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Drawing up a family tree online. Why you need to make a family tree

The method of compiling your pedigree
Let's consider two main areas of our work.
1. Drawing up a family pedigree ("family book").
2. Drawing up a genealogical (pedigree) tree.

To compile a family pedigree, a special questionnaire is filled out for each relative.
1. Surname (if this is a woman, then the maiden name).
2. Name.
3. Middle name.
4. Date and place of birth.
5. If he died, the date and place of death, the place of the grave.
6. Name of his father and mother.
7. Nationality.
8. Are there brothers, sisters. Their dates of life.
9. Children. Their dates of life.
10. Full name of the wife (husband).
11. Education: where and when did you study, what kind of education did you get, who did it by profession.
12. Occupation and place of employment: where, by whom and when did you work.
13. In what events of wide social significance did he participate (for example, a participant in a war, the development of the North or virgin lands, etc.).
14 Religion.
15. Awards, titles
16. What class did he belong to (until 1917).
17. Interesting facts from the biography.
18. Character traits, interests, inclinations.
19. Sources of information about a person: publications about a person in the press, the Internet, letters, memories.
20. Photographs of a person.

When collecting information about a person, indicate where the information was obtained from, from which of the relatives or from publications.

After collecting information about relatives, a “Family Pedigree” (album) is drawn up. Put the collected information into it, add photos if there are clippings from newspapers or printouts from sites.

After collecting information about relatives, a family tree is compiled. There are several ways to compose it.
1. From the ancestor - to the descendants.
2. From one descendant to ancestors. When using this method, you start with yourself.

Using the second method is preferable: there is less chance for confusion.
On the tree, usually only the last name, first name, patronymic of a person and his dates of life are indicated. If possible, add a photo. Other information can be found in the pedigree. To facilitate the perception of the names of men, you can enter in a square, and women in a circle.
We divide the sheet into levels (you can mark them with a pencil). The bottom level is your generation. At the bottom of the sheet (preferably in the center), place a square (circle) with your full name and date of birth. If you have brothers (sisters), add them next to you.
At the level above, the parents are depicted. Draw a circle and a square next to each other. Draw lines from your parents to yourself and your siblings. Next to the mother, her brothers and sisters (with wives and husbands) are shown. From them, the arrows lead down to their children, your cousins by mother. Next to the father, his brothers and sisters are shown. Draw your paternal cousins down from them. So we got two levels of the family tree. The bottom one shows you, your relatives, cousins, second cousins and sisters. That is your generation. The second level from the bottom shows your parents, their brothers and sisters, that is, their generation. Also, one level above your parents, depict your grandparents (third level from the bottom). Connect your parents with arrows to their parents (your grandparents). Next to the grandparents, show their brothers and sisters. Show their children one level down from them, show their grandchildren one level down.
Please note that if these requirements are met, the tree can be very wide. First, depict its elements in drafts, think over the layout of the tree, the location of its branches. The abbreviated version of the tree often does not show all relatives, but only the ascending line to the ancestor.
At present, specialized computer programs have appeared that allow automating the compilation of the tree.

Rice. 1. Fragment of the genealogical tree of the Great and specific Vladimir and Moscow princes of the XIII-XVI centuries. The scheme shows that Dmitry Donskoy was the great-great-grandson of Alexander Nevsky.

Rice. 2. Schemes of degrees of kinship. The ascending line of kinship is shown on the left.. Count the number of lines between a person and his great-grandfather. There are 3 of them, that is, the great-grandson is in the third degree of relationship with the great-grandfather.

The descending line of kinship is shown on the right.. The person is in the third degree of kinship with his great-grandson (3 lines in the diagram).

The lateral lineage is shown below.. The wife's nephew is in the sixth degree of relationship with the husband's niece. Husband and wife are considered to be "one person", and the line between them is not depicted.

Often schoolchildren are given creative homework - to draw their family tree. Of course, without the help of adults, this is not enough. Often, all the closest relatives are involved in the process, remembering their ancestors by common efforts. Before drawing a family tree to a child in school, adults should understand in detail the links between generations.

The task of a child to draw a family tree with his own hands, as well as possible, allows you to find out the roots of your kind. The current generation is not particularly interested in their ancestors, who, passing away, forever take with them valuable information for the whole family.

In order to complete the work, you will need a minimum of materials - felt-tip pens or pencils and, if possible, a photo. Most often, a family tree, supplemented with photographs, is made for children in elementary grades or in kindergarten - the requirements are minimal, it is enough to recall the next of kin, whose images are likely to be found in albums or on digital media.

High school students are offered to dig deeper and display information as reliably as possible, with dates of birth, death and a brief description of the life path of their ancestors. It is very rare for anyone to have old photographs, and therefore, it is better to display all the information in a free-form frame.

