Genealogy Chat

Hello, I started my tree a couple of years ago and have just come back to updating it, it's now quite extensive and I was wondering firstly if you can? / then would it be useful to split it up i.e. maternal / paternal etc.

Also, what is the correct way to note the source? i.e. if it is 1911 census do I simply put that or is there a further reference that should be included?
many thanks
Jennifer

Welcome to the boards

Firstly you can't split a tree on this site. You'd need to download a copy in the form of a gedcom, then split it with an offline programme.
As your membership will only support one tree, you'd need to create a new, possibly free, account with a different password. Some people say that its got to be a different email address. Perhaps they can advise.

Then each section of the split tree can then be uploaded to each of the accounts. Beware that it will overwrite the current whole tree. Use the paid account to search manually for records.

Whether its advisable to split a tree is up to you. I have sucessfully done so, but others says that they have a number of intermarriages which they like to show.

Again, each person has their own way of recording events. Technically you probably ought to record the whole of the RG number eg RG12 Piece number 435 Folio 17 Page 30 , but then its your tree and your choice. There's no hard and fast rule for *your* hobby. It probably more useful to record the address.

Thank You for the reply
I think I will keep it all together on here
many thanks

I hope the only copy of your tree isn't the one on here? Hopefully you have a copy on a family tree program on your home computer? You say your tree is quite extensive and this site is really going downhill. I would hate to see it suddenly fold and trees would be lost.

Thanks Margaret,
I've exported the gedcom file but that's all at the moment, as I say I've only just come back to it after a few years. I once used a free trial period on another site so I might upload it on there too.

My preference for census refs is the same as DetEcTive's, except I use the abbreviated form, e.g., RG12/435/17/20 to use her example. This ref uniquely identifies a page, which can be useful if there's been a mistranscrption in the name, or an inconsistency in the spelling - for instance, the earliest records for my ggg gran give her name as Christian Slesser, but she appears on the 1841 as Chris Slessor, changing both names. Her grandson wed Elizabeth Johnston - my aunt was named Elizabeth Johnstone after her - again with a spelling change.

For 1841, the abbreviated form is HO107/Piece/Book/Folio/Page, and for 1911, the unique identifier is RG14/Piece Household sequence number, e.g. rg14/12345 Seq No 67. Both Ancestry and FMP let you look up the page using the census ref thru 1901. Ancestry lets you look up by the ref in 1911, but their search is partly broken, and only works down south - it breaks in Smethwick.
Both Ancestry and FMP let you use bits of the census ref as part of your search for all years, but in 1911, the pnly part guaranteed is the piece number. You can use this even for institutional/vessel censuses.

Another example is Parish records - ideally, you should make it easy for someone to check the original, so the entry number really helps (assuming it's after 1812, when printed registers really became widespread).

Thank you mgnv