Talk:England Genealogy

Purpose of Related Countries
I don't like the related countries on the England page.There ought to be a better way to use the real estate to get people into English content and show them some of the cool/hot stuff in the wiki for England.

What is the purpose of the Related Countries. I can only suppose that they used to be, or still are, territories of the English government. Their intent and purpose is confusing to a person. Daudwp 02:28, 7 February 2009 (UTC)


 * I agree, I can't see any point in this list. I also greatly regret the passing of the ability to browse through a list of the subjects for which there are articles. The list of "Topics" is no substitute for it. Anthony Camp.


 * I also agree. I will research who put this up and contact them to see if they object to it being removed (proper Wikiquette). Alan 20:05, 13 February 2009 (UTC)


 * I added the long list of 'related countries', but only to show how ridiculous the concept is! I believe that it is totally unnecessary and pointed this out at an earlier stage of the pages' development. bromaelor 18:31, 15 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Related Countries now deleted.Alan 17:53, 19 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Did the 'Related Countries' issue only appear on the England page? I thought Bromaelor came across it elsewhere. If that is the case it seems that the concept should be removed (at least on the country or US state pages) for other pages as well for some wiki wide design consistency. Daudwp 22:24, 19 February 2009 (UTC)


 * It's also on the Denmark page, but it's not so intrusive there. bromaelor 12:13, 26 February 2009 (UTC)

Raw coding
I've tried to tidy up the raw coding for this page. As most people appear to be using the graphics editor, and relying on tables for everything(!!!), the coding was a complete mess! Avoid the use of tables wherever possible! The "counties" need to be in three columns, as four columns causes an overrun to the right on smaller screens. I've also removed any links to "portals", which I believe are no longer being used on this wiki. Any comments? bromaelor 20:56, 16 February 2009 (UTC)


 * A recent edit to the page resulted in all formatting being lost! Perhaps relying on divisions is not the best way to proceed??? bromaelor 14:18, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

Place names
The general 'consensus' on other wiki's, such as Wikipedia, appears to be that the original place of that name should get priority when naming pages. So a page on the city of Chester in England would simply be called "Chester" while any other Chesters would need further detail e.g. "Chester, Nova Scotia"; "Chester, Ohio"; etc.. So all English county pages should not have the ", England" extension. bromaelor 13:54, 18 February 2009 (UTC)


 * I like this standard. Is there a way to share it with all the registered users? Not everyone who needs to see this will find it here! Daudwp 22:30, 19 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I notice that every English county page has just been moved with the addition of the country name e.g. "Cheshire" is now "Cheshire, England". Who made this decision and where is the discussion page? If this is now FSWiki policy then I expect all pages on the USA to have the country name added also. The rules MUST apply equally to every country!!!! I suggest you read the thread at soc.genealogy.britain to see why so few British researchers are prepared to contribute to FSWiki! Note the phrase "pseudo-folksy American crap exhibiting no cultural sensitivity whatsoever to the rest of the world". I'm beginning to see their point! bromaelor 15:18, 26 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I don't understand why the pages have been renamed either. What is the purpose for changing from Yorkshire to Yorkshire, England. I've not seen any discussion on this page related to Bromaelor's post on 18 February 2009 above that leads me to believe that the users of this site or these pages have made this decision or been involved in this change. How is this a COMMUNITY effort. The fact that the England map was made available for comment before being posted was great. The fact that Monmouthshire was removed from the map before it was loaded to the England page is an excellent illustration that users can be listened to. Where has the community inclusion and discussion been in relation to the other changes? Suggesting changes to the England page and then making those changes in a few hours sends a message that these discussion pages are notice boards in many ways rather than discussion pages. Daudwp 19:53, 26 February 2009 (UTC)
 * I don't like it for the simple fact that 'Cheshire, England' says nothing about this page. Wikipedia is not a how to page like wiki.familysearch. The place names need to be adapted for the need of the wiki and the people who use it. I think clarity should be the goal. The name is for the user. The power of the internet and a wiki is not in the names but in the linking together of subject matter. The subject matter of the Cheshire page is Genealogical Research in Cheshire / A place name in Cheshire is Birkenhead. Is Birkenhead called, (Birkenhead, England; Birkenhead, Cheshire, England) I think it should be Birkenhead Genealogical Research or something down those lines. Maybe (My ancestors lived in Birkenhaed) The linking to the County page and to the country page is what gives it validity and focus. (My ancestors lived in Cheshire) That is a clear descriptive name. Don-J
 * I apologize for not following wikiquette. I can only plead that I am new to wiki and didn't think through the consequences of my action. When the England clickable map was prepared for posting, I saw a need to use a naming convention for county names. I also foresaw future needs for links that could be created to county pages from other applications such as the Family History Library Catalog. What I should have done was post a summary of the issues and ask for suggestions &amp; comments. Being new to wiki concepts, I instead made an arbitrary decision based on incomplete information. Having said that, where does that leave us now? I suggest the solutions are:


 * 1) The page names should follow established conventions. If the name of a county is the original place of that name, then the name does not require the country name. If the name of a county is the same as the name of a city in that county, then the county name should have "shire" on the end of it (e.g., Lincolnshire, Gloucestershire). Where applicable, disambiguation pages may be added to distinguish from other places of the same name.
 * 2) use of a redirect. If this community decides the name of a county page should be the name of a county alone wihtout the ", England" then that's what it should be. If another application needs the name to be "Cornwall, England" then we just place a redirect from "Cornwall, England" to "Cornwall"
 * 3) For a better understanding of redirects, please see Help:Redirects
 * 4) Don's point is a good one. Should our page titles contain something identifying the content as relating to genealogical or family history research? This would help people doing a Google search for Birkenhead to distinguish our wiki from the city's official pages or other things about Birkenhead.
 * Alan 18:02, 6 March 2009 (UTC)

Piping
Why are some editors piping internal links when it is not necessary?


