WORKING DOCUMENTS
INDEX
Anyone undertaking a genealogical study
is going to need a method of recording the information gathered in a clear,
concise and unambiguous manner. To this end, this section deals with the various
types of charts and includes the method of numbering them, as follows:
- Pedigree Charts.
- Pedigree
Chart Numbering.
- Family
Group Record Sheet.
- Descendant
Charting.
- South
African Numbering Systems.
- General Comments.
Pedigree Chart
The Pedigree Chart is probably the very
first chart that you will use in your research and some samples can be accessed
below:
- Pedigree
Chart.
- Kids
Pedigree Chart.
These charts are simply samples to
provide an idea of what they look like, in most instances charts can be
purchased from a reputable genealogical supplies company or here in South
Africa, from the Human Sciences Research Council, (HSRC).
Pedigree Chart Numbering
A Pedigree Chart consists of the full
list of names of ancestors of a person as far back as they are known.
The first person on the first pedigree
chart you fill in will no doubt be either yourself or one of your children, and
this person receives the number 1. His father is numbered 2, his mother 3, his
fathers father 4, his fathers mother 5, his mothers father 6, and his mothers
mother 7 etc.
Note that, because everyone has 2
parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great grandparents and so on, the number of persons
in a generation is always double that of the preceding generation.
In the tenth generation a person will
have 2 to the power of 10 ancestors, which is equal to 1 024 ancestors, and as
mentioned earlier, 30 generations back, 1 073 741 904 ancestors, though this
figure would be substantially reduced by the incidence of cousin marriages.
The number of the father of any person,
will be double the number of that person, and the number of his mother is double
his own number plus one. The first number in every generation will be the number
of individuals in that generation.
Family Group Sheet
The limitation of a Pedigree Chart is
that it details an individuals direct ancestry or pedigree.
There is no space for any brothers and
sisters or uncles and aunts, and likewise a persons other marriages or liasons
are not recorded.
To record this additional information a
Family Group Sheet is used. For each male and female couple, who is recorded on
a pedigree chart and has children, the information for their children is
recorded on a:
This chart is simply a samples to provide
an idea of what it looks like. In most instances charts can be purchased from a
reputable genealogical supplies company or here in South Africa, from the Human
Sciences Research Council, (HSRC).
A different Family Group Record Sheet
will be completed for each indivual and for each marriage, together with the
children from each marriage. If you want to, each of the children could have
their own Family Group Record Sheet.
Descendant Charting
Now if you wish to record all the
descendants of a particular person, say for example the first individual with a
particular surname, to arrive in South Africa, you can set the information out
in a Descendants Chart.
There is no preprinted form for use in
this instance because the numbers of children and marriages varies so much,
therefore the information can be set out using a word processor package.
All South African standard references
have the information on families set out as descendants charts and even if you
don't want to do the same for your family, you should at least know how it is
done, to make it easier when consulting such works.
South African Numbering Systems
The system most widely used by South
African genealogists is that of C.C. de Villiers, as first used in his
"Geslacht Register der Oude Kaapsche Familien". According to this
system, the South African progenitor of a family is identified by the letter a.
His children are b1, b2, b3, etc., and their children c1, c2, c3, etc.
If there was more than one South African
progenitor, they are numbered a1, a2, a3, etc., in the order in which they came
to South Africa.
If there was only one progenitor, the
identifying letter a. is normally omitted from the descendant's genealogical
number.
Examples:
- b4c2d3 is the third child of the
second child of the fourth child of the only South African progenitor of
that family.
- While a3b2c4d5 is the fifth child of
the fourth child of the second child of the third South African progenitor
of that particular family
According to de Villiers' system, a
person's descendants are named first before his younger brothers' and sisters'
names appear in the register.
Often only the last letter (i.e. the
generation) and number are used in front of the persons' name, however if the
register comprises more than one page, the full genealogical number should be
used at the top of each page.
EXAMPLE:
FERREIRA
- a Ignatius * Lisbon, Portugal 1696 +
24.5.1722 x Stellenbosch 6.11.1735 Martha TERBLANCHE.
- b1 Maria Magdalena ~ Paarl 30.8.1733
- b2 Jan Leogold ~ 17.4.1735
- b3 Petrus Hendrik ~ 5.8.1736 x
28.12.1760 Catherina Maria VAN STADEN xx 23.1.1780 Martha Johanna MULLER
- c1 Martha Maria ~ 8.5.1763 x T.
POTGIETER
- c2 Catharina Aletta ~ 19.1.1766 x I.P.
DU PREEZ
- c3 Susanna Elisabeth ~6.3.1768 +
Uitenhage 27.6.1838 x I.P FERREIRA
- c4 Petrus Hendrik ~ 8.4.1770 +
Langkloof 28.3.1839 x Martha Johanna FERREIRA
- d1 Dorothea Maria ~ 25.3.1792
- d2 Petrus Hendrik ~ 29.11.1795
- c5 Hester ~16.2.1772
Note that only people with the same
surname are included in the example above and that the descendants do not have
their surname Ferreira added, it being assumed that all their surnames are
Ferreira. A daughter's husband is mentioned, but their children are excluded.
General Comments
If female descendants of a person are
included in a genealogical register or descendants chart, it would be called a
register of descendants. The same numbering system as discussed above could be
used, but with the following modifications:
The persons' surname is added in capital
letters, e.g. Abel Erasmus COETZEE.
As a person normally receives his
genealogical number from his father, a number received from his mother must be
written in square brackets, for example:
- a1b3c3 Sarah Aletta COETZEE x Jan DE
BEER
- [a1b3c3d1] Wilhelmina Maria DE BEER
OR
In Europe, generations are usually
numbered using Roman numerals. This has the disadvantage that most of the
numbers consist of several characters. Just compare the following:
Note: A person's genealogical number may
change if more ancestors or children are "discovered".
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