Pedigree Forge includes a number of features that make working with sources very efficient. To get the best from using sources in Pedigree Forge, we have to reverse our thinking: rather than adding the fact then finding the source, we should add the source, then create the fact. This is the more natural way to do things when researching properly, and the approach that Pedigree Forge gives most assistance.
The following will walk through the same source (Charles Darwin’s death) as shown in the working with sources section, but taking the “Source first” approach.
First, we use the built-in web browser to locate the source, in this case, we have used the General Register Office’s site: www.gro.gov.uk. To open the web browser, click on the “+” button on the tabs:
A new browser tab will appear, initially showing a home page. This works like any other web browser, and you can enter the address manually. The General Register Office’s site is one of the default bookmarks, and so we can click on that to open their website:
Using their website to locate, purchase and down load the image is beyond the scope of this guide, but you should download the file to the same folder in which your project is located.
Pedigree Forge will recognise that a new file has been downloaded to the project’s directory, and the “File Watcher” dialog will pop-up automatically, showing the file:
A number of options can be carried out on images in the file watcher, and can be accessed either from the buttons that run along the bottom of the dialog, or by right-clicking a file in the list, which shows a pop-up menu:
If we select “Make Source”, a new source will be created with the image already linked in and the edit source panel will be shown, ready for you to enter the details. Below we have added the title, linked the archive and set the call number. We have also selected the “Template” as “DEAT1837” (which populates the “Fact” type to “DEAT” automatically). Note: Pedigree Forge uses OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to try and populate the template and fact fields based on the source image, but this isn’t an infallible process, and will sometimes need entering manually.
In addition, we are also going to enter the “Date” and “Place” fields this time too. In this particular case, no address is shown (see information on entering dates, places and addresses, elsewhere in the guide).
We can then transcribe the document, if we wish (see Source Transcripts section).
We are now ready to link the source. Navigate to Charles’ record so that he is shown as the active person in the edit person panel. However, remember we are working in reverse; there isn’t yet a death fact for Charles—we are going to create the fact from the source instead.
On the “Facts and Events” table, click the magic wand button.
The “Select Source” dialog will then appear to enable you to select the source to import to the fact. By default, this is the source you were most recently working with:
Clicking the “OK” button with the correct source will then import the source, creating the death fact, which already contains the date, place and a citation to the source:
You can add extra information, for example, age and cause, if applicable.
Sometimes, the creating a source from a fact will fail, and you will get an error message such as this:
If that happens, it might be because a fact of that type already exists (for example, if we tried to import the death again, it would fail).
A fact also can’t be imported if no “Fact” type has been set for it, or if there is no date. These are set on the source edit panel:
