Genealogy
Genealogy is all about tracing your ancestors and your lineage, but is often differentiated from creating a ‘family history’, as they may contain details about your ancestors lives, whereas Genealogy is often more about pedigree or charting family lines.
Genealogy is often a hobby pursued by those who wish to trace their heritage. However, it can prove to be essential research in legal cases, (perhaps regarding inheritance or parentage, kinship or descent), or in instances where blood relatives or DNA relationships need to be proven.
If you are interested in studying Genealogy, or perhaps even tracing your own family, then there are many methods available in order to pursue this. Essentially though, it will involve studying either genetics (DNA) or examining historical records (birth certificates, death certificates and marriage certificates).
The internet provides a plethora of ancestry and Genealogy websites, which use records from a wide variety of sources, which can be used and accessed for a nominal fee. The sources used for Genealogical research will need to be credible and ‘official’.
Genealogical DNA testing or genetic Genealogy, can be used to find out if individuals share common ancestors, as DNA remains more or less unchanged through the generations. There are two lines which genetic Genealogists look at to determine DNA. Genealogical relationships – mitochondrial DNA, which is passed down the generations through the female line (matrilineal) and is present in both males and females. And, the Y–chromosome, which is passed down through males (patrilineal line).
Asking relatives is always a good place to start when researching Genealogy, but remember that people can lie – genetics do not.
