (my gran is much the same). Good idea about the cards. I have started to put down stuff about each of my seven known great grandparents - boy are the gaps showing already!

Rita - thats a good idea. I think I will get some wallet files, one of each great grandparent. Keep everything for each person together if I can (although some will double like marriage certs).

I just had a chat with my mother. She reminded me that I did a 'this is your life' type book for both her and my dad's 50th birthdays, and also one for my Gran's 80th - so there is sure to be more stuff in there I can use for the Heritage Albums (thanks SueMaid!) I intend to create now.

Thanks everyone. This advice is priceless xx