Created by Julie Goucher, 2023

Just as with regular genealogical research you require evidence to substantiate events in your One-Name study. Of course, if you are undertaking family reconstruction and have two people with the same name and same geographical area then you should  have at least a working theory.

So what is evidence? We all, whether we are conducting a One-Name study or not, see a new data set has been released and insert our surnames of interest into the search box. If there is no search results I personally record that in my research log, but if there is a result then I need to do something with that information.

If there are hundred in the search results then I note that, along with the name of the data set and where it is located; perhaps that is one of the main genealogical providers, or perhaps it is with a genealogical group who has announced their work. I also record the date that I searched. A data set released on Ancestry in 2016 may not be available there in 2024.

If the data set has just a few results I record the date I searched, the name of the data set and the site where the information is found, along with the citation of the information. I also record the information, probably into a spreadsheet. I found three Orlando’s cited within the indexes of Jewish Gen of those that perished at Dachau Concentration Camp. These three individuals are currently sitting in a spreadsheet and will do so until I am able to research more at which point they will enter my database. If I work on just one of the individuals then I turn that line in the spreadsheet a different colour so I can come back to it later.

Evidence is a paper trail that links an individual to what we are claiming. For some it will be a certificate or other document and I have a fair few of those, for others evidence will be nothing more that directing others back to the source of the information, so in the case of the individuals who died in Dachau that will be Jewish Gen. Overtime, more research will be undertaken and perhaps that will provide additional evidence.

We will be covering citations later on in this series and we discuss core data for a One-Name study in more depth in the Pharos course for One-Name studies.