Inherited Research-What to Do With It?

Inherited Research on Your Family Tree

"A Common Pedigree for the Whole World"

I am talking about a paper-based or partly sketch-form research project on a significant scale, comprising more than 5 generations. The principles do also apply to smaller scale projects. If you have inherited electronic file -- same approach. The challenge here is that you want to examine the tree with some trained insight, but you want to 'get on with it'. You don't respond well to the suggestion you should 'do a course first'. You believe you have been gifted a "free pass", and genealogical terms are enough to frustrate you. So the path here is a mixture of hands-on-engagement-with-the-data and some online-learning at key intervals; when you are more receptive. 

This is an original work. If material from others is used it is cited. Like you would do. It is not just an article. It is an interactive exposition, with over 30 links to supportive information.
 
To get on with it, go to "How to Troubleshoot Your Inherited Tree", below. 

If you want to know the web-based tools available to work with: "now", then go to the post: "Snapshot of Websites Available..."

Cyclical Process
I t would be misleading if I suggested that this exercise is like baking a cake: "Do Steps 1 to 5 within 30 minutes", along a linear path.  It is more like making mortar and keeping it workable over an extended time. In warmer weather you are going to have to come back and test it, and maybe add some more water, then turn it; which is a cyclical path. In your research, as you go back in time, and laterally, along the same generation within a family, you will be looking forward and backward to test your work, and will adjust it, or "flesh it out", upon review.

What you really want is for me to tell you right now, within a few minutes, how to be a 'cold-case detective'! Perhaps I should suggest you watch one of the better TV detective series (like "Midsomer Murders"); and make notes. Note the time devoted to a cyclical process of:

• gathering 'hard data'; 
• making notes about the data,  
• talking to significant others, like witnesses,
• reviewing (one of the most effective tools of review is a "time line");
• pondering, discussing with colleague;
• relaxing; 
• repeating the process.

If you do research effectively, you will spend just as much time on the middle five as the first. It is while relaxing that a thought will come to you, to solve your case.

How to Troubleshoot Your Inherited Tree

Guidance on this daunting task is pretty close to "How to Do Family Research"!  To chop the task down (excuse the pun), the usual niceties will need to be dispensed with. If I recommend a path, choice or purchase, it is up to the user to "shop around" those options himself. "Consumer beware". A Quick-and-dirty workaround is itemised 1-13 below. But I have put together an essential guide and case studies below.

While you are splintering wood and chips are flying, have a thought for the person who compiled the data. Likely it was compiled in the days when only a few records were online; and they resorted to "snail mail". So, you're going to need more than a just a pinch of diplomacy, courtesy and respect as you rake over their work. Don't jump to conclusions. Make sure you hand over your findings in return. Even though the author's sources may be missing, they may still have an old notebook somewhere, and if you alienate them your job is going to be even harder.

Case Study 1

Not before I had spent several years researching my father's line, a cousin published a Family History for my father's side, scanning six generations in Australia and seven in England. So this cousin and another relative had a lot of the family pedigree (parents of parents) all along! Doh! But there was also a number of dead-ends; and cases of children in the families being missed. The record included a lot of descendant data. The question was: "The research: Is it right?". There was only one way to be sure of the 'pedigree' data (in direct line) and that was to painstakingly check it; by eyeballing primary records myself. Fortunately, I already had 'certificates'  here and there.
 

There were a few mistakes / limitations;

• research on most lines stalled in the late 18th century.
• conclusions on a few of families in the early 19th Century did not stand up, taking readers off into the wilderness: and 
• my research on those lines has since hit 'brick walls' (a term you will frequently encounter in genealogical research). 

Which probably explains why the mistakes were there in the first place! So it is a good idea to be realistic about the value of inherited trees. Take them with a pinch of salt.

  
Your Own Journey
Sometimes you come to this juncture with the belief: 'same name; same family'. We find a published genealogy on the internet and think: "I've hit gold".

A popular misconception, for example, pertains to genealogies belonging to 'coats of arms'. The College of Arms in Central London has records of the 'visitations', or surveys, conducted by 'Royal heralds' in the 16th and 17th centuries. The Crown had the heralds check the claims of families (nobility) whose status gave them rights to 'bear a coat of arms' (on shields for example), each time a new generation was born. These surveys were notably busy after the English Civil War 1642-46. 

