Building a family tree can be a very exciting experience. Having started looking for information about your ancestors, you will learn a lot about their environment and about those historical periods when they lived. There may be many surprises along the way. It is possible that you will have to go to the archives and interview a lot of people. But the results will not be long in coming.
It is necessary
- - family photos;
- - family documents;
- - computer with internet;
- - paper and pen.
Instructions
Step 1
Start by gathering information. To begin with, you can collect information about the next of kin. You probably know the name of your parents, when they were born, where they live and who they work with. All information is optional, but the last name, first name, patronymic, dates of birth and death are required. It may very well be that you already have information about grandparents, uncles and aunts. Don't forget to check them out.
Step 2
Try to find out who your great-grandmothers and great-grandfathers were. If possible, ask relatives of the older generation. Surely one of them remembers something. Write down any data that you can collect. Having learned the last name, first name, patronymic and the place where the great-grandmother or great-grandfather lived, contact the archive of their city. Perhaps there you will find the rest of the information. The local history museum can also help. Many archives and museums have their own pages on the Internet, so the chance of finding the right contacts is high enough.
Step 3
If any of your relatives went missing during the war, try to find traces of him in the military archives. A search detachment may work in the alleged place of death. Then it makes sense to go there too.
Step 4
The Internet provides a lot of opportunities. Type your last name in a search engine and see what happens. It may very well be that among the many pages there will be those that you personally need. Social media can also help. You can find relatives there in the fourth or fifth generation. Perhaps some of them are also collecting information about their ancestors.
Step 5
Having collected as much information as possible, start drawing up a family tree. It is best to do this on a draft first, as you will likely get some more information along the way. As an example, you can use a tree of some royal dynasty. The tree itself is optional for now. Just draw a square and write in it your last name, first name and patronymic, year of birth and the city in which you live.
Step 6
First, draw a line of direct ancestors. Step down a little from your square and draw two more of the same. In one, write the details of the mother, in the other - the father. Connect them to your square with straight lines. Make cells for grandparents even lower. There will be four of them, and you need to connect them with the squares of your parents. Thus, write in all the representatives of the earlier generations known to you. For those relatives about whom you do not know anything, leave blank cells.
Step 7
Having drawn the line of direct ancestors, go to the side branches. Draw squares for your siblings. They should be at the same level as your data. Connect the cells with your horizontal lines. Draw lines to mother and father. In the same way, enter all relatives you know from previous generations. Write your uncle and aunt on the same level as your parents.
Step 8
Make separate cells for your children. They should be located above yours and connected to it with vertical lines, and with each other - horizontal. Draw cells for nephews too - above their parents.
Step 9
After the family tree is more or less filled in on the draft, you can begin to design it. Use old photographs, archival references, newspaper articles, if available. The family tree can be placed, for example, at the beginning of a family photo album or a computer presentation on your family history.