Master class: how to draw a family tree

Of course, the main task in creating a family tree falls on the shoulders of the parents, but the child must necessarily participate in the creative process. Thus, he will not only help to color the drawing, but will also be more imbued with blood ties:

Most often, a standard A4 white sheet is chosen for such work, which can be painted or left the same. Most often, a family tree is depicted in the form of a mighty oak, we will follow this path and depict a large tree.

If you plan to mention more than five generations, then it is better to draw the most magnificent crown. The same advice will work for those who will use large font for writing names.

The name of the child can be located both at the top of the tree and at the bottom. In addition to it, some use the pronoun "I", which speaks on behalf of the child. As a frame, we use a simple oval, although if you wish, you can arrange the names in an openwork frame.

After the baby comes mom and dad. It is better if you place them on both sides of the trunk. Then dad's relatives will be on one side, and moms on the other.

Next, mothers go, of course, beloved grandparents along her line. You can add their names.

Then comes the turn of the closest relatives of the pope. If the child has aunts and uncles, and those, in turn, have their own children, that is, the child's cousins and brothers, then place them next to the common grandparents.

Basically, parents remember their grandparents, who are the great-grandmother and great-grandfather of the child - do not forget about them.

For clarity, large arrows mark who descended from whom.

We paint the crown of the tree in the traditional green color.

If you use a finely grated pencil lead, you can rub it with your finger or a cotton swab, you can get an unusual effect. Let's use it to color the trunk and roots of a tree.

This is how a family tree can be depicted in a simplified form. Often schools organize exhibitions of such joint works of parents and children. If mom or dad doesn’t know how to draw a family tree at all, they can download a standard diagram from the Internet, color it in and fill it in with their data.

Looking through childhood photos or listening to the stories of parents, you may involuntarily become interested in your pedigree. Even in ancient times, it was compiled in the form of a family tree: this is a convenient way to present information. Drawing up a family tree is even given to schoolchildren, so you need to know how to make a family tree with your own hands.

What is a family tree

The very concept of "family tree" is a list of people who are related by kinship. The enumeration occurs according to a hierarchy based on the years of life of people and how they relate to each other. On the trunk of a tree, a married couple is indicated, standing at the head of the clan. Then they place their children, grandchildren and cousins, sisters. The generations are on the same level. This option is classic when the construction goes from ancestors to descendants.

In addition to the main option, how to draw a family tree, there are several more:

Personally from myself. Parents, grandparents, and other relatives act as branches. This is convenient in that the whole family is indicated along the line of only one person. It will be difficult to supplement such a tree.
Family tree. In this case, relatives on the paternal or maternal side may be indicated separately, because the surnames of the spouses before marriage were different.

How to draw a tree from a template

There are many websites on the Internet where you can find special family tree templates. After downloading and printing them, you just need to fill in the empty spaces with photos of relatives according to the specified location. It will look more neat if you use Photoshop. To do this, open the template in this program and insert photos there. The recommended layout format is png. This is an extension for pictures, which is very convenient to work with in Photoshop.

How to make a genealogical family tree

How to draw a family tree? To do this, it is better to divide the work into several stages. The first step is to find out about all relatives. This is the most crucial stage, because the amount of information depends on how complete the finished database will be. If you suddenly miss someone, then the meaning of the tree will be partially lost. If the collection of information was successful, then it remains to choose the option of constructing a scheme - personally from oneself, from the founder of the clan, or several surnames at once.

How to make a family tree

Before compiling your family tree, it is worth making a preliminary diagram of all relatives, distributing them according to the degree of relationship. The main thing is to decide on how many generations you plan to go back. For owners of a large family, it is better to limit yourself to the closest relatives and not to enter great-uncles and grandparents, otherwise you can expand the family tree and make side branches in it. They will serve to record more distant relatives - cousins, sisters, grandparents.

There are a lot of concepts of kinship: in addition to blood, they reflect marriage or spiritual connection. In the first case, people have a common ancestor, in the second they are married, and the third includes such forms of kinship as nepotism and twinning. The main one is consanguineous - several degrees of kinship are distinguished in it. One of them is a generation, the chain of which already makes up the line.

Such a chain includes as many degrees as there were births in the family, i.e. son or daughter - the first degree, grandson or granddaughter - the second, etc. Each of them must follow each other in order. It turns out that the construction goes on by generations - from the oldest to the youngest, or vice versa, in the case of the implementation of the scheme personally from oneself. On the main branch, all siblings, grandparents should be indicated, and already on the side branches - cousins or second cousins. So the distance between relatives will reflect the distance of their relationship.

