Sally Beauchamp
I have been working on my family tree haphazardly for over 30 years whilst working full time and raising a family. Finally retired and looking forward to learning how to research more efficiently!
Location West London
Activity
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@TahitiaMcCabe Yes, but having it available at the beginning to accompany the course would be so much easier. I knew it was coming but not sure how detailed and in what form. I made notes and wrote down links in case it was not included at the end.
On week 6 I fast forwarded to that section and printed out before I worked through the sections. I found it... -
@TahitiaMcCabe - Thank you! This is something I think I’ll adopt too. I was concerned about making my tree public but realise I need to do so to get the most from my DNA results. I will go through my Ancestry tree and remove data from my parents downwards (plus anything else I feel is sensitive) and keep this as a working tree on Ancestry. I will then make the...
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In the last live stream you and Chris both mentioned that you used Ancestry for research on your tree and stored your tree on FTM, but you chose not to synchronise the two. Could you explain why, please? I use both but synchronise at the end of every session - maybe the reason is something I have not thought of and would perhaps adopt the same strategy if I...
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
Great resource list, thank you. Great to have them all in one place.
One thing to consider for the future: I would have welcomed having this list at the beginning of the course. It would have reduced my note taking and I could have annotated it with notes as I went through.
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
Simply, thank you for a great course! I will look to find other courses once I've given myself time to make full use of what I've learnt over the past 6 weeks.
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
So much covered in the course that inevitably I will not remember it all but hopefully will be able to make sense of the copious notes I've made. Great set of resources and links for the future all bookmarked on my computer too, thank you!
In answer to the above questions, I feel my approach will be much more productive and methodical. My findings are...
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
I've mentioned before on the course that my sister and I visited a part of Cambridge that our family lived in for several generations. It was exciting to find the grave stones with our family names and to talk to people who knew the ancestors of those I have been researching.
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
So lovey to follow Chris' story. It has shown how the list of BMD and census returns can be brought to life with a bit more digging and researching to get the story behind the names.
Thank you Chris for sharing your story. You have been very inspirational! -
Sally Beauchamp made a comment
I like the idea mentioned by others of 'booklets'. This could be very simple short pieces focussing on aspects of the family tree and can be added to with other small books as the research develops.
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I will highly recommend this course to others!
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
I don't think I will ever get to the point of writing a book, but would like to make sure I annotate my family tree with interesting observations and stories I find along the way. I believe I can do this in FTM so think that will be the limit of my publication.
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Love this idea. Seems much more achievable for me than a book.
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Yours could be 'The Sequel'. Are your parents still around to give you their part in the story?
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
I've never lost data but did input findings to the wrong member of my family on my ancestry tree once which muddled up the whole tree - mixing generations and branches of the tree. I synchronised with FTM before I spotted the error and corrupted the file. I tried in vain to sort the problem but on ringing the help line at FTM they reminded me that I had used...
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Same here - I'd be gutted!
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At the beginning of this course I bought myself new arch lever files and sorted all my physical resources using pedigree charts as an index and family group sheets to track. So far I only have 2; paternal and maternal, but think 4 for grandparents is the way forward! Having learned more I'm now thinking filing boxes are the way to go. I was thinking plastic...
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I liked both the colour coded system (which sort of reflects how I'm organising myself currently, but much more structured!) and the Sarah O'Connor system. Now to decide which.
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Same here. My boys aren't interested at the moment but hope they will be when they have their own children. If not maybe their children will want it..?
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Need to up my game, both to make going back to information easier and also to give credibility to my research!
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@ReneeF - Do you use the free app or Photo Scanner Plus (£3.99)?
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I have the Mac version and find the most recent edition much slicker and more stable than previous editions. It synchronises with Ancestry automatically (although you can opt out if you prefer) and I have it set to back-up automatically at the end of a session. One problem is that it assumes some of the place names are USA addresses unless you specify England...
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
Some great charts and tips. I have downloaded them all for future use!
Thanks. -
I find a physical copy easier to track too whilst researching, rather than having to keep darting around an online tree.
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This is more or less the system I have. I find the family group sheets printed out from FTM very useful to track each generation and keep a copy of the ancestor tree at the front as a kind of index.
The census tracking sheets suggested at the beginning of this course have been great for tracking members of each family by age, occupation and where they lived. -
Will look this up - thank you!
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
Some really great ideas for how to organise and structure research plus conventions for writing reports.
