If you are looking for a project or a unique way to display your family tree, why not consider creating a family wall in your home?

While it’s common for people to create family photo walls, adding in history about your family adds another level of interest – fascinating for your family and interesting to any visitors that come to your home. It will certainly be a talking point.
Finders International often dwells in the past, using old public records of births, marriages and deaths, census data, old photographs and old newspaper articles so that we are able to trace the rightful heirs to an estate.

But family histories are for everyone and investigation of a family tree is always worthwhile, which is why we think the creation of a family history wall is something that you and your family might enjoy.

Here are some tips for how you can go about creating a family wall in your home:

1. Start with your family tree as the perfect centre point for your family history wall. If you do have a family tree and you are not entirely sure about its accuracy, bear in mind that verification of family trees is one of the services provided by Finders International.
2. Use your family name in calligraphy font in big letters or any heraldry you have associated with your name at the centre if you don’t want to use your family tree as the main focal point.
3. Add in old photos of relatives – we suggest you start with your immediate relatives and work your way up to your ancestors, going as far back as you have pictures. One idea might be to show pictures of all family members when they were the same age – there are more likely to be pictures of family members as children, for example.
4. But do not limit your family wall to pictures. Artefacts dating back to the eras of great-grandparents can add a sense of history and occasion to the wall. You could frame an embroidered handkerchief, for instance, or tapestry samplers, medals and more.
5. Old newspaper articles and pages that feature your relatives make great additions to your family history wall. Look for announcements of births and marriages and give the pages a professional look by laminating and framing them.
6. If you have them, add in paintings of old family homes and family members. You might also want to consider old photographs of the town or street your relatives lived in as they looked at that time, as these pictures can give a real sense of time feel to your history.

A family history wall is sure to act as a conversational point, so it’s also a good idea to compile a scrapbook that provides additional information. This is a project that can involve the whole family and encourage younger and older generations to exchange information and get to know each other better.

Your scrapbook could include a smaller-scale version of the family tree, a short biography of each person whose photo is in on the wall, and explanation for the artefacts and the newspaper articles.