09 Oct 07
Posted in Getting Started at 10:54 pm by yourgene
Twenty or so years ago, my Mother would go to the local Central Library to search for the births, marriages and deaths of her ancestors. This involved searching a microfiche copy of the index by surname, within quarter, within year. So for example, if she was searching for the birth of John Louis Rigby, born in the Liverpool are in approximately 1870, she would have to search the following quarters,
Mar 1870
Jun 1870
Sep 1870
Dec 1870
Add a couple of quarters either side and that’s 6 pages to be searched. Make the surname more common, such as Thomas and the number of pages can be doubled.
For marriages, the index is even more difficult to search. John Louis married someone called Ann Elizabeth in about 1891 - 1895. A search of the index gives us a reference; Jun 1893, district West Derby, vol 8b, page 501. It gives no indication of his wifes name. The only solution was to look at every page of the index for the Jun quarter of 1893, and find an Ann Elizabeth with the same reference. Obviously, quite a big job.
The problem with the original BMD index, is how the data is ordered. You have to know an approximate year and then quarter before you can start to search. The FreeBMD project was started to make the data easier to search. A group of volunteers transcribe the entries, which are then uploaded to a database. This database can then be searched by surname, by year, by district and so on.
This simple, but extremely effective database has revolutionized the ability to find information on ancestors vital records.
The home page gives a little introduction to the project, with the caveat ‘WE HAVE NOT YET TRANSCRIBED THE WHOLE INDEX’. It’s vital to understand this. For the years 1837 to 1911, the database is about 90% complete. The information link on the home page gives detailed coverage information. For example, the March quarter of 1843 is only 50% complete for births. If you are searching for a birth around this time, make sure of your facts by checking the complete image for this quarter. Many of the images are also on Ancestry and don’t require subscription. Alternatively, check them out for pennies at findmypast. If you are thinking of going to the expense of ordering a certificate, it makes sense to make sure that you are ordering the correct one.
Once you have decided what you want to search, (births, marriages or deaths), you are faced with a screen to input the data that you want to search on.
The ‘All Types’ search is useful for unusual names. For example, a search for Almond Houghton between 1838 and 1895 gives the following results.
This actually lists Almond Houghton’s death in 1861, his son’s (also Almond’s) marriage and death, and his great grandson’s death in 1892. Interestingly, there’s no birth registration for the last Almond Houghton. But I’ll come back to that……
Tags: freebmd, civil registration, uk, genealogy
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26 Aug 07
Posted in Getting Started, Uncategorized at 6:11 pm by yourgene
So hopefully, you know have a hand written tree with all the information I talked about gathering in the Basics .
More than likely, there will be many facts missing. As you go back further, less is known. Women’s maiden names are lost in the mists of time. Ranges of estimated dates get wider and wider. So how do you fill the gaps?
The easy solution is to order every single certificate relating to your family (and I will explain how to order certificates from the General Register Office in a later post), but this is also a very expensive solution. As you go back through your family tree, with each generation the number of ancestors usually doubles and at £7 a certificate and often 3 certificates per ancestor, (birth, marriage and death)…… well, do the sums.
I don’t think that Genealogy should be an expensive hobby. You have to spend money, sure, but by being selective and using many of the free resources out there, you can keep the costs down.
One of the best free, or at least cheap, resources is the UK BMD index, (often referred to as the St Catherine’s index). If your ancestors were born, married or died in England and Wales after 1837, they will feature on this index. But first I will explain what it is and what it contains.
From 1 July 1837, every birth, marriage or death in England and Wales had to be registered in the district where the event happened. Each quarter year, the registers from the districts were gathered together and sorted by Event - Year - Quarter - Name into an Index for England and Wales. A reference was then allocated to identify the certificate associated with the event. A typical entry might say;
Marriages registered in Jul, Aug, Sep1889
Surname First Name District Volume Page
Dodds Jessie Bell Liverpool 8b 303
If Jessie Bell Dodds was in your family and she married in 1889, you now have all the information that you need to order her marriage certificate from the General Register Office .
You have to note that this is the index to the certificates, you cannot view the actual certificates online.
