Interview family to trace your family history

When tracing your family history, a wealth of information could come from a close relative. You probably never gave any thought to talking to your relatives about their own lives and what they might know about generations of relatives before them. Few of us have, in any depth.Many times there have been opportunities to ask, but at the time we weren’t interested in knowing and now it could be too late. Now is the time to make chatting with your family a priority. Talking to your relatives should be a priority when doing genealogical research.

Even though your great grandmother may no longer be living, you can still learn about your family history from your parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, and cousins. They can provide names, dates, locations, photographs, diaries and gossip. They might also suggest other people you could talk to that knew your departed ancestors. You never know, they might even have documents that could add to your genealogical file. Think about how helpful this information could be.

I strongly recommend that you conduct interviews with your family in person. There are some people that might find a questionnaire to be rather impersonal. Some information they have to share might be closely guarded because its very personal or even evocative. Undoubtedly, you will learn much more if you conduct these interviews in person and assure your relatives your intentions are good while showing real interest in what they’re sharing.

Never misuse the information you uncover, and always remain discreet. The material you gather from these interviews relates to living people or people within living memory. In an effort to encourage relatives to talk to you, let them know that you won’t broadcast any sensitive information to the entire family. Let them know that you consider the information to be important family history data. For your relatives the information is a lifetime of valued memories – to treat it with profound respect.

If you are able to make your relatives feel comfortable about your motives, they may give you more information than you thought possible. Your interest may spark more memories or lead to further revelations.  Always leave lots of time for these interviews. You never know how long Uncle Hank will talk once you get him going.

In addition to these interviews, you can also gather information at Mundia.com  The site is free to use and lets you collaborate with other interested family members to build your family tree.  Anybody that wants to learn more about their family history should check out this website.