Genealogy Chat

Where do i go from here - see below

I’ve managed to trace all four of my great grandparents back through the censuses, and got back to about 1800 on all four lines. I’m currently waiting for various certificates to check the accuracy of the census traces. I’ve found other bits and pieces of information on ancestry, FHO and IGI. Having got back to approximate dates of birth around 1800 how do I trace the births/marriages before 1837? Is it literally a case of finding out the various relevant County Record Offices and visiting them in person? My thanks to all of you who’ve helped in the past, and thanks in advance for any tips on this one. Barbara

Hello, I always find the familysearch.org site good for pre1837 information. as yet, I have never visited a district office for information. I am sure that I will at some point, but havent found it essential at this stage. Good luck.

Before 1837 you need to search Parish Registers. A very few are on line - Google to see if yours are.And dont forget that Google will also bring up many websites which may be of help in your search. If your surnames are reasonably unusual, then the GOONS may have something - I have had tremendous help for one particular branch if my family and it was all freely given. The Mormon Site (Family search) has a vast array of Parish records which they have filmed. You can order these films to view at your local Family History Centre (the Mormon Church). There is a list of these centres on the Family search site. The originals are almost always held in the relevant County Records Office, and if this is not local to you, then the Mormons are probably your best option. Finally, you could always request a specific look-up on the Records Board, from someone who lives locally to the CRO, but I personally think it is a bit unfair to ask someone else to trawl decades of records to scoop up all your ancestors, so I would personally limit these requests to a specific event, eg. marriage of John Smith to Fanny Fanakapan round about 1781 in Little Mudham. Good luck - and dont be afraid to ask for help on here. Olde Crone

Frpm the various census returns that you have you can try and find the marriages and baptisms via the IGI as a guide,chances are that you have 'missing ' children born between each census who died very young. If you have marriage certs they will tell you the venue of the marriage,if a church you will get the parish,then you can try the igi for that parish (and surrounding ones) for baptisms etc. Not all counties are listed on the igi and those that are are not complete,but they are worth a look.You can also google parish records for the county/counties that you wish to look at. Records offices can be an a great source of information,but if you are not local to the one you need you can request they search on your behalf,but there is a charge. Glen

Thanks for the suggestion Karen, I'll try that one. Olde Crone, thank you for all the information. Unfortunately my names are all fairly common, which makes life more interesting - but it does make it much more difficult to sift through information. Barbara

Glen Thanks for the tip about the IGI. I have found a couple of 'missing' children there thanks to an unusual Christian name. Unfortunately two of my families come from Northumberland and the records don't seem to be fully transcribed yet. I'll keep looking. Barbara

Didnt someone say the IGI had mixed up Norfolk with Northumberland? May be worth you entering Norfolk??

Thanks for the suggestion Heather. Its definitely not something I'd have thought of doing! I will do now though. Barbara

Heather, if it is the one I am thinking of then it was just a few batches of baptisms from St. Nicholas Church in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk were put up onto the IGI as Earsdon By North Shields, Northumberland. I don't think there are any others. Kate.

Barbara A useful tip for searching for relatives with common names (like mine) is to do place searches, rather than name searches. For example, my Holdens come from a small village in Lancashire. Lancashire is stuffed full of Holdens, so when I was researching my branch, I used the name of the village and then the name Holden, rather than the other way round - this cuts out all the superfluous Holdens! Olde Crone

Thank you again Olde Crone. I can see that working for three of the four names - but 'Robson' in Newcastle upon Tyne is still going to cause a few problems I fear. I do at least know which Chapel some of them were baptised in though, which should narrow it down a bit. Barbara

Thank you all for your advice. Its nice to know there's help out there if its needed. I'll have a look round the various sites suggested and hopefully come up with a bit more info. Barbara

The a2a access to archives site has an index of records that have been deposited in local record offices. If you have any unusual surnames try searchng by name and see what pops up. I also searched by village. I am currently waiting for a history of a local hospital written by one of my great great aunts from Gloucestershire record office - they only charge 50p a page fpr photocopying. They also have the school admissions record for the local village school which I plan to look at on a rainy day. Rootschat which is free to join should also give you an idea of local recourses as will Genuki. I am sorry I am the other end of the country. The national archive site may have details of family wills. If you find one it can be downloaded for £3.50 which is a real bargain.

You can try the British Isle Vital Records Index - http://www.genoot(.)com/downloads/BVRI2/ ... the website shows coverage - quite a bit for Northumberland. People on the boards will do lookups for you - or if you want to send me a pm I´ll check your names out.

My thanks to Annie and Elaine - I'll have a look through both those sites and hopefully come up with something. Barbara

Barbara, The British Isle Vital Records Index (BIVRI) is not searchable on line. It is a set of data discs - but quite a few people on the board have them and will do look ups. The website just shows you how well each county is covered (or not !!)

If any of your ancestors were tradesmen you may find a historical directory which covers the area - try googling historical directories. It is also worth looking to see if any old gravestones have survived or even old local newspapers.

For the last couple of years I have gone to A2A and gleaned just a few tit bits for my lot - and I use to salivate at what others of you found. NOW I have started dads Sussex line, Im getting so many results, I dont know what to do about them. It would cost a fortune to buy all those documents - on NA Wills there are about a dozen aswell that look real possibles. I wish I could just have all middle of the road people, not so poor they never got any documents listed anywhere but not so well off that they had too many.

Heather I have the same problem - there is so much stuff on A2A for my Holdens that it would cost an absolute fortune to get it all - over 700 hits, so far! But the most exciting and informative bit on there I got for FREE - it was a newspaper cutting which was 'too small to photocopy' so they sent me a transcript by email. It solved a problem which had been bugging me for years and I would never have found this information anywhere else - I didnt even know I was looking for it LOL Olde Crone