Genealogy Chat

I am unable to decide on the best way to record the Maternal side of a family. a) Mother to Father, & then F to F Or, b) Mother to Mother to Mother, which ,to my mind is logical. Advice and comment please. Mick.

Eh? Sorry to be thick, but I don't understand this - everyone has TWO parents - surely you want to record them both? Olde Crone

I know that it is a little vague, but, Both parents are recorded, but,on the MOTHERS side does the maternal line take precedence. Think matriarchy? Mickt

Surely neither side takes precedence, they are both equally valid. Angela

No, it's no good. It's getting late on a Friday night, and the anasthetic on my newly filled tooth is wearing off and it's starting to ache. I don't follow what this conversation is about. Tina

Michael What you seem to be suggesting is that if you are a man the maternal line takes preference, but if a woman then the maternal line does. I think most of us would say that no line takes preference. It just happens that a woman (generally) takes her husband's name. If this position were reversed, I don't see that it would change the way that we should approach genealogy.

But surely everyone knows that women are infinitely superior to men in everything, so what's the problem? (Runs for cover before the bullets start flying!) Tina

Precisely Geoff. Think blood - every person has the blood from each of their parents, be they male or female. Angela

Everyone has two parents who are equally important (regardless of marriage etc) It's just biology! Therefore all your grandparents, great-grandparents ..... are equally important to you. The maths becomes mind boggling but they are all just as important as each other - if one was missing then YOU would not be here! I do agree though that, from a paperwork point of view, it becomes difficult to decide which folder to file the wife in after she had taken her husband's name and they have effectively become a different unit. Anne

Are you thinking of the recording system called something like “ahnatal” tree (somebody on here will tell us the right word) where Self is 1 Father2 Mother3 Father’s father 4 father’s mother 5 Mothers’ father 6 mother’s mother 7 Father’s father’s father 8 etc etc? You can record it how you like - its YOUR tree

No, its actually quite simple if you stick to the 2-4-8-16-32 etc generation idea. The female goes into her husband's file when she marries. Her parents have a file of their own, containing all their children. Of course, other cultures research and record their family history in a different way - Finland, I believe, use the mother's line as the important one. But we in the West use the Patriarchal System, so its probably best to stick with that, otherwise you will get in a terrible muddle. Olde Crone

Michael, sounds like you need to get a decent family history program then you wouldnt have a problem.

Thanks all. I'll just carry on then.,and try to remain focussed. Mickt