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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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