Each project arrives with its purpose, milestones and first tasks written out. Here is how the first three read.
What the family already knows, on one page
Most Caribbean families hold far more than they realise, scattered across a grandmother's memory, a funeral programme and an uncle who knows which estate the family came from. Writing down everything you already know about four generations, with who told you and how sure they were, gives you a starting tree and shows exactly where the gaps are before you spend money on records.
First tasks
- Sketch a four-generation chart from memory tonight
- Mark each name as remembered, told by someone, or documented
- List the ten gaps you most want to fill
- Name the relative most likely to answer each gap
Family papers box of certificates, Bibles and programmes
Documents that answer genealogy questions are already in the family, in a biscuit tin, a suitcase under a bed or a cousin's drawer in Port of Spain or Brooklyn: birth certificates, marriage lines, old passports, the family Bible, funeral programmes, school reports, letters and land receipts.
First tasks
- Open the drawer or tin where the family keeps its papers and list what is there
- Photograph each document in daylight against a plain background
- Message three relatives asking what certificates and programmes they hold
- Buy acid-free folders and a sealed box for the originals
Choosing family tree software and where the tree lives
A tree kept in someone's head or a notebook cannot be shared, searched or backed up, and a tree built only on a subscription website may vanish when the subscription lapses. Choosing between desktop software, an online tree and a free shared tree, and deciding which is the master copy, saves hours of re-entering later.
First tasks
- List three tree tools you could use, including one free option
- Check that each one exports a GEDCOM file
- Enter the four-generation chart into the tool you chose
- Write a line in the tree notes saying this is the master copy
