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How Does the Suffolk System Work? |
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Copyright © 2001-2008
Tel +44 (0) 1704 512966 |
In daily life, you know something of your own surname part
of your family from your childhood. If you wanted to know about earlier
generations you asked your grandparents. If you married, your spouse knew
his/her family in the same way, but you only know the members you have met.
If you want to know any more, you ask your spouse, The Suffolk System of
Recording Family History works in exactly the same way, by recording your
Family History in a series of SURNAME TREES. These build up all the
information known about that surname, each tree being complete in itself
(i.e. your own knowledge).
If you want any information about another surname (e.g. a maiden name) you "ask" through a cross-reference (or link), which gives the SURNAME and PERSONAL NUMBER of the contact. Thus you not only know where to look but who to look for. You can repeat this process in any direction until you come to the Head of that branch. If you want to know any more, this is the point where you have to start your research.
GENERATION LAYOUT
Traditionally, Family Trees are recorded with the head of the tree at the top of the document and subsequent generations being spread wider and wider - something like this:
For anyone actually doing it this way the problems of space, accuracy and making additions are well known, and eventually the whole thing has to be redrawn again and again. Apart from being extremely time-consuming, you end up with an unwieldy family version, impossible to copy, probably on the back of a roll of wallpaper, resembling the Bayeux Tapestry!
The SUFFOLK SYSTEM turns this on its side, with vertical instead of horizontal lines.
Note that the grandchildren appear underneath their father as a family group. If they have children these will be Inserted underneath their names as follows:
In this way any number of entries can be made, inserted in their correct place within their own branch of the family, and the whole tree can be reprinted in its up-to date form at any time. For example, if you subsequently discover that GREAT-GRANDCHILD 1 above had issue, you simply insert a new line (utilising the "cut and paste" feature of your word processor) and enter the details.
It has no effect on the information preceding GREAT- GRANDCHILD 1, and merely moves all subsequent information "down" the document. You certainly don't need to "re-draw" everything, and indeed, you only need to re-print from this page forward in this particular tree.
You can have 15 generations across one page of A4 - in fact, you could squeeze even more in, but you would have to reduce the font size and, for the vast majority of people, that would make it too uncomfortable to read.
You can download the Suffolk System templates NOW for only $19.95 along with full instructions and practical information on actually USING the word-processor. (Click HERE).
This will save you hours of tedious work, and as soon as you've purchased the templates for you can be ready to go in a matter of minutes.
Please click one of the links below
Introduction
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