Individual records

Introduction

Adding individuals to a tidyged object can be achieved with the add_indi() function. The sex of the individual can be specified with the sex parameter, which is a single letter: M(ale), F(emale), (Interse)X, U(nknown), N(ot recorded). If no sex is specified, a value of “U” is used.

As with other records, various types of user-defined references can be defined (user_reference_numbers).

Individuals can be removed with the remove_indi() function.

Individual names

Individuals can be given more than one name. These can be different kinds of name such as birth name or adoptive name, or if there is uncertainty, variants of these based on conflicting evidence sources. There is also the ability to provide phonetic and romanised variants of names. Given this complexity, the name is usually not immediately defined when creating an Individual record.

There is a quick and dirty way of adding a name with the qn parameter, but this is just for use in quick demonstrations and should not be used for serious genealogical recording. The function will crudely place the entire string as the given name of the individual:

library(tidyged)

gedcom(subm("Me")) |> 
  add_indi(qn = "Leia Skywalker") |> 
  dplyr::filter(record == "@I1@") |> 
  knitr::kable()
#> Added Unknown Individual: @I1@

leia <- gedcom(subm("Me")) |> 
  add_indi() |> 
  add_indi_names(name_pieces(given = "Leia", surname = "Skywalker"), type = "birth")
#> Added Unknown Individual: @I1@

knitr::kable(dplyr::filter(leia, record == "@I1@") )

leia |> 
  remove_indi_name("Leia Skywalker") |> 
  dplyr::filter(record == "@I1@") |> 
  knitr::kable()

leia_var <- leia |> 
  add_indi_names_var("Leia Skywalker", method = "As spoken",
                     name_pieces(given = "Laya", surname = "Skywalker"), phonetic_variation = TRUE) 

knitr::kable(dplyr::filter(leia_var, record == "@I1@"))

leia_adop <- leia_var |> 
  add_indi_names(name_pieces(given = "Leia", surname = "Organa"), type = "adoptive") 

knitr::kable(dplyr::filter(leia_adop, record == "@I1@"))

leia_conf <- leia_adop |> 
  add_indi_names(name_pieces(given = "Leia", surname = "Skywaker"), type = "birth")

knitr::kable(dplyr::filter(leia_conf, record == "@I1@"))

leia_conf_first <- primary_indi_name(leia_conf, "Leia Skywaker")

knitr::kable(dplyr::filter(leia_conf_first, record == "@I1@"))

Individual attributes and events

Attributes and events associated with an individual, such as birth and death, are created using the add_indi_fact() function. The full list of facts that can be created are given in the Details section of the function help page.

This function allows you to define a fact, together with associated date, cause, place/address, and the age of the individual when the fact applied (among other aspects). In the example below, we add a residence for an individual. The first argument is given as “residence” for readability even though only the first 3 letters are used:

res <- gedcom(subm("Me")) |> 
  add_indi(sex = "M") |> 
  add_indi_fact("residence", date = date_period(start_date = date_calendar(2000, 5, 7),
                                                end_date = date_calendar(2004, 5, 6)),
                fact_address = address(local_address_lines = "23 Penny Lane",
                                       city = "Orlando",
                                       state = "Florida",
                                       country = "United States of America"),
                notes = "Co-habited with brother Henry")
#> Added Male Individual: @I1@

knitr::kable(dplyr::filter(res, record == "@I1@"))

If the full address is not known, a more general place argument can be used which uses a place() object.

The example below defines a death event (in 2006) and a religion attribute (from 1978):

dea_rel <- gedcom(subm("Me")) |> 
  add_indi(sex = "M") |> 
  add_indi_fact("death", date = date_calendar(2006, 2, 17),
                fact_place = place(name = "London, England"),
                cause = "Pneumonia",
                age = "68y") |> 
  add_indi_fact("religion", descriptor = "Christian", classification = "Catholic",
                date = date_period(start_date = date_calendar(1978)))
#> Added Male Individual: @I1@

knitr::kable(dplyr::filter(dea_rel, record == "@I1@"))

You can see a summary of all facts associated with an individual with the df_indi_facts() function.

df_indi_facts(dea_rel, "@I1@") |> knitr::kable()

Family links

Typically when constructing a file, you would create all of the individuals in a family first, and then reference them when creating a Family Group record - this takes care of all of the appropriate record links for you. However, sometimes you want to retrospectively add an individual to a Family Group record that already exists. In this case you use the add_indi_links_to_families() function.

In the example below, we create Joe Bloggs and add him as a husband to a family. We then create Jess Bloggs and retrospectively add her as a wife to Joe.

ged_with_joe <- gedcom(subm("Me")) |> 
  add_indi("M") |> 
  add_indi_names(name_pieces(given = "Joe", surname = "Bloggs"))
#> Added Male Individual: @I1@

joe_xref <- find_indi_name(ged_with_joe, "Joe")

ged_with_husb <- add_famg(ged_with_joe, husband = joe_xref)
#> Added Family Group: @F1@

ged_with_jess <- ged_with_husb |>
  add_indi("F") |> 
  add_indi_names(name_pieces(given = "Jess", surname = "Bloggs"))
#> Added Female Individual: @I2@

jess_xref <- find_indi_name(ged_with_jess, "Jess")
  
both <- add_indi_links_to_families(ged_with_jess, spouse = joe_xref)

knitr::kable(dplyr::filter(both, record %in% c("@F1@", "@I2@")))

Notice that Jess (@I2@) has now been defined as a wife in the Family Group record, and her record is linked to the Family Group record as a spouse (FAMS).

As well as defining the relationship as a spouse, you can also link individuals to Family Group records by providing the children or parents of the individual.

Next article: Family Group records >