 * Kent

A pipe is only required when the actual name of an article needs to be 'adjusted' to fit into the context of the text where the link appears, e.g. with long-winded article names:


 * This is what I'm going to use here

such as:


 * Christ's Hospital

giving:


 * ... attended Christ's Hospital school ...

I can see no purpose in piping:


 * Kent

where both the link target and link label are the same???

bromaelor 14:15, 18 February 2009 (UTC)

Multi-column lists
I've just discovered that all of the multi-column list I've added to the wiki (e.g. England counties) look perfect when using Mozilla Firefox 3 but appear as one long column when viewed with Internet Explorer 7 and that even the new version of IE8 will not support multiple-column lists. So its back to tables!!! bromaelor 15:11, 19 February 2009 (UTC)

Research guidance and beginner's info
At some point, research guidance will be removed from FamilySearch. It would be best to link to articles within the wiki and not to the content on FamilySearch. Also, the beginner's info takes up way too much space. It should be put into another article and perhaps linked to from the research tools? I'm not an English researcher. Is anyone willing to work on this? Molliewog 17:39, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

Clickable map
I am in the process of creating a clickable map for the main England page. Please look at the following 2 maps and let me know which you like best. Additional suggestions are welcome as well.


 * Image:England image map.png
 * Image:England image map2.png

Molliewog 20:27, 24 February 2009 (UTC)


 * The first problem I see is that Monmouth is included on the map. Monmouth is a county in Wales not England. Is it possible to edit one county out of this map? Daudwp 20:36, 24 February 2009 (UTC)


 * I vote for map 1 with some of the county names spelled out. I like that the map uses the Chapman codes for the abbreviated labels. Daudwp 20:47, 24 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Yes, I can certainly remove it....but its inclusion was intentional. I was asked to include it with the England map due to some uniqueness of the area. I'm not a British researcher, so I don't know the reasoning behind the request. Thoughts? Molliewog 20:50, 24 February 2009 (UTC)


 * A number of research tools clearly identify which country Monmouth is and was located in. 1. If we use the series titled National Index of Parish Registers as a guide then Monmouth fits in Wales not England (according to the English and Welsh authors and publishers). 2. The reference book Nonconformist Registers of Wales also includes Monmouth as a Welsh county. 3. The book, Welsh Family History A Guide to Research has a map of the counties in Wales which includes Monmouth. 4. The Family History Library publication, Research Outline Wales 3rd edition August 1999 shows that Monmouth was one of the Pre-1974 counties of Wales. 5. The Chapman County Codes group Monmouthshire with Wales The uniqueness of the area has nothing to do with which country the county is in. Daudwp 21:17, 24 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Monmouthshire is most definitely in Wales and always has been! There have been some petty arguments put forward by 'land-grabbers' from across the border in the past but none have serious credibility! England has as much claim to Monmouthshire as it has to Massachusetts! bromaelor 14:19, 25 February 2009 (UTC)


 * I think it would be better to be consistent and have either every county with its full name, or every county with its Chapman Code? However, I don't believe the first option is possible on this size map. The software allows a "rollover" label, so why not have Chapman Codes on the map and full county names on the rollover? bromaelor 12:20, 26 February 2009 (UTC)

Sounds good. I'll pull Monmouth out. I also need to make Isle of Wight part of Hampshire. Yes, the full name of the county will be available when you hover over the area of the map. If I make the England map small enough to fit on the main England page, some county names will not fit. I have seen some maps that will use full county names even though they do not fit within the county boundaries. To me, these look quite messy. I'll see what I can come up with today. I know that what I may post today may not be the final product, but we really want to get something up in time for the conference tomorrow. Molliewog 15:48, 26 February 2009 (UTC)

Even though this page is not part o Wales I think that area should be shown on the map so one can see if Wales may be relevant to their search.

USA-centric?
The entire text in the "Beginners' Corner" appears to assume that researchers are only interested in ancestors who emigrated from England at some point? Why should this assumption be made when the vast majority of English people remained in England for their entire life? Or is this section just aimed at Americans? bromaelor 15:27, 25 February 2009 (UTC)


 * I personally think this whole section needs to be completely re-written. It wastes too much space. Maybe the whole section should be removed and a link to a page on beginning England research be added under the research tools heading? Maybe we need 2 beginning articles; one for American based research, and one for those in England, etc.? Molliewog 15:32, 26 February 2009 (UTC)

Revising top of page
It has been suggested to me that the top of the England page would benefit from the following changes:


 * Get rid of the picture of Cambridge.
 * Add the Table of Contents box
 * Below it, add the clickable map and then the county list.
 * Move all the other stuff below that and get to it through the table of contents.
 * get rid of the text that lists the four record types because they are listed in the key topics spot anyway on the left.

Unless anyone has objections, these changes will be implemented today in preparation for the conference. Molliewog 15:59, 26 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Having a clickable map and a county list to click on seems redundant and a waste of prime real estate on the country page. Since the county names are on the map or appear when hovering over the small portions of the map why don't we delete the county list and move the other content up. Daudwp 19:57, 26 February 2009 (UTC)


 * Fine by me. Anyone else care? Molliewog 20:06, 26 February 2009 (UTC)


 * There are still many geographically-challenged individuals from outside England who can't find their county of interest on the map, or don't know the Chapman codes. They are too embarrassed to post, admitting their shortfall, but have emailed me to ask the county list be reinstated. Since the other topics are below the first screen anyway, I don't think it will hurt to put it back. Alan 18:13, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Beginner's Corner changes
The paragraphs about the types of records to search were good but I think that a person new to genealogy would find them confusing. In keeping with the idea that the section is for beginners, I reduced the text to what you see. Anne 22:57, 27 February 2009 (UTC)


