Genealogy Chat

Without wearing out my welcome?

Yesterday I got some really valuable help on this board – thank you so much Merry, Helen Little Nell and Annie Rn. I was researching relatives who were born and married before 1837. It has led me to another level for the first time. Post 1837 I have found indexes (on Ancestry etc) and have ordered certificates which have given me lots of information. But after this date, if I’ve got this right, I have to visit the actual Parish and look in the register and copy out or photo-copy the info? So I will have no more certificates and will have to get out and about more? Is that correct? However, my band of helpers yesterday managed to find lots of details for me. How did they do that online? Also, Merry gave me the information on a marriage in 1833 with a Batch number. I have not come across these before and don’t know how to proceed. Sorry to plague you all with so many questions, but I am hooked and really need to learn more. Thanks all. TGx

A lot of Parish Registers have been transcribed into book form, also on Microfim/microfiche. many others have been photographed onto m/film/fiche. It is possible to buy these from various FH Societies.

To get pre 1837 info your merry band of helpers would have looked at familysearch.org - its free and set up by the Mormon church who are extremely interested in ancestry. Go to the site and click on search and then on the IGI and then enter your details. The batch number is what is shown at the bottom of the result (if you get one - not all parish records are there as many churches refused to give the Mormons permission). The batch no. for say a baptism can be used to find any other kids baptised same church in a time period with same parents. Nope, before 1837 you will have no certificates, just parish records to search through. You can also google for Family History societies who may have done transcripts for your areas - though not many of these are free on line. One of the most powerful tools is a google search. Try entering your peoples surname and area to see if anything comes up. The post 1837 info would no doubt have been from ancestry*co.uk - a years membership is just under £70 and worth its weight in gold.

Hi, As well as the LDS where some of the records are submitted ie by people such as oursleves and there by cannot be relied upon. Try the Hugh Wallis site, on this you can enter just a surname within a certain county and parish and thereby pick up siblings you may not have been aware of. these records are taken from the parish records themselves. http://freepages(.)genealogy(.)rootsweb(.)com/~hughwallis/IGIBatchNumbers/CountryEngland.htm remove brackets Good Luck and never be afraid to ask questions Fuzzy x

Thank you all so much. Every time I get some help on this board - I move a little further forward. Thanks. Kind regards TGx

If the marriage you mentioned that I posted was for Kirby (or similar) that entry was a submitted entry to the IGI by a member of the LDS church. This means the person may have looked up the details of the marriage themselves, or may have plucked the information out of thin air! If I remember correctly, the entry had an exact date (which hopefully should mean the person looked it up!) but not a church venue......just Lambeth, Surrey. I expect you can guess there were a lot of churches in Lambeth, so it's frustrating that if the person looked up the entry they didn't note which church the marriage took place at. My guess would be St Mary's Lambeth which seems to have been a popular wedding venue. I expect the PR's for St Mary's Lambeth are at the London Metropolitan Archives. As I said before, you should really get a post 1837 birth cert for one of the younger children (if they were registered) to check the mum's maiden name, before you go ploughing on, trying to find proper evidence of the parents marriage! Merry

Most C of E parish registers are now with the relevant county records office, so you can look for lots of nearby parishes under one roof. The further back in time you go, the less far your ancestors are likely to have travelled. County records offices also have books, maps, poor law records, electoral rolls and all sorts of other stuff to help you in your research. They vary widely in their size and opening hours etc, so its a good idea to check online (all the ones I've visited have websites) to help plan your visit. Some places also have local history centres which can be invaluable sources of information. nell