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
I use FTM on Mac which has been much more reliable and stable in recent years. I search and work in Ancestry then sync both at the end of my session. I like the fact that I have the Ancestry app on my phone so can always checkout my tree if I come across new information or am talking to a relative and want to clarify my facts. I was interested to hear that...
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Much more organised than my scraps of paper. I have developed some bad habits over the years. Before I used a computer I was much better organised! I can go back to those notes and follow exactly what I was doing. Once I started using a computer I relied on them to record and cite. I moved on very quickly but it is difficult to see what are my preliminaries...
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Earlier in the course one of the links recommended using Evernote. There was also a book to go with it on how to use for genealogical research.
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Sally Beauchamp replied to Angela Gallagher
Ditto!!
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
So much covered in this course! Can't wait to really get stuck back into my tree with all these resources at my finger tips. Looking forward to some new ideas on how to organise and present my findings.
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
Lots of brilliant resources... and so many freely available online. Found myself noting all the links so I have them for future reference. Great to learn how to search more productively and find the information to bring your family history to life.
I believe I found a book today written by someone who married into my family, describing life in the village...
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
Looking forward to hearing the families reaction when she shares her findings with the family. Such a wealth of information from following the trail of articles.
It seems really harsh how her ancestor was treated when he was obviously so committed to his profession.
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
Some great tips from Graham which will help my searching techniques. Good to see practical examples of how to do it too!
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Yes, how to search more productively!!! Wish I'd seen this before too.
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Like you I was frustrated at not being able to find the answer to question 1, so went on to do the others, which I found much quicker.
I returned to Q1 and discovered how to reduce the number of searches by refining my search. After refining several fields I quickly got a number of matches all featuring the information required. I think the secret is in... -
Sally Beauchamp made a comment
Great bank of archives to dip into. I have book marked them all - just I case. Thank you!
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To me, the whole point of tracing my family tree was to find out about my family history. The legends passed down in families need to be taken 'tongue in cheek' but at least provide a clue of where to start. Can't wait to use these resources to add some flesh to the bones of my family history.
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Useful resources to add to reading list!
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So much more interesting to put the facts in context. I hadn't thought about how simple it would be just to add the detail from a census in report form to build the story. I believe there are the facilities to add detail to build the history on both FTM and Ancestry. Hopefully we will go on to find out how to present this information in a way that would be of...
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
This is what I was hoping to learn from the course - how to bring my tree to life. Dates and names are essential for the bare facts but it is the stories around my family that I was hoping to be able to find.
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
A couple of years ago, my sister and I made a trip to Cambridge to visit the villages our ancestors lived in for several generations in the 1800s an early 1900s. We visited graveyards locating some stones we were looking for and finding others we took photographs of to go home and check out. We stopped off at a local produce farm, where we got talking to the...
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Like you I did some initial research at a cemetery and the records revealed more family members than my father had believed were there. It also provided useful dates to enable identifying the correct documentation to build our tree further.
Just wish Y-DNA tests had been around when my father was alive. He would loved to be able to trace the male line back... -
Even with DNA testing it is coming over very clearly that results need to be backed up with documentation!
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
Great wealth of resources here. I have bookmarked and added to reading list. Interesting to see there are more courses run by Strathclyde for future learning. Need more hours in my day to do all I want to do from this course!!
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
Very comprehensive video from Michelle Leonard in the 'see also' section!
This course is helping me appreciate how many good webinars there are out there (free on YouTube or through events such as RootsTech) to develop, update and refresh knowledge. Some great tips - particularly like the application with case studies. -
Sally Beauchamp made a comment
More great information. I now need to persuade my brother to take the test which I think will be a problem!
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Thank you! @LauraB That might work. At least it’s an organised way of storing the information until it may be needed. Since starting this course I’ve purchased some large folders and put all my physical resources in ‘family group’ order. Re-visiting the documents has made me look at them with new eyes and I’ve gleaned so much more information that I had...
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
Great set of videos explaining and then reinforcing the knowledge gained. Having received my DNA results a few years back I am now understanding the results and how I can use to support my ancestry research. Useful to know that data can be uploaded to other sites for free. My results were with Ancestry but looking forward to uploading them to FamilyTree so...
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Fascinating topic. Great videos with clear explanations!
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Sally Beauchamp replied to June P
@JuneP Yes, FamilySearch didn't produce any results for me, even with using wild cards and extending range (got other names but not the Dorothy we were looking for). I followed Tahitia's link this week but still no joy as the server was not responding the other end! I've put it down to experience. Wondered it it was just a technical hitch..?
