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Free family history forms

Printable genealogy forms and charts

Using the free family history forms below will help you to get organised when you first start your research and will help you to stay organised as your research develops. They are the basic tools of the family historian. By using them to record your findings and sources, you'll eliminate problems, confusion and data overload further down the line.

This selection of free genealogy forms and charts covers all the essential stationery of the genealogist, whether professional or amateur. Each form is in pdf format and can be printed.

They are arranged under three headings: Getting started, which contains the best forms for those new to genealogy research; Moving on, for some more advanced charts, and, finally, Census, for direct transcriptions of individual household returns from the Irish census.

Following the links will take you to a brief description of how to use each of these free family history forms to best advantage and to a link where you can download it.

Getting started

These free blank genealogy forms will help you collect and fill in the details of your parents, your grandparents and your great grandparents.

There is one form for your mother's family (your maternal family) and another for your father's family (your paternal family).

Too often we overlook the most obvious in our genealogy research. Living relatives are a mine of information, often with exactly the kind of details that brings family history alive.

Your job is to extract the details they've stored away in their heads. Take a look at these handy hints on how to prepare for an interview with a family member.

And here's a list of interview questions for finding family history through your relatives

If you've ever become confused trying to work out the relationships of one ancestor to another, this free family history chart is just what you're after.

It's a relationship chart and it'll help you sort out your second cousins from your first cousins.

Moving on

These blank family history forms are known as Biographical Outlines.

Create one for each of your ancestors and fill it in, as and when you find more information

These family tree forms are called Family Group Record charts and, as the name suggests, they are used for recording all the basic genealogical detail (birth, marriage, name of spouse, date of death etc) of each member of a family unit ie parents and children.

The Family Tree Worksheet records all the detail of an individual's life.

It's essentially a checklist, prompting you to explore your ancestor's life beyond the basic genealogical data.

You won't want one of these for every twig in your tree, but they add 'meat to the bones' of your direct ancestors and perhaps some of the more intriguing characters you might come across.

These six-generation genealogy forms are known as Pedigree forms. They're among the most intense genealogy forms you'll come across!

The gaps in your research become glaringly obvious when you fill in a pedigree chart, so you soon know where to be directing your genealogy search.

Census

These free family history forms are great for transcribing information from microfiche or on-screen copies of the census.

There are two forms available, one for the 1901 all-Ireland census , the other for the 1911 all-Ireland census. Might be as well to print off a few of each, so that you've got them handy for a long research session.

By taking full advantage of these free family history forms and charts you will always be able to quickly check your facts and you should avoid having to repeat elements of your research. It should also mean you can sleep at night, safe in the knowledge that you are not about to forget all those fascinating and crucially important nuggets of information you've just collected in your Irish ancestry search.