It is from this inventory came family genealogies and records of coats of arms and shields. But these are not for a particular surname; they are for a particular family existent in that time and place. There is no suggestion that all persons of that surname in that era connect to this genealogy and coat of arms. 

"Coats of arms belong to specific individuals and families and there is no such thing as a coat of arms for a family name".(The College of Arms)

You have to prove that you hook into a family line. Nevertheless, some websites still make money out of people's ignorance!  But you may be lucky. You just won't be able to prove it yet. You have to work from you back in time; not forward.

Records of the 'College of Arms' can only be searched by members of staff, but there are some pedigrees published in: "Visitation of England & Wales" & "Visitation of Ireland.1952: The Records & Collections of the College of Arms" (refer English libraries).

Authority versus Authenticity

Assurances the researcher was 'very thorough' is "an appeal to authority"; experts are not infallible. It does not cut it as assurances go. It does not verify that your inherited data is correct or 'authentic'.  You might hear: "But it was done by a professional!". You ask: "Did  they provide sources and citations within those sources?".  You feel a cold shudder when you hear in response: "Yes. Well, sometimes". Experts make mistakes.

There is an inherent problem with professional research. If you are paying someone to do research: "Are they going to come back with a lot of inconclusive reports?" I will let you answer that. Researchers with well developed skills are still human and it is tempting for them to jump to some conclusions in the interests of pleasing the client. And if you have not set the standard of research you want, then "You get what you're given!".

The researcher should educate the client that it is not always like the rosy picture painted by TV advertising for big family history websites. And on the client side, it is best to check on the certification and integrity of a professional first; and absolutely essential to ask for and check their sources.

Mistakes Can Be Avoided
Good researchers do make mistakes. Excellent researchers only put data into a tree when they have two corroborating sources (WDYTYA; Barrett; p53); one of them a 'direct source' (historical or official record), and they provide citations for those sources. Otherwise they write up the evidence collected thus far, and note that 'the jury is still out'. "Better information may come along in the future".  Many parish records which could authenticate findings are still on microfiche in county record offices.

Indirect sources are myriad, but some examples are items of information needing further development (investigation):

• indirect data from marriage certificates, for other relatives: like birth places, ages; years in Australia (if Australia); occupations; names of witnesses;
• indirect data extracted from birth certificates, but for other people, like age and birth place of parents; occupation of father;  "other issue" (children);
• details of the same events in co-existing parish records (even after the advent of civil registration); and
• non-BDM record sources, such as those used in Case Study 2.

Tentative Data
Related to avoiding mistakes is the issue of what-to-do with "tentative-data" (not fully proven). It is a somewhat knotty issue in genealogy, not always considered when choosing websites for uploading trees. If you upload "tentative data" to online websites, like GenesUnited, MyHeritage or Ancestry, as part of a larger tree, and it is public, the data could mislead others; as well as lead to a "hardening" of your own data, for the wrong reasons, in the face of 'apparent' confirmation coming from others.  Ancestry in particular sends you leads highlighted by the "shaking leaf" icon on your page. Seldom have I found these suggestions to be accurate, which highlights the importance of your own analysis, as opposed to that of an analytical electronic tool.

There is the option of loading only the tentative parts of your tree and labeling them as such in the Home Page for that person, which I have done on Ancestry.

I like the idea of having the tentative data on separate software, like RootsMagic (and the mobile version), where you can even have a separate database, just for the 'tentative line'; with the facility to incorporate it into the main database once proven; and to then upload it (see inset). 

On the services of online websites, Kimberley Powell ("The Everything Guide to Online Genealogy"; Adams Media; 3 edition (January 8, 2014) comments:

"None currently offers the tools, power and flexibility of the best computer-based genealogy software programs".

Case Study 2

Pioneer Town In NSW in 1880s

For example, in my own tree another researcher established a link between Australia and Britain in one of my family lines in NSW in the 1880s; and incorporated it into a shared tree online. The data in Britain appeared to provide the alleged parents of an ancestor in Australia  (called hereafter 'Pioneer'); and their three daughters, including the Pioneer (or at least person with the same name). It was marvelous; but after the euphoria wore off I realised no sources were provided. The thing is the parents' names were entirely new, because we had nothing previously, other than a number of possible birthplaces and several possible birth dates. Sources were more critical than ever. So we were 'out on a limb'.

