Genealogy - Records in Genealogical Research

Records in Genealogical Research

Genealogists use a wide variety of records in their research. To effectively conduct genealogical research, it is important to understand how the records were created, what information is included in them, and how and where to access them.

Records that are used in genealogy research include:

• Vital records
  • Birth records
  • Death records
  • Marriage and divorce records
• Adoption records
• Biographies and biographical profiles (e.g. Who's Who)
• Census records
• Church records
  • Baptism or christening
  • Confirmation
  • Bar or bat mitzvah
  • Marriage
  • Funeral or death
  • Membership
• City directories and telephone directories
• Coroner's reports
• Court records
  • Criminal records
  • Civil records
• Diaries, personal letters and family Bibles
• Emigration, immigration and naturalization records
• Hereditary & lineage organization records, e.g. Daughters of the American Revolution records
• Land and property records, deeds
• Medical records
• Military and conscription records
• Newspaper articles
• Obituaries
• Occupational records
• Oral histories
• Passports
• Photographs
• Poorhouse, workhouse, almshouse, and asylum records
• School and alumni association records
• Ship passenger lists
• Social Security (within the US) and pension records
• Tax records
• Tombstones, cemetery records, and funeral home records
• Voter registration records
• Wills and probate records

To keep track of their citizens, governments began keeping records of persons who were neither royalty nor nobility. In England and Germany, for example, such record keeping started with parish registers in the 16th century. As more of the population was recorded, there were sufficient records to follow a family. Major life events, such as births, marriages, and deaths, were often documented with a license, permit, or report. Genealogists locate these records in local, regional or national offices or archives and extract information about family relationships and recreate timelines of persons' lives.

In China, India and other Asian countries, genealogy books are used to record the names, occupations, and other information about family members, with some books dating back hundreds or even thousands of years. In the eastern Indian state of Bihar, there is a written tradition of genealogical records among Maithil Brahmins and Karna Kayasthas called "Panjis", dating to the 12th century CE. Even today these records are consulted prior to marriages.

In Ireland, genealogical records were recorded by professional families of senchaidh (historians) until as late as the mid-17th century, when Gaelic civilization died out. Perhaps the most outstanding example of this genre is Leabhar na nGenealach/The Great Book of Irish Genealogies, by Dubhaltach MacFhirbhisigh (d. 1671), published in 2004.