Beyond the Internet Geneameme

Thanks to Pauleen for this latest  Beyond the Internet  Geneameme

 A bit surprising how many of these I have done but have been an obsessed family historian for 25 years now.



Things you have already done or found: bold face type
Things you would like to do or find: italicize (colour optional)
Things you haven’t done or found and don’t care to: plain type
You are encouraged to add extra comments in brackets after each item

1. Looked at microfiche for BDM indexes which go beyond the online search dates
2. Talked to elderly relatives about your family history.
3. Obtained old family photos from relatives.
4. Have at least one certificate (birth/death/marr) for each great-grandparent.
5. Have at least one certificate (birth/death/marr) for each great-great-grandparent.
6. Seen/held a baptism or marriage document in a church, church archive or microfilm.
7. Seen your ancestor’s name in some other form of church record eg kirk session, communion rolls. (Parish Chest records are fantastic and cover a wide range of things from Bastardy Bonds to payments for killing rats and sparrows as well as Parish relief).)
8. Used any microfilm from an LDS family history centre for your research.
9. Researched using a microfilm other than a parish register (LDS family history centre/other). Tithe maps, newspapers, employment records, rates records, undertaker’s records (great for tracing married women’s names)
10. Used cemetery burial records to learn more about your relative’s burial.
11. Used funeral director’s registers to learn more about your relative’s burial.
12. Visited all your great-grandparents’ grave sites. Had to visit England for this.
13. Visited all your great-great-grandparents’ grave sites. Had to visit England and does it count that I was at the edge of the graveyard where they were buried but it is now privately owned where the graveyard has been allowed to go back to a nature reserve and you cannot enter?
14. Recorded the details on your ancestors’ gravestones and photographed them.
15. Obtained a great-grandparent’s will/probate documents.
16. Obtained a great-great grandparent’s will/probate documents. (Wish more of them had left wills!!!!!!)
17. Found a death certificate among will documents.
18. Followed up in the official records, something found on the Internet. (and I have more to do such as the clarification of name in 1917 for George Howard Busby in the Queensland Government Gazette)
19. Obtained a copy of your immigrant ancestors’ original shipping records. (Including my dad’s in 1949)
20. Found an immigration nomination record for your immigrant ancestor.Found the one for my Grandmother and Dad in 1949. His uncle nominated them)
21. Found old images of your ancestor’s place of origin (online or other).
22. Read all/part of a local history for your ancestor’s place of residence. Local history is a much under-utilized resource for family historians.
23. Read all/part of a local history for your ancestor’s place of origin.
24. Read your ancestor’s school admission records.
25. Researched the school history for your grandparents. My Grandmother won an essay prize.
26. Read a court case involving an ancestor (online newspapers don’t count for this). Samuel Jelley was in a bit of strife for making short-weight loaves. I saw the file at the LMA (London Metropolitan Archives)
27. Read about an ancestor’s divorce case in the archives. Does brother to ancestor count?
28. Have seen an ancestor’s war medals. (and own them now)
29. Have an ancestor’s military record (not a digitised copy eg WWII). My father’s, grandfather’s and great-grandfather’s.
30. Read a war diary or equivalent for an ancestor’s battle.
31. Seen an ancestor’s/relative’s war grave. My Grandfather died in WW2. He is the only one of my direct line to have died in service.
32. Read all/part of the history of an ancestor’s military unit (battalion/ship etc).
33. Seen your ancestor’s name on an original land map. (none of mine were early enough in an area to be one of the original settlers) I have seen  his name on a sub-division map)
34. Found land selection documents for your immigrant ancestor/s. And interestingly I only found them accidentally when Michael Courtenay had to renounce his selection (Thank you QSA for your indexing as I never knew he had even done a land selection!)
35. Found other land documents for your ancestor (home/abroad) I have the vellum property deeds.
36. Located land maps or equivalent for your ancestor’s place of origin.
37. Used contemporaneous gazetteers or directories to learn about your ancestors’ places. I love maps!!!!
38. Found your ancestor’s name in a Post Office directory of the time.
39. Used local government sewerage maps (yes, seriously!) for an ancestor’s street. Not yet but plan on doing this.
40. Read an inquest report for an ancestor/relative (online/archives). I have a few of these including a murder/suicide.
41. Read an ancestor’s/relative’s hospital admission.
42. Researched a company file if your family owned a business. Most of my lot weren’t in business.
43. Looked up any of your ancestor’s local government rate books or valuation records.
44. Researched occupation records for your ancestor/s (railway, police, teacher etc).
45. Researched an ancestor’s adoption. To the best of my knowledge non of mine were adopted. If they were it is prior to legal adoptions.
46. Researched an ancestor’s insolvency. Yep have a few of these!
47. Found a convict ancestor’s passport or certificate of freedom. I wish!!! but I don’t have any convicts in Australia however I do have some ancestors in England who served time for larceny and I have looked at those records.
48. Found a convict ancestor’s shipping record. as above.
49. Found an ancestor’s gaol admission register.
50. Found a licencing record for an ancestor (brands, publican, etc). This is interesting as people don’t think of city people having brands but remember many people had horses and also cows.
51. Found an ancestor’s mining lease/licence. Amazing the number who got Gold Fever! (They didn’t find any gold though!)
52. Found an ancestor’s name on a petition to government. And in a Government Inquiry into the Printing Works!
53. Read your ancestor’s citizenship document. My Mother’s UK citizenship document!
54. Read about your ancestor in an undigitised regional newspaper. One of mine died in a country area and was about to be buried when his family in Brisbane demanded he be buried in Brisbane.
55. Visited a local history library/museum relevant to your family. The Cockburn anvil is in the Gympie Mine Museum
56. Looked up your ancestor’s name in the Old Age Pension records. Michael Courtenay was rejected as not being old enough.
57. Researched your ancestor or relative in Benevolent Asylum/Workhouse records. James Rollason was admitted to Dunwich (1897). My George Howard Busby was admitted to Eventide in 1942 and was then released then readmitted to Eventide in 1956 and died a few weeks later.
58. Researched an ancestor’s/relative’s mental health records. I don’t currently know of any ancestors who were admitted for mental health conditions.
59. Looked for your family in a genealogical publication of any sort (but not online remember). And found them!!!! Lovely to see an article where your ancestor in mentioned. For many years published indexes were all we had so we devoured them after saving our pennies then sending away for the booklet)
60. Contributed family information to a genealogical publication. I strongly recommend doing this as the rewards are great. You clarify what you do and don’t know by writing it out, the editor of the Journal thinks kindly of you and you can get responses from new family years after the publication as many journals stay in FHS libraries.