Family Historian 7
The interface is bewildering, but there’s a powerful set of tools that work seamlessly with online resources
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PRICE £50 (£60 inc VAT) from family-historian.co.uk
If you’ve ever researched your family tree, you’ll know it’s much harder than the BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are? makes it appear. When I started my research five years ago, I thought all I had to do was find a genealogy site, type in my parents’ names and I’d be instantly rewarded with a long list of my ancestors, along with when they were born and died, what they did for a living, the names of their children, their inside leg measurements and the rest.
Sadly, this wasn’t the case. First, I had to subscribe to a genealogy s e r v ice and there are dozens to choose from. Each offers access to billions of records from a plethora of record keepers. I experimented with a few by trying to discover my parents’ details until I settled on Ancestry, which offered me access to a world’s worth of information. Soon I’d found some definite ancestors and had access to all the records I could want. I’ve so far identified more than 5,000 “relatives”.
There’s another problem. With no straightforward way to review my records other than from the (albeit attractive) view offered on the web page, the information is only stored online and it’s difficult to print and share information with my family.
The Windows choice
Along comes Family Historian 7, which I can run on Windows to review my close and distant family histories at my leisure. Porting my family tree into the software proved s u rprisingly easy. First, I had to create a GEDCOM file. This is a un iv er sa l format used in the genealogy sector and it was straightforward to create from the Ancestry website. I then used a simple import function to see my complete family history from within Family Historian 7.
To learn what Family Historian 7 can do, I used the preloaded project sample. The homescreen takes you to the “Root Person” and summarises their data. From this, you build upon their personal information and start to expand their family tree details.
A look at the taskbar reveals both the strengths and one weakness of the software. For example, although there’s plenty of real estate on the screen, the taskbar is crowded and it has a dated, clunky appearance.
This can make the software rather intimidating, but it’s worth persisting because Family Historian 7 offers a truly mesmerising variety of functions that let you examine the family tree from several different genealogical perspectives. After all, this is version 7.
All of the functions are well thought out, with a selection of tools to pick from that are each pertinent to your stage of research and publication.
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“It offers a mesmerising variety of functions that let you examine the family tree from several different genealogical perspectives”
First steps
What’s more, the software provides powerful tools to simplify your research. Whether you’re an amateur or a professional genealogist, you can grab information from a huge variety of sources. Family Historian 7 provides “data entry assistants” that make it easier to enter and update your research findings, with the support of built-in word processing and specialist templates.
You can also import and attach media to the records. While photos are the obvious choice for more recent family members, you may choose to add painted portraits or even photos of gravestones for older generations.
First, though, you must find your relatives, and here the menu option “Internet” is your friend. Through this, you can access a wellresearched set of links to the data providers. There’s a huge choice, but most sources of genealogy data are costly, so just hope you find a rich uncle. Sadly, I’ve yet to discover mine.
As you’re researching and building your family tree – a task that will never be truly completed – you can check your progress and review your information using the Chart tools. I particular like the variety of available charts and tables, which help you view your records from several perspectives. Fan View is a particular favourite of mine. This is an excellent way of viewing a selected person’s ancestry generation by generation. Naturally, you still have to do the difficult bit: the research. However, built-in hints from genealogy sources including FindMyPast and MyHeritage are signposted within the charts to lend a hand. For example, in Ian Munro’s sample family there’s a circled number to the side. Just click on this within the chart and Family Historian 7 reveals citations for this individual. It’s very neat.
Behind these charts, you build up a comprehensive database of the relationships and history of each member of the family tree and, something of critical importance to genealogists, record from where the information came.
Once you’re happy with the results, you can publish them in several formats. For example, an individual summary report, a family group sheet, booklets or even CDs and DVDs. I especially like the Map feature, which builds a map identifying where in the world each member of the family came from.
Plugin wonders
For the more adventurous genealogist, the makers of Family Historian 7 – appropriately enough, a family-run company and a British one at that – offers a growing library of plugins for use with the software. From the “Tools” dropdown you can access the Plugins store and add
additional functionality from a variety of user-generated and shared plugins; these can be downloaded, added and run from this menu.
Needless to say, navigating a huge range of options via a menu isn’t a great option. Instead, you visit pluginstore.family-historian.co.uk, a dedicated site that makes it reasonably easy to find what you’re looking for. Here you can add tools that aid with data entry, writing tailored reports, identifying duplicate records, exporting GEDCOM data – and much more. There’s also a dedicated area for language packs. Found a gap in the offerings? There’s nothing to stop technically minded users from creating their own plugin. Indeed, the software includes all of the documentation you could need to do so, along with a built-in editor and debugger.
This level of extensibility is staggering, but it comes with an important health warning: doublecheck that the plugin works with the version of Family Historian you are using, and you may find that isn’t currently the case due to the fact that
Family Historian 7 was only released in January 2021.
The good news? An active Family Historian User Group ( fhug.org.uk) is on hand to help.
Upsides, downsides
Family Historian 7 isn’t a perfect piece of software. It would benefit from a wholesale GUI makeover, akin to Microsoft Office shifting from 97 to its modern incarnation, as this would make it more comfortable to use. Also note the lack of a macOS version.
Despite this, I wholly recommend that any family tree researcher spends £60 on Family Historian 7: it’s a modest price to pay for an outstanding piece of software that’s packed with power features. So powerful, in fact, that I ended up buying a 27in monitor to supplement my laptop’s screen; unless you’re blessed with extraordinary eyesight, you’ll need a big display to properly appreciate the insight that Family Historian 7 delivers.