 * If we want the Wiki to be helpful to beginners, I think 'how to get started' or 'for beginners' types of information should appear prominantly on every page. I think the Beginners section of this page should go to the top. Please give your opinion.  Bakerbh 18:39, 18 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Is this wiki intended as a tool for beginners? I would like to know the current thinking/direction on this before making many changes based on what we think may be helpful to beginners. Has a survey been done of the visitors to the England page or the registered users of the wiki? Daudwp 19:19, 18 June 2009 (UTC)


 * Moving the Research Tools to the top is not what I expected after reading the message with the idea for moving the Beginner's section to the top. Why the major change without allowing for discussion? I prefer the beginner's material at the top rather than the "Research Tools". Does the community have any say in what happens on this wiki or is that just a concept that applies to Wikipedia? Daudwp 19:31, 18 June 2009 (UTC)


 * If your ancestor lived in England between 1837 and 1901, the following steps will help you find the records of his or her family. These instructions will show you which records to search, what to look for, and what tools to use. One piece of information will lead to another until you have identified each family member and filled out a family group record. ENGLAND 1837 to 1901 2 England The Research Process Overview Follow these steps to find all members of the family (parents and children) of your ancestor who lived in England between 1837 and 1901. 1. Find information about your ancestor’s birth from: A. His or her birth certificate in civil registration records. (Civil registration records contain information on births, marriages, and deaths recorded by the government.) B. His or her christening record in church records. 2. Find your ancestor’s parents, brothers, and sisters in census records. 3. Find birth information for your ancestor's brothers and sisters from: A. Birth certificates in civil registration records. B. Christening records in church records. 4. Find the marriage certificate for your ancestor’s parents in civil registration records. How to use this booklet: • The Research Process: To see how the process works, review the example on pages 4–12. • Finding Places: To learn more about place-names in England, see pages 14–16. • Records: As you follow each step of the research process, go to pages 17–28 to learn about the record you are searching. • Additional Helps: For more information about researching English records, see pages 29–31. When you have found all members of a family, use the process to find another family. Search for the husband’s or wife’s parents and siblings. England 3 Before beginning your research, it is important that you gather all the family information you can about your ancestor. You may find this information in your home, in your parents’ home, and from any other living family members. Also check the Internet to see if others have researched your English family. Here are some Web sites to start with: • FamilySearch (www.familysearch.org) is the official family history Internet site of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Access to information on this site is free. • RootsWeb (www.rootsweb.com) is a free site. Click Family Trees to search for your ancestor’s name. • Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com) is the largest commercial family history site. Access to the Ancestry World Tree is free, but a fee is required to access other information on the site. • OneGreatFamily (www.onegreatfamily.com) charges for most of its services. • Genes Reunited (www.genesreunited.com) is a family history site in the United Kingdom. A fee is required to view detailed information. Record the information you find on family group records and a pedigree chart or in a family history software program. For example, you can download Personal Ancestral File 5.2 without cost from www.familysearch.org. From your pedigree chart, choose an ancestor who lived in England between 1837 and 1901. You must know at least the approximate date and place of the birth, christening, marriage, or death of your ancestor. It is helpful to know the name of your ancestor’s husband or wife. The Research Process How to Begin 4 England The Research Process Example Example: John Thomas Williams, born on Jan. 21, 1862, in Cradley, Hereford, England. The registration district is Bromyard. Your ancestor:_____________, born on _________________, in ___________, __________, England. The registration district is _______________________. name birth date parish county district • If you don’t know your ancestor’s birth, christening, marriage, or death information, start with a more recent generation. You will learn how to do research, and you will probably discover something you didn’t know about your family. • From what you already have about your own family, choose an ancestor who was born in England between 1837 and 1901. • It is important to know the registration district of a place in order to search government records. You can find the registration district that a parish is in by going to http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/genuki/ places/index.htm. Once you know the registration district name, you can better identify the entry you want in the indexes. Be aware, however, that people may be registered in a different district than the one they were living in. Perhaps they were registered in a neighboring district. Tips The following pages walk you through the research process, using as an example the steps Ann takes to find the family of her ancestor John Thomas Williams. Follow these same steps to find your ancestor’s family. Ann's beginning pedigree chart Ann begins a family group record with John Thomas Williams listed as a child John Thomas Williams 21 Jan 1862 Cradley, Hereford, England Ann Williams John Thomas Williams George Malin Williams John Thomas Williams 28 Dec 1916 SLC, UTAH 11 Sep 1891 SLC, UTAH 21 Jan 1862 Cradley, Hereford, England England 5 1. Find information about your ancestor’s birth. CIVIL REGISTRATION (See pages 17–19.) A. On the Internet, Ann goes to www.freebmd.org.uk, a site that indexes births, marriages, and deaths for England from 1837 up to about 1925. She fills in the search boxes, clicks Find, reads through the search results, and finds her ancestor, who was born in the Bromyard District. (Note: Births in January, February, and March are listed under March in this index; see page 17.) B. Using the information found in the index, Ann orders the certificate from the General Register Office online at: http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/Login.asp. (For more information on ordering certificates, see “Archives and Libraries” on page 29.) Index entry from the Index to the Civil Registrations of Birth at www.freebmd.org.uk. 1862 birth certificate for John Thomas Williams, from the General Register Office, England Where born Name Sex Parents’ names The Research Process Example C. When the certificate arrives, Ann adds the birth information from the certificate for John Thomas Williams to her records. She also adds the source information so that anyone looking at her information will know where it came from. 6 England Address Name Age Occupation Where born Address Name Age Occupation Where Born 1871 census image from Cradley, Hereford, England, of the Williams family from Ancestry.com 1861 census image from Cradley, Hereford, England, of the Williams family from Ancestry.com The reSearch Process Example Churc h recor ds (See pages 22–23.) A. If Ann couldn’t find John Thomas Williams’s birth certificate in civil registration records, she could have searched for his christening record in church records. To learn how to do this, see step 3 on pages 8–10. 