How to build a family tree

If an approximate diagram with a list of relatives is ready, you need to decide how best to draw a family tree. There are several options here:

Classic, when the main bearer of the surname is indicated at the bottom of the trunk. In most cases, this is a married couple, such as grandparents or great-grandparents (you can go even further). Further, all their children, grandchildren and other relatives are indicated in order. It is better to place your line on the main branch, i.e. the one by which you will come to your parents and specifically yourself. In the lateral branches will be located cousins and second cousins.
Personal tree. In this option, you yourself are the basis, i.e. family tree maker. Next come the parents, grandparents on both lines, and so on. This will be the main thread. On the side, it is worth reflecting the sisters or brothers of the parents, their children, grandchildren, etc.
Family tree. This option is the most voluminous of all. Here you can reflect several names at once. It is interesting for the compiler himself to trace the line of father and mother. Before marriage, they had different surnames, but in relation to their children they have the same degree of relationship. For this reason, it is interesting to arrange the tree so that one half of the branches reflects the relatives of the father, and the other - the mother.

How to make a family tree on a computer

There are special programs for compiling a family tree. Some of them are free online services where you can order or arrange your own blank sample with space for photos. It remains only to add pictures, download and, if necessary, print. Another option is to download a graphics editor to your computer and work in it. Among such programs, SimTree, RootsMagic, GenoPro, Family Tree Builder, GRAMPS stand out. The Russian analogue is the "Tree of Life".

Each of the programs has a set of specific functions that help draw and then print a tree. Most of them already have templates to fill out. They are a table with cells or a picture. Some applications even offer to attach not only photos, but also audio or video recordings. For each family member, it is proposed to fill out a questionnaire, which indicates the basic data about him up to a description of his appearance or interesting biography facts.

How to draw a family tree

You need to start with how many and what generations you plan to draw. This is necessary in order to know in advance the number of branches on the tree. After this step, use the instructions on how to draw a family tree:

Draw a thick trunk, using a soft simple pencil so that you can erase the excess.
Depending on the type of tree, make an inscription at the base of the trunk, where indicate the full name of one or more people. It can be parents, grandparents, or your child or yourself.
Next, draw branches a little higher for the rest of the relatives. Arrange them correctly - so that each next generation is slightly higher than the previous one.
Draw as many branches as you know relatives. Consider the size of your sheet so that all those you want to specify fit.
After finishing placing all the relatives, erase the extra lines, and circle the necessary ones in bolder. At the end of the design, use colored pencils to make the drawing brighter.

Video

"It is important for a person to know his roots"

V. Peskov

If you treat your family history superficially and lightly, you can at some point find yourself in an awkward situation and not be able to answer a simple question: "What kind of you will be?" Previously, representatives of the highest nobility were engaged in genealogical research with special zeal. This was explained simply - the pedigree of the family (a sample of which could be provided to everyone) served as proof of their high origin.

Simpler people also kept information about their origin. Many peoples who have not yet broken away from the great umbilical cord and keep the traditions of their people (for example, the Buryats, Mongols, Kazakhs, etc.), are very sensitive to the preservation of information about the genealogy. It was considered shameful not to know one's family tree up to the seventh generation. All the information collected in the pedigree was and remains a matter of pride. From a practical point of view, she protected people from incest.

Recently, restoring the pedigree of the family has become fashionable. Various computer programs and agencies come to the aid of everyone. In this article, we will share how to compile a family pedigree (sample No. 1) on our own, without resorting to the help of professionals. Believe me, only at first this burden seems unbearable - the main thing is to start!

Step one: gathering information

At the first stage of creating your family's pedigree, you will have to become a meticulous journalist, greedy for any kind of information. Surnames, names and patronymics, dates of birth and death, place of residence, date of marriage, and so on, so on, so on. Do not dismiss information that for some reason seems unnecessary now to you. Believe me, when the full picture is assembled, this puzzle will be missing.

Look through your archival documents, ask relatives (especially the elderly). The work of collecting information can be delayed, especially if your kindred are scattered around the world. Do not neglect the epistolary genre, write letters, collect information in telephone conversations, via Skype.

Step two: draw a draft

Already at the stage of collecting information, for convenience, you need to take notes on what you heard and make diagrams. The figure below shows the "skeleton" of the family lineage, an example of the approximate location of key figures. As you can see, the scheme is simple, female personalities are indicated in round segments, male - in square ones. Family pedigree (sample):

For a draft of a family tree, a thin one, as needed, you will simply glue the necessary work area.

It is very important to draw all the personalities that you learned about from the informants. Even those about whom you have practically no data. It's okay, leave an empty circle - there was a person, and sooner or later you will find information about him.

