About

The field of genealogical practice is home to a great diversity of activities and specialisms. It’s principal concern is with people, their origins and their lives – predominantly in the past but often strongly linked to the present. It seeks to understand who individuals were; who were members of their families; how those families were related to other families; how they functioned within their communities; how their communities operated within the societies and systems of their time.

Genealogy includes the search for related people and the development of pedigrees to illustrate links between them. At a deeper level it takes in an exploration of the lives of these people and a search for tangible evidence of their existence by links to documents, memorials, dwellings, land holdings and other belongings. It expands into an appreciation of their occupations and social standing and into their movements and migrations; it considers their involvement in, and influence on, historical events.

Genealogy also uses DNA studies to explore biological linkages and ancient migrations and origins.

Particular specialisms used in genealogy include the origins of names (onomastics), signs of identity and rank (heraldry), gathering biographical detail (prosopography), transcription from older scripts (palaeography). Genealogical sources can appear in any language in any country in any kind of archive so genealogy needs to take these in its stride.

Genealogical practice also includes the sharing of information through teaching, writing and broadcasting or by offering advisory services to others seeking to use genealogical information in different fields.