Pulling Down The Blockades

Step 1:

Start off by writing down everything you know about the troublesome ancestor.  If you have already done this, do it again, organizing the information in another way.  You may have missed something the first time around or you may have read something recently that will jog your thought process.  Dedicate a scrapbook or file to this ancestor, reassess all the documents and newspaper clippings relating to this person and analyze old photographs again to find something you overlooked the first time round.

Step 2:

If this hasn't highlighted an avenue you missed the first time, take another look at what you actually know about this ancestor.  Information from family members is priceless as a starting point but unless the bare facts of this information can be backed up with official records you cannot rely on it completely.  Break the information you have about this ancestor into two categories, facts that are recorded in official documents (this can be civil or parish records, wills, newspapers etc) and information you have acquired via the family (including old photographs, diaries, letters, personal notes, family histories, etc.).  Look at the dates and place names relating this to this ancestor and jot down the ones that can be substantiated in records and those acquired from the family.  Maybe you need to clarify some of the details again with relatives.  Finally double check every different name spelling you can find relating to this ancestor. 

Step 3:

Think laterally, not literally.  If you're still stumped then it's time to research the missing ancestors siblings.  Wills, probate records, marriage records and photographs can all help decipher the details of the surrounding family and by branching out into another line you will meet living ancestors who may hold that vital clue you've been looking for.

Step 4:

All genealogy is to a great extent oral history combined with local history so try and find leads within the locality that the ancestor lived, either as a child or as a married person. Visit the area, read archived local newspapers in the local library to look for notices, obtain a map of the area and locate their house.  Parish boundaries changed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; make sure your ancestor isn't on the edge that slipped into a different borough.  Were there any local disasters in the area when your ancestor lived there - if so, she check the local papers around this date.  You could also post a notice in the local paper and contact the local history and genealogy societies in that area, perhaps they can help further your research.

By Rachael Hannan

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