2. Find your ancestor’s parents, brothers, and sisters in census records. (See “Census” on pages 20–21.) A. Ann now wants to find John Thomas Williams on the census to find out more information about his parents, brothers, and sisters. The first available census after John Thomas Williams’s birth in 1862 is the 1871 census. Ann knows that there are census indexes available on several sites on the Internet. She chooses to use www.ancestry.com. She finds John T. Williams in the parish of Cradley, listed with his parents and an older sister, Sarah Ann. The census provides ages and places of birth for the family members. B. Ann wants to find other brothers and sisters for John Thomas, so she does another search at www.ancestry.com, this time in the 1861 census, which was the census just before John Thomas Williams was born. Since John Thomas will not be in the 1861 census, Ann searches for his father, John Williams, and again finds the family in Cradley. The 1861 census lists five more siblings, Eliza, Emma, Elizabeth, James, and Harriet. Because the family immigrated in 1880, Ann does not look at later census’s. England 7 Address Name Age Occupation Where Born 1851 census image from Cradley, Hereford, England, of the Williams family from Ancestry.com The reSearch Process Example C. Ann searches the 1851 census to find additional family members and again searches in www.ancestry.com to locate the family. She finds two more siblings for John Thomas Williams: Elivina and George. D. Ann records the information she found, including the source information. E. Ann estimates an approximate birth year for each of the 11 family members by subtracting the age of the person from the year of the census. 8 England The Research Process Example 3. Find birth information for your ancestor’s brothers and sisters. CIVIL REGISTRATION (See pages 17–19.) A. On the Internet, Ann goes to www.freebmd.org.uk to search for birth certificates for John Thomas’s brothers and sisters. To learn how to do this, see step 1 on pages 5–6. Churc h recor ds (See pages 22–23.) A. The census provided approximate birth years for each of the children. With an estimated birth year (1857) and a stated birthplace (Cradley), Ann can go to the parish registers of Cradley and look for a christening record of Elizabeth, John Thomas Williams’s sister. B. Ann first searches for an index to the christening records of Cradley. She begins by searching the International Genealogical Index on the Internet at www.familysearch.org. She finds Elizabeth Williams, daughter of John Williams and Ann, christened 3 Nov 1857 in Cradley, Hereford, England. She looks at the source and finds that the entry was extracted from a microfilm copy of the parish registers of Cradley. She visits a family history center near her home and orders in the microfilm so that she can see the actual entry to verify that the information was extracted correctly and to obtain any additional information that might be found in the entry. When baptized Name Parents Abode (residence) Occupation By whom Cradley Parish registers—christening of Elizabeth Williams England 9 The Research Process Example C. If Ann had not found the right entry in the International Genealogical Index, she could have done one or more of the tasks listed below to find the christening of Elizabeth: • Visit the family history center near her home and use the CD, Vital Records Index—British Isles (2nd Edition). Ann does a search for births or christenings by entering the surname Williams and then the time period and the place Cradley, H ereford using data she found on the census. She adds John Williams in the father field and Ann in the mother field, and then clicks the Search button. She finds four children of this family, Emma, Elizabeth, Sarah Ann, and John Thomas. Ann makes a copy of the results list from the British Vital Records Index • Look on the Internet using a search engine. She looks for search terms such as “index Cradley christenings,” “Herefordshire index parish registers,” “Herefordshire christenings index,” or “Cradley parish registers.” • Look in the Family History Library Catalog under the parish and the subject Church records. Ann does a Place Search in the Family History Library Catalog for Cradley. She finds that Cradley in Hereford in the Catalog is listed as East or West Cradley. She looks under East or West Cradley for the topic Church Records. She finds the microfilm number for the parish registers. She orders the microfilm to her family history center. British Vital Records Index results for children of John and Ann Williams 10 England The Research Process Example D. If parish registers are not available, Bishops’ Transcripts might be available. Bishops’ Transcripts are copies of parish registers. E. Ann now wants to find the other children in parish registers. Two of the children are listed on the census as born in Linton. Ann cannot find a parish named Linton, so she looks in a gazetteer and finds that Linton is a small place within the parish of Bromyard. One of the children is listed as being born in Bromyard. Ann looks at a map of Herefordshire parishes and sees that Bromyard and Cradley border each other. Ann uses the same process to find children christened in Bromyard as she did to find children christened in Cradley. She finds the christenings of Eliza, Elvina (which was spelled “Elivina” on the census), and George in Bromyard Parish. F. Ann records the information from the christening records for the children found in the church records and adds the source for the information. England 11 The Research Process Example 4. Find the marriage record of your ancestor’s parents in church records (see “Church Records: Marriage” on pages 24–25) or in civil registration records (see “Civil Registration: Marriage” on pages 26–28). A. Ann tries searching the International Genealogical Index (IGI) at www.familysearch.org to find marriage information for the parents of John Thomas Williams. Ann finds the marriage for John Williams and Ann Pugh on 20 December 1840 at Bromyard, Hereford. B. The source microfilm number is listed on the IGI as 992640. Ann looks up the marriage on the microfilm. Marriage record of John Williams and Ann Pugh IGI entry—marriage of John Williams and Ann Pugh C. Ann records information she obtained from the marriage record, and she records the source information. 