|
B |
asically there are three options:
A. To research a family tree, consisting
only of parents, grandparents, great grandparents and so on. You are not particularly
interested in the other members of each generation.
B. To research a complete family tree,
consisting not only of spouse, parents, grandparents etc, but also your
parents’ sisters and brothers and their spouses, and so on for each consecutive
generation. This is quite a time consuming option.
C. To find a member of your emigrant’s
family, who lives in Sweden today.
Between these extremes there is a whole
range of research alternatives. You will make the choice after our discussion.
|
G |
enealogical research is not an exact
science; it is more like a detective investigation to find the different clues
leading to the complete story. Stubbornness and tenacity of purpose is required
of the investigator plus lots of time. Vicars possessing a nice and clear
handwriting are held in high esteem by genealogical researchers; unfortunately
they are a very rare species! Very often the handwritten church records are
quite difficult to read. To compound the problem the clergy during parts of the
18th and 19th centuries chose to write in a German
fashion, using letters which are quite different from the Swedish ones of
today.
|
S |
ometimes the
researcher is faced by nearly insurmountable hurdles. Two typical cases which
almost always appear are: Firstly, who is the father of an ancestor born out of
wedlock, and, secondly, what to do when the church records have been destroyed
by fire. In the former case one might at best form a hypothesis, on which it is
possible to continue the research. In the latter case one has to try for
instance the archives of the legal system containing for instance estate
inventories or documents of land owners.
|
M |
y research is certainly a business
matter. Nevertheless, I like to establish a personal relation of trust to my
clients. I sometimes feel like the family doctor or lawyer when I unravel the
fog of the past. Sometimes - but not very often - odd aspects of one’s family
appear; in such cases I of course seek your advice whether to include those
aspects in the family history or not.
|
T |
o start our research on your emigrant’s
history (FREE OF CHARGE), I need to know what your family history remembers of his or
hers
- full name, and if possible the maiden
name for women,
- date and, very important, parish of
birth,
- date and place of emigration,
- names of emigrant’s parents, if
available, and
- any other relevant facts about the
emigrant (even the simplest clues might be valuable).
Of the above facts, the most crucial
and important one is to know from which parish (or county or place etc.) your
ancestor came. Names and birth dates often become distorted through the times.
Therefore very often one can’t be sure of the emigrant’s identity without
knowing where he or she was born or from where he or she emigrated.
I also need your own email address
(preferably) or your mail address to which I can send the printed result of my
research.