FREE family history charts and forms

FREE family history charts and forms

fan chart extractIf you don’t use a family tree programme to keep your family history organised, where do you keep all the information you have found online, in the archives or gathered from relatives or family friends? Please tell me it is not on scraps of paper that just hold the smallest amount of details.  But, where did you collect this information from?  Will you remember in weeks or months to come which census these scribbled notes refer to.  Or, which newspaper the snippet about great uncle Ted was taken from!

You don’t have to go to the expense of a family tree programme when you begin to research your family history, but you do need to keep things orderly and make a note of where you found information and what information you need to find next – saves searching for the same thing over and over.

census summary chart excerptHere are a few websites that offer FREE downloads of forms that will help keep your research in some form of order, where you are from the UK, Canada or USA.

  • Wakefield Family History Sharing – printable charts and logs including check lists, research journals, census summaries, family group sheets with continuation sheet, inquiry forms, family tree/ siblings tree, deed index and cemetery transcription sheet
  • Cyndi’s List – has a wonderful collection of forms and is well worth a look
  • Vertex42 – has a selection of templates including a good selection of family tree layouts.  You do have to put up with a few advertising banners , but hey, they are FREE
  • Mid-Continent Public Library – has made available a good selection of charts, forms and worksheets.  The site also has a form for each of the American census – fantastic if you have a family member who went to the USA prior to 1940
  • Pinterest – Don’t forget to have a look here, it is wonderful what people upload to this site
  • Family Tree Magazine – mainly USA based forms, but still some that could be of use to UK researchers

Don’t forget to use a pencil when including your newly found information on the forms and charts – you may need to amend the details later!