Family history charts and worksheets can help you plan and organise your research process, and record and visualise the information you uncover about your ancestors. They can be used instead of, or alongside, genealogy software or websites to document your research. Charts and worksheets are particularly useful to use as a ‘working copy’, where you add information as you go along.
I developed the charts and worksheets below to use in my family history teaching. You can download them in both Word or PDF format. They are provided with a CC BY-NC 4.0 licence, so you can share and adapt them as you like.
To record information about your ancestors
- Ancestor chart – for recording your direct ancestors
- Family group record – for recording information about a couple and their children
- Biographical outline (or timeline) – for recording events in an ancestor’s life
- Family member information sheet – for recording research on living relatives or 20th-century ancestors
To plan and keep track of your research
- Family history research plan – for working our what you want to know and how you’re going to find it
- Note-taking form – for taking notes from archives, books and other sources
- Research log – for keeping track of sources you look at
- Correspondence log – for keeping track of research requests and people you contact
- Research repository checklist – for recording information about an archive, library or museum you plan to visit