I found there were official records for the English family, but no corroborating evidence in Britain or in Australia that these were indeed the parents of the Pioneer. It is common to find persons with the same full name. There was no continuity as yet from Australia to Britain. Nick Barrett ("Who Do You Think You Are, Encyclopedia of Genealogy"; HarperCollinsPublishers" (sic); 2008; p53) makes the point: 

"Just because the name and date appear to be right doesn't mean you have found the right person."

So, I remained unconvinced.

Problem of Same Names
On the subject of same names, two people of the same full name were born in the same town in the same year, joined the same British Regiment in the same year and fought in the same military campaigns, bar one. So when examining the military records you could have easily jumped to a conclusion! But the ancestor was identified in a family photo wearing a medal for the unique campaign; and this enabled resolution .
Nick Barrett ("Who Do You Think You Are, Encyclopedia of Genealogy"; HarperCollinsPublishers" (sic); 2008.

Celia Heritage in  "Parish Registers in England and Wales" explains:

"The lack of detail in parish records [pre-1837] can make it difficult to be certain you have found the right person...Almost all ancestors, even those with unusual surnames will have at least one namesake. Children were usually named after family members [common stock in same generation] and so it's quite likely that more than one cousin could bear the same name as the person you are are looking for and be born at a similar time and place." ("Who Do You Think You Are?" Magazine; Issue 81; Christmas 2013)

If you need more convincing look at a family tree covering a "collateral lineage" (aunts, uncles, cousins). This is certainly true in Case Study 1 (cited above).

Witnesses to Marriage Provide Link
Back to the new British link to my family. In a review of what I knew about the Pioneer, I was drawn to two witnesses on the marriage certificate for the Pioneer, namely a husband and wife. The husband had two middle initials. I investigated whether they were relatives of either the bride or the groom, which is often the case. There was a marriage index item for the couple on the NSW Registry, supported by his middle initials; and by their being married in the same town as our Pioneer, a year earlier. 

Sample only: Vol / Year; Groom Surname; Groom First Name; Bride Surname; Bride First Name; Location

The marriage record revealed the wife (hereafter called "Key Witness") had the same maiden name (surname) as the Pioneer. Furthermore her first name was the same name the Pioneer gave to her third daughter.

Outcome
So in summary there was a prima facie case she was more than just a witness. She lived in the town; and the same (maiden) surname strongly suggested she was a relation.  More importantly,  her full (original) name was listed in the key family in Britain. Incidentally, there was a credible genealogy for the husband on FamilySearch Family Tree; and it was tempting to get caught up in the new connectivity. By this he was born in Australia and from NSW Registry records it appears the couple had a large family (9 children). So it could be a very significant find; triggered by examining marriage witnesses.

Resolving the Issue
Many would accept her maiden name as convincing, but I will continue to seek corroborating evidence through the avenues of:

Sailing Ship of the 1860s

• a birth place of the Pioneer, from incidental information in other historical records in Australia (meaning from historical sources not specifically for that person). If other siblings of the Pioneer can be found from Australian records, and there are marriages, then their marriage certificates could show the common birthplace and common parents (back in England)!

• secondary data from the actual marriage certificate for the Key Witness; like place and date of birth; parents names; their birthplace; and when she came to Australia, which may correlate with the Pioneer's own arrival date. Some other possible avenues are Nationalisation Papers, which show the birth place;  Immigrant Passenger Lists, which show names, ages, port of departure, and sometimes their occupations; and New South Wales, Immigration Deposit Journals, 1853-1900, listing sponsors; names and ages of immigrants, including other family members; and in some cases the ship and arrival date;

• birth records of the children of siblings of the Pioneer on civil and parish registries, which might show the common birth place of their parents.

