Lessons Learned:
• Filter in or Filter out? Develop a criteria for filtering out information once you have verified that it is not pertinent to your research plan, it is better to move it to a spreadsheet tab or separate spreadsheet versus deleting it in case you need it later. Develop a criteria for filtering in what information you will include in your final report, does it answer at least one of your research questions? If your answer is yes, then you can move onto the next research question. If the answer is no, you need to do more research.
• Break down your big research problem into smaller bites. If you filter out something you should briefly explain why you filtered it out. Don’t make your research question too narrow so it can’t be answered or too broad where there are too many answers. Jot down additional questions that arise as you go through the process research and outline a different report for each additional question.
• If you are sharing research tasks with other genealogists make sure you have clearly defined expected research duties and together define deadlines for your project. This may vary depending on the level of genealogical research expertise of the project participants.
• Start researching in the US and work backward to Ireland. If you are working with colonial records before the American Revolutionary War Ulster Scots ancestors don’t neglect the petitions which were submitted to the Colonial Governor. I found the “Shute petition” to be valuable in my research for Londonderry, NH settlement though I am not sure if all those who signed it actually settled in Londonderry NH but I expect it to include most of the 1719 original settlers of Londonderry, NH. My ancestor was not among any of these but I can check the original settler list for collateral lines and for females who married into my direct line. For New England, check town minutes and records. Be aware of collateral lines to your ancestor to help you place them in a time and place but document them separately in a spreadsheet (except for females who married into your main line). Be careful with people of the same name, you must have unique identifiers (such as location or time period etc.) to differentiate them. Multiple name spellings can be confusing: for example in Scotland the surname I am searching is Riddell, in Ireland it was Riddell, Riddle, Riddel, Rudel and Ridel, sometimes all in the same document. Be open to phonetic variation and spelling variation in surnames. Be careful not to rely on naming patterns alone but use them in combination with other data from records.
• For Irish Research, it is not enough to have just the Barony or Parish, you also need the townland. https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/articles/townlands
• Know the Historical Background of Northern Ireland Understand the History of Northern Ireland What groups of people were involved and who were they? What are the Old English, Gallowglasses, New English, Plantation Landlords, Agents and tenants? You should understand the history of wars and conflicts.
Question to Ask yourself: Who was in what armies and when? You need to know who which country was in control of the part of Ireland you are researching in that same period of time. For Ulster, don’t be afraid to use English Parliamentary records to obtain an in-depth perspective and background on what was happening at the time. https://archives.parliament.uk/ . The Irish Rebellion 1641 caused a lot of turmoil for the Catholics and Ulster Scots. How did it affect my ancestor? Was my ancestor in Northern Ireland during the Siege of Derry or after? If they were present in Northern Ireland during the Irish Rebellion and Siege of Derry and they were Protestants, where did they flee? (Some went to Dublin during the Irish rebellion such as Lady Staples in 1641 as Dublin this was a Protestant stronghold that had been reclaimed from the Irish rebels. See the Down Depositions at https://1641.tcd.ie/ These original documents also included refugees from Ulster).
Copyright 2024 Gwynn A Socolich
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