As time went on, more information was added to this index to make it more informative.
The age at death was added to the death index from 2nd quarter 1866.
The Mother’s maiden name was added to the birth index from 3rd quarter 1911.
The spouse’s surname was added to the marriage index from 1st quarter 1912
The date of birth of the deceased was added to the death index from 1969.
You can use the index in many ways. For example, you know that your Grandfather was born in 1914, but you have no idea what his Mother’s maiden name was. If you can find the entry to his birth in the index , the Mother’s maiden name will be listed. You can then, using one of the many search engines that can search parts of the BMD, find the marriage of your Grandfather’s parents from their surnames. You may decide to order that marriage cerificate, and from that get the names and occupations of your Great Great Grandfathers.
You can use the death index to get age at death, (although it’s not always 100% accurate as the registrar relied on the informant to know the age of the deceased), and use that to get back to the year of a birth entry.
You can gather a vast amount of information without spending anything, or at the very most, pennies.
Later on, I will provide links to the many, many websites that allow you to search the BMD, for the information you require.
For more information on Civil Registration of England and Wales, or ordering a certificate online you can visit the GRO website
Tags: genealogy, genealogy online, family tree, BMD, civil registration, St Catherines, uk
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21 Aug 07
Posted in Getting Started, Uncategorized at 6:47 am by yourgene
Getting started in Genealogy involves a fair bit of asking yourself, and other family members, questions. The first question that I would suggest you ask yourself is this:
Are you willing to accept the bad with the good?
I was quite amused to find that my great great great Grandmother had married four times, and her last husband was 20 years younger than her. I was a little shocked to find my husbands great great Grandfather in Military prison in 1881, but then it just spurred me on to find his army records to find out why, (drunkenness, insubordination and continually breaking out of camp). I find that facts like these puts ‘flesh on their bones’, and makes them seem more real than just a list of names and dates, but not everyone would feel the same.
Most family trees contain a skeleton or several. Life was very hard a 100 years ago. Infant mortality rates were high, there was little or no primary health care. Illegitimacy was considered a stigma. Mental illness was not understood. I have seen many a tragic tale played out on pages of census records, death records and workhouse records.
At the same time, the fact that we are here to look into the past is a testament to the determination and resilience of our ancestors.
You will also find success stories, love stories and strange coincidences. Perils on the high seas and valour in battle. Most importantly, you will find how they lived, and how their lives helped to shape you. Starting your genealogy research can be a roller coaster ride!
So if you still want to trace your family tree, start from yourself and work up. Take a piece of paper and sketch out your own family tree putting in your parents and then their parents and so on. Add as many names, dates and places as you can.
Next, move on to family members and ask them. Older family members can be an invaluable source of ‘oral history’. Record them either on paper or tape. You will probably start to learn things that you never knew straight away!
Remember that people’s memories can be shaky, names and dates can easily be mixed up. Oral history, when passed down verbally, can lose and gain elements, like a game of Chinese whispers. Hurtful memories may be omitted completely, and a person’s right not to talk about anything that could distress them should be respected.
Gather together as many copies of original documents and photographs and letters that you can. Look into any family heirlooms, such as family bibles, medals, cups.
Document everything you find out, try some of these record sheets. Add all that you have learnt to your initial family tree. Add the names with dates of birth, marriage and death, with places. If you don’t know a date, but can estimate it, write est. before the range of years you think that the event took place in. If you don’t know a person’s name, write a question mark. You can then see where many of the gaps are, and if you can, go back to your sources for more information. Don’t forget to add in siblings names. In the 19th century, people often followed a fairly strict pattern with naming their children. An unusual first name or group of first names, that is passed down, can be used to identify your family through generations, especially if the surname is popular.
For more information on how to gather your initial set of information have a look at the videos from the uk national archive.
With UK family research, the main aim is to get back to pre-1900. Why? Because the last published census for the UK, (England, Scotland and Wales), was for 1901. As the 1901 census is fully transcribed and digitised, it can be searched and give clues to get you back even further. Once you have decided that you are ready to start your research into your genealogy, you can begin with the basics.
Tags: genealogy, family tree, uk, basics
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