Genealogy Chat

n

Avril, distance isn't a real problem - I live in Italy, and I'm researching my English ancestors with no great difficulty. When I got back as far as I could with BMDs and censuses I started using the local LDS centre to view parish registers - unless you live somewhere really remote you should have one within a reasonable distance.

Avril As i posted i am not on the doorstep for where i need, the county in question is south of the Humber and i live in Scotland, i have used the search facility at the library on numerous occassions and found far more from one search than a census return and half a dozen certificates could tell me. Each time i have used this option the cost has been minimal, never more than £4 including search fees, photocopy charges and postal charges. I do not even need to attend, they can search on my behalf and as shown the cost is EXTREMELY reasonable. I doubt that i could pay less for parking in the town for three hours so the 'distant research' approach is the most cost effective on several fronts. This isn't a personal go at you, but there are other methods over and above the internet and census to research, and it can often be a cheaper more productive way. Finding the results are just the first step, what you do with them is important but boncentrating on a census return means you can miss so many other clues that they have a limited value at times. Glen

Avril If you read Glen's post again - he lives 250 miles from his ancestor's county. OC

n

it is all well saying go to library, but if you live miles away from where your ancestors actually came from, then its hard. i think the petition to let the census out early is a good idea.

As some people will know i am researching my birth family and have been doing so for about a year. My mother was the youngest of nine children, all born from 1908 to 1924. Irrespective of whether a census is released early or not i could never find the whole family on a census return. Three youngsters never made it onto a census as they died between census returns. I used the time honoured method of BMD searching, birth certs, marriage certs etc AND electoral rolls. I know each and every address my grandparents lived in, where all their children were born (and where the youngsters died) and grt granny owned several properties. I followed each property on the electoral rolls and discovered other family living at these houses, granny used to rent the properties. I have done all thos with limited resources financially and living 250 miles from the town in question without having had the benefit of family to give me names and dates. My half siblings don't even know the names of their grandparents. It is only a very small percentage of researchers who NEED the census to help with a brickwall and even then not every one of them will find the answer via the census. There are other methods, the 'can't look, won't look' attitude is the single biggest contribution to the early release brigade. But then again some people like to research and work things out and some just want immediate answers! Glen

Derek A very good thought too - I used this method myself before the 1871,1881,and 1891 censuses were available - it only slowed me down a bit, and not at all for the 1891, because my man does not appear on that census, for some reason. OC

or if you wanted early information of the census you are requiring you could. trample through all births for your family,send away for all there certs,and then toddle on down to the libary and check the relevant electoral roles. all this should would give you address occupation of father,ages of parents,address etc etc. just a thought,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,lol best wishes derek

Louise, I am not bitching, I am just having my say on the subject Roy

Porkie Pie While I agree with your general sentiments, I do have to say that the posters of these petition threads are not recognisable names as far as I am concerned - I have never seen any of them post anything at all before. It has been suggested elsewhere that someone is using a 'bot' programme which is capable of generating the same message over and over again, whilst changing the details of the poster. If so, it is alarming to think that a GR member is using a programme to generate posts, using other members details. OC

Thank you boys. mwah

I have made my feelings clear about early release of census info on all the threads about this subject and just want to ad that I feel the people who are pushing this the most are the same people who are wanting everyone else to use their time and money to do their research for them by way of lookups on the tips and records boards (I do my share of lookups for other members) This is the world we live in today where people have no respect for anyone, even their own ancestors and are totally selfish as to how they get what they want, if they were dedicated to researching their family tree they would not mind going out of their way to find what they are looking for and they could find enough info from other sources until the census is ready for release. I have signed the Petition opposed to opening Census records early Roy

Had a third e-mail today wanting my support for the early release. NOW REPORTED AS SPAM, AND ALL FROM E-MAIL ADDYS WITH THE SAME ISP. If we all have the same problem i urge you to report these e-mails as spam. Be warned peeps, the lunatics are taking over the asylum

I would LOVE to have early access to the 1911/21 census, but will be signing up to this anti release petition.

n

another nudge, as we now have no less than 22 separate threads across the three boards concerning this matter.

PLEASE READ As you may be awear there have been countless pattisions to get the 1911 census early in the past decade, non have worked. Besides which, we will get some of the 1911 census in 2009 and the remainder in 2012, because it will take 5 years at least to transcribe and index there is no point patitioning for the 1911 anymore. When you get to the 1921 census; opening it would mean that alot of OAP's would have info available that was put there by their parents -so they never gave consent - and that the government promised would be closed to the public for 100yrs under the 1920 Census Act, some of these people may have things to hide about their childhood or live in the same house as they did as a child. They were promised that this infomation would be kept secret for 100 years and that promise should be honered. Just think of illigitamate children, if they don't know or want their families to know; opening the census could be detramental. So to the 1931 census - It was destroyed by a fire in WW2, which goes to show just what the patition organiser of the petition for early release of the 1911, 1921 and 1931 censuses knows about the censuses, the next one was the 1939 National Registration due to WW2, the 1941 was never taken as there has to be a 5 year gap between censuses. These censuses were never taken for family historians / genealogists, it was taken for future planning - the fact we see them at all is fantastic, Australia distroy all theirs once the statistical data has been coralated - so thank your lucky stars that we get what we do.

Michael I have signed the 'against early release' petition - however I agree with you that neither will do any good, the government will not read either of them. Just as well, really - asking for the early release of a census which does not exist, merely makes the petitioner look stupid. OC

There's NO WAY I am signing that one (!!), but I did spot a better one that has some 4000 more signatures and put my name to that one instead - not that it will do any good ! :-) http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/CensusInfoFreed/