Who should you include in your genealogy?
Should you include the family of an uncle or even godparents and witnesses of an event in your family tree? We take stock.
Include the most people in your tree: the advantages
Starting your genealogy is also putting your finger in an endless gear. We have probably repeated it several times: "A genealogy is never over" and for good reason! Its extent will largely depend on the people you decide to include or not in your family tree.
Harvest even more information and unlock your research
It is the nerve of war to find as much information as possible on an ancestor or to find new elements to unlock our research.
By including the families of the brothers and sisters of an ancestor you will limit the errors and confusions if some have the same name in the same village. You can also confirm or not a relationship with a distant cousin.
Going through other family members will allow you to unlock yourself if you are, for example, looking for a birthplace, marriage or death.
Realize the relational circle of his ancestors
From last centuries to the present day, the relational circle of our ancestors has continued to grow.
The remarriage were not uncommon and sometimes in the same families. By including the most people encountered over the acts in your genealogy, you will be able to make certain links more easily.
By also including sponsors, godmothers or witnesses, you can realize the social status of your ancestors in the village. It can also be interesting to see several times the same names reappear over the life of an ancestor, proof of the important role that the person could play in his life.
Including neighbors can also help you explain family ties that would have been built over time.
Extend his research to cousins = even more discoveries
Adding the cousins, even the most distant, in its family tree is to enlarge the spectrum of your research. You will then increase the number of connections possible. And who says connection says possible finds…
How to know where to stop in your family tree? Geneafinder advice
You alone know the answer to this question.
Some genealogists called "collectors" prefer to expand their tree without flesh out, unlike "investigators" who largely deepen their research.
In our opinion, everything is a question of measurement and envy, of course.
By taking into account the fact that finding information in the archives can be very time -consuming, several tips can. Help to take stock of who to include or not in your tree:
Prioritize your research. Focus on the ancestors in direct line, then on the brothers and sisters, then on your cousins, then on your in-laws for example. Add people with no blood in the course of meetings in the acts.
Choose who to include and stand there. It's up to you to decide whether you consider it useful to include people who do not share blood ties with your family. Note the importance of the role of witnesses (excluding family) and neighbors in the last centuries.
Note your finds as you go. Which also means: include people as you meet them in the archives. Add the witnesses, sponsors and godmothers or even the neighbors if you know them. Including them does not necessarily mean that you have to do their genealogy. Note a name will be useful to realize that it comes back several times in your tree or even hangs on one of your branches a few years later.
Do not put yourself pressure for your research. The load linked to your research may seem enormous and unrealizable if you choose from the start to include as many people as possible in your family tree. But, remember, Rome was not done in a day. Everything in its time. Do not hesitate to stroll through your family tree, to go from one generation to another, from descendants to add new people over your investigation.
🔎 Go to Geneafinder to build your genealogy with simple and free tools!