DNA disproved great great grandfather William Smith half Samoan
As part of NFHM2021, I was asked by the local library where I volunteer every Friday, if I would run a few sessions related to family history. I have one I have presented a few times about “Discovering your family history” that has the participants thinking about what they might already have at home that could start them with their journey and how are they going to share their knowledge.
Birth, death, marriage certificates
Passports or naturalization certificates
War records
Photographs – hopefully named and dated
Heirloom objects handed down
Maybe some audio interviews on tapes or CDs
A family tree researched by another person – hopefully sourced well
I then introduce them to pedigree charts and family group sheets and different ways of organizing your family history instead of having lots of notes on slips of paper. Colour coding their files is also mentioned. Finally, where can they go to next.
Ask for help from librarians – a book might be published about your family
Talk to Sue on Friday afternoons at Rosny library – book a one hour session via Eventbrite
Join your local family history society
Take an online family history course
Create a private Facebook group for family to exchange stories
Buy a software program
Get DNA tested
So last Friday, I had six participants taking part and I used as an example my half Samoan great great grandfather (who from DNA is now no longer my relative). As I was mentioning where to find other records, one of the ladies and the librarian who was in there helping, said they were related to Captain William Smith. Only in Tasmania could that happen – 8 of us in the room, two related and one thought they had been related.
The two ladies enjoyed looking at all the research I had done on Captain Smith who ran many whaling ships in the 1860’s-1880’s from Recherche Bay, southwest of Hobart, out to the whaling areas of the Pacific Ocean as well as the Great Australian Bight.
Readers: Have you had a chance encounter with someone who turns out to be related to you?
A OPS combines family and local history on a community, street, graveyard etc.
A OPS is about collecting diverse information and statistics about a place over time or at a specific time and drawing conclusions.
I like #OnePlaceStudies because it sets everyday life in the local and national context, and interprets local/national events and factors through the lives of real, ordinary people.
A OPS can be whatever you want it to be. Don’t be put off by thinking it has to be done a certain way as I was for a while
Here is the web page for OPS world wide but there are only 4 in Australia. Check out the studies in the navigation bar one-place-studies.org
#ANZAncestryTime A1 I have never done an OPS and suspect that it could take over my life. I would choose Bradninch or Butterleigh in Devon for my husband’s ancestors or maybe Bannockburn in Scotland for my Forfars. Pic is of East Butterleigh by Alison Day on Flickr pic.twitter.com/QsW2KN9DD6
I have an interest in three OPSs although they tend to suffer from lack of time or competing demands. My first is focused on Broadford, Co Clare, Ireland and more broadly on East Clare emigrants to Australia
My second OPS is a study of the 62 emigrants from Dorfprozelten, Bavaria to Australia in the mid19thC. I learn more about their lives in Bavaria, emigration and life in Oz. I have good links with the local historian
My third OPS interest is in Murphy’s Creek, Qld which was key in the construction of the Ipswich-Toowoomba railway line but is now a sleepy satellite town below the range. I have done lots of research but yet to set up a blog
I have two OPS on the go. One is Kaimkillenbun on the Darling Downs and my study covers the late 1800’s-1930. This is where my g grandparents settled first when arriving from Northern Ireland. Other family were already there
My second OPS is of Seventeen Mile Rocks in Brisbane. I feel very connected because not only did my g grandparents farm there but I moved from Kenmore to Jindalee just nearby aged 14
I haven’t and probably won’t … I really like the idea but so many possible places in my Ancestry to choose from … wouldn’t be able to make up my mind what to pick
I started mine by using posts written by students when I taught history and Technology. The most recent posts relate to the suggested topics from One Place Studies
I started looking into people from the same Cornish town as my family, or Cornish families with the same occupation/living in same suburb, but uncovered uncomfortable stories through Trove about others. Made me question ethics of what I was doing.
I suppose the question is whether it’s about recent times and people. Ethical questions can be quite the #familyhistory and OPS challenge. Further back in time is less concerning.
And a great Scottish site which traces the residents who lived in the village of Cairndow at the head of Loch Fyne Scotland. On my to-do list is to send info to them. Sigh…so much to do! #OneplaceStudyourhousestheirstories.com
If I do another OPS, it will be Polstead in Suffolk
I started a #OnePlaceStudy this year looking at a local ‘big house’ (now demolished). There was a family connection in that my g-grandfather worked there as a gardener, but it was also part of the local history of the area I grew up in: kinedar.wordpress.com
of course ! It doesn’t have to be a town or a village does it? A house will do. Or a church. Or a street or cemetery -whatever takes your fancy and speaks to you.
