Once again we have teamed up with Family Tree Magazine, who have kindly provided this article about how to interview relatives and provided us with their family history interview tips. A must-read for those embarking on a journey of family research…
If you’re lucky enough to be seeing relatives, make the most of the opportunity and enlist their help. Older members of the family, and those from other branches, can be a mine of information, memories and colourful clues to the past, so don’t miss the chance to ask some useful questions.
Follow our handy checklist to make the most of your family history interview time.
Top 10 family history interview tips
1. Make a note of useful questions for your relatives – these will act as a prompt.
2. Be prepared – make sure your biros work, your video camera is fully charged, and the tea and biscuits are to hand (and tissues too – it can be emotional!).
3. Start with simple questions, to put your sitter at their ease.
4. Use props to help – old photos can bring memories flooding back, as can songs, home movies, family treasures and collectables.
5. Be tactful – your sitter may not wish to chat about certain topics.
6. Get others involved – children and adults, they may also enjoy listening to your sitter’s reminiscences too.
7. Don’t worry if you don’t stick to your pre-prepared questions – you are most certainly likely to learn a lot more just by listening and you’ll get wonderful insights to your family you’ll never find in official documents.
8. Don’t hurry – allow your sitter time to ponder; but equally important, don’t wear them out. If they enjoy the interview experience, they’re more likely to let you ask further questions in the future.
9. Try to write up your notes fairly soon afterwards while it’s all fresh in your mind. In addition, you may wish to sketch out a family tree.
10. Remember, it’s an interview not an interrogation, so have fun and enjoy the stories that emerge and the chance to revel in times gone by.
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2 Comments
Dorraine Saillor on 30th August 2024 at 1:16 am
I’m doing research on my own in America trying to find our families Crest/ Coat of Arms “Newton” . I’ve located our name in two places (England and Scotland) I wanted to purchase framed art coat of arms from whichever place documents our name first in their country. England has us in Cheshire UK in 1066 AD during the Battle of Hastings. Can you shed any light on our family name being in Scotland and the earliest date? Whichever has the earliest date is the coat of arms we figured would be the best. We would also like any documentation on our family name that could help us determine the meaning of all of the symbols. My children’s last name will be another one I would like to pursue. They spell their family name “Saillor” however the only one I could find closet to that name is “Sailor” with just one l letter. More than likely it just got changed along the way however could this also mean if our exact spelling of the name can’t be found that my son who is a marine can create their own family crest? We’d still like to know if the 2 ways of spelling the name are actually linked as one and the same. If you could answer the questions it would help us decide on our next steps in purchasing our family coat of arms. Thanks in advance!!
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I’m doing research on my own in America trying to find our families Crest/ Coat of Arms “Newton” . I’ve located our name in two places (England and Scotland) I wanted to purchase framed art coat of arms from whichever place documents our name first in their country. England has us in Cheshire UK in 1066 AD during the Battle of Hastings. Can you shed any light on our family name being in Scotland and the earliest date? Whichever has the earliest date is the coat of arms we figured would be the best. We would also like any documentation on our family name that could help us determine the meaning of all of the symbols. My children’s last name will be another one I would like to pursue. They spell their family name “Saillor” however the only one I could find closet to that name is “Sailor” with just one l letter. More than likely it just got changed along the way however could this also mean if our exact spelling of the name can’t be found that my son who is a marine can create their own family crest? We’d still like to know if the 2 ways of spelling the name are actually linked as one and the same. If you could answer the questions it would help us decide on our next steps in purchasing our family coat of arms. Thanks in advance!!
Hi Dorraine – I will respond on email. Best wishes, Wendy.