Chart your family history

Use Numbers with data from family tree research to compare generations

Researching your family tree can be fascinating, but you still might end up with just a database of photos and a few notes. Simply showing who’s related to whom makes for a dry read. Historical anecdotes make your family history more engaging, but you can also use more colourful and interactive ways of presenting what you’ve learned.

The information you compile, whether you’re using an offline app or an online family tree builder, creates a data set you can export and use to create charts and infographics. Multiple stories of ancestors emigrating could thus be represented with a map showing where they were all born and a corresponding one showing which country they emigrated to.

By pulling your findings into a Numbers spreadsheet you can also find common elements such as the average age people got married, most common first names and typical hair colour.

Of course, the idea doesn’t just work for your ancestors; you could apply it to your Facebook friends or email contacts too; you only need a few details to get started. Rosie Hattersley