Ancestry and Roots
I have attempted to trace my roots and you will find the details collected in my webpage http://www.pagasalai.com
Here are some useful tips and information which will motivate each one of you to trace your own roots. Once you begin you will be creating a treasure house of family history for future generations and posterity. Imagine the fun when you involve your children and grand children!
Overview
Genealogy is the study and tracing of family pedigrees. This involves collecting the names of relatives, both living and deceased, and establishing the relationships between them based on primary, secondary or circumstantial evidence or documentation, thus building up a cohesive family tree. Genealogy is sometimes also referred to as family history, although these terms may be used distinctly: the former being the basic study of who is related to whom; the latter involving more "fleshing out" of the life and family histories of the individuals involved.
Genealogists collect oral histories and preserve family stories to discover ancestors and living relatives. Genealogists also attempt to understand not just where and when people lived but also their lifestyle, biography, and motivations. This often requires knowledge of antique law, old political boundaries, immigration trends, and historical social conditions.Genealogists and family historians often join a Family History Society where novices can learn from more experienced researchers, and everyone benefits from shared knowledge. Even an unsuccessful search for ancestors leads to a better understanding of history. The search for living relatives often leads to family reunions, both of distant cousins and of disrupted families. Genealogists sometimes help reunite families separated by war, immigration, foster homes and adoption. The genealogist can help keep family traditions alive or reveal family secrets.
Records useful for genealogical research
Records of persons who were neither royalty nor nobility began to be taken by governments in order to keep track of their citizens (In India this started to take place in the 16th century). As more of the population began to be recorded, there were sufficient records to follow a family using the paper trail they left behind. As each person lived his or her life, major events were usually documented with a license, permit, land ownership or report which was stored at a local, regional or national office or archive. Genealogists locate these records, wherever they are stored, and extract information to discover family relationships and recreate timelines of persons lives.Records that are used in genealogy research include:
Vital records preserved in the family including photographs
Birth records
Death records
Marriage and divorce records
Adoption records
Baptism or christening records
Biographies and biographical profiles
Cemetery records and tombstones
Census records
City directories and telephone directories
Coroner's reports
Diaries, personal letters and family Bibles
Emigration, immigration and naturalization records
Land and homestead records, deeds
Medical records Military and conscription records
Newspaper columns
Obituaries
Occupational records
Oral history
Passports
Photographs
School and alumni association records
Ship passenger lists
Tax records
Voter and property registration records
Wills and probate records
As a rule, nearly always start with the present and work backward in time rather than forward. Written records have the property of hindsight in that they only tell where a person might have lived and who their parents are. Two exceptions are when a genealogist might interview living relatives as to who and where their children and grandchildren are, or tries to locate long-lost relatives who may have already traced their families backward to an ancestor they have in common.