Genealogy Chat

Hi i was wondering i know how to find bmd and the census details but how do you find out the extra information that you all seem to find. I have noticed some people have said that they have been to the town where they gg grandad used to live and went to where he used to work etc. I google my peoples names but never come up with anything so all i know about them is what comes up on the census and bmd. It would be lovely if i could find out more information on them so i can get a proper feel for who they once were. Thanks Jen

Well, bmds and censuses give you addresses, so you can find the roads on a map online (or in a road atlas!) and then go along and look to see if the original buildings are still there. County records offices and local history centres often have useful info such as street directories, which can help fill in gaps between censuses and certs, electoral rolls etc. I discovered, whilst looking for gt grandfather in electoral rolls that he lived at the same address for about 30 years, and next door was a man who later married gt grandfather's sister. This man also had a son by his previous marriage who also married into our family. Finding that he was next-door neighbour with gt grandfather enabled me to envisage how the families met. Googling alone won't help you find everyone - sometimes you need to go to an archive, or visit an ancestral village. nell

Thanks Nell the only downside is i am unable to travel due to medical problems so does this mean that i am not going to be able to do much more other that looking through the electrol rolls? Many thanks Jen

Well, in that case, googling will enable you to find maps of the areas your relatives lived in and probably photos of the churches they married/were baptised in, to give your tree a bit more interest. There are lots of photographic archives online, often available from the county records office websites. Try googling for images on a placename. another thing to try is to google an occupation that your ancestor did, you can often find useful facts which help to flesh out their lives. If you've got London ancestors you are spoilt for choice. nell

Hi Jen There are quite a few historical directories on line at this site: http://www.historicaldirectories.org/ Takes a bit of time to wade through, especially if you are looking for a common name, but lots and lots of interesting stuff there. Also, if you are dealing with a smallish place, google for that and see if anything comes up - Northumberland has a lovely site which takes you through the county village by village and there are examples of historical documents shown for each village (which is how I know that my g-g-g-g grandfather, an ag lab, actually owned a cart!). I am sure that some other counties must have done something similar. And of course, with each month that passes, more and more comes on line. Good luck Tina

If you use google, one option is to click where it says Image, above the search box. If you search Images you can quickly find pictures of towns and villages and very many places have historical photos online. Merry

My tip is look for useful websites and leave messages. If you prefer set up a separate E.mail address for this. I have an ancestor who came from a tiny village near Bath. According to recent statistical information it now has 272 inhabitants. It does however have a village web site. I had a look a couple of weeks ago and it seemed to be mainly requests for second hand prams and photos of W.I. meetings however it did have a family history section. I left a request saying I thought my ancestor was the village blacksmith. Obviously someone in the village is a keen local historian as within days I had received a list of all the memorial inscriptions for my surname in the village, a reference to one of my names on the local war memorial and a history of the Blacksmith shop from the local trade directory with what I suspect is another couple of generations of the family. I was also sent a copy of an old footpath map of the village showing the whereabouts of the shop.