Genealogy: The Bare Bones of Family History
The many generations of ancestors who came before you all contributed to who you are today. Who were they? When did they live? Who were their extended family? Throughout the country, branches of the New Zealand Society of Genealogists (NZSG) can get you started on that journey of discovery back in time.
The Coromandel Peninsula and Hauraki District have NZSG branches in Thames, Waihi and Mercury Bay. Experienced researchers share their knowledge to get you going with various resources. They won’t do your research for you: they will teach you how to do it yourself.
And they’ll be there to help when you hit a brick wall – that name or date or life event that no matter where you look you just can’t find.
Without breaking the brick wall, your research founders. Sometimes you think you can’t go back any further. Perhaps a more experienced researcher can help you.
However, beware! Genealogy and family history are fascinating, captivating, absorbing hobbies. You’ll set out to find one small detail and hours later discover you’ve been distracted by other tantalising, interconnected information. You may never find your way back down that rabbit hole, so while you’re there, be sure to take lots of notes and record where you find details that you’ll want to use later.
Genealogy is the foundation of family history
Genealogy is our lineage: parents, grandparents, great-grandparents and so on. Our Genealogy research provides us with the basic facts about a person so that we can place them on our family tree: names, date of birth, marriage (if any) and death. These bare facts have to be proven. We need certificates: documents that will also hopefully provide details of parents and spouses. To be truly useful, family trees are created entirely with proven facts: there is no room for assumptions. For some of us, constructing our family tree, going back generation after generation, brings its own challenges and satisfaction and nothing more is required.
However, once we are certain that we have someone in their rightful place on the family tree, we may want to dig deeper and flesh out the bare facts. This is family history. Our research will bring our ancestor to life in a context of how and where they lived, their jobs, what was going on around them. Think about the challenges they faced and their courage and determination to overcome them. Although factual, family history gives us leeway to use information from resources outside our immediate family, such as history books, diaries, newspaper clippings …
Creating a family tree
Start with what you know, and work back. Start with yourself! Beyond your parents are your four grandparents: limit yourself to researching one branch of the tree at a time.
Genealogy Golden Rule: Listen to your parents, grandparents and extended family when they reminisce; ask questions and take notes. Often, when there is no one left to ask, we wish we had paid more attention years ago! For example, knowing your grandmothers’ maiden names makes finding their parents’ names one step easier.
For historical records of life events in New Zealand, we can refer to historical births, deaths and marriages (BDM) online: https://www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/search . There are some privacy considerations, so I’ll give an example from my own family. My mother’s parents were James Charles and Edith Lucy Dromgool. Let’s look for Edith’s maiden name. She turned 80 the year I was 20, so I know when she was born, +/- a year, and I know she was a teenage bride. A marriage search 15-20 years after she was born, using only her name, Edith, and granddad’s full name, brings up their marriage in 1911 and her maiden name. Then a birth search for Edith Freeth provides a birth date and her parents’ names. With historical BDM results, we can order certificates with full details. Using only Edith’s mother’s name and father’s full name, I can find their marriage. Another birth search reveals all my great-grandparents’ children (my grandmother’s siblings) and their dates of birth.
For my maternal great-grandparents’ births and the next generation back in time, I will have to refer to British records such as census results, parish records, and more.
It’s addictive, isn’t it? Good luck with your research and contact your nearest NZSG branch to find out details of meetings.
To find out more
These local NZSG Branches meet from February to November
NZSG Thames Branch, meets 3rd Wednesday morning of month, 9.30AM, St James Church Hall, Pahau St.
NZSG Waihi Branch, 4th Wednesday afternoon, 1pm, The Gallery, Waihi Museum, Kenny St.
NZSG Mercury Bay Branch, 3rd Tuesday, 10am, Masonic Lodge, 68 Cook Drive, Whitianga
More resources:
Family Search https://www.familysearch.org/
Old Parish Records https://parishregister.co.uk/
Scotland’s People https://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/
General Register Office https://www.gro.gov.uk/
Free Births, Marriages, Deaths https://www.freebmd.org.uk/
Words by Carolyn McKenzie
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