The Ultimate Checklist: 79 Places to Look for Family History Information

So you’ve embarked on the super-exciting journey of family history … the journey where you discover not only who your family is and was, but in many instances yourself as well.

You’ve started off by writing down all the information that you currently know about yourself, your spouse, your children, your siblings and your parents (names, dates, places etc).

The next step is to look for items that are likely to help you with more information.

Everyone knows about the birth, death and marriage certificates as a source of information. But had you thought of looking in your baby book, on x-rays, or your drivers licence … all of these have valuable information about the person they relate to, and therefore all are sources.

So if you thought you had looked EVERYWHERE … think again. I guarantee that this checklist has at lease a few possibilities you hadn’t considered before.

Birth
___ Adoption Record
___ Baby Book
___ Birth Certificate

Marriage
___ Anniversary Announcement
___ Marriage Certificate
___ Wedding Announcement
___ Wedding Book

Divorce
___ Papers

Death
___ Death Certificate
___ Funeral Book
___ Memorial Cards
___ Obituary
___ Will

Education
___ Awards
___ Graduation
___ Honour Roll
___ Report Cards
___ Year Books

Employment
___ Achievement Awards
___ Apprenticeship Records
___ Business Cards
___ Income Tax Records
___ Membership Records
___ Resume
___ Severance Records
___ Retirement Records

Everyday Life
___ Address Books
___ Autograph Album
___ Bills
___ Birthday Book
___ Biography
___ Diary
___ Letters
___ Newspaper Clippings
___ Passport
___ Photographs
___ Scrapbooks
___ Telephone Books

Family
___ Bible
___ Bulletins/Newsletters
___ Coat of Arms
___ Genealogies
___ Histories

Health
___ Hospital Records
___ Immunisation Records
___ Insurance Papers
___ Medical Records
___ X-rays

Household Items
___ Dishes
___ Engraved Items
___ Needlework
___ Quilts
___ Silverware
___ Stitched Sampler
___ Tapestries
___ Other Heirlooms

Land and Property
___ Estate Records
___ Financial Records
___ Land Grants
___ Mortgages
___ Tax Notices
___ Title Deeds

Licences
___ Business
___ Drivers
___ Firearms
___ Occupation
___ Professional

Military Service
___ Discharge Notices
___ Medals and Awards
___ Nominal Rolls
___ Personal Service Record
___ Roll of Honour
___ Unit Histories

Religion
___ Blessing
___ Baptism Record
___ Christening Record
___ Confirmation Record
___ Ministerial Record
___ Ordination Record

So there’s 79 different types of records that can be useful for your genealogy. But note, the above doesn’t even include records for those on the wrong side of the law. When you have those in the family, there’s usually oodles of records available (depending on period, of course, and if they are not within the restricted timeframe for privacy).