12 England The Research Process Example D. If Ann had not found the marriage in the International Genealogical Index, she could have searched the marriage records in the parish registers of Bromyard, where the first child was born, to find the marriage of John Williams and Ann Pugh. If she did not find the marriage in the parish registers, she could then search the index to the government records of marriages (see “Civil Registration: Marriage” on pages 26–28.). E. Ann now has the information she needs for this family. For information on submitting names for temple ordinances, see A Member’s Guide to Temple and Family History Work (34697). REPEAT STEPS 1 THROUGH 4 TO FIND ANOTHER FAMILY. Look for the families of each of your ancestor’s parents. Start with the birth record of one of the parents, and then search for their siblings and parents. England 13 The Research Process Summary Finding an English Family, 1837–1901 1. Find information about your ancestor’s birth in civil registration records or church christening (baptism) records. • This verifies what you know. • Write down what you find, and record your source information. 2. Find your ancestor’s parents, brothers, and sisters in census records. • Look for the first census following your ancestor’s birth. Check the census for the place where your ancestor was born. • Look in earlier and later censuses to see if there are other children. • Write down names, ages, birthplaces, and so on. • Estimate birth years from the ages. • Write down what you find, and record your source information. 3. Find birth information for your ancestor’s brothers and sisters in civil registration records or church christening records. • Use places and estimated birth years from the census. • Write down what you find, and record your source information. 4. Find the marriage record of your ancestor's parents in church records or civil registration records. • Look for records of marriages in the parish where the oldest child was born. • Start with the date of the first child's birth, and search backward and forward until you find the marriage. • Write down what you find, and record your source information. Then follow the same steps to find a parent’s family. What’s Next Follow the same steps to look for the families of each of your ancestor’s parents. If you cannot find your ancestor using this research process, contact FamilySearch Support for research help at: fhl@familysearch.org 14 England In order to find records about your family, you need to know the names of the parish and county they lived in. It is also helpful to know the registration district. The following is an explanation of the jurisdictions you need to know in order to research your family. Place Levels (Jurisdictions) Places are usually listed from smallest to largest on family group records. Registration districts are not usually listed. Ridgeway, Cradley, Herefordshire, England (Village) (Parish) (County) (Country) Village A village is a small settlement within a parish. Parish A parish is the geographical area (jurisdiction) where an Anglican (Church of England) minister served. The parish is usually named for the place where the Church of England church was built. To find the parish for a town or village, look in a gazetteer. Online gazetteers can be found at: 1. http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/descriptions/ index.jsp 2. http://content.ancestry.com/iexec/?htx=List&amp; dbid=7254&amp;offerid=0%3a679%3a0 If you don’t find your ancestor’s records in one parish, look in nearby or other likely parishes. To find nearby parishes, use the Parish Locator at http://web.onetel.net.uk/~gdlawson/parfind.htm. District Each county in England is divided into many districts. A district may have several parishes in it, or a very large parish may be divided into several districts. Knowing the registration district that covers your ancestor’s parish will help you search the government records of birth, marriage, and death (known as civil registration). To determine the name of the registration district for a parish, go to http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/ eng/civreg/places/. Finding Places Map of Cradley Parish Cradley Map of Herefordshire with districts; Bromyard District is highlighted England 15 Finding Places Map of west midland counties of England with Herefordshire highlighted County England is divided into many counties. (Some records are found under the county, including some church records.) When typing the locality place-name into your family history software program: • List the places from smallest to largest: parish, county, country. • If you wish to list the village or hamlet, place it before the parish. • The district is not usually recorded. Tips 16 England Finding Places Using the Family H istory Library Catalog Use the online Family History Library Catalog to find any record available from the Family History Library. The Catalog will give you the call numbers you need to obtain the records. The Catalog is available at www.familysearch.org. To use the Catalog, on the home page of FamilySearch.org: 1. Click Family History Library Catalog. 2. Click Place Search. You will see “Place” and “Part of (optional).” 3. For the Place, type: the name of the parish 4. For Part of, type: England 5. Click on Search. 6. A list of places will appear. Look for the place you need, and click on it. 7. From the list of topics that appear, click on the topic you need, such as Church Records. 8. From the titles that appear, click on the title you want, such as Parish Registers. 9. This screen will describe the record, including the book number if the record is a book. If you need the microfilm or microfiche number, click View Film Notes near the top of the page. 10. Locate the film number you need in the list of numbers. Use the Place Search to find England civil registration indexes, censuses, and church records. To find England civil registration indexes, search by country. To find England census and church records, search by parish or by county. If no matches are found when you type in the place, do a search for the larger place, such as a county. After selecting it from the list of results, click View Related Places. Browse this alphabetical list to see if you can locate your place. • Look for spelling variations of the place-name. • Type the name of the parish, not the village. To find which parish a smaller place is located in, visit: http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/descriptions/ index.jsp. • Look for variations in the name of the parish. • The Family History Library may not have records for the place you need. Tips England 17 civil registrat ion: birt h Indexes If you cannot locate an entry in the indexes for your ancestor, consider the following reasons: • Surnames are often found under unexpected spellings. • Events are filed by the date registered, not the date they occurred, so search a wide range of years. • Indexes were prepared by hand and may contain copying errors or omissions. • A person may have been registered under a different name than he or she used at other times in his or her life. • Family information is often misleading. • Persons with common names may be difficult to identify in the index. • A child born before the parents’ marriage may be registered under the mother’s maiden name. • Some children were registered as “male” or “female” if a given name had not been selected before registration, such as Female Buckley. • Civil registration records are indexed separately for births, marriages, and deaths. The indexes are organized by year, then by quarter of the year, then by name. The first quarter includes January, February, and March. The second quarter includes April, May, and June. The third quarter includes July, August, and September. The fourth quarter includes October, November, and December. Quarters are listed by the last month of the quarter. For example, the record of a birth in May