Genealogy Chat

I have just established that my Gt, Gt, Gt G/father CHARLES STROUD was born in 1820 in Chatham in Kent. Where do I go to try and obtain a copy of his birth certificate if all I know is that he was born in Chatham? Is there a main records office for the Chatham area? Can anyone assist or guide me at all please? Donna

Donna this is before birth certificates were introduced - they did not start until 1837 and even then took quiet a time before they really caught on as registration was not compulsory until 1874. It may be possible for you to obtain a copy of the parish register. Ask the local records office if they have copies of the registers. If they don't then the registers will probably be held by the National archives. For maximum help on this site always quote as much as you can and if possible on separate lines. So full name, parents if known, date of birth, place of birth, and so on. If you have looked on Ancestry or Family Search, say so. If you have no idea of where to look because you are new also say so. There are some very knowledgeable and helpful people on this site (although today I think many of them are out 'gardening' !). CB

The Parish Registers for Chatham and the other Medway towns are on line at http://cityark.medway.gov.uk/ Jennifer

Is this him? Name: Charles Stroud Age: 31 Estimated birth year: abt 1820 Relation: Head Spouse's name: Ann Gender: Male Where born: Chatham, Kent, England Civil parish: Aston Ecclesiastical parish: St Matthew County/Island: Warwickshire Country: England Street address: Occupation: Condition as to marriage: Disability: View image Registration district: Aston Sub-registration district: Duddeston ED, institution, or vessel: 32 Neighbors: View others on page Household schedule number: 171 Household Members: Name Age Ann Stroud 28 Charles Stroud 31 Charles Stroud 3 Sarah A Stroud 5 Stephen Stroud 1 CB

this possible sarah a birth Births Sep 1845 (>99%) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STROUD Sarah Ann Warwick 16 512 Thers a marriage too on family search that might be them CHARLES STROUD Male Family -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Event(s): Birth: Christening: Death: Burial: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Marriages: Spouse: ANN ISAAC Family Marriage: 02 JUL 1843 Saint Mary, Warwick, Warwick, England GRO ref Marriages Sep 1843 (>99%) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- STROUD Charles Warwick 16 545 ISAAC Ann Warwcik 16 545 Would tie with birth area of Sarah ------------------------------------------------------------- birth Stephen Births Dec 1849 (>99%) STROUD Stephen Warwick 16 543

Have you bought his marriage certificate? That would be the way to check his fathers name and occupation.

If they are a Medway family checkout the City Ark site first - details in an earlier message. A lot of certificates (post 1837) as well as parish records are on line - for free. It's a bit of a clunky site as you need to know which church - or which likely church - and then you end up with a list of jpeg files (or something like jpeg) which are numbered. Then you need to check a few of those to work out roughly what year they are (they don't give a year on the file name). Then you need to go backwards and forwards until you hit the right time span. Takes a little while to get used to it but persevere - once you have mastered it it's a doddle - and there is an awful lot of info on there. Jill

hi by chance I had to search st mary's chatham bap register 1820 today. kept an eye out for your Charles Stroud he was not baptised 1820 at st marys chatham.

Hi Jennifer Many thanks for that info, I'm going to investigate. Donna

Hi Clive, I'm sort of new at this stage of my research. Please be patient with me Clive, I am a bit dizzy! I get my information from the ancestry.co.uk site which is great and has been very helpful. Is the Family Search site more informative than the ancestry site? Your second message to me relates to my Charles Stroud. He married an Ann Isaac in 1843. I obtained a copy of their marriage certificate. It states that Charles's father was Stephen Stroud and his occupation was a soldier. Here comes the dizziness again, was there a war going on around that time? Can't locate a Stephen Stroud on the ancestry site. There are very few of them. The rest of the information you gave me about his children namely Charles aged 3, Sarah A aged 5 and Stephen aged 1 is correct and linked. Stephen aged 1 was my Gt, Gt G/father. Thank you for your guidance and advice Clive. Anything else you can think of to help me, just come back to me. Donna

Hi Shirley,'you are getting the hang of it', the information you have provided me with is correct. It is Charles's family. Thank you. Donna

Hi Heather Yes, I've got a copy of the MC. His father's name was Stephen Stroud and was a soldier. Donna

Hi Jill Thank you for your help. I will attempt to do as you suggested. This should be fun! Donna

OHHHH! if his dad was a soldier then more likely he was born in Gillingham rather than Chatham. There is still the Brompton barracks here. i live only about 6 miles from Gillingham/Chatham. If you are going to look at City Ark would suggest you look at the Gillingham records especially Brompton. Shirley

Donna I don't think there is a single site which provides all the answers. If you have an Ancestry membership it's worth really exploring the site and finding the More databases button. In case you are unaware of it the BirthsMarriagesDeaths (BDM) has two main halves. The first is transcriptions and is 'quick search' by computer - watch out for transcription errors. This is only transcribed up to about 1912. The second part is You search. You select say Births first and then a name and date range. You then have to search the entries yourself. The process can be a bit daunting! What I find amazing is the speed at which many of the people on here function. They find whole families whilst I am finding one individual! CB

Donna i dont know if hes Your Stephen Stroud But on the National Archives website theres a settlement order for Ann Stroud the wife of Stephen Stroud a soldier!! its dated 1821!! put Stephen Stroud in the search box on the home page click search and its the second one down. Shirley

Shirley Where/how did Arrow come into the settlement quoted? I am unable to comprehend the meaning of the NA quote. Can you help please? CB

Thanks to Clive and Shirley for both coming back to me. Shirley, firstly what is a settlement Order? Secondly, what do you mean put Stephen Stroud into the home page of the National Archives? Where am I doing this - on what site? On my ancestry site? Do excuse my ignorance............. Donna

To Jill, Shirley, Maid of Kent and Clive, Oh my God, I've just had a quick look at one of the Parish records and I cannot understand it all. It's like gobbledigook, a foreign language - I don't stand a chance of even reading the records let alone finding a particular one!? How on earth do you get to understand the language. Is it the case, that I am going to have to employ an archivist on my behalf to have a look for me? Someone help me please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Donna

Donna Calm down, breathe, Which Parish record - where are you looking? If in CityArk say which church/year/no. of jpeg thingy file. and details of which one you're trying to work out. Calm. Jill