Focusing on a big house has meant (a) it’s a manageable size for an OPS, and (b) I get to use a wide range of sources because I’m looking at the ‘high society’ above stairs plus all the staff, as individuals and within their roles.
I had contemplated doing a OPS for the village where my father was born
I am not doing a OPS as such but had started a blog on just one small place, Tarlee in SA but just posting Trove articles, weddings, burials there and sending the links to the nearby local historical society justattarlee.blogspot.com
Kind of working on this for Makaretu & Ashley Clinton, two areas in Central Hawkes Bay, NZ. Approximately half of both cemeteries contain ancestors (back to Great Great Grandparents arriving in 1873). Get info from my 82 year old dad & 72 year old mother.
I have been collaborating with an historical society doing a OPS. More heads make for better results
Sue, the time line is a great way to feature events at a place and linking to blog posts an added bonus. A time line is something I would add now I have seen your blog.
Limiting the time span makes a OPS more realistic Fran. Otherwise it could be more than a lifetime of work.
In what ways might a OPS complement your family history research? ie context, FANS, others?
An OPS helps you understand and appreciate what your ancestors’ lives were like, what their “normal” was. It’s also a great way to see just how large their extended family was, and how interconnected with their neighbours they were.
Does anyone else feel they have no “right” to be researching a place where they don’t live or which is far away? It sometimes feels quite impertinent to me.
I think if done with ethics in mind, e.g. always questioning own assumptions, making active efforts to engage with local #archives, local societies/orgs and local culture, it’s a brilliant & respectful way of expanding our own worldview…
…and where possible, involving local researchers & residents from modern day to ensure the community can also interact with it – definitely a force for good & potentially forging national/int’l goodwill connections too
I live about a thousand miles from where I was born- and about four thousand from where my grandfather was! If I didn’t research far off places, I wouldn’t be able to do any of my #genealogy
I’m sorry. I just don’t understand this query. We’re all from somewhere. And isn’t it the point to learn things, not only of the person, but of their place and their time. I don’t do this just to collect names but to expand my knowledge of everything
If I was doing an OPS I would want it to be supportive of my #familyhistory research. To lead to a better understanding of my ancestor’s lives.
Context is important but you can research around your ancestors – people associated with them (FANS), environment etc. – without necessarily taking on a full scale OPS
Just getting a more rounded feeling for the area & the close-knit connections. Eg – 3 local ‘boys’ went to WWII, and being a very small rural area, most residents had photos of all 3, in a frame on their walls. (And now I have them on my wall)
An OPS will give you lots of interesting background tidbits to add colour if you are writing up your family history too
I think the OPS helps me describe how my ancestors lived. Eg, Haughley in the 1920s was known for its lack of sewerage & the vicar’s crusade to get it for the village. Got to put that in the book !
My OPS started out as FAN research when I was writing about my g-grandfather for a local history project. It was only later that I realised it was ripe for development into a project in its own right.
Because mine is more about a district in Tasmania, I try to involve the community through their Facebook page. Lots of comments are from community members who have read the post.
Using a Facebook page to share info, or make connections with current residents can be very helpful can’t it?
I find I get very little interaction on my OPS FB page but I’ll keep plugging away. This is despite having many followers to the page
Also get ideas from the local Sorell Historical Society Facebook page where I will often mention what I am about to write about and get information from the locals
Researching your #familyhistory gives you an in-depth knowledge of your family and their lives, and we usually look at their place and activities within their community. This can add to the depth of a #OnePlaceStudy.
A OPS could help to give a bigger picture of the life your ancestors lived in a place. Collating info on all people in a place could lead to finding unknown people who are connected to your family
In both #familyhistory and an OPS it will be a goal to research as widely as possible, looking at a diverse range of data and information. We would look at consolidated data for the place a well as individual experiences and their typicality.
An OPS can give you a better understanding of where your family fits within the context of the place. The #OnePlaceStudy and #familyhistory offer complementarity and benefits to both.
A OPS can help you understand your ancestors lives in context by understanding a community or street they lived at the time they lived there or in over time. getting to know their friends and neighbours can lead to clues to follow
#ANZAncestryTime A2 Actually I think an OPS would be essential to do your family history really properly to get a sense of why your ancestors made the decisions they did and to really understand their background. But then again….sleep has its value too. pic.twitter.com/VzRsCRleqq
What kind of information would you want to research for a OPS and what outcome would you want for a OPS?