would appear in the index under June. • Records are found in the year and quarter when the event was registered and not necessarily when it took place. Use Birth Indexes To: Tips • Find the reference numbers to order a birth certificate from England. • Verify an approximate birth date. • Verify the district where a birth was recorded. Content • Year and quarter of registration • Name • District • Volume • Page • Mother’s maiden name (given in birth indexes after June 1911) Online Indexes To search online indexes of the Civil Registration records of births, use one of these Web sites: • www.freebmd.org.uk (no charge) • www.findmypast.com (fee required) • www.ancestry.co.uk (fee required) • www.bmdindex.co.uk (fee required) • www.ukbmd.co.uk (indexes to local superintendent records; no charge) • www.familyrelatives.com (fee required) • http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/ certificates/Login.asp (General Register Office Web site, where you can register and pay by credit card to have a five-year index search conducted to find a birth entry; if the certificate is found, a copy can be mailed for a fee) Name District Volume Page Index of birth record of John Thomas Williams, March quarter of 1862 18 England Civil Registrat ion: Birt h 1837 to the Present Use Civil Registration Birth Records To: • Find birth information for most people who were born in England after July 1, 1837. • Verify the birthplace of an ancestor. • Establish a time and place of a family’s residence. • Learn a mother’s maiden name. Content • Birth date • Birthplace • Child’s name • Parents’ names, including mother’s maiden name • Father’s occupation • Residence • Informant (person present at the birth who reported it to the registrar), possibly the informant’s relationship to the child, and the informant’s address • Date the birth was registered • Births are recorded in the year and quarter of registration, not necessarily by date of birth. • It is helpful to know the district. (See “Finding Places” on pages 14–16.) • If you are searching for a common name or do not find your ancestor’s name in the general index, you can write to the local Superintendent Registrar to obtain a certificate. (See “Records Obtained From” on page 19.) Tips England 19 Civil Registrat ion: Birt h 1837 to the Present Searching Birth Records (Civil Registration) Before searching, you must know: • Your ancestor's name. • A possible parish and county of birth. • An approximate birth date. The reference from the index is also helpful (see page 17). Records Obtained From: • General Register Office. (See “Archives and Libraries,” page 29.) Order online at http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificate/index.asp#0. • The local superintendent registrar. Addresses are available at www.genuki.org.uk. Click on England, then the county and then the subject Civil Registration. • www.ukbmd.co.uk. Click on the county. 1862 birth certificate for John Thomas Williams, from the General Register Office, England Where born Name Sex Parents’ names 20 England Census Indexes 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901 Use Census Indexes To: • Quickly find your ancestor in a census. Online Indexes Name indexes exist on the Internet for every census from 1841 to 1901. The following Web sites have indexes: • www.ancestry.co.uk (for the 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, and 1901 censuses; fee required) • www.englishorigins.com (for the 1841 and 1871 censuses; fee required) • www.findmypast.com (for the 1841, 1861, 1871, and 1891 censuses; fee required) • www.thegenealogist.co.uk (for the 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1891, and 1901 censuses; fee required) • http://213.161.80.228/ (for the 1901 census; fee required) • www.familysearch.org (for the 1881 census; no charge) • www.census-online.com/links/England (links for many online census records) • www.freecen.org.uk (free database of online census transcriptions) You can also use a search engine such as Google to look for a census index for a particular place. (For example: Bishop’s Cleeve 1851 Census Index.) • Check for variant spellings of the surname. • If you can’t find your ancestor’s full name in an index, search using only the given name and other identifying information, such as age and place. Or search for only a surname with the other identifying information. • Indexes can have errors and omissions, which will affect what results appear for a search. • Read the information provided about the index before searching so that you will better understand what is indexed and how to search it. Tips Searching Census Indexes Before searching, you must know: • Your ancestor’s name. • An approximate age for your ancestor. It can also be helpful to know: • Where your ancestor lived at the time of the census. • Names of other family members. England 21 Census 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, 1901 Use Census Records To: • Find family members and members of the household. • Learn the names, ages, and birthplaces of brothers, sisters, parents, grandparents, and others living in the household. • Establish a time and place of a family’s residence. • Identify a person’s occupation. Content • Names • Ages • Residence • Occupations Beginning with 1851, census records also show: • Exact ages. • Marital status. • Relationship of household members to the head of household. • Birthplaces. • Use indexes when available. (See “Census Indexes” on page 20.) • Ages in the 1841 census were rounded down to the next lower 5 years for anyone 16 years of age or older. For example, a 19-year-old would be listed as 15 years old. • The census does not list children who were born and died between censuses. • The census does not list family members who were away from home when the census was taken. • Relationships to the head of household usually apply only to the head of household. You may find a relationship that is to someone who is not a head of the household. Tips Searching Census Records Before searching, you must know: • Your ancestor’s name. Knowing the parish and county where your ancestor lived and the time he or she lived there is helpful. Internet images or transcripts of census records are available at: • www.ancestry.co.uk (1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891, and 1901 indexes and images; fee required) • www.englishorigins.com (1841, 1861, and 1871 [partial] indexes and images; fee required) • www.findmypast.com (1841, 1861, 1871, and 1891 indexes and images; fee required) • www.1901censusonline.com (1901 index and images; fee required) • http://thegenealogist.co.uk (1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1891, and 1901 transcription and images; no charge) • www.familysearch.org (1881; no charge) 22 England Church Records: christening 1538 to the Present Use Christening (Baptism) Records To: • Find christening information for the majority of the people who were born in England. • Verify your ancestor’s christening date and place. • Establish a time and place of a family's residence. • Verify parents’ names. Content • Child's name • Parents' names, and in some time periods, occupation and residence • Christening date • Birth date (on some records) • Residence and father’s occupation (on some records) Indexes International Genealogical Index (IGI) The International Genealogical Index includes many christenings extracted