Parish records continued of course after the introduction of civil records. If searching in Australia, and the non-conforming indexes have not been put online as yet, identify the church with which your ancestor had affiliation:

"It is very common to find individuals or families who have changed denominations. In rural areas the choice of churches was generally limited, and residents may have attended the church or parish most convenient for them...Once you determine the religion, a directory may be able to help you pin down the closest church to where your ancestor lived [at that event]...you next need to find out where the records are kept." (Kimberley Powell, "the Everything Guide to Genealogy'; Adams Media; Ch.8; p129)

The burial or death record may indicate the ancestor's religion, as burial locations in cemeteries in the 19th century were strongly influenced by religion. 

On theme, if the key Witness has the same maiden name and birth place as the Pioneer it would be hard to resist the conclusion the 'Key Witness' was from the English family. On the other hand it could be argued the key witness merely met the Pioneer in Australia, and it was a coincidence surnames and birth places were shared.  

The Other Woman

Indeed, it comes close  to that! After digging a bit further on FamilySearch FamilyTree, I found a competing genealogy (hereafter called "parallel line") based on another woman of the same name, allegedly born in an adjoining town, two years earlier.  She married a man with the same name as the Pioneer's husband (has only one middle-initial, but the initial is identical) in the same locality; lived in an adjoining town; and died two years after the Key Witness (see table below; substitute names used). 

The parallel genealogy claims the same marriage date and place; and the same children, so there could be duplication of the family somehow.  The researchers have not yet made a detailed distinction through available records, such as birth certificates of the 9 children.

Data	Key Witness	Husband	2nd Woman	Husband
Date Born	Alicia May Johnson	Albert James Hadley Franks	Alicia M Johnson	Albert J Franks
Place Born	Wednesbury, England	NSW, Australia	Wickham, NSW, Australia	NSW, Australia
Date Married	1885	1885	1885	1885
Place Married	Wallsend	Wallsend	Wallsend	Wallsend
Children	9 children	9 children	9 children same names	9 children same names
Died	1910, NSW	1907, NSW	1912, Newcastle	1907 NSW

Phew! What a conundrum! This 'Case Study' demonstrates both some avenues for corroboration of evidence; and the temptation to jump to conclusions. The interlocking nature of the two genealogies needs to be resolved, among other things, before a conclusion can be drawn.

Marriage Witness Links to Census
Nick Barrett  observes that in principle, marriage-witness-names can provide an alternative path, via Census records, to the family village. A census return (if in the 19th century) for that witness can give you a mini-family tree, when it lists all the people in the household; and you search related households in the same area.  Using census records is an art in itself ( a future post).

Availability of NSW Census Records
Unfortunately, in the Pioneer's case, the English family comprising parents and 3 daughters was not formed until after the 1861 census. They appear to have left England before the 1871 census (a child was allegedly born in New Zealand, in January 1870). Once this family left England the opportunity to find them in one household becomes more difficult, because the family dispersed. And, unfortunately, finding female ancestors is one of the hardest things, given their new, married names. As well, in this case, census data in NSW in the 1800s is not good. In 1882, a fire destroyed the New South Wales census records for 1846, 1851, 1856, 1861, 1871 and 1881; including the detailed household forms from 1861, 1871 and 1881. It is well to note that Census coverage is rarely complete.

Birth Certificates Enable Guesstimates
From a birth certificate (i.e.: a digital image of original certificate) you can determine:

• the range of years in which a subject person would have married (usually at age 18-21); 
• the child-bearing years -- in UK: age 12-45 (with parental consent, girls could marry at age 12, during the years 1837 and 1929, and boys at 14); 
• the range of years in which the parents may have been born (if the certificate is for the birth of a first child, then search from 12 years to 45 years earlier); 
• the range of years in which the person's parents would have married (if birth of a first child, usually immediately before the birth); 
• the range of years in which the person might have died (from the date of birth of the last child, to the life expectancy for the time); and
• the range of years in which the parents might have died, based on point 3 and the life expectancy for the time.
  

The Glue of Research
Marriage certificates or images are the 'glue' of excellent research post 1754 (in England and Wales), due to the range of information they usually contain and the concrete link they offer between two different family lines; and between two generations in the same family line. You should hardly ever pin two names together randomly in a family relationship without a marriage certificate, assuming there is one (Scotland is a special case, until 1939).

