STARTING A FAMILY TREE

Since starting to record my family history some years ago I have found many different sources that have allowed me to add information to my family tree. First and foremost speak to your relatives and get their recollections on to audio tape, CD or paper. (My father is a avid letter-writer and he has written down his memories of all his siblings, all of whom have now passed away). First hand recollections and memories are irreplaceable. Your elderly relatives are a goldmine of information that is often not talked about and forgotten until something jogs a memory. I have found that most people enjoy talking about their recollections of their grandparents, uncles and aunts. Once these memories are gone, either through old age or death, they are gone forever.  Corroborating memories is also important as often recollections are coloured by emotions, so try and get several sources. When recording your relatives memories you should also be careful with stories that have been passed down through the generations. Often these stories are unintentionally corrupted over the passage of time and should be thoroughly researched before being treated as gospel. Photographs and family documents also form a very important part of your family history. Photographs put a face to a name and add a personal touch to what might be a bland presentation. Every photograph you get should be immediately digitised by scanning. Birth, marriage and death certificates as well as family documents such as wills and letters should also be photocopied and digitised. Wold War 1 postcard from the front. This was the last postcard sent by my wife's uncle before he was killed during battle Some of the best results I have had came from joining my local Family History Society (FHS) - The Gold Coast Family History Society Inc. My local Society has microfiche records of all publicly available Australian Birth, Deaths and Marriages as well as having this information on computer CDs. The society also has a vast array of reference books and other source material. Best of all they have a great bunch of volunteers who have been researching family history for a number of years and they are only too willing to help out when you strike a problem. The accumulated knowledge of the Society's members and their willingness to assist other members is worth the minimal annual membership fee. If you can join a local Family History Society and use their facilities and knowledge then this should be your first step in what will be a rewarding and often frustrating hobby/pass-time/passion/obsession. Depending on you passion for researching you will also need to think about how you are going to record your findings. My father started compiling our family history many years ago and hand recorded his findings on an array of file cards. Today those file cards have been replaced by a computer programme. Much easier and quicker but remember to backup your family files. Like most things relating to computers family tree programmes come in a wide range - from free to expensive and from simple to complex. The choice is yours.  Remember though just recording plain facts can end up with a boring presentation. Photographs and copies of old documents make a family tree come alive. Also, family stories add flesh to bare bones and make your tree more interesting so you should choose a programme that enable you to include and display all these features. Here are a few genealogy programmes that I have used:

	My Rating	Name	Comments
		Family Search	A great starting point. Site is maintained by the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints (LDS) and has a vast database of world-wide records. Best of all it's FREE. A note of caution: Family Historians have the ability to submit their trees to this site for public use. The information in these trees has not been verified by Family Search and I have found several instances of unintentional incorrect information.
		Forest of Dean Family History	My favourite site. FREE search and view of Baptism, Marriage and Burial records for parishes in the Forest of Dean area of Gloucestershire, England, UK. Maintained by volunteers who do an absolutely fantastic job.
		Ancestry.com	Extensive digitised records of BDM and Census for UK and USA. Subscription based for viewing and downloading of images. Extended subscriptions can be expensive but for short term projects this database is invaluable.
		Genes Reunited	A meeting place for researchers. Allows you to upload your family tree and cross-match individuals in you tree with individuals on other submitters trees. Full access requires an annual fee. Well worth the small fee. This site has provided me with the most contacts of all sites.
		New South Wales Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages	FREE date base of births, deaths & marriages in NSW. Births to 1906, marriages of 50 years ago or more and deaths of 30 years ago or more. Certificate applications can be downloaded but online applications not available.
		Watkins Family History Society	FREE USA based site for all Watkins. Has an Australian section. Able to post requests.
		Australian National Archives	Digitised Service records of all persons serving in the Australian Armed Forces. Individual service records can be scanned from paper based records on request.
		Public Record Office Victoria	Archives of the State Government of Victoria. Records from the beginnings of the colonial administration of Victoria in the mid-1830s to today. FREE list of Assisted British Immigrants  and Unassisted Immigrants to Victoria.
		Department of Justice, Victoria	Victorian State BDM records. Site allows search but only returns whether a match has been made or not. Viewing matches requires online payment. Suggestion: Join a family history society where these records should be available on CD.

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