Keeping Records

Recording Your Discoveries

When it comes to keeping a record of your family history there are  a few options available to you. If you only plan to keep a few generations of records then a physical paper chart you will probably suffice. You may find my Family Tree Template useful.

The second option would be to find software which you can load onto your computer. This has the benefit of not having to be connected to the internet other than to download the software. It does mean you would have to transfer all your interent finds manually. This can be very laborious compared to the third option and is rather “old school” now. There are many of these available but the most propular are: Family Historian 7, RootsMagic 9, Family Tree Maker 2019 and Legacy Family Tree 9. They should all allow you to import data from other programmes in the form of a “Gedcom” file, but more about that later.

Finally, and I believe the most popular way which is used to develop your family tree is to use one of the many different online Family History websites.  These allow you to research your family history and save it to a graphical representation of your family tree, all in one package.  There is no need to download any software onto your computer as all your information is kept “on the cloud”. While this may concern some, data security is very much a thing now and companies are regulated as to how they keep their users information private. The best thing to do is check with their website.

Finding the right software

• Ancestry 
• Find My Past
• Family Search
• My Heritage

(coming soon)