from Church of England (and other) registers. Not all church records are included in the IGI. This index is available on the Internet at www.familysearch.org. Vital Recor ds Index—Britis h Isles 2nd Edition (50126) The Vital Records Index—British Isles includes many christenings extracted from Church of England (and other) registers that were not included in the IGI. It is available on compact disc and can be purchased for use at home (See “How to Order Family History Library Publications,” page 29.) It is also available at the Family History Library and family history centers. Internet Searc h engines Numerous Web sites contain indexes to church records in England. Online data may be found by using a search engine such as Google. • In this publication, the term church records refers to records of the Church of England. Records for other churches do exist and can be used. You should know the denomination your ancestor belonged to. • The christening date can be used as an approximate birth date if the birth took place before 1837, because children were usually christened within a few weeks of birth. • When searching christening (baptism) records, look a few years before the time you think the actual birth or christening took place, and continue for several years after the actual birth. Some people were not christened as children, but as adults. • If you don’t find your ancestor’s birth (christening) record in one parish, look in nearby parishes. (See “Finding Places” on pages 14–16.) • Copies of parish registers (the original record), known as Bishops’ Transcripts, and in some counties, Archdeacons’ Transcripts exist from about 1598 to about 1875. These transcripts can be searched if the parish registers are not available or if the parish registers are unreadable. Be aware that the information given for a particular entry can vary between parish registers, Bishops’ Transcripts, and Archdeacons’ Transcripts. • If you don’t find the christening in Church of England registers, look at the records of other churches. (See Research Outline: England [34037] “Nonconformist Church Records.”) Tips England 23 Church Records: christening 1538 to the Present Searching Christening Records Before searching, you must know: • Your ancestor’s name. • The parish and county of birth or residence. • An approximate birth date. You can locate records by using the following: • The Family History Library and family history centers • County record offices or diocesan record offices • Parish indexes To find christening records in the Family History Library, use the Family History Library Catalog: Place searc h: Place [name of parish] Part of [county] Topics to choose: Church records or Church records–Indexes From the titles of the church records listed, choose parish registers or Bishops’ Transcripts. Search the record by: • Date (day, month, year). • Child’s name. When baptized Name Parents Abode (residence) Occupation By whom Cradley Parish registers—christening of Elizabeth Williams 24 England Church records: Marriage 1538 to the Present Use Marriage Records to Find: • The maiden name of the bride. • The couple’s marriage date and place. • The bride’s and groom’s fathers’ names and occupations. • Ages of the bride and groom. Content • Marriage date. • Groom's name and sometimes age, occupation, and residence. • Bride's name and sometimes age, occupation, and residence. • Marital status of the bride and groom (on some records). After 1754 you may also find: • Names of witnesses, who may be family members. • Residence of the bride and groom at the time of marriage. After 1837 you may also find: • Names of the fathers of the bride and groom. • Occupations of the fathers of the bride and groom. • Look for an index of marriages covering the area where you think the marriage might have taken place before looking at the actual records. • Between 1754 and 1837, marriages were required to be performed in the Church of England, unless the participants were Jewish or Quakers. Marriages after 1837 could be performed in the registrar’s office or in a church other than the Church of England. • To find a marriage record, first look in the parish where the first child was born. Then look in the parish(es) where the parents were born (starting with the mother’s parish), and then in nearby parishes. • If you don’t find a marriage in the parish registers after 1837, search the marriage indexes of civil registration. (See “Civil Registration: Marriage” on pages 26–28.) • Marriages recorded in parish records after 1754 are listed in separate books from the christenings and burials. Tips England 25 Church Records: Marriage 1538 to the Present Searching Church Marriage Records Before searching, you must know: • The name of the bride or the name of the groom. • The approximate date of marriage or the birth date of the first child. • The parish of residence of the bride or groom or the parish of birth of the first child. You can locate records by using the following: • Family History Library and family history centers • County record offices and diocesan record offices • Parish indexes To find records of marriages in the Family History Library, use the Family History Library Catalog: Place searc h: Place [name of parish] Part of [county] Topics to choose: Church Records or Church Records—Indexes From the list of titles under Church Records, choose parish registers or Bishops’ Transcripts. Search the record by: • Date (day, month, year). • The couple’s names. Marriage record of John Williams and Ann Pugh 26 England civil registrat ion: Marriage Indexes Use Marriage Indexes To: • Find the reference numbers for a marriage, so that the certificate can be obtained from England. • Verify an approximate marriage date. • Verify a district where a marriage was recorded. Content • Name • District • Volume • Page • Spouse’s surname (in marriage indexes after 1911) If the marriage can’t be found in civil registration, you can try church records (See “Church Records: Marriage,” pages 24–25.) • Civil registration records are indexed separately for births, marriages, and deaths. The indexes are organized by year, then by quarter of the year, then by name. The first quarter includes January, February, and March. The second quarter includes April, May, and June. The third quarter includes July, August, and September. The fourth quarter includes October, November, and December. Quarters are listed by the last month of the quarter. For example, the record of a marriage in May would appear in the index under June. • Records are found in the year and quarter when the event was registered and not necessarily when it took place. • It is helpful to know the district (See “Finding Places” on pages 14–16.) • If you cannot locate an entry in the indexes for your ancestor, consider the following reasons: - Surnames are often found under unexpected spellings. - Events are filed by the date registered, not the date they occurred, so search a wide range of years. - Indexes were prepared by hand and may contain copying errors or omissions. - A person may have been registered under a different name than he or she used at other times in his or her life. - Family information is often misleading. - Persons with common names may be difficult to identify in the index. • If you find names of both the bride and the groom in the marriage indexes with the same quarter, district, volume, and page, you