If you can find the parents in a census, you might get a quick 'snap-shot' of the family members, with ages. As best practice I recommend you wend your way through the generations in a cycle moving from marriage certificate to census, to get a snapshot of the family, census to birth certificate, birth certificate to marriage certificate...When you get stuck you use other sources. Earlier than 1837, substitute "parish record" for "certificate"; and "christening" or "baptism", for "birth". Of course there will not be any census before 1841, but you may find Electoral Registers; Tax Records; or Wills.

In Northern Ireland for example there are pre-1840 Registers and Poll Books under the Parliamentary Act 1832, which have been put online to help compensate for the lack of census records.

Nick Barratt, Consultant Genealogist  
"Who Do You Think You Are" (WDYTYA)

Nick Barrett was the expert behind the first four series of the BBC hit  TV show "Who Do You Think You Are". You can learn a lot just by watching this program. Nick Barrett has a PhD in Medieval History, and is the leading authority on Family History in the UK. He makes this observation: 

BBC TV SERIES

 "It is imperative that you find out the sources of any research undertaken by other people before you consider incorporating this data into your family tree.- it is vital that you double check their accuracy...follow up the document references in the footnotes [of any published work] and examine the original sources". ("Who Do You Think You Are, Encyclopedia of Genealogy"; HarperCollinsPublishers; 2008; p58)

By "double check" he means get two corroborating sources (WDYTYA; p53).

He says the compilers of shared family trees should be prepared to provide their sources:   "...ask them how they came to their conclusions and what sources they used." (p58 op cit) "Always ask them ...where they found their sources so you can double check them yourself and ascertain their accuracy" (p66).  After all, it is not just their genealogy.

It is very tempting, in your enthusiasm for family history, to "plug in" a tree which may be someone else's family tree.

Consequences

Back to the Homeland

Think about the consequences of having the wrong family members in your tree. Members of my family from Australia have made special trips to see the "original village" in England. Unfortunately it was some where else. That is only a minor outcome! Think about all the effort and money spent by subsequent family researchers "going down the wrong track". For more on this theme go to Beth Foulk 's training. If you are serious, you MUST watch this video; even if not now. There are references to the USA context, but it is still the best in terms of coverage and style of delivery.

Comparison of Ancestry Website and FamilySearch Family Tree

Peer Review

Ancestry lets you create 'private' trees which remain private, unless views are granted to specific users, in response to individual email requests.  The system suggests to you names which may be related (represented by the "shaking leaf"). There is little 'peer review'. There is the advantage, however, that you can upload tentative data (make sure you label it as such). 

If your tree is public on the other hand you share your data and additionally invite more interaction with other users. Both public and private tree owners have access to persons searching the same surname, country, place or topic (through 'Message Boards'). Through this facility I discovered a cousin had published a Family Tree! Many an issue has been solved through the Message Boards. 

MESSAGE BOARDS

The danger for a novice is that, with all this data coming in from other users, you will 'jump to conclusions'. 

"Don't expect your family tree already done for you".
(Kimberley Powell; "The Everything Guide to Online Genealogy";Adams Media; 2 edition (January 18, 2011)

Also, if your investigation of a large tree is spread over a couple of years, your subscription to Ancestry may lapse. If you don't keep it up, you may not have access to your work! True. It has happened.

In FamilySearch Family Tree you are working in a common pedigree. So the tree is inherently a group effort. Other people will have an opinion, and can override your view temporarily, or vice versa, subject to the strength of their sources, which makes for a robust examination of the data. This may upset people who do not like justifying their research. Some feel: "This my genealogy!" But hey! You want to get it right don't you? FamilySearch provides 'rollback' and arbitration on dead-locked situations. 

If you want to be able to see and work in your tentative tree, as in Ancestry 'private' trees, an alternative is to put the tree in software certified to read and write to and from Family Tree. You can pull data off FamilyTree and compare it with your your tentative findings; without writing to Family Tree! When you are satisfied with your research, you can upload it to Family Tree; even on a name by name basis.

There is further discussion of the major websites in the post :"Snapshot of Websites..."in this blog.

