Genealogy Chat

When using the LDS search for children born to the same parents (example: children of John and Mary Smith) and you don't get results you are hoping for -- you can do a search with just the father's name. Type John Smith for the father and . for the mother's first name. I've found additional births this way. website: http://www.familysearch(.)org/ (remove ( ) first)

Thanks Lisa, I didn't know that. Heather

If you don't know the father's name you can also type . for first name, . for last name and type the mother's full name. This is helpful if the father's name was not recorded.

I had wondered about that, would it find the illegitimate births? Heather

Hi Lisa, Long time no speak,:-)) I will be checking all my names now as I didnt know that!! Thanks Hope you are well Allie xx

Hi Heather: I think it is finding some illegitimate births; I've found one at least. Hi Allie: I only pop in here for a few minutes a day -- sure miss it!! Hope you are doing well (we've had a rough 2004, but things are calming down now).

Does this need to be on the "All Resources" search? I have heard about the ability to look for children, but not sure how Thanks Sam

Hi Lisa Yes, I've tried it and it works. I think it might be useful when the family moved to a different parish where the vicar only recorded the father's name. Thanks for the tip. Heather

Hi Sam If you know the name of the parents of a child and want to find other children, you can go to IGI below all resources, fill in parents names in the boxes on the upper right hand side, then fill in Region, Country and County and search. You could narrow it down by using batch numbers too. Heather

Thank you Heather, and there was me thinking I knew all the tricks ;) Sam

nudge...in case it helps anyone else

Thanks Lisa it certainly helped me. Pat

Thanks Lisa it certainly helped me. Pat

Heather........ Thanks for that nugget of info - SO useful. It's certainly helped me. Rosemary

Happy to see its helpful. Also, I'm now putting . in place of the person's first name (for the "normal" first name, last name searches) -- additional names pop up, like Mr. Smith or Mrs. Smith.

hello lisa thanks for that if i would of known that it would of saved a lot of work thats great chris

hi right i had same problem, you put in the fathers name and mothers 1st name in the parent box, then search all countrys no dates and it should work sandra

I just double-checked the LDS site, and if I use "generic names", it works fine. Under "father" I entered John. Under "last name" I entered Smith. Under "mother" I typed . (period). I didn't entered anything else. (It won't let you choose a country at this point.) Once you select search and the records pop up, then you can "refine search" (near the top, right of the page). You WON'T find results that you have found in the past. The search with "." for the mother would include only the father's name, not the mother. If you use "." for the father and the mother, then the search results should only turn up with things like Mr. Smith or Mrs. Smith. Please let me know if you are still having trouble. I tend to confuse people. :~)

Please what does nudge mean and do cheers

Yes, I did, thanks.