Step three: decorating the tree

How sprawling your family pedigree will be (sample #3) depends on the amount of information collected. Three or four levels (and this is one century) can easily fit on a standard sheet of drawing paper.

A start. To delve into earlier times, you will need to consult archives and libraries. It will be useful to contact namesakes.

In this article, we have only superficially demonstrated how to draw up a family tree (a schematic example is also provided). Your family tree can also be three-dimensional, it can be illustrated with coats of arms of clans, portraits of all relatives - everything is in your power. Family pedigree (sample) is an example of your selfless work, which will be appreciated by descendants.

The continuous connection between generations, which has existed since the beginning of time, is the guarantor of the preservation of human memory.

Documentary confirmation of such a memory is the genealogy of the family - an example of a reverent attitude to one's roots.

Want to do some research and learn about your family's origins? Asked to build a family tree as part of a portfolio for the school? Or are you thinking of creating a family tree with your own hands to please loved ones?

In our article you will find not only tips for finding information about ancestors, but also various tree design options. We have also prepared for you two templates for filling in the family tree: for children and for adults.

How to make a family tree with your own hands

Where to begin

Before you get started, you must determine for yourself why all this is needed. The course of the project depends on your answer - whether it will be an in-depth study, or you will simply share with the children the stories about your parents and grandparents that are still alive in their memory.

A well-defined goal will help you achieve the final result faster.

Think over a plan, break it down into small steps - so you can easily track progress, which, in turn, will add even more motivation and positive emotions.

Finding information about relatives

Once you have decided how far back in history you want to go, the most mysterious stage comes - collecting information about modern relatives and distant ancestors. You will surely learn many funny and touching stories, find distant relatives scattered all over the world, and maybe even reveal some family secret. To find as much information as possible on how to make a family tree of a family, use the following methods:

Poll relatives

Analysis of the family archive

Carefully study all documents, letters and diaries that have been preserved in your family. In birth, marriage and death certificates, passports, employment records and diplomas, you will find answers to the key points that are important for the pedigree. These records will help restore information that loved ones could not remember. Look through old photographs: perhaps the grandmother forgot to tell about her second cousin. And already at this stage, you can choose photographs for your family tree.

Internet searches

Check out various genealogy websites and related resources for historical information. For example, the website "Feat of the People" provides open access to archival documents about the exploits and awards of all soldiers of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

Register on several thematic forums. For example, on the All-Russian Genealogical Tree forum, it is possible to search for a specific person by last name, regions and countries.

Try to find distant relatives of your generation on Odnoklassniki or VKontakte. But do not forget that in a correct genealogical research, any information must be confirmed by archival certificates.

Collection of information in registry offices and archives

If you are looking for information about marriage, dates of birth or death, please contact the registry office. If a relative has something to do with the army, for example, is a veteran of the Second World War, make a request to the military registration and enlistment office at the place of residence, service or conscription. But keep in mind: in order to obtain testimonies of deceased relatives, you must prove your relationship with them, providing, among other things, your birth certificate.

When searching genealogical archives, you should not hope for a quick result. The process can take months or even years. But the information you find can greatly advance your research.

Appeal to specialists

If you do not want to spend time building a family tree, contact the professionals. Archives staff, designers, and specialty companies will help you find the information you need and create a family tree. In addition, with their help you can create a family tree book, a film presentation and even a family coat of arms.

What are the types of family tree

There are several methods for compiling a tree.

Descending tree

The family scheme is formed from the ancestor to the descendants. This design method allows you to visually trace the history of the family from distant times to the present day.

ascendant tree

Compiled from a person to his ancestors. Such a structure will be especially convenient for those who have not yet completed the search for information and are consistently moving from the known to the unknown.

Pie table

It is built in a circle, in the center of which one of the descendants is placed. The second, outer, circle is divided in half and the mother and father are written in it. In the third circle, cut into four parts, grandparents are indicated. Then a fourth circle is added, which is divided into eight parts, and so on. This type of tree is quite rare, but this arrangement of data is the most compact of the existing ones.

How to arrange a family tree

Genealogical tree on a computer

Programs for creating a family tree will help you save time and get a guaranteed result. Use the MyHeritage online service or GenoPro, Family Tree Builder or Tree of Life software. Choose a template, enter your pedigree data and enjoy the result.

You can also find or draw a blank tree to fill in in .doc (for Word) or .psd (for Photoshop) format.

Do-it-yourself family tree

Get creative with your family tree results. We have selected a few examples for you to inspire:

family box

For each ancestor, a box is wound up or one cell is allocated in which documents, photos, objects are placed. By opening such a box, you can touch the past and find out what kind of person your ancestor was.