Genealogy Chat

hello all, I am new here so im looking for some advice, I was adopted and have only just got my original birth certificate. I have found out where i was born and the name of my parents but i want to find out how to find any brothers or sisters. Whats the best way to start this search with the limited matches that i have?
Thanks,
Brian.

It's amazing what people give away here without realizing it!

Brian, I identified your birth in the births index at Ancestry, and there are in fact a total of 5 births with probably the same parents in the same area around the same time. There is also one marriage that would match those births very well.

I'll assume you haven't yet contacted Flick and send the info on to you.

Until you can get back to 1911 and locate folk on the census, your primary resource is BMDs and the GRO index to these.
These are being transcribed at
http://www.freebmd.org.uk/
Currently M & D are almost done thru the 1940s and B thru the 1930s.
The index includes the mum's MS from 1911q3 on, and the spouse's surname from 1912q1 (and age at death from 1866q1 on).
Civil registration began 1837q3 in England & Wales, and later in the rest of the UK.
NB The index shows which quarter the event was registered in, rather than when it occurred.


So I know my parents were John Smith and Jane Smith MS Doe.
I search for Smith-Doe births at FreeBMD, and find, e.g.,

Births Dec 1916 (>99%)
Smith Jessie V Doe Romford 4a 1006

I can click on the "Romford" link, then the more info "here" link and see the villages, etc., in Romford RD, and where those regos are now.
I can click on the "1006" link and see the other names on that page.
(If it were a marr, I'ld expect to see the spouse there, along with other couples on that page - pre 1912, you'ld have to guess who wed whom.
If it were a birth, and there also be a Jessie V Doe there, I'ld guess John & Jane were unwed.)


If you're into the untranscribed zone of FreeBMD, then you can do a free search at Ancestry, but without a sub, you won't get to see all the details, nor any images.
You might have to do a free rego at Ancestry - sign up for their newsletter - they sometimes have free access to some records - I got free access to Quebec BMDs uring the royal weing week - I don't recall what else was free.
I use the old style search, so starting at their homepage, select Search - All records from their main banner, then just under the banner, at far right, select old search.
Now Search - BMDs incl Parish, then featured collections - 1916-2005 births


View Record Name Date of Registration District County View Image Order Record
View Record Jessie V Smith info year city Essex

Actually, if you click on the shopping basket, you'll see all the missing details in this case.
(NB There's a considerable mark-up for having them place the order for you, so actually ordering thru them is not a route I'ld take.)
You won't see the mum's MS, but we knew that here. If you have to see it, you can thru 1983 at FreeBMD.
If it's not transcribed, you take the "View images" link on their homepage.
It's a klunky interface, but you eventually get to see an image of the original index. You'll need to know the year - if you've not got it, keep searching for Jessie specifying a year range until you pin that down. You'll then just have to check the 4 quarters one by one.

I should maybe have clarified ... I did send Brian the info I referred to in my post above, and he and I have been in touch now. I've been doing searches for him (including all the 192.com searches and so on that aren't so easy for a newbie) since the process probably isn't as interesting to someone looking for their immediate family members as it is to us family history buffs, and it's something we can do quickly and efficiently. Given the different time zones, I'll see his replies tomorrow my time. ;)

I'm afraid that most people new to these things wouldn't likely even know what "M & D" refers to, or what "MS" is. Let alone a "rego", or even an "RD".

When he posted, Brian didn't know whether he had siblings -- he'd been searching when I contacted him -- and the period is too recent for FreeBMD transcription.

Have made a little headway for him so far, so fingers crossed.

Janey - You might be afraid, but I find it hard to believe that someone could go to:
http://www.freebmd.org.uk/
and not make a reasonable guess at what B M & D were.
I find it similarly hard to conceive that someone could follow my directions re clicking on Romford, and not guess what Romford RD was when it's given in full in the header.

OK - referring to Jane Smith MS Doe is a Scottish practice, but again not unguessable.

Not everyone watches as few Brit cop shows as you - every third one, there some cop saying into the radio "am in pursuit of a silver Mercedes, eastbound on High St - rego is Able Baker Charlie 1 2 3 X-ray" or something similar.

Give the guy some credit.

Not to bump the thread or belabour the point ...

I'm sure I watch more Brit television than anyone else in Canada, actually. I simply see no need to bedazzle someone with unexplained jargon and lengthy explanations of how to do genealogical research when all he wants is to find out whether he has brothers and sisters and how to find them, if so.

Brian took my advice about changing his username and account details so the way I found the info I initially referred to isn't evident now. He had in fact done the same searches I initially did but found that it took him a very long time so I was glad to take on some more of it for him.

As far as I am aware, correct police procedure in the UK is to refer to the INDEX number of a vehicle

I have always thought your use of 'rego' to be odd in the extreme.............registration abbreviates to reg'n

BUT.....that's only my personal opinion

Actually Flick

Rego is widely used here in OZ too as an abbreviation of registration...depends where you live I guess.

Sue

Sue,

I was referring only to UK, as you can see................I don't presume to have any understanding of vocabulary in other countries.

But thanks for the insight........

Flick - I wasn't referring to correct police procedure, but to TV police procedure.

Sue - probably whence I first became aware of the usage - my daur is Australian (amongst other nationalities).

Brian has let me know that he has found probable contact info for one of his sibs, and is now considering how to proceed. We wish him the best.