Family Tree is Based On Deceased People
In Family Tree you have to "build a bridge" between you and  your deceased ancestors. You are not going to find your name there unless you have already connected to the system, or a relative has entered your family, using your deceased ancestors!  You use the "Add Individual" button for the living family; and the "Find" button for deceased ancestors.  If you are very unlucky, your deceased generations may have to be entered using "Add individual" (instead of using the 'Find' facility), and stand without any connection to others in the system, until you forge it. 

Start In Your Backyard

That is why the essential tool to be able to begin verifying a large family tree, friend, is data to be gleaned within your own "backyard". If the data is wrong you will not connect to the right pre-existing research. You have seen in Case Study 2 that there are 'parallel' trees. There is no escaping gathering data at home. Collect the data from your living family; and from local registry office(s) in the area(s) where your family lived. You will need to able to verify at a local level (registry office) the details of your family to the grandparent level; preferably the great-grandparent level. 

Kimberley Powell, the About.com guide to genealogy, comments:

"You're impatient to jump right on the internet to find everything you can on your family, but your search will almost always bring more success if you begin at home- with yourself and your living relatives. Surfing the internet...on an average name will bring up somewhere in the neighbourhood of a million sites that may shelter tidbits about your family; and who has time to wade through all that? The more facts you have...before you hit the web, the more easily you will be able to distinguish your ancestors from others with the same name and the less frustrating it will be." ("The Everything Guide to Online Genealogy"; Adams Media; 3 edition (January 8, 2014)  

You will usually then be able to immediately access historical, online records (meaning official church or civil records) beyond the protected "privacy period" of 50, 75 or 100 years, dependent on the type of record and the individual government's own privacy laws. For births the protected period is normally a 100 years. Otherwise you will be looking at names in historical Collections which barely have meaning for you. You wouldn't be the first person to say: "But my family is not here!". 

Check if there are private "transcription services" for the Registry archive you are interested in. For example: the S.A. and N.S.W. Registries in Australia. They are cheaper than purchasing a full certificate (by over 40%). 

The National Archives ("TNA"), UK

Bricks and Mortar Sources
Think you can do research with out ever visiting a "bricks and mortar" archive? The experts say no. You only have to look at all the records being added to websites daily to realise there are valuable offline records not yet digitised, indexed and put online. FamilySearch is adding a million names a day. Family Search and Ancestry alone have agreed to cooperate in the digitisation and publication of a billion records.

Local and regional parish record collections in dusty archives are coming online at an increasing rate. But the records you need may still be in an published archive at your  state or national library. Don't underrate the state, province or national library as a source of help. Check their web service. The State Library of Western Australia has members of the Western Australian association of genealogists, available to help you with your research.

A solid foundation of research in the 20th century will allow you to access the online civil records of the 19th Century. In the 18th century you will be using online and offline parish records (in England, dominantly Church of England records), which offer even bigger challenges, as there is less information in the record to work with. So start well. As you go along, develop a knowledge of the social and geographical context of your ancestors' lives to help you in this more challenging period.

Data-Partitions in the UK
You work with three different data-partitions in the UK; much like working in different regions in Australia. Whilst we talk of collections of data, like Births in the 19th Century, or Census Data in Britain, you do ultimately access separate packages, alliances or compartments; namely:

• England, Wales, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands;
• Scotland; and
• Ireland.

For example, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands are included in the census returns for England and Wales. The Census Returns for Scotland are separate from them; so too Ireland.

FamilySearch Family Tree Will Help Resolve Your Data

If part of your genealogy is on FamilyTree it will help you resolve the inherited data. It is a misconception if you imagine all trees are well developed! That "system" also contains couplets (author's term) of a single, parent-child-event. When FamilySearch discovers a parish or civil record which connects a set of parents (or single parent) to a child born at a specific date and place ('couplet'), FamilySearch enters that record in the system as a "Family Tree", albeit a fledgling one!

Couplets also exist for marriages; where the data on the certificate is sufficient (parent details are not always included, even when the laws required it at the time!). So some 'family trees' are just couplets of two generations, with no linkage forward or backward! 

Regarding the sparse information, the data is usually drawn from an index (see post "Snapshot of Websites" in this blog site), and if you track down the image you may get more information. My great-grandmother's Australian marriage certificate, however, was not completed to this end.

