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Record on paper everything you know about the person you are researching - no matter how insignificant.

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Names dates, places, jobs, partners, kids, travels etc etc

2. Data Dump
3. Make Assuptions

Write down assumptions and educated guesses on the target person's life, ancestry, activities, partnerships, extended family etc.

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e.g. If the target person's name is "John Taylor" and his mother's surname is "Brown" he might have a full name of "John Brown Taylor"

4. Variations

Record on paper every possible mis-spelling of the target person's name

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e.g. If surname is Taylor ... record Tayler, Tyler, Tailor, Tailer, etc.

7. Some other Tricks

  • It is common for the first name of the father to be used as the middle name of the child in Jewish families

  • In the 18th and 19th century it is common that a son will follow the profession of the father

  • Searching The 1902 Cyclopaedia of New Zealand will often yield results where all other searches fail - Use the link to DIGITAL NZ (see above)

  • Prior to 1900 people did not move about much - often ancestors can be found in the same location for many generations - or at least in villages close by the village of family origin

  • Searching teh history of a town or village in Wikipaedia (see above) will often yield information about families who lived there

  • This link to a selection of Irish Census data may be useful (see below) 

  • Using Google's Image search (see link above) often gives up information that a regular search misses - especially on shipping

  • Spelling is very random the further back in history you go - investigate all possible variations of spelling

  • A surname will sometimes give an indication of place of origin - e.g. surnames such as Manchester, Stafford, Disney etc.

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