How to Find Your Ancestors' Siblings?

The basis of genealogy is to research direct ancestors. Agreed - but how do you go about finding siblings?

Because, as you'll see in this article, they can be very useful in guiding your research and helping you learn more about your family.

Finding Siblings in Archives

If your ancestors are in different archive sources, their siblings will very likely be there too. Here is a non-exhaustive list of some records to consult to find all the children of a couple:

• The family record book : best source to find an entire sibling group, but you need to have it on hand...

• Population censuses : these lists of the population, by commune, record all the people living under the same roof. This is an interesting source to find a sibling group, but be aware that sometimes older children have left home for work or moved elsewhere, so they no longer appear as living in the same household. Also, to make sure you find all children, you will need to check censuses over several years (censuses were taken every 5 years approximately).

  Remember that you need to know the commune, and even the street name or the hamlet, to save time in your research.