I like to study the entire census records for places and make a list of who lived where and did what compared to the next census and so on.
You can find out a lot about a place through newspaper advertisements from the time ie who lived there, sale notices, occupations, what happened in a place
And when using Trove, remember to add tags and create a relevant list so others can find it as well. Your work isn’t lost then.
Newspapers advertising of when the water, sewer and transport came to an place tells a lot about the progress and improvements
I love walking around my OPS It gives me ideas for research every time I’m lucky that my place is quite close to where I live
Just to chip in here about sources. Many researchers forget town/borough records. Your OPS may not have these, however it might be within the ‘sphere of influence’ of a larger town. E.g. the borough records of King’s Lynn mentions other towns/villages in area.
They can be hard to track down at times. Internet Archive is a good source, but some are browse only at FamilySearch and FindMyPast etc.
Don’t forget historical maps on each state land registry website. You can see places in the past. Also historical imagery on Google Earth.
At the moment my OPS focuses on stories and documents rather that statistics. That could change with more time
I worried to start with that mine didn’t have lots of statistics. But I think getting the community involved with their stories and memories is just as good
Some people will want to be very statistical in their approach, others will be focused more on the people and their stories. “Horses for courses”.
I was pondering this question over dinner, & was thinking that soon I’ll be able to do the 1911 vs 1921 comparison for Haughley.
Land records will be more important for Irish research as you work out who lived in your OPS over time. as always, maps are critical.
Doing an Irish (or Northern Irish) OPS is a challenge, but once you know your way round the local resources there is a lot of information out there (and quite a bit of it is free!)
Get to know your place! Really study a map, the topography, the local walking routes, markets,geographic obstacles and adjacent townlands or parishes. Put your message out there, you’ll be surprised who might find your interest in the OPS.
speaking of #OnePlaceMaps check out this fabulous map done by a postman in Cardigan Wales in 1945 digitised here library.wales/discover/digit… by the National Library of Wales 🙂
I’ve been using censuses, maps, street directories and the usual BMD resources to construct the basic framework of the study, but it is newspapers that are largely filling in the details and giving it colour.
My goal is to bring back to life a place which disappeared 80 years ago. So I’m gathering little stories, which provide a snapshot view, alongside all the info I can find about the residents, to reconstruct what it looked like and what life was like there
I use the National Libraries ‘Papers Past’ a lot. Really helps to identify people from the area, what they were involved in, and their connection to the community. Especially enjoy seeing school results. Also use births, deaths, marriages a lot as well
Great tip! I forgot to add school admission registers, and anniversary celebration books, especially for schools that were opened for/by pioneers.
Both mine begin with pioneers Pauleen and land records, title deeds are wonderful. and maps!
The maps + land selections are what led me to discover the connection of neighbours at Murphys Creek as former neighbours of Dorfprozelten.
ALL the information (because I have difficulty restricting myself even though restriction by timeframe or topic is eminently sensible). Outcome: a comprehensive understanding of one or more aspects of life in that place that you can share with others.
A non-English speaking OPS will offer different challenges and may offer an opportunity or necessity for collaboration with a local historian. Where there is already a #localhistory expert we will like to collaborate without “treading on toes”
An Australia OPS will need to also source diverse records including electoral rolls, land selection, naturalisations, FANs etc etc. A pioneer place OPS will likely be quite different from an established UK village OPS.
I like to understand how a place was settled ( easier in Australia and NZ ) and who lived there overtime, what their occupations were and to get a feel for how a place changed over time.
The available records and sources will vary depending on where your OPS is situated. So in Ireland you will not (mostly) find census nominal data until 1901 but you can still look at statistical data for education, occupation, gender distribution etc.
For an OPS I’d look at maps, census, naturalisation, internal-external migration, occupation, parish chest and registers, cemeteries, newspapers, land records including land selection. All you would use for #familyhistory and more.
I’m thinking census records, parish records, maps, business directories, local histories, cemetery records, newspapers. This is a good place to start one-place-studies.org/articles/10-st…
I use Trove a lot in my posts but also documents from Tasmanian archives as well as info from locals.
A OPS can be an excellent family history resource. Suggest informative websites, books, blogs etc about OPS. Where can we find the One Place Studies done by others?
Also if you share your OPS post on Wednesday use tag #oneplacewednesday It’s a thing.
The Society for One-Place Studies, of course, at @OnePlaceStudies and one-place-studies.org. Lots of freely available material (incl YouTube videos), plus extra goodies behind the membership curtain, and truly awesome and enthusiastic members.
