Being able to accurately and reliably link evidence from different sources to the same individual is a key skill which all family historians need to learn and master. In part 1 we looked the five factors which underpin evidence linkage: UniquenessCommunity SizeDistanceTime DifferenceContradictory Evidence In this concluding part we look at how to assess linkage …
Continue reading “Linking Genealogical Evidence: A Method – Part 2”
Being able to accurately and reliably link evidence from different sources to the same individual is a key skill which all family historians need to learn and master. But there is very little writing out there to help people learn how to do this – and the vast number of poorly reasoned linkages in member …
So you’ve found a strong candidate for your missing ancestor, but have you gone the extra distance to prove that they are the person you’ve been looking for? Have you considered tracing forward all the possible candidates to eliminate all bar one? Have you examined contradictory evidence and tried to resolve it? In the final …
Continue reading “The Woman Who Fell From The Skies – Part 4”
It is one thing to show there is a likely link between a person or family across two locations, but it is quite another to eliminate all the other possibilities. In this part of Seeing the Wood for the Trees I look at how to build partial evidence into a compelling case. Previously – I …
Continue reading “The Woman Who Fell From The Skies – Part 3”
Previously – In part 1 I introduced you to Mary Jane Hyland, my great-great grandmother. She married John Bowers in Warrington, Lancashire in 1894. I could find no prior record for her which constituted a convincing match and the 1901 census simply said she was born in ‘Ireland’. My objective was to find a birth …
Continue reading “The Woman Who Fell From The Skies – Part 2”
This has happened to every family history researcher at one time or another. While researching a branch of the family in a census, one consults the Place of Birth column to see the unhelpfully imprecise, yet definitive statement: “Ireland.” My first thought was, “Terrific, I have some Irish heritage!” My second thought was, “Is that …
“A Brick Wall” It happens to us all. We’re merrily researching a branch of our tree when we encounter a halt in progress. At first we think it’s temporary, then after a period of searching, failing, thinking and more failed searches we label it as “A Brick Wall”. It’s a metaphor that is much (over) …
Hi, my name is Phil. I’m a genealogist and I’ve started this little blog to share some of my findings and the things that I find interesting as I go through my journey of familial self-discovery. But Phil, I hear you say, there are hundreds, no thousands, of genealogy blogs out there. What have you …
Seeing the Wood for the Trees 