Glossary · Berrima District Historical Society

Adoption record:: A record about the legal placement of a child with adoptive parents; access rules and the information available vary.
Affidavit:: A written statement made on oath or affirmation, often used as evidence.
Ancestor:: A person from whom someone is descended, such as a parent, grandparent or earlier forebear.
Archives:: Records preserved for their continuing value, or the organisation or place that holds them.
Assisted immigration:: Migration supported by a government, employer or other scheme that contributed to the cost of passage.
Autosomal DNA:: DNA on the numbered chromosomes inherited from both parents and commonly compared in family-history tests.
Baptism:: A religious ceremony recorded by a church; the baptism date is not necessarily the birth date.
Beneficiary:: A person or organisation entitled to benefit from a will, estate or other arrangement.
Birth certificate:: An official certificate recording details of a registered birth; the details depend on place and date.
Birth name:: A name recorded at birth, which may differ from a name used later.
Burial register:: A record of burials kept by a cemetery, church or other authority.
Catalogue:: A searchable list describing items held by a library, archive or museum.
Cemetery inscription:: Words recorded from a headstone or memorial; inscriptions can be incomplete or inaccurate.
Census:: A count or survey of a population at a particular time; the details and surviving records vary.
Centimorgan (cM):: A unit of genetic distance used in DNA matching; the amount shared helps estimate possible relationships, but does not identify one relationship by itself.
Certificate:: An official copy or extract of a registered event, such as a birth, death or marriage.
Chain migration:: Migration in which people follow relatives, friends or others from their community to a destination.
Chromosome:: A structure that carries DNA; people normally inherit one copy of each numbered chromosome from each parent.
Citation:: Details identifying a source so that another researcher can find and assess it.
Civil registration:: The official recording of life events such as births, deaths and marriages by government authorities.
Collateral line:: Relatives connected through a shared ancestor who are not in a direct line of descent, such as cousins.
Collection:: A group of related items or records held or presented together.
Common ancestor:: An ancestor shared by two or more people.
Convict indent:: A record listing information about convicts transported to a colony, often including descriptions and sentence details.
Convict muster:: A count or list of convicts at a particular time; details and coverage vary.
Coroner’s inquest:: An official inquiry into the circumstances of certain deaths or other matters within the coroner’s jurisdiction.
Country:: For Aboriginal peoples, Country can include lands, waters, skies, living things, culture and continuing relationships and responsibilities; meanings belong to the relevant communities.
Cousin:: A relative sharing an ancestor, with the degree and any removal describing the family relationship.
Crown grant:: A grant of land from the Crown, documented in land records.
Death certificate:: An official certificate of a registered death; some details depend on what the informant knew.
Deed:: A formal legal document recording an agreement or transaction, often involving land or property.
Descendant:: A person descended from an earlier person, such as a child, grandchild or later generation.
Digital image:: A digital reproduction of a photograph, document or other item; it may show one or several records.
Direct line:: A chain of parent-child relationships between a person and an ancestor or descendant.
Directory:: A published listing of people, businesses or addresses; entries may lag behind events.
DNA match:: A person whose tested DNA is reported to share segments with another person; records are needed to investigate the relationship.
Electoral roll:: A list of people enrolled to vote in a particular electorate at a particular time.
Emigration:: Leaving one country or place to settle in another.
Estate:: The property and liabilities a person leaves, or another defined body of property.
Executor:: A person named in a will to administer the estate, subject to the applicable legal process.
Extract:: A selected portion or official summary taken from a larger record.
Family group sheet:: A research form bringing together information about a family group and its sources.
Family history:: Research into the lives, relationships and context of family members across generations.
Family tree:: A diagram or collection of information showing family relationships; its claims should be checked against sources.
Finding aid:: A guide or descriptive tool that helps researchers locate records in a collection.
First cousin:: A person who shares grandparents with another person, through different parents.
Genealogy:: Research into family relationships and descent using records and other evidence.
Generation:: People at the same step in a family line, or one step from parent to child.
Given name:: A personal name, often recorded before the family name in English-language records.
Grantee:: A person or entity receiving a grant or transfer of an interest.
Heritage listing:: The recognition of a place or object for heritage significance under a particular register or planning system.
Household:: People recorded as living together in a dwelling or domestic group; they are not necessarily all related.
Immigration:: Entering a country or place to settle there.
Index:: A finding aid that points to entries in records; check the original when available.
Informant:: The person who supplied information for a record; they may not have witnessed every event described.
Intestate:: Describes a person who died without a valid will disposing of their estate, or property not disposed of by a will.
Land grant:: An allocation of land recorded by the relevant authority; conditions and rights vary by time and place.
Lease:: An agreement granting use or occupation of property for a period under specified terms.
Letters of administration:: A court grant authorising an administrator to deal with an estate when appropriate, often where there is no executor able to act.
Lineage:: A line of descent from an ancestor.
Maiden name:: A family name used by a woman before marriage; records and personal naming practices vary.
Marriage certificate:: An official certificate of a registered marriage, whose contents vary by place and date.
Memorial inscription:: Words on a memorial, grave marker or plaque; a memorial does not necessarily mark a burial place.
Migration:: A movement of people from one place to another, within a country or across borders.
Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA):: DNA inherited through the maternal line; it can help investigate that line but usually cannot identify a recent relationship on its own.
Muster:: An official gathering, count or list of people, such as a colonial muster.
Naturalisation:: The legal process by which a person becomes a citizen or subject of a country under the law of the time.
Obituary:: A published account of a deceased person’s life; its details depend on the information available to its author.
Oral history:: A recorded account of memories and experiences, usually gathered through an interview.
Original record:: The record in its original form, as distinct from a later index or transcription; copies may still be useful evidence.
Parish map:: A historical land map that may show land portions, grantees, roads and boundaries within a parish.
Parish register:: A church record of events such as baptisms, marriages and burials.
Passenger list:: A record of people travelling on a ship or aircraft; detail and coverage vary by period and port.
Pedigree chart:: A diagram tracing a person’s ancestors through successive generations.
Place of residence:: The address or locality recorded for a person at a particular time, which may differ from birthplace.
Primary source:: Material created by a participant or close to the events studied, such as a letter or official record; its perspective and reliability still need assessment.
Probate:: The legal process concerning proof of a will and authority to administer an estate.
Provenance:: The origin and history of an item, including its ownership or custody.
Record series:: A group of records created or managed together by an organisation or person.
Register:: An organised record of events, people or transactions, often arranged chronologically.
Research log:: A record of searches, sources consulted and findings, including searches that found nothing.
Secondary source:: A later account or analysis drawing on other evidence, such as a published local history.
Shared DNA:: DNA segments reported as matching between tested people; the amount can suggest a range of relationships.
Shipping record:: A record relating to a vessel, voyage, crew or passengers.
Source:: The record, object, publication or account from which a piece of information was obtained.
Surname:: A family name; spelling, order and naming customs can vary between records and cultures.
Title record:: A land record documenting ownership or dealings in an interest in property.
Transcription:: A written rendering of a source; compare it with the original because errors can occur.
Trove:: The National Library of Australia’s discovery service for collections, including digitised newspapers and other material.
Variant spelling:: An alternative spelling of a name or place; useful when searching historical records.
Will:: A document expressing how a person wishes their property to be dealt with after death.
Y-DNA:: DNA on the Y chromosome, usually passed from father to son; it can help investigate a direct paternal line.