Family Updates
If you have a family listed here then you can send in whatever additions and corrections you want - providing you would be happy to see them on the web.
This means that other family history researchers will be able to find your family details via the popular search engines (Google, Yahoo!, etc). And your family tree is available on the web without any cost to you or the other researchers.
Simply send the information - as text or as a Gedcom file via email.
Pages will be updated within a month of being received.
What are Gedcom files?
They are a standard way of swapping family tree information. They are readable text but in a structured format. Gedcom files are similar in concept to HTML files. This web page uses text files formatted to HTML standards to get the information on your screen in the desired format. Family history records sent using the Gedcom format can be read and “understood” by at least 95% of the family tree software published.
Why should I use Gedcom files?
If you have a computer you could keep your family tree information in, say, a document created on a word processor. But this means your PC is only acting as a typewriter - not much gain over simply writing it on a piece of paper. Even the most basic PC can provide you with a much more productive solution - by using specialised family tree software.
And if you get serious about swapping information with other researchers then you should really have some way of reading and writing Gedcom files. Swapping information any other way means that information has to be re-keyed - acceptable for small changes but impractical for even modest family trees. The Gedcom file format makes it all much simpler - and enables you to download data from online sources such as the IGI or family history CDs.
What will I need to buy to handle Gedcom files?
Nothing - all that you need is free on the Internet; if not already in your existing family tree software. FamilySearch used to provide free software since you could download a copy of Personal Ancestral File (PAF) in exchange for registering with them. But FamilySearch removed the option to download their PAF software in 2013. Today free copies are still available from various backup sites and they will operate correctly without registration.
Some very similar software is provided and supported by Ancestral Quest who also include a free Basics option as a starter app.
With the PAF software (and most other family tree software) you can keep separate databases for different categories data. In my case, for example, I have one for all the personal ancestors research, one for “notable families” and one for holding entries obtained from web downloads.
What is available for the Brotherton families?
Gedcom files can be created from the master sources for any of the Brotherton families - and everyone else that they link to. Just get in touch with your request.
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