How to books I have found useful for One Place Study include “Putting Your Ancestors in Their Place: A Guide to One Place Studies” Janet Few & “Ten Steps to a One Place Study” Janet Few
I saw this One Place Study data management and mapping software in the Expo Hall at Rootstech youtu.be/K3UyjLEAuSAsof…
Your first port of call should be the society for One Place Studies. one-place-studies.org This shows the registered OPSs around the world BUT there may be others eg the work done by Merron Riddiford on Victoria’s Western District.
CuriousFox is a gazetteer and message system that connects family historians & local historians. I’ve had great success with it for places in the UK & Ireland, as explained on bit.ly/2WB9ir1.
#ANZAncestryTime chat was discussing pros and cons of the big four companies related to genealogy. This post will separate each of them.
Paul Chiddicks writes for Family Tree Magazine and has written a post including links to all his articles. Many of these relate to the big four companies and how to get the most out of them.
Hilary also reminds us: Whatever we think about the online databases there is so much more hidden in our archives
Pauleen: I think the biggest weakness that comes from the digital records on the genie giants, is that inexperienced researchers haven’t learned to assess what they’ve found. Too easy to just accept what you’ve found. More a user weakness than that of the giants.
Alison: Definitely a lack of education or even an awareness that at least some informal training is necessary to make the best use of the resources out there.
ANZ: I see this so often. The word research has a different meaning to many I find. Sometimes it’s a matter of ‘if it’s on the internet then it’s true’ or seems to be that way
Pauleen: And if it’s on the internet it’s mine to use – ignore copyright. I find this every single time I talk about writing family history. Those who don’t want to know, turn listening ears off and arguing voices on.
Fran mentions: Their size means they can source data that smaller companies cannot afford to purchase. I feel a weakness of the paid sites is the cost. It is really expensive to have all three. Gradually more sites seem to be offering Monthly fees.
Pauleen gives us: Weaknesses: yes, it’s been said a bazillion times. A chromosome browser in Ancestry would be gold. MyHeritage- a less clunky search process would be good. FindMyPast has become less user friendly not more so, IMO.
Pauleen: Using digitised sources through all the genie giants has made research easy and almost too speedy. I kind of liked the slow genealogy of doing it in archives etc. But it is easier sitting at home in pyjamas.
Carmel: photo enhancements on MyHeritage, comprehensive collections on FamilySearch Irish collections on FMP and hints on Ancestry
Maggie: Loving the updated address search on @findmypast! And the newspaper collection is fab. On Ancestry I like the tree building features and DNA; FamilySearch – their wiki is brilliant; MyHeritage – chromosome browser.
Sue: I use all of them: FMP for British records, Ancestry for my tree and hints, FamilySearch to check what others might have as family members, MyHeritage for DNA stuff
Sharn: Each site has different merits. Ancestry.com gives me access to German records while FMP has better English records. I prefer to use the search method rather than using hints.
Karen: I’ve loved being able to connect with family members on @Ancestry. Have learnt a lot. My grandmother didn’t know her father, so that whole line was new to us. Weaknesses are in the duplication of data and also very many errors.
Sharn: I find I get most of my DNA matches on Ancestry.com although I have tested with 5 companies
Jane: That reflects the relative sizes of the databases, I expect. Despite lower numbers in other databases, I have some very good matches in them as well as on Ancestry.
Pauleen: And I have some from one branch in 23andMe that appear nowhere else. Kind of mystifies me because it’s not so popular in Oz.
Margaret: Ancestry needs to let you see shared matches below 20cM. As most of my matches are in that group, it is a slow process finding people. And a chromosome browser.
Margaret: I have totally run out of colours. I now use symbols in the notes as well for the large groups that I cannot identify. The generations are so long in my family I am into the 1700s for 2xggparents
Sharn: Yes Ancestry definitely needs a larger colour palette for coding!
Paul: they all have their own good points and bad points and a lot will depend on the areas that your ancestors lived as to the availability of the records you need. I prefer Ancestry simply because it syncs with my FTM software
Sharn: I think the biggest strength for Ancestry is its huge database and number of users. And a great place to find family photos!
