In the second independent review of the courses on offer through Family Tree Academy, Susie Douglas, professional genealogist and Founder of #AncestryHour looks at the second of the short courses aimed at helping break brick walls.
https://familytreeacademy.thinkific.com/courses/smash-through-your-brick-walls-part-2
https://familytreeacademy.thinkific.com/courses/smash-through-your-brick-walls-part-2
Fresh Eyes for Problematic Ancestors
We all have problematic ancestors that’s for sure and the tendency can be to become so fixated by the information we cannot locate for a particular individual that we lose all objectivity! Sometimes a fresh pair or eyes or a different approach to the problem is all that is required. In her three short courses ‘Smash Through Your Brick Walls’ Mary Evans uses practical examples to talk through her thought process and approach to tackling problems we all encounter from time to time.
In ‘Smash Through Your Brick Walls Part 2’ Mary tackles common issues such as; locating places where births or baptism took place and reconciling these to Census entries; how occupational information can be both helpful and misleading; relationships that are not all they outwardly appear to be; and the fact that our ancestors were quite capable of ‘manipulating’ the truth!
The course is made up of four bitesize videos of no more than ten minutes each – just the right length to watch during a break for a cuppa. What they are not are in-depth discussions and I daresay an awful lot more could be said about the foibles of the records and historical recording systems. The intention of the course, however, is not to provide the solutions to every scenario that may arise during the course of your research, but rather to encourage lateral thought and apply it to the sticking points in your own family tree. Mary encourages caution in taking document contents at face value and suggests asking ‘what if?’, or ‘why?’ and to think outside the box.
The course is very much aimed at beginners and only tackles a few scenarios that may be encountered within the English and Welsh records in the post-civil and statutory registration periods. Whilst jumping into Part Two does not present a problem, references are made to examples discussed in Part One, which would suggest the courses naturally progress from Parts One through to Three.
The bonus content of ‘7 Steps for breaking Brick Walls’ by Chris Paton is available to download on completion of Part Two – on that I have only one thing to say: read it!
In ‘Smash Through Your Brick Walls Part 2’ Mary tackles common issues such as; locating places where births or baptism took place and reconciling these to Census entries; how occupational information can be both helpful and misleading; relationships that are not all they outwardly appear to be; and the fact that our ancestors were quite capable of ‘manipulating’ the truth!
The course is made up of four bitesize videos of no more than ten minutes each – just the right length to watch during a break for a cuppa. What they are not are in-depth discussions and I daresay an awful lot more could be said about the foibles of the records and historical recording systems. The intention of the course, however, is not to provide the solutions to every scenario that may arise during the course of your research, but rather to encourage lateral thought and apply it to the sticking points in your own family tree. Mary encourages caution in taking document contents at face value and suggests asking ‘what if?’, or ‘why?’ and to think outside the box.
The course is very much aimed at beginners and only tackles a few scenarios that may be encountered within the English and Welsh records in the post-civil and statutory registration periods. Whilst jumping into Part Two does not present a problem, references are made to examples discussed in Part One, which would suggest the courses naturally progress from Parts One through to Three.
The bonus content of ‘7 Steps for breaking Brick Walls’ by Chris Paton is available to download on completion of Part Two – on that I have only one thing to say: read it!
