Genealogy Chat

I have got back to the 1630's with the aid of Ancestry and Family search.I was looking for John Russell who probably married Susanna possibly in Sedgley Staffs in 1661. When I look for his birth I can find a choice of two or three possibles. I know Family search has to be taken with a pinch of salt but as I haven't been to look at original records how useful would it be to go to the Local Records office once you get that far back? I presume they would not give me any more info than on Ancestry Parish Records/Family Search or am I wrong? I would like to trace the trail back definitely but without certs is it down to intuition? (The thing I have found most fascinating is that one of the two choices for the 1630's birth is in the parish of Penn - where I was born hence the other reason for the message title -not very adventurous my lot) Thanks Chris

I think I would have been looking at the parish records at the Archives from at least the 1870s back! There is often extra information in the actual records which has not been transcribed onto the IGI. There is also a lot missing from the IGI including most burials. Can you really be sure that non of yours died as infants and were not, in fact, the ancestors you thought they were? Anne

Sorry, but without certs, your tree is almost certainly rubbish. Intuition doesnt come into it. Intuition is another word for a guess. All four of my 2 x GGMs appear on most censuses with thei respective husbands and children. None of these four women are the mothers of any of the children - they all turn out to be second wives. If you are serious about this family tree business, I would start all over again, getting certs for each generation back to pre Civil Registration and THEN go to the Records Office to look at PRs before 1837. Otherwise it may be some one else's tree you are doing, not your own. OC

I appreciate your comments and advice very much. I am under no illusion that the info I had gleaned was set in concrete and that I have checked out census info etc back to 1841. I was just wondering what information was out there if you did get back that far and the best way to tackle it if travelling is difficult . Many thanks Chris

If its difficult to get to the county archive, perhaps you have a Mormon Family History Centre near you.You can order the complete filmed record for a parish for a small price. This is not just what appears on the IGI. I have no personal experience of this but I know Olde Crone does - perhaps she can advise? Anne

Even when you look at parish records you need to be careful and look at a number of years either side of where you think you need. I have spent hundreds of hours in my local records office and normally look at as much of a register as I can. A lot of my ancestors liked to reuse names so would have several attempts at the same name for a child. You would need to find all of these and compare with the burials to be sure of getting the last one. I also have fathers and sons ,with the same names, marrying women with the same names so it can look in the register as if the same couple are having children for an extremely long time........that can take some unravelling! I have examples of cousins born close to each other and given the same name so it can be very tricky to work out which one is which. The IGI is a very incomplete record for much of the country and rarely shows burials. I have learned that the burials register is often the best one to start with and then to go through the others for my ancestors. There is so much more in a records office too. There are wills, apprentice records, land records, directories etc etc. There can be family trees in there deposited by individuals and all sorts of random snippets of information. One particularly useful bit of paper found in a records office is simply a bill from a Smithfield meat market trader sent to my 3x great grandfather but which mentions a disagreement this man had with my 3x's brother. I had already found the man who was the brother and knew who he was according to a will but that bill proved my 3x was definitely part of that family. Doing online genealogy is great but is a bit like looking at a scratchy black and white photo, while going to records offices is like seeing a full technicolour widescreen film! Having said that I have had many days of totally useless days research..........but that is part of the fun of the chase! Good luck Sue

The Genealogists first rule is - Kill'em off! In other words, find the death FIRST, before you do anything much else. I have lost count of the number of times I have been contacted on this site, by people all claiming to be descended from a sibling of my 7 x GGF. She was born in 1704 - and died in 1708. It is in the parish register! If they had looked, they would have found it easily, just as I did. There is nothing to beat primary source research, as Susan says. It beats internet research hollow. OC