Meet Elliot

My first tree looked complete. It was not yet reliable.

Begin with what you know. Record what you find.

Elliot Park · Founder & writer, ROOT & RECORD

Hi, I’m Elliot, the founder of Root & Record. I began with a sheet of paper covered in names I had heard for years.

Elliot Park, founder of ROOT & RECORD, at his desk with a box of old family photographs — Elliot ParkFounder & writer

The sheet of paper

The branches looked convincing. I could not say where each detail came from.

SomeFrom a documentA certificate, a register, a dated letter.
SomeFrom a conversationA name remembered across the kitchen table.
And someSimply assumedBecause it seemed to fit the rest of the tree.

So I started again

I kept the family stories, but gave every fact a place for its source and every unanswered question a place of its own.

The tree became smaller for a while, and far more useful.

What changed the second time

Smaller for a while. Far more useful.

01The stories stayedEvery family story kept, and labelled as a story.
02Every fact, a sourceA place beside each name and date for where it came from.
03Every question, a placeThe open questions written down instead of guessed at.

Root & Record was created from that process.

Elliot Park drawing a family tree by hand while checking an old photograph — At the deskElliot Park

Why Root & Record

Not the greatest number of ancestors. A tree you can explain.

These guides are not about collecting the greatest number of ancestors. They are about asking a clear question, recording what you find and leaving enough context for another person to understand your reasoning.

01
Ask a clear questionOne person, one relationship, one thing you want to know.
02
Record what you findIncluding the searches that turned up nothing.
03
Leave enough contextSo another person can follow your reasoning.

The four-guide series

One beginner system. Four different jobs.

Build the tree, conduct the interview, examine the evidence and record the search. Each guide solves a different problem, so you are not paying for the same lesson four times.

TreeThe First Family TreeBuild a clear tree from what you already know.

Start with yourself, work outward and keep confirmed relationships apart from possibilities.

InterviewsThe Family Interview WorkbookAsk, listen and follow the clues.

A comfortable conversation, recorded with permission, turned into a clear list of what to check next.

EvidenceDocuments, Dates & EvidenceOrganise records without losing the story.

What a source can tell you, what it cannot prove and how to compare records that disagree.

ResearchThe Genealogy Research LogTrack searches, sources and discoveries.

One question at a time, every search recorded, and the negative results kept as well.

Tree. Interviews. Evidence. Research. Begin with what you know. Record what you find.

From Elliot

You do not need to know where every branch leads before you begin. You only need to know what is confirmed, what is possible and what you will examine next.

ConfirmedWhat the records showWith the source written beside it.
PossibleWhat the family remembersKept outside the tree until the evidence appears.
NextWhat you will examineOne question and one place to look.

Elliot ParkFounder & writer · Root & Record

Start close. Work outward.