{"id":223,"date":"2017-10-03T21:36:39","date_gmt":"2017-10-04T01:36:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.genealogiequebec.com\/blog\/?p=223\/"},"modified":"2022-03-10T18:50:21","modified_gmt":"2022-03-10T23:50:21","slug":"filling-out-a-family-tree-where-do-you-start-your-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.genealogiequebec.com\/blog\/en\/2017\/10\/03\/filling-out-a-family-tree-where-do-you-start-your-research\/","title":{"rendered":"Filling out a Family Tree: Where Do You Start Your Research?"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are a thousand reasons for starting genealogical research: You want to find your ancestors, know the origins of your family, and answer the questions asked by your children and grandchildren. But when you find yourself with a family tree to fill out, you don\u2019t necessarily know how to do it, where to start your research, or how to organize the data you\u2019ve collected. Here are some tips to start gathering genealogical information.<\/span><\/p>\n

Question your family members<\/span><\/h3>\n

In families, oral tradition can play a major role in putting together a family tree. The elders who are still living, whether or not they\u2019re close relatives, love to discuss, often passionately, their bygone youth and reveal valuable information about the origins and migrations of the various branches of the family.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t own any genealogy software, it\u2019s essential to make a sheet for each person you question and record the information collected there, as well as the date and place of birth, the maiden name, and the date and place of marriage.<\/span><\/p>\n

Gather together old papers<\/span><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s very moving to dive into the letters, postcards, wills, contracts, death certificates, and newspaper clippings that have been carefully preserved by our ancestors. They\u2019re also full of valuable information, and they help us learn more about our ancestors.<\/span><\/p>\n

Consult church records and archives<\/span><\/h3>\n

Since church records contain baptism, marriage, and burial certificates, they constitute a very important source of information during genealogical research, and they let you reach back into the 17th century.<\/span><\/p>\n

Like Qu\u00e9bec\u2019s civil status records, they were microfilmed by the Drouin Genealogical Institute and can be consulted online at this address<\/a>. In Qu\u00e9bec, it\u2019s also possible to go and consult the national archives free of charge and trace back to the beginnings of the colony.<\/span><\/p>\n

Contact a genealogical society<\/span><\/h3>\n

Genealogical societies give advice to researchers and provide them with the tools and techniques that allow them to carry out successful research. They also offer access to different databases for a few dozen Euros as well as genealogy workshops.<\/span><\/p>\n

Organize the collected data using genealogy software<\/span><\/h3>\n

To arrange the collected data, it\u2019s best to use genealogy software. There are very practical programs out there that are totally free and that let you:<\/span><\/p>\n