Helen: I’d forgotten that Sharn. Yes, I’ve found terrific photos for other people I’ve researched (not family) through @Ancestry (in my past working life) connected with family of research subjects & secured permission to use their photos womenaustralia.info/exhib/widows/d…
Sharn: My first ever online discovery was back when Ancestry was fairly new and I found the passenger record for my Swiss g g grandparents to Maryborough. I joined Ancestry to find no other Australian records until later
ANZ: I didn’t find much on my Australian family in the early days of Ancestry so stayed away from it for a while. I consider it essential now, especially for DNA and exposure for my trees
Margaret: Ancestry has given me family members through DNA matching, but always with the help of several other sites.
Jennifer: Certificates and other documents on Ancestry are a great resource. I need to find time to pay it forward and upload mine
Pauleen: Technically those images are copyright to the specific BDM agency…check the small print on the document. Hence why I don’t upload mine.
Sue: That’s why I add the web link to the document for relatives to check out themselves
Fran: I like the electoral rolls on Ancestry as it is easy since my tree has grown in size so I have more to check and trips to NZ are non-existent for me currently. Looking them up at Archives in Wellington was always interesting before Ancestry got them.
Sharn: Two years ago I was an advertisement for Ancestry.com after having my photo taken at RootsTech with a sign saying “My great Uncle was a Spy” with regard to a discovery
Margaret: I use Ancestry for its records in the Card Catalogue. It has the NZ Electoral Rolls which I use often. I use this site the most for DNA matching, but need many more groups.
Sue: on Ancestry, DNA match to positively identify surname of my paternal grandfather then within hours have lines back to 1700s – great discovery
Helen: I love the public member trees on @Ancestry, sure some are way off but others can help, you can help others and connect with potential family
Pauleen: Ancestry has a diverse range of research options and I find it easy to store an online tree there. Also very good for DNA and I like the grouping options. And yes a chromosome browser is wish list.
Jennifer: I love the hints on Ancestry. They can be a starting point for research. I always validate them before adding to my tree or discount them altogether
Margaret: FamilySearch is very difficult to find anything on through a general search. No matter how much you try to limit the search, it does not work. Looking in the specific records is better.
Fran: Agreeing with you again. I mostly search via the catalogue rather than a general search.
Pauleen: And using keywords can be more helpful than place especially with Irish townlands.
Sharn: Familysearch gives you an excellent opportunity to transcribe records and you can choose which ones you want to do.
Pauleen: A strength of Family Search is its training opportunities for researchers eg wikis, videos and similar.
Carmel: best finds two gt grandfathers wills on FamilySearch
Margaret: FamilySearch gives me the probate records which are very useful.
Fran: Greatest discovery – siblings on the passenger @FamilySearch records for my Great GrandMother, Amelia Bretel. Discovered the migration date & she had siblings. Or does she? I cannot find them in the Channel Islands in the same household. Might be cousins?
Pauleen: Any discovery is a great discovery! I like how DNA matching has confirmed previously hypothesised cousin links. Digitised records showing you the original documents. Loved trawling #FamilySearch microfilms – apart from my eyesight.
Pauleen: Family Search is one I use less than I used to. If I had fewer paid subs I’d use it more often. It was gold when I started and could borrow in microfilms so I’ve done a lot of research through those.
Helen: I have gone through phases with FamilySearch too Pauleen. I find the search irritating, but its fuzziness in results is really helpful, better than some of the others
Margaret: My Legacy software syncs to FamilySearch which is useful when I am building quick trees to find missing fathers or grandfathers. I use it to find some records from there and @WikiTreers , but the search method is poor.
Hilary: I like building families at Family Search and like that they give citations for records
Jennifer: I don’t have European ancestors so haven’t used MyHeritage. Though I did love the photo enhancer that I tried out during Rootstech
Pauleen: MyHeritage has good trees for European families and I like their DNA analysis tools, cluster and chromosome browser. Their search facility is clunky.
Jane: There is power in working across the databases and cross referencing data
Pauleen: Absolutely! But you need to “get” that the opportunity to do so exists and that you might learn something different/new
Carmel: biggest problem, one has to pay to keep a tree of more than 250 people there, and it requires another subscription for the data as well as the tree
Hilary: My Heritage is known for its search engine and photo enhancing tools Good for European research
Margaret: MyHeritage is NOT my favourite tonight having got another nonsensical ToFR equating my grandfather’s father to a different person. And my 2xggmother with a totally different name in the next one. Why can’t I reject them!! And that there are no sources for profiles on trees. I don’t use it very much although I have at present got a sub.
Pauleen: You’ve reminded me of a weakness of MH Margaret. I should turn off notifications because my inbox gets flooded.
Margaret: Although the chromosome browser in MyHeritage is useful, it is clumsy and slow to use. I download the results and sort them instead!
