Genealogy Chat

Karen, on the search page, don't fill anything in except for the parents' names (well, if it is the IGI search you have to choose British Isles in the Region, but if you go onto the main search you don't). Just put Francis Smith in the father's name and Henrietta in the mother's name and you will get 19 matches on the IGI British Isles, with your 4 at the top. Nosing around a bit more, there is a birth entry for 'Francis Schmidt or Smith' listed under Germany, added by an LDS member, so it looks as if he/she wasn't even sure if Francis was born in England or Germany. So it could be that Francis and Henrietta were both born in Germany and got married there. Francis's name would probably be Franz Schmidt, in that case, but I'm not sure what the German for Henrietta is. Anyway, looking for a Franz Schmidt will no doubt be just as bad as Francis Smith, except worse because there is not much German stuff available online! Kate.

I'll try that Kate,thanks.This is all intriguing but very confusing-Mum thought Francis Smith senior was Irish!

Well, he could be; it doesn't look as if whoever put them on the IGI had a clue! But if so, then again, there is not much online for Ireland either... what you need is for somebody in your family to find a little cache of documents up in the attic! Kate.