It’s a brand new year so maybe it’s time to unlock the past and discover your ancestors in 2016!

Christmas is traditionally a time for families to come together and talk about their loved ones – past and present.  I am sure it was the start of new information for a lot of people on their own family and where they came from.  Now you are armed with all this new information but don’t know what to do with it, or where to start?  Well, why not let Into The Past Genealogy Services help you on that voyage of discovery?

We love a challenge, and putting the pieces of the ancestry puzzle together.  It’s a little bit like being a detective, looking in every nook and cranny to find a clue to the whereabouts of that elusive ancestor!  Nothing is ‘black and white’ in genealogy, there are always shades of grey (maybe not fifty shades of grey!!) but information on documents and census returns can send you in a totally different and wrong direction if you believe everything you read on them.   Ages can be as much as 10 years wrong, places of birth incorrect and relationships to head of household can also cause confusion.

Of course, people moved around quite a lot at the turn of the century, so the best way to track your ancestors is via births/marriages and deaths.   If they had a large family, you may find several different places of residence on all of the birth records obtained.  Never give up the search!  If you have to, take a step back for a while and then look again with ‘fresh eyes’ and a new perspective.  Just because the name has a different spelling to that currently used in the family, do not ignore it, most people were illiterate then and could not spell their own name.  It was recorded by the registrar at the time, who, because of the many different dialects and accents, recorded it phonetically.

Let 2016 be the year you get started on your family tree!  You may have heard stories about an ancestor who was involved in 1916 or the First World War, War of Independence or Civil War here in Ireland?   Then this is the time to find them!

This will be a good year for GENEALOGY and I wish you every success on your genealogy journey INTO YOUR PAST!

If you need help with the ‘brick wall’ then please feel free to contact me at Into The Past Genealogy at www.intothepast.co, or email at ams.intothepast@gmail.com

Happy Hunting!!  Anne-Marie Smith.