Opening with words such as ‘Alice Hemingway was born on 1 October 1940’ will do little to engage your reader. A good way to start your story is to begin at an exciting moment. You’re going to be taking the bare facts from certificates, censuses, directories, etc, and weaving these into an appealing account. Starting to write up your family historyīefore you begin, take a moment to consider your reader.

Organise your research notes so that you can decide on a timeframe, the number of ancestors and different themes.Ģ. However, if you hope to appeal to a wider readership, you might want to include some local history.įor simplicity, it’s usually better to concentrate on either your maternal or paternal line. Whether you’re aiming to produce a small booklet or a complete family record book, the basics are the same: make a plan before you start to write.įirst of all, who’s your intended audience? If you’re writing for relatives, you can stick largely to featuring your own ancestors and their immediate environment. Write your family history - the planning stage If you have some great family stories, consider writing them down for your own descendants to enjoy.Įven if family anecdotes for your ancestors are thin on the ground, you can still write up your family history by using your own memories as a starting point.

So, you’ve made a good start on tracing your family tree and found some fascinating ancestors, what next? You may be lucky enough to personally remember your Victorian ancestors and recall the tales they told, or perhaps your mother and father were brought up by parents who lived during this era.

Sample family history book template