Asking questions about your great-grandparents can bring together accounts from people who knew them and information from photos, letters and documents. Do not assume the age of whoever remembers, and do not assume only one generation has something to tell. Note the source of each piece of information and keep gaps visible when a detail cannot be confirmed.
Start with what grandchildren can still reach
Ask your grandparents about their parents:
- What were your parents like? What work did they do?
- Which story about your parents do you most like to tell?
- What did you learn from them that you still carry?
Questions about origins and migration
- Where does our family come from? Did anyone move to another town, province or country?
- Why did they decide to leave where they were?
- What was life like in the place they came from?
Questions about daily life in another era
- What were your grandparents’ house and routine like?
- Which customs, recipes or traditions came from them?
- Is there a family object that has been passed down through the generations?
Questions like these complement our other family-history lists and lay the groundwork for a family biography.
Keep the stories before memory fades
If the storyteller agrees to be recorded, agree on the purpose, who will be able to listen and the review before anything is shared. Hold conversations at the person’s pace, with breaks or another day to continue. Notes are also an option; distinguish participants’ own memories from stories they heard from others.
Origins can follow more than one path
A Canadian family may tell stories of moves between provinces, recent immigration or continuous presence on ancestral territory. Do not fill in the past with a single arrival story. Ask relatives how they know each piece of information and note who told it. Photographs, documents and archives can help verify details; when a date cannot be confirmed, keep the uncertainty rather than giving everyone the same timeline.
Further reading: Library and Archives Canada — genealogy.
See also ideas for starting a family record.