Use Smaller Record Collections or Tighter Searches
Nevertheless you may find a couplet is a lead. You can look for the location of the original image by a filtered search on the historical records collection, on FamilySearch; or from other sources on the internet. Sometimes scanning through a smaller local parish record (see below) allows you to see a pattern of the same parents having children say every two years, in the same area; and the father with the same occupation. This is the 'quad-stitch' : same parents, location, spacing; and same occupation! This then gives you confidence regarding the "couplet" you found, and you are then able to connect them into a larger tree online or into the main tree on 'stand-alone' software. 
  
2 Minute Exercise
As an exercise, find six (6) children on the Wath Upon Dearne, Yorkshire, parish Baptism Registers (transcriptions),  born to Samuel and Elizabeth Gray, farmers of Tingle Bridge; recorded among other surname-'Gray' births, between 3 April 1820 and the 8 June 1829.

As these are 'transcriptions', in a real research exercise it is preferable the original should be 'sighted' (in this Wath-Upon-Dearne case, the image locations are described immediately above the same bracket of "Registers"). Transcriptions are accepted by many professional researchers. Many Registries now will only provide transcriptions. But mistakes do occur.

Searches on Family Tree

When you do a search for persons in FamilySearch, unless you are searching purely on the Historical Records (church and civil registry records), which can be done, you are accessing all these couplets, together with larger trees; other historical records; and history libraries. When the results come back it is usual to find umpteen pages of listings of persons with the same name (with say 25 names per page)! There is a way  to get just the historical records but it is a step in your development. 

At the top menu, choose Search>>Records>>Filter for country, in the left menu. If just want collections with images, select the box at the bottom of the left Menu: to get only collections with images (Note that does not mean collections consisting of only images). You are invited to study a separate article, refer to recent FamilySearch enhancements; and follow me on Twitter @commonpedigree

The ability to decipher which is your ancestor among all these names is the skill of the genealogist! 

RootsMagicv6
The segment below recommends use of inexpensive RootMagicv6 software. Its features include the ability to update ("write" to) FamilySearch FamilyTree. You may have seen claims RootMagic is the only certified software able to write to FamilyTree.  Certifications of other commercial software are provided here. The free "Essentials" version of RootMagicv6 will write to FamilyTree, but it does not have the Research Manager; built-in web search; and timeline facility, among other great features, offered by the full version. 

The software download site that draws the most hits is Legacy Family Tree (RootsMagic was second), but the last time I looked at Legacy it it had old "Help" files from before the advent of FamilySearch Family Tree.

 How to Troubleshoot Your Inherited Tree

1. Purchase a small portable USB-connected external drive (purse or wallet size), and a large volume USB-connected external "Back Up" drive for "back-up" of your valuable information.
 

2. Purchase RootsMagic.6 software by phone (about $AUS30), at 9am MST -- see inset. The free "Essentials" version and earlier versions like v5 will not suffice.

Load it onto your computer or laptop. The portable-version "v6RootsMagic-to-Go" will be installed, showing as an icon on the desk top - for taking to family members, state libraries and archives; or LDS family history libraries. Click the icon later and tell it which USB drive you want to use to execute installation.

3. Load your inherited data into RootsMagic6 manually or by 'import file', and save the file as both 'original' and 'working copy', to both your internal and "Back Up" external drive. Whenever you save your amended tree, religiously include a date in the new file name.

4. In RootsMagic review the automatically highlighted "problems" in the tree on the working copy and make a note of the tasks  in your RootsMagic "To-do-list" (Go to top menu, Lists>>To-do-list).

5. Create folders on your computer for each surname, and each person under that surname. Also a folder for each significant place name (a subjective judgement), as information about the geographical and historical context of a town are another tool (In UK, start with GENUKI).  
6. Create an additional folder for 'Family History Knowledge', to save bits and pieces you learn along the way.

7. Create an Account with FamilySearch Tree, a common pedigree for the whole world, and enter three direct generations (up to and including your grandparents) on both paternal and maternal sides, or to the first deceased parents on each line. Use the 'Find' facility on FamilyTree so you do not have to recreate a person already on the Tree! Enter them fresh if you have to.

8. Download any additional data for your family which appears in FamilySearch, into your working tree. RootsMagic will do it for you.

