What can I search for?
Surely a genealogy search program is used for finding people.
After all, the first two boxes on the search page are clearly labelled Who: and First name, Last name.
Well that is true but don't allow your use of Find My Past to be constrained by that. In fact, you do not need to use those Who boxes at all.
After all, the first two boxes on the search page are clearly labelled Who: and First name, Last name.
Well that is true but don't allow your use of Find My Past to be constrained by that. In fact, you do not need to use those Who boxes at all.
Scroll to the bottom of the page to find the section labelled Keyword (in the left corner). You can type a person's name in there and the search works just as well as from the Who area.
But more importantly, you can type other things into that box and search for them. You can run a keyword search on the name of a ship or a building, or a street address, or a business name or a grazing property. You can search for an occupation (such as bricklayer) or title (such as Mayor of Windsor).
But more importantly, you can type other things into that box and search for them. You can run a keyword search on the name of a ship or a building, or a street address, or a business name or a grazing property. You can search for an occupation (such as bricklayer) or title (such as Mayor of Windsor).
Imagine you have a photograph of your grandmother with the local gang of kids playing in the street. Is there a way to find the names of some of her friends in the picture?
That is surprisingly straight forward. First make an estimate of when the photograph was taken and then search the Electoral Rolls for that time. (You will find Electoral Rolls in the Census, Land and Substitutes category). Don't search for a person's name but put in the street where the family lived. The search will return a list of all the adults in the street (sadly children, anyone under 21, will not be named).
Now you need to look at a map to find the local school that grandma (and her friends) would have attended. Make a new search in the category Education and Work for the school name using a When setting of the years around when grandma started school. With a little luck you will get a list of all the pupils newly enrolled in those years.
But you already know the family names that interest you. It may take a little time but you should be able to align the lists and pick out all the kids who lived in that street. Now all you need is someone who can match names to faces.
You can even combine two different types of information in one keyword search.
Have you heard that (for example) before great grandfather enlisted in WWI, he lived in Childers and worked for a draper. Can we find who it was that he worked for?
Go to the Electoral Roll for 1913 (or if you did not know that would be a useful year, then enter Other event 1912 +/- 2 years to cover the pre-war period). Enter draper Childers in the Keyword box and click update. You have a list of fewer than 10 potential employers to work through. Some can be eliminated easily (such as Alfred who is a Draper by name rather than by trade) and Mr and Mrs Upham apparently ran their store together so the numbers are falling already. Now you need to look to the other evidence you have on great-grandfather's life to see if any of those names occur in other contexts.
Do not forget the value of finding out about organisations and associations that your ancestors joined. Were they in the Baptist Church Choir, the Municipal Brass Band or the RAOB Lodge? Any of these can be search terms used in the Keyword area with a scope corresponding to the years of your ancestor's life. Your family name might not be mentioned in the records returned but if you have other strong evidence of membership of the group then you can reasonably infer that they were present for (at least some of) the events described.
It may seem perverse to be looking for information on your ancestors by NOT searching for their names; but so much of the power of fmp is released when you think outside the (Who) box!
That is surprisingly straight forward. First make an estimate of when the photograph was taken and then search the Electoral Rolls for that time. (You will find Electoral Rolls in the Census, Land and Substitutes category). Don't search for a person's name but put in the street where the family lived. The search will return a list of all the adults in the street (sadly children, anyone under 21, will not be named).
Now you need to look at a map to find the local school that grandma (and her friends) would have attended. Make a new search in the category Education and Work for the school name using a When setting of the years around when grandma started school. With a little luck you will get a list of all the pupils newly enrolled in those years.
But you already know the family names that interest you. It may take a little time but you should be able to align the lists and pick out all the kids who lived in that street. Now all you need is someone who can match names to faces.
You can even combine two different types of information in one keyword search.
Have you heard that (for example) before great grandfather enlisted in WWI, he lived in Childers and worked for a draper. Can we find who it was that he worked for?
Go to the Electoral Roll for 1913 (or if you did not know that would be a useful year, then enter Other event 1912 +/- 2 years to cover the pre-war period). Enter draper Childers in the Keyword box and click update. You have a list of fewer than 10 potential employers to work through. Some can be eliminated easily (such as Alfred who is a Draper by name rather than by trade) and Mr and Mrs Upham apparently ran their store together so the numbers are falling already. Now you need to look to the other evidence you have on great-grandfather's life to see if any of those names occur in other contexts.
Do not forget the value of finding out about organisations and associations that your ancestors joined. Were they in the Baptist Church Choir, the Municipal Brass Band or the RAOB Lodge? Any of these can be search terms used in the Keyword area with a scope corresponding to the years of your ancestor's life. Your family name might not be mentioned in the records returned but if you have other strong evidence of membership of the group then you can reasonably infer that they were present for (at least some of) the events described.
It may seem perverse to be looking for information on your ancestors by NOT searching for their names; but so much of the power of fmp is released when you think outside the (Who) box!