have probably found the right marriage. • A bride could be listed on the marriage record with her maiden name or a previously married name. Tips England 27 Civil Registrat ion: Marriage Indexes Online Indexes To search the online indexes to the Civil Registration records of marriages, use one of these Web sites: • www.freebmd.org.uk (no charge) • www.findmypast.com (fee required) • www.ancestry.co.uk (fee required) • www.bmdindex.co.uk (fee required) • http://www.genesreunited.com (fee required) • www.familyrelatives.com (fee required) • http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/ certificates/Login.asp (General Register Office Web site, where you can register and pay by credit card to have a five-year index search conducted to find a marriage entry; if the certificate is found, a copy can be mailed for a fee) Civil registration marriage record for John Williams and Ann Pugh 28 England Civil Registrat ion: Marriage 1837 to the Present Use Civil Registration Marriage Records To: • Find marriage information for virtually every person who was married in England after July 1, 1837. • Verify the marriage place of an ancestor. • Establish a time and place of a family’s residence. • Learn the names of the bride’s father and the groom’s father. • Verify the ages of a bride and groom. • Find out the religious denomination of a bride and groom, if they married in a church. Content • Names of the bride and groom. • Residences of the bride and groom. • Marital status of the bride and groom (single, widowed, or divorced). • Occupations of the bride and groom. • Ages of the bride and groom. • Names and occupations of the fathers of the bride and groom. • Date of marriage. • Marriage place, including the name of the church, if the marriage took place in a church. • If you know the name of the bride and the groom, you may be able to find the marriage without knowing a place. • When a marriage records says “21” or “of full age” as the age of the bride and groom, it may mean that they are 21 or older than 21. Tips Searching Marriage Records (Civil Registration) Before searching, you must know: • The name of the bride or groom. • A possible parish and county of marriage. • An approximate marriage date. Records obtained from: • General Register Office. (See “Archives and Libraries,” page 29.) Order online at http://www .gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificate/index.asp#0. • The local Superintendent Registrar. Addresses are available at www.genuki.org.uk by county and then by subject under “Civil Registration.” England 29 Additional Helps Time Line 1538 Parishes began keeping registers. 1598 Parish ministers were required to make a copy of their register each year and send it to the bishop. These records are called Bishops’ or Archdeacons’ Transcripts. 1752 The calendar changed from beginning the year on March 25 to beginning the year on January 1. 1754 A law was passed requiring marriages to be performed in the Church of England except for Jews or Quakers. Marriages from this date were recorded in separate books. 1801 The first national census was taken in England. However, it did not contain names or any other genealogical information. 1812 Christenings and burials were recorded in printed registers. 1837 The government began recording births, marriages, and deaths. 1841 The first national census was taken that had names and genealogical information. 1851 Parish or place of birth and relationship to head of household were recorded in census records from this date on. 1901 The most recent national census that has been released for public use was taken. More about English Research Research Outline: England (34037) describes other records that can be used in the research process to find out more about your family. Herber, Mark. Ancestral Trails: The Complete Guide to British Genealogy and Family History. Stroud, England: Sutton Publishing LTD., in association with the Society of Genealogists, 1998. (FHL book 942 D27hm). Rogers, Colin D. Tracing Your English Ancestors. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1989. (FHL book 942 D27r 1989). Saul, Pauline. The Family Historian’s Enquire Within. Birmingham, England: Federation of Family History Societies (Publications) Ltd., 1995. (FHL book 942 D27mf 1995). Genuki www.genuki.org.uk Arc hives an d Libraries Family History Centers www.familysearch.org Phone: 1-800-346-6044 (toll free in the United States and Canada) Family History Library 35 N. West Temple Street Salt Lake City, UT 84150-3440 www.familysearch.org General Register Office P.O. Box 2 Southport, Merseyside PR8 2JD England Phone: From U.S. 011-44-870-243-7788 Fax: From U.S. 011-44-1704-550013 Web site: www.gro.gov.uk National Archives Ruskin Avenue, Kew Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU England Web site: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk County Archives and Local Superintendent Registrar See the Web site www.genuki.org.uk. Look for the individual county, and then Archives and Libraries or Civil Registration. How to Order Family H istory Library Publications Go to www.familysearch.org. Under the heading “Get Started with Family History,” click guides. When the new page comes up, click Sorted by Place, click the letter E, and look for the publications that pertain to England in the list that appears. You can view these publications on the screen or print them. Or you can order a copy of a publication by clicking the product number on the right and then clicking the Quick Order tab at the top of the page. 30 England Additional Helps England 31 Additional Helps 32 England Index Index additional helps Ancestry.com (Web site) archives baptism (christening) records . . . . . . birth indexes . birth records Bishops’ Transcripts . British Isles Vital Records Index census records . census indexes christening records . church records christening . marriage . civil registration records . birth certificates . marriage certificates . counties districts England, maps of . family group record . family history centers Family History Library Catalog . . . . FamilySearch . FamilySearch Support . General Register Office . Genes Reunited (Web site) how to begin . indexes . International Genealogical Index maps of England marriage indexes marriage records One Great Family (Web site) parishes pedigree chart . Personal Ancestral File place search . publications . research process step 1 . step 2 . step 3 . step 4 . registration district . RootsWeb (Web site) search engines . summary of research process . time line . villages . Vital Records Index 29–31 3 29 22–23 17 18–19 10, 22 9, 22 6–7, 21 20 8, 22–23 22–25 8, 22–23 11, 24–25 17–19, 26–28 5, 17–19 11, 26–28 15 14 14–15 4, 30–31 29 9–10, 16 3 13 29 3 3 17, 20, 22, 26–27 11, 22 14–15 26–27 24–28 3 14 4 3 16, 23, 25 29 2–13 5–6 6–7 8–10 11–12 4, 14 3 9, 22 13 29 14 9, 22 © 2008 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA. A FamilySearch publication FamilySearch is a trademark of Intellectual Reserve, Inc. and is registered in the United States of America and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. This document may be copied and downloaded for incidental noncommercial church or your own personal use. For permission for other uses, please send requests to:
 * FINDING RECORDS OF YOUR ANCESTORS
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 * This info needs to be integrated into Wiki.