9. Mechanically check the existence of sources for the inherited data in your inherited tree and also in Family Tree, side-by-side in RootsMagic.

10. Where sources are missing from your inherited tree and FamilyTree, contact the author and ask for them. From FamilyTree you may have to email some authors.

11. Go to step one in the 5 Minute Video Series on FamilySearch and learn how to do family history research. In The Learning Centre, study the research guide for your country, and any country-specific training videos. 
12. Evaluate the sources. Whenever you find information -- either helpful or definitive, capture the info, both text and images, into the folders; or into the Media Collection in RootsMagic and make a note of it in the Research Log for that person in RootsMagic - accessed by double clicking the person's name. Also record the place where you have looked. Harden up. The very act of recording helps clarify what data you have and what you need, and makes a huge difference to your effectiveness. At a minimum, when you get stuck, enter the stoppage point in the Research log . 

"...unless you keep track of where you've been and who and what you've searched for, you can end up wasting a lot of time retracing your previous trail." "The Everything Guide to Genealogy"; by Kimberly Powell; Adams Media; 2 edition (January 18, 2011)

If you want to look up all your logs later, go to top menu, Lists>>Research Manager. There is also a Note taking facility in the Edit person page, where you can record your findings and reference your media in the Media collection, in respect of a single person or family. Media includes doc files and images. They are not included in the main research-data-base, to optimism its speed of access!

13. Continue to follow tips from @commonpedigree and this blog. Many of the earlier posts will explain basic concepts to you.

Quality of Sources
You need to check the quality of each source offered by the author of your inherited tree, and in Family Search FamilyTree. Hopefully they have included a copy of the source, or a web address. If not, you are going to have to dig out the data yourself, and in some few cases even purchase certificates from Registry offices (if event during the privacy period).  This will propel you into main-stream research. 

Identify Family Village
To simplify your research, from your inherited genealogy you may be able to determine the location of the parish-of-origin in Britain or Australia. The FamilySearch Wiki will show you the boundaries of a parish over time (in "Maps and Gazetteers"). As an example scroll down the "Stepney, Middlesex, England" page in the Wiki).  So you might want to start by looking at the profile for YOUR target area. Make sense?

Basic Research Plan
Crista Cowan, a senor genealogist for Ancestry ("The Barefoot Genealogist"), emphasises the need for a basic plan. This is a micro-plan for one family / person:

1. What do you want to know?
2. What do you know already?
3. How do you know it?
4. Where could you possibly find what you want to know?
5. Do the records exist? If so where?

You recycle back and forth between 2 and 3 until you fully tease out the information you already have; so you do not 'go over old ground', or waste any hard earned leads. Many genealogists have found they have been repeatedly revisiting the same web address and same data! This can cost you time and money.

Put a sticky note on your computer to remind you what you are doing! Focus on it. The internet is like the house in the forest in Hansel and Gretel. You will lose your way. Guaranteed. Hopefully you will regroup before not too much damage is done. Focus on one family line until you have become a seasoned veteran.

Summary  
Well, you have just had a crash course in genealogy (note the spelling). You have been introduced to many topics:

• establishing foundational tools;
• checking with extended family;
• creating a workable record system;
• the major gateways to genealogy websites, learning videos and country guides;
• differences between the major service providers;
• the user collaborations sites;
• Learning Centres; and self learning;
• standard of proof for sources;
• importance of citing sources / the consequences of poor research;
•  the genealogy of coats of arms;
• using family history software;
• uploading family trees;
• downloading family trees;
• the major data providers; 
• nature of indexes;
• how to use civil records; 
• the privacy period;
• avoiding common mistakes;
• searches on large volumes of data; 
• finding date range of collections;
  
• doing searches on specific collections;
• importance of birth, death and marriage data to research process;
• availability and limitations of census records;
• using census data;
• corroborating sparse data to overcome "brick walls";  
• defining the availability of record sets for your area of interest;
• finding whereabouts of parish and census records;
• accessing online parish records;
• using parish records to prove data from elsewhere;
• the research process;
• engaging professional researchers;
• having a basic plan;
• focusing on the target area;
• using a research log; and
• avoiding possible pitfalls!

As you verify your tree you will become a 'genealogist' (with a modern but slightly sparse approach).