Genealogy - Where to start and what to look for:
I've had an exciting last couple of weeks so far. When I had enough information to give me somewhat of a clue I started an enthusiastic search on the web for any information that linked to what I already had. At times I was very excited to find a new website that I have not yet explored. Then after hours of searching for the names in different order, surname followed by first name, surname followed by full names, surname followed by initials, full names followed by surname, etc, etc I went to the next website and the excitement started again. Needless to say, this process could become quite tedious and lackluster if you don't have a strong sense of curiosity that drives you. Sometimes I think I knew what an archeologist experiences, digging through sand and rubble for what he might possibly find.
I did discover that researching your genealogy in South Africa is considerably more challenging that what it would have been had our families lived in America or Europe. There are no census records for South Africa, South African census returns are routinely destroyed after statistical information has been abstracted. We can't use them. We can however apply for a birth certificate, providing we have the full names and birth date (which I do, thanks to my walking encyclopedia). However, they are apparently expensive and could take approximately 6 weeks to get. Albeit this is true, I will still apply for them, as they will be one of the best sources of getting the parents' names and hopefully birth dates.
Other source of information is a marriage certificate, but they seem to be of little use as they do not always give the names of parents and hopefully not the children :-). Shipping lists are also available of passengers arriving in South Africa from abroad, however these seem to be very vague as to only a name of a passenger and at this stage I'm not close to anyone arriving in South Africa on a ship. I'll have to do a great deal more research to get that far.
Church records could also provide some insight. Most people, in the older days, belonged to a church. They would have recorded the christening and marriages, etc. Unfortunately this seems to be a challenging task, since not all church records have been centralised. Discovering which church the ancestor was a member of and then finding the records of that church, seems to be near impossible.
One of the best places to look is the records of deceased estates. These are the most easily accessible and have the most comprehensive information. Whenever someone dies, the nearest relative or connection of the deceased is supposed to submit a Death Notice (not the same as a Death Certificate) to the Master of the Supreme Court who has jurisdiction where the person resides.
The death notice should give the names of parents, spouses and children of the deceased, and if no children, the names of brothers and sisters, and should also say whether the deceased left a will, movable or immovable property, and property over a certain value.
If the Death Notice is filled up properly, it can be very informative, but if the informant was a boarding house keeper and the deceased was a transient with no property, it may not tell one much. Sometimes people who have no property to speak of do not get death notices filled in, and no one notices. If the person had a bank account however, even with only a few cents in it, there has to be authorisation from the Master to close it. If the deceased owed money, again, there has to be authorisation from the Master for creditors to collect. (thanks to http://homepages.paradise.net.nz).
I found the National Archives and Records Service (NARS) website (http://www.national.archives.gov.za/) . Searching this website gave me hours and hours of searching, excitement and disappointment. On this website you have access to a database held by the South African National Archives in Pretoria on which references to documents held in various repositories are stored. Very interesting. We need to keep in mind that the files on this website are transcripts made from the records - there are millions of records not yet transcribed so if you do not find information on the NAAIRS site it does not mean there is no record.
The last resort that I have at the moment, is to physically go to the National Archives Office in Pretoria and research the information myself. The archives are only open 8am - 4pm on weekdays, so this will mean taking a day off work. I'll definitely try to get there sometime this month. The same day I go to the National Archives, I will also go to the Office of the Master of the Supreme Court, Deeds Offices, Registrar of Births and Marriages and maybe try the Archivist of the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk and the Hervormde Kerk. I doubt I will get to all of these places on one day, thus I will start at the National Archives, and then depending on what I find I'll decide what to do next.
That's was an overview on how I'm trying to do my research and the avenues that I have found that are possible to explore if one would wish to do so.
I've had an exciting last couple of weeks so far. When I had enough information to give me somewhat of a clue I started an enthusiastic search on the web for any information that linked to what I already had. At times I was very excited to find a new website that I have not yet explored. Then after hours of searching for the names in different order, surname followed by first name, surname followed by full names, surname followed by initials, full names followed by surname, etc, etc I went to the next website and the excitement started again. Needless to say, this process could become quite tedious and lackluster if you don't have a strong sense of curiosity that drives you. Sometimes I think I knew what an archeologist experiences, digging through sand and rubble for what he might possibly find.
I did discover that researching your genealogy in South Africa is considerably more challenging that what it would have been had our families lived in America or Europe. There are no census records for South Africa, South African census returns are routinely destroyed after statistical information has been abstracted. We can't use them. We can however apply for a birth certificate, providing we have the full names and birth date (which I do, thanks to my walking encyclopedia). However, they are apparently expensive and could take approximately 6 weeks to get. Albeit this is true, I will still apply for them, as they will be one of the best sources of getting the parents' names and hopefully birth dates.
Other source of information is a marriage certificate, but they seem to be of little use as they do not always give the names of parents and hopefully not the children :-). Shipping lists are also available of passengers arriving in South Africa from abroad, however these seem to be very vague as to only a name of a passenger and at this stage I'm not close to anyone arriving in South Africa on a ship. I'll have to do a great deal more research to get that far.
Church records could also provide some insight. Most people, in the older days, belonged to a church. They would have recorded the christening and marriages, etc. Unfortunately this seems to be a challenging task, since not all church records have been centralised. Discovering which church the ancestor was a member of and then finding the records of that church, seems to be near impossible.
One of the best places to look is the records of deceased estates. These are the most easily accessible and have the most comprehensive information. Whenever someone dies, the nearest relative or connection of the deceased is supposed to submit a Death Notice (not the same as a Death Certificate) to the Master of the Supreme Court who has jurisdiction where the person resides.
The death notice should give the names of parents, spouses and children of the deceased, and if no children, the names of brothers and sisters, and should also say whether the deceased left a will, movable or immovable property, and property over a certain value.
If the Death Notice is filled up properly, it can be very informative, but if the informant was a boarding house keeper and the deceased was a transient with no property, it may not tell one much. Sometimes people who have no property to speak of do not get death notices filled in, and no one notices. If the person had a bank account however, even with only a few cents in it, there has to be authorisation from the Master to close it. If the deceased owed money, again, there has to be authorisation from the Master for creditors to collect. (thanks to http://homepages.paradise.net.nz).
I found the National Archives and Records Service (NARS) website (http://www.national.archives.gov.za/) . Searching this website gave me hours and hours of searching, excitement and disappointment. On this website you have access to a database held by the South African National Archives in Pretoria on which references to documents held in various repositories are stored. Very interesting. We need to keep in mind that the files on this website are transcripts made from the records - there are millions of records not yet transcribed so if you do not find information on the NAAIRS site it does not mean there is no record.
The last resort that I have at the moment, is to physically go to the National Archives Office in Pretoria and research the information myself. The archives are only open 8am - 4pm on weekdays, so this will mean taking a day off work. I'll definitely try to get there sometime this month. The same day I go to the National Archives, I will also go to the Office of the Master of the Supreme Court, Deeds Offices, Registrar of Births and Marriages and maybe try the Archivist of the Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk and the Hervormde Kerk. I doubt I will get to all of these places on one day, thus I will start at the National Archives, and then depending on what I find I'll decide what to do next.
That's was an overview on how I'm trying to do my research and the avenues that I have found that are possible to explore if one would wish to do so.
posted by Amanda | 3:33 AM
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