Genealogy is having an informed knowledge of your past and leaving a worthwhile legacy for future generations.
This project came about while I was researching my family genealogy. It is important for us all to leave a legacy to our children, grandchildren and future generations.
My main intent is compiling a Family Record or ‘Saga’ so that it can be available for family members and handed down from generation to generation. It is also a place for new genealogists to come and get different search stategy ideas to help them in their building their family trees.
There are treasures in our attics – respect and be proud of our ancestors. The surname of ‘Gibbs’ comes from an honourable and ancient name dating back to the Norman conquest.
Tracing our family tree started off as a hobby until I got involved in our ancestors lives and finding out that they were a part of me. We come mainly from an ancestral background of agricultural labourers and farmers dating back centuries. Each of our families are different in the research of their respective family trees. We all have different and unique surnames. We have two parents, a mother and father with separate surnames; they in turn have a mother and father with different surnames.
The further back you go in researching your family tree the more you will be amazed of what you have uncovered of your ancestors past. If we went back generations to our 15th Great Grandparents we would theoretically have a total of 131,072 ancestors and that’s if there was no cross-linking.
Considering the amount of ancestors that we have then consider this – each grandparent had a number of children and their children had children and so forth. How many relatives would be have? The total number would be staggering and I wouldn’t want to guess, but trying to research through ancestry is a possibility.
History has always fascinated me and years ago my mother got me interested in our family tree which in itself is ‘History’ – our family history. Genealogy research has been around for thousands of years so why hasn’t anyone really kept any good reliable records on our tree? Each culture is different and before the invention of writing, people around the globe recorded their family trees in interesting and various methods. Ancient civilizations used ingenious methods of keeping records and passed them down throughout the generations from one family to the next.
Before the discovery and invention of the written word, records were probably kept by the eldest family member who meticulously tied knots on a rope or with other objects. Why did different cultures tie knots the way they did? Individual groups did it for identifying different events or meanings. Knots tied in various fashions was a detailed methodology that had baffled archaeologists at one time.
Early Vikings did not write down their stories but had to remember them and then pass them down to their children. They told their stories through songs – sagas that were recited from epic battles during wars and other adventures telling and then re-telling their historical tales.
The Chinese on the other hand are the true masters of genealogy. They kept very detailed genealogical written records of clan and branch genealogies to family records or annals. The earliest known record dates back to around 1500 BC when they inscribed family trees on turtle shells and cow bones.
I am going to mainly concentrate my research with my direct ancestors and their family surnames. The surnames of Gibbs, Walling, Cross and Martin. There will also be data, photos and more passed on from other extended families as well.
I will attempt to go back as far as I can with the information that I have available and through online resources. The research of my family tree will be an ongoing project.
If you are interested in undertaking a genealogy project with goals and see it succeed then I will help as much as I can in assisting you on your journey. Getting information from your living relatives will be important to get as much information as you can.
Download the FREE checklist of the “22 Steps in Researching Your Family Tree”
I also have a podcast called ’22 Steps Podcast” for everyone that will provide information on the necessary steps to take in your family tree research. Lots of info with website links to further your search on relatives. There are 5 episodes available to listen to on various apps.
PODBEAN, ITUNES, SPOTIFY, TUNEIN
Hover over the episode below to goto directly to Podbean and listen to an episode!
Episode 001 – The Introduction
Episode 002 – The First Three Steps
Episode 003, Step 4 – Online Genealogy Websites
Episode 004 – Step 5 – Why you should join an online forum?
Starting your own newsletter is a awesome project for you to start if you have the time and resources available to provide to your family. I started a family newsletter called ‘Gibbs Musings’ to pass on genealogical data on families I have been researching to assist other family historians in completing their trees. I find what I have provided quite rewarding and helpful.
The aim of the website will be a great resource of information for new genealogists to get resources, free and paid website links to help you in your ancestral research using different research strategies.
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Discovering Your Past 