Hilary: The strength of #findmypast is the UK records 1939 register updates Newspapers and next year 1921 census in UK
Margaret: I haven’t yet had a subscription to Find My Past but do use them for many searches. I use the free 1881 Census there. I plan to have a sub once I have cleared my life of other urgent tasks
Helen: Lots to love about @findmypast and UK censuses, adding in a birthplace to optional keywords rather than location, helps with the waifs and strays
Helen: @findmypast, ability to sort your search results is AWESOME, means you can broaden search then sort in a number of helpful ways
Pauleen: FindMyPast is my favourite for Irish research because of its range of sources. It also has more focus on UK based offerings.
Margaret: I have so many – FTDNA, Scotlands People, IrishGenealogy, Internet Archive, Online Genealogic Index, papers Past, Trove, BDM , FreeCen Reg, BMD, Archway and Google (and others I am sure). And many Facebook Groups.
Paul: I would also add that joining various online forums can be a great help, although not obviously genealogy research sites, forums are packed full of experts in their own fields and can be invaluable
Helen: If doing Cornish research the wonderful @CornwallOPCs Being able to focus exclusively on Cornwall without all the noise. Sorting features. Person search over all databases. Easy ability to correct transcription errors. cornwall-opc-database.org
ANZ: Facebook pages and groups for help with research. Especially for help translating foreign records
Jennifer: Many years ago, I found letters my gg grandfather wrote home to England on Royal Historical Society of Victoria website. Lots of unexpected info there for Victorian research.
Hilary: as I am updating my tree @WikiTreers I use the research function to search but mostly the Big 3 as others not on the automatic search
Jane: I have had a good response rate from my matches on Living DNA … Yes progress on the site has been slow 🐌 but sometimes slow and steady 🐢 wins the race
ANZ: newspaper sites like Trove, PapersPast and The British Newspaper Archives are invaluable for finding details you won’t find elsewhere and adding context to your family stories
Fran: My top 4 go to sites are PapersPast in NZ, more recently the NZSG site as I finally joined up, Ancestry and NZ BDM. Sticking to the basics as my tree is still in the immature stage with plenty of room to grown if fertilised correctly.
Maggie: I use The Genealogist occasionally for their tithe records, and RootsIreland for parish register index/transcriptions.
Hilary: as I don’t use My Heritage I would say the others I use are GRO, FreeUKGen all 3 of them are great and some OPC sites mainly Dorset but others do exist Find A Will and National Archive
Sue: As my family history since 1830 is mainly in Tasmania, my first go to is Tasmanian Names Index at Libraries Tasmania – all free and includes BDMs, wills, arrival departures, convicts, some employment, welfare records etc
Jennifer: Scottish Indexes for Scottish research and Trove
Pauleen: My personal genealogy giants include Trove (could not live without it – it’s been a game changer), ScotlandsPeople for Scottish research; irishgenealogy.ie and registers.nli.ie for Irish research
Margaret: You have left out @WikiTreers which is the site I use for my and my husbands’ trees. I like the way I can write stories supported by sources. And leave a legacy for those who come after me
Sophie: Crowdsourcing research will always need good guidelines which users stick to, I think WT has a good approach and from what I’ve seen, a v supportive community
Margaret: The quality is hugely variable. My cousin writes research-type biographies. I’m not quite as good but include as much as I can. Others write nothing except birth and death year. Quantity is applauded over quality.
Sophie: Yes, the biggest challenge comes with validation when you have such a huge undertaking. I know of some users who put a great deal of time into the quality of their WT research, though the big question is how to incentivise quality across a big community
Ryan: I love WikiTree’s mechanics. If there were a genealogy desktop software program that let you do sources and citations like you can with WT’s inline system, I’d use that.
Paul: agree with Margaret and @ScientistSoph@WikiTreers is another great place to share your tree, I have started uploading my biographies on there this year
Helen: I would say my biggest discoveries have all come through a combination of @TroveAustralia newspapers feeding into hardcore on the ground archival research in repositories
ANZ: When researching I usually have Find A Grave, Ancestry and FMP open. If it’s Scottish research then also Scotlands People
Hilary: My best most recent find was not from any of the Big Four but through finding maiden name on GRO website
Helen: Yes, agree Hilary. The GRO comes into its own, especially for inclusivity of children born/died between censuses because of that wonderful addition of mother’s maiden name
Hilary: I often use other sites first for UK research to find things then look at paid site for an image
