Members of your family can often be really helpful especially when you are just starting your family history. They may have all sorts of information that won't be written down in any documents you can find. Only they can tell you that 'Uncle Fred' liked jam on his sprouts or that 'Auntie Annie' always wore a purple hat to church.

It isn't always easy to decide how to collect and record information that your family might have. Different ways will suit different relatives so it is really up to you to decide. Here are some suggestions.

An engraved watch

You could write a questionnaire and post or email it to them.

• The good things about this are that you can decide exactly what you want to ask and they can take their time to think about the answers. You will also have a ready made, written record.
• The problems are that some people find writing very tiring. They may not want to put some family secrets down in writing. They will only answer the questions you have asked and not tell you other interesting things that they may know

You could meet them and ask some questions

• The good things about this are that you can ask them to explain anything that is not clear and ask extra questions that you might think of.
• The problems are that you have to decide how you are going to record what they say and you have to live close enough to be able to meet them.

You could telephone them

• This has the same advantages as meeting them, but has some additional problems
• The extra problems are that your relative may not find long telephone conversations very comfortable for example they may be a bit deaf or their telephone may be in a draughty hallway. It is also even more difficult to record from a telephone conversation.

Family Bible

Questions you might ask
First of all, it is very important to make it clear that they don't have to ask any of your questions if they don't want to, or if it makes them feel uncomfortable.

• Ask them about the names, including nicknames, of members of your family and how they are related to each other
• Do they know when and where these people were born, married and died. Even if they only know a rough date this may help you.
• Where did they live and when did they live there?
• Can they describe their house, street or town?
• Where did they go to school? What subjects did they learn? When did they leave school?
• What jobs did they do?
• What can they tell you about your relatives? What did they look like? Did they have any funny habits? What were their hobbies? Did they go to church? Did they go on holiday? If so, where?
• Have they got any photographs, documents or heirlooms (precious things that have been passed down through the family) that you can see and ideally copy or photograph?
• Do they know anyone else in the family who might be able to help with your family history?

It is often a really good idea to get more than one relative together when you are asking questions about the family, this way they jog each other's memories.

An Embroidered Sampler

How you might record this information
There is no easy way of doing this, but here are some suggestions. Whatever you do, don't think you will remember what they say, because you won't!

• It would be lovely if you could video your relatives but this won't work if they get shy in front of the camera and don't say anything!
• You could record what they say on a cassette recorder.
• You could try taking notes but it is difficult to write and listen at the same time - maybe you could get someone else to take the notes for you but it is difficult to write fast enough.
• You could write some of the family names on your own Acorn Club Pedigree Chart

Medals

Here are some heirlooms you might find with members of your family or even in your own home.

• Family bible - these often give details of marriages and births of children
• Letters and postcards
• Diaries
• Address books
• Birthday books
• Photographs - Don't forget to look at the Acorn Club page about family photographs
• Birth announcements
• Wedding invitations
• In memoriam cards
• Samplers - young girls embroidered these when they were learning needlework and often put their names and dates of birth on them
• Programmes
• School prizes
• Medals
• Trophies
• Long service gifts
• Anything engraved