Genealogy Chat

Patricia -- there's no direct approach and sometimes there aren't any answers. But there are possibilities, for example, the wrong man might turn up in a census with an elderly parent in the house Collect all the info you can about both of them and see what turns up If you haven't already, scan the registers before and after 1811 for the brothers and sisters of both of your candidates. You're looking for any one of them to turn up later in a situation where you can say yours or not yours

Donna, the best way around this is to track both sets of parents back over a generation or two. It is important to look at siblings and persons present at weddings. You will see common names and hopefully the maiden name of a mother or grandmother given as a middle name to offspring. This might give you clues to which is the right one. The next thing you could do is try to find gravestones. Many times relatives of different generations are buried together. And another option (one which I don't have much experience of, but others have) is to look at wills. Hope these few ideas help. Paul

Hey Donna No one said this hobby was easy!! Ann

Donna No, 2 different sets of parents & absolutely no way of telling which is the correct ones, not that I can see anyway. Pat

Thanx Brenda I have these marriages already my William is the son of William and Charlotte, as I have his batism but I dont have his marriage to Mary. Dont know Patricia does the batism show the same parents on both?

I have my great grandfather's death certificate, he died aged 30 in January 1843, therfore probably born in 1812. I searched the parish records at the LDS & found him ( I thought) born in 1812 with the names of his parents. BUT later on I found that that person had died in 1830 aged 18, (The helpful vicar had annotated the entry with the names of the parents). I then found 2 others with the same name, born in 1811, my problem now is, which of these 2 is mine ? How do I find out ?. I'm debating whether to toss a coin or just stop there. Any ideas from people more expert than me ?. Thanks Pat

Hi Donna Williamt Thresher m Charlotte Dell 18th November 1807 at Shenley Herts There are 4 more Thresher marriages at Shenley in 1853 1854 1858 and 1904 Taken from V.R.I Bren

I have to admit Robin is right. The fun has begun because the harder it gets the more rewarding it is, however in all of the baptisms I have received they simply say ' Wm son of Wm Thresher born to Charlotte Dell' for example I am fortunate that Chris from the Hertfordshire_Geneology site pointed me in the right direction for my village of Shenley, if I didnt know this village then I wouldnt have found half the rellies I have. Believe me I have looked around the graveyards and no headstones for that part of the family ( only one that I havent tied in yet), I have checked Pallotts, and Boyds but nothing for this particular rellie, nothing on IGI/VR/NBI ( I have checked everything I can think of). I have now pinpointed dates for 'death between' via census records and will have to go back and trawl through all the parish records ( as I said its a small village so its not too difficult, I dont reccomend this if you are looking in say Middlesex). Marcia - The census's are the best way to find the brothers and sisters etc, so if you only have 1861/81/91 and 1901 then I suggest you fill in those gaps, its cheaper and quicker than waiting for the birth certs. Will check out that site thanks John and I will report back, however I still dont see how you can 'prove' a relation without it being in black and white??? Keep the comments coming as I know this is a subject lots of us could do with some hints on. Donna

I keep pushing this site on here. I think you will find it very useful. A long read but worth saving. Parish records and Bishops Transcripts are about half way down. It is written bt a well known researcher who writes in 'family magazines'. http://www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html If this does not come through then there is a link on my site, bottom right John http://worldzone.net/family/reddesktop/

Donna Don't forget the Latter Day Saints site - familysearch.org. I've found a lot of births and marriages through the IGI. Admittedly it's a process of elimination, but if you go by the Batch no for the parish/village you should be able to find out quite a lot. Sue

hi donna are rellies before 1837 for their marriage also? at the moment i am having to purchase marriage and birth certificates, just to try to go forward,or back i mean, my last tip given to me was type in rellies name,i.e. john+brown+glasgow and see what happens, i have found two rellies like this, marcie x if you think of anything please let me know

A couple from different parishes could marry in either, but the banns had to be called in both, unless they married by licence, and often there's a record of the banns Some areas are covered by marriage indexes like Boyd's and Pallot's to help find marriages. Or the local FHS might have indexes Sometimes children were christened in the bride's parish Sometimes you can find the bride's name without finding the marriage. It might turn up on a gravestone or a child's baptism record. Or there might be an in-law in the house in a later census you haven't looked at yet This is where the fun starts -- you've no idea where the vital clue's going to turn up!

Well I visited my first records office yesterday, the people are extremely helpful, however it takes a long time searching through the microfilm. Problem is that parish records are literally a long list of events written in various books Baptisms/Burials/Marriages. Fortunately for the Thresher's its a small village so I an search through, but parixh records do not supply info as to who was a witness at the marriage or who the father was etc, so it seems that guess work is the only way. I did manage to find the baptism of the rellie but I really wanted his marriage, however it seesm you had to get married int eh ladies aprish so he may have been married outside and in that case I have little or no hope of finding him!

hi donna same here, not sure how to proceed prior to 1837 marcie x

Is it me or now do I really have to rely on guess work and assumptions? As I am now back to pre 1837, I odnt have parents names on marraige entries so now do I have to rely on guess work?