Quick tip – Expand the scope

When you get stuck, you can expand the scope of your research to increase the chances of finding relevant evidence. Here are some different ways to expand the scope:

• Research more people: the children of your brick wall ancestor, known siblings, spouses (if they were married multiple times), neighbors and other associates
• Research the property they owned or rented, to find out how and when it got into the family and where it went next.
• Expand your geographic area. People often created records in neighboring towns, or in higher-level jurisdictions (e.g. appeals cases heard in the provincial capital). Look at a contemporary map to see what other larger towns were in the area.
• Expand your time period. Sometimes, information got copied into later records. Sometimes, researching earlier records can give you insights of families that interacted with each other that can give you clues about your family.
• Use less common sources. Do not limit your research to easily available indexed records. Check finding aids to find out what else exists. There may be sources that are not online yet, or that are online as images but not indexed.

Children building a hut. Credits: Joop van Bilsen, collection Nationaal Archief (CC-0)