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Great for giving some social context to the family tree and to be used as a starting point for more research. Names and possible relationships of the individuals would need to be backed up by BMD certificates, census forms, electoral roll etc all assisting with application of FAN strategy. Things like this addd colour to the tree.
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Lovely letters and a great starting point for research.
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
Trying to confirm an ancestor I tried going through all his offspring's wedding certificates to find information about him. He died before they all married and each had given him a different occupation. Some jobs were connected so could be explained but others were totally different - led me to think they didn't know and just made it up to complete the form....
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Me too and it explains why I got so obsessed with genealogy having previously been a jigsaw fan. At least I now feel the time is not wasted as I have a growing family tree for my efforts!! much more beneficial. @JaneLeigh
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I was always told that I looked Chinese at school and my father always said there was something in the family I have never found anything. A DNA result came back most conclusively English with some Western Europe and Scottish ancestry. Can't deny I was a bit disappointed not having anything more exotic in my DNA. Just proves you have to take family legends...
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
I learnt this lesson quite early on when starting my family tree as I had numerous incidents of relatives that re-married, due mostly to becoming a widow/er. I needed to work out which spouse was my ancestor. My dilemma is how to keep 'possibles' separate until I can prove or evidence without loosing the trail. Hopefully there may be some suggestions later in...
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I had a great grandparent put in wrongly by a number of other people in their trees on ancestry. Fortunately I had an original copy of the marriage certificate that proved my case. The mistake was quite understandable - the first wife was Anne and the second Ann! I had a trail which gave marriage certificates, census returns and the death of the first Anne and...
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Sally Beauchamp replied to Sheila Morrison
I agree. By doing the optional tasks I feel I learn so much more, and it sticks! Still frustrated at not being able to find Dorothy Marie Anderson's information for free. Even following Tahitia's link I got "unable to open because server where page is isn't responding"!
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Sally Beauchamp replied to June P
@JuneP - I still don’t understand how to get Dorothy’s information for free. I found the index on ancestry but it then asked me to pay for a worldwide subscription to see the documents to get the detail.
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Sally Beauchamp replied to CHRISTINE BAIRD
Same as you Christine. I noticed the incorrect indexing confusing the birth and baptism dates
I spent ages trying to find Dorothy’s date of birth. I could see the names of her mother and father from the indexing on Ancestry but would’ve needed to pay for a subscription to go further. No trace of her in Family Search in-spite of using lots of wild cards. I...
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Sally Beauchamp replied to Sally Beauchamp
@JuliaDonaghy I couldn’t find in Family search. Did you use wild cards? If so, what did you try as I spent ages on this without any success?
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
Really enjoying the course and looking forward to next week. Lots of resources to get stuck in to and options to move out of my comfort zone which has been pretty much Ancestry recently. It did remind me of other resources however, that I have used over the years and forgotten - burial records being one that came to mind. Quite early on in my search I was...
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
I traced my 2x G Grandmother on my mother's side. After my 2x G Grandfather died in1891 I found she moved from Cambridgeshire to become a house keeper, in Corby, Lincolnshire taking her 14 year old daughter (found in the census of the same year). 3 years later she married the Head of House and was listed as his wife on 1901 & 1911 Censuses (still at the same...
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
Really interesting to see how the maps change over the years. Had a little play on The National Library of Scotland's Map Collection after watching the short tutorial - pleased to see the it covers the whole of the UK, not just Scotland. Will be great for plotting where my ancestors lived and how they migrated to different parts of the country.
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I mainly stick to Ancestry but am aware that when I hit a brick wall I need to expand my searches.
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Sally Beauchamp replied to Christopher Slade
@ChristopherSlade I have considered joining a Family History Group but do you choose one local to where you live or where the ancestors are that you are researching? If the latter how do you choose which branch, or do you change as you move around your tree?
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Sally Beauchamp replied to David Slattery
Yes and I back up with storing my tree on Family Tree Maker.
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
So many new sites to try! Thank you.
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
Agree with the results shown below:
* 9 men with the surname Blount
* James Blount (12-12-17) and Sydney Thomas Blount (11-10-16) died in action
* Retford Blount, a miner, deserted.Caroline Leontine Alphonsine Cambell was a Protestant
Parents were Colin Campbell and Marie Anne Lucile Caroline Oudin
Her husband was Antoine Salvayre
She was born 20... -
I joined a general ancestry group on Facebook. There are always lots of Q&As being passed around, from which I've learnt a lot. These include deciphering writing, to answering questions on where to go for certain resources. It was a link on there that pointed me in the direction of this course and to discounted membership for Ancestry.
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Never thought of doing this - thank you!
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Yes, so much can be done on line, but not half as exciting or rewarding as handling the actual documents. You can often glean extra bits of information missed with the online records.
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Thank you for the tip - I too find these difficult to search with meaning!
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I've gleaned lots of information from looking at witnesses - also the addresses of the couple getting married.
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Brilliant - quite envious of the Scottish records!
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
I love looking through the census returns of my ancestors - so much more information to build up the stories around the families. I found the census tracking sheet mentioned earlier in the course invaluable. It brought me to the conclusion (along with copy of a marriage certificate to confirm) that cousins married 3 generations ago. I had them listed as two...
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Sally Beauchamp replied to Susan Coutinho
You will have documented your family tree so well it'll be there for future generations to see!!!
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
Great to discover all these alternative records to search. At last I have some direction regarding where else to look!
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@JackieOwen That’s intriguing - good luck with finding out who this other person is.
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Sally Beauchamp replied to Keith McGraw
@AdrianBirt - Yes its a shame they don't do the same for wedding certificates
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Sally Beauchamp replied to Bernie McLaughlin
Sorry for your loss - so nice to have something now, to remember her by.
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Sally Beauchamp replied to Karen Smith
Me too - a chance conversation with my neighbour!
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@PaulineSibbald It was mentioned on the Live Chat on Friday. Apparently they take time to catalogue the information for the database search engines.
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I have a similar situation with my grandparents and my mother in 1939. I can see them but she is blanked out. She died a number of years ago and as her year of birth was 1920, I would've assumed the 100 year rule would apply, but she is still blacked out! Not sure how or when they decide to start showing people
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Yes, I had that too and it helped me verify that I had the correct person.
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I find I often 'loose' family members in their late teens and early twenties, before they settle down and get married. I have lots of ancestors who moved for work and appear in all sorts of random places as lodgers, domestic servants or agr. labourers etc. Some have moved to live with other family members, which is helpful for linking, but one in particular I...
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Great that Scottish records have so much detail including Mother's maiden name. Shame there is not so much detail in English records. I've found that the witnesses have been very helpful in verifying that I have the correct match. I have a whole generation where the same two witnesses were used on all the marriage certificates. The father was deceased but an...
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Sally Beauchamp replied to Sebastian Till
Yes, and the difference over the years as to what is considered important to include in the survey.
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
Good to see the results for last week's task!
Like the answers stated (to 1a) I was not able to find Terrence in 1911 census, but using the FAN technique I looked for his wife. I found her in 1911, listed as a widow with the son Thomas and his daughter Bidget! The ages seem to tally so felt it safe to conclude that he died between censuses.
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Sally Beauchamp replied to Judith Woodlock
Glad it wasn't just me!
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Sally Beauchamp replied to Judith Robertson
Yes , I was looking for a Tack family, which didn't show up as it was transcribed as Tock (now I know about wild cards that shouldn't be such an issue) and also transcribed as Jack!!
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Sally Beauchamp replied to Margaret Litchfield
I didn't know about the National Archives newsletter - something else I've learnt from the course, thank you!
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Sally Beauchamp replied to Jean M
The problem is also compounded by the fact so many WW1 records got destroyed by fire and suffered water damage. I've located several 'possibles' in the War Medal cards, but don't know how to go about verifying if they are the correct ones.
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
Found there to be much more content this week, which took longer to complete than week one - maybe because I did go through all the "see also" tasks religiously, following links within the links?! However, the content was very useful and I am keen to gain as much as I can from the course.
Really enjoying the course. I am learning a lot as well as...
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
Currently not very well organised - hoping this course will help!
I use Ancestry and have been exploring their publications which include Family Group Sheet of what I've learnt so far. I found these useful to picture what is happening when tracking generations. I also found the Census Tracking sheets introduced in week one of this course. I use a notebook...
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
Chris' story is very interesting, but just as interesting is learning the ways she has devised to track and organise her data. Looking forward to learning more about this.
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Sally Beauchamp made a comment
Good clear explanation on using wildcards. Useful to see a practical example, illustrating the effectiveness on changing the input data.
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Me too! I'm used to using Ancestry, but found this a useful exercise as I wanted to learn about other search engines to give further options on my searches.
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