Genealogy Chat

Many thanks to everyone for your replies, it's certainly given me a few more avenues to hunt down :) I've found that 3 life tenancies can give clues too, as they usually say 'so and so, daughter/son/brother, etc of so and so'. Thanks again everyone Bex x

Manorial records are v useful. They can include copies of the relevant parts of wills, note deaths, say how copyholds pass down. Land tax seems much undervalued. The tax was at a set rate. The collectors listed the properties in a parish in the same order, year after year. So you could see precisely the year the owner and/or tenant changed. People might appear as witnesses (deponents) in court cases. They had to state their age, where they lived, and usually their occupation. They would often provide additional information as to why they were reliable witnesses. There are masses and masses and masses of records that survive besides parish registers. A2A is starting to reveal some of them, but it's just the tip of the iceberg.

If you have Cornish ancestry, you can be very lucky, with all the census that is online and the online parish clerks, too.

Bex I find that you can usually follow the families pre census by noting what they have called a first Child..Children depending on the naming traditions for the area usually the first four names are the couple's parents.. It does'nt always work this way.. but I have usually found that children of the marriage usually have all four parents names in their families.. Mo

Thanks Gwyneth Jean

Find G.O.O.N.S. here http://www.one-name.org/ Click on registered names to see if someone has registered their study of 'your' surname. Gwyn

Thanks OC, sounds interesting, I seem to remember going on a site that just concentrated on certain names. Jean

GOONS = Guild of One Name Studies. OC

What's GOONS ...OC, or should I know....showing myself up again. Jean

My system is to trawl the PRs, noting every instance of the surname and then trying to put them into family groups. This is often a guess at first. I then search out Wills, Bastardy Orders (LOL) Settlement and Removal Orders. Monumental Inscriptions also prove invaluable in sorting out family groups. Then I have a good old google and see who has done what, regarding the various villages my ancestors lived in. Local History Societies often have done a lot of work and have managed to pull together information about local families. I have also had invaluable help from GOONS. Sometimes though, you just cannot unravel it all, but I never give up, even the smallest piece of information can sort a puzzle out. Good luck OC

Hi Cornish Maid, I have found that it depends on the surname, particularly in Cornwall which I presume is where some of your problem lies??? With my Cornish crowd I have found that a lot of clues can be gained from many of the historical books and info that is available, pertaining to the hamlet, village etc. Also some study of the work they did also gave me clues as to who belonged to who. I do not know as I have not looked at this myself but I beleive that in some areas the pre 1841 population counts are available and can be useful. Happy hunting.

I have found the same problem, especially if their was a few families in the area with the same name. I could be adding my ggg uncle as my ggg grandfather. I have left off in the 1700's as it's pointless guessing, you may as well draw a name out of a hat. I am just going for more detail with the names I know for sure. Unless as you, someone clever on the site can advise me how to be sure. Jean

Thank you both for replying. Mm, will definitely try the wills. I've 'deduced' that the chap in question was married twice, even though it didnt say widower on his second marriage. So a will would hopefully include children from both marriages (fingers crossed), even though he only had one surviving child from his first marriage. It's definitly worth a go. Feeling happier now, many many thanks :) Bex

Don't forget Wills. Some are very brief but sometimes you strike lucky and all children are named. I'm looking at one here which is written by a man who in adddition to his 6 children, names his 2 sisters, then says who they are now the wives of. He also names his own brother then refers to Thomas, that brother's son. Gwyn

I guess when you find people in the Parish registers who you believe are your family, you then try and see if you can find them as a family on the earliest census and check if the dates of birth all add up. I haven't had to do that yet, so I am only guessing, but that's how I would do it. Only thing is, for that I guess you need to know what names you are looking for in the Parish Registers in the first place.....

Hi, When you've traced back as far as you can via census records, birth, death and marriage certificates, etc, and you get back to parish registers.... how do you establish a link? I've gone to the parish registers and established what I think is a link to my family, but as the marriage records dont give fathers names and the burial records just give the deceased's name, how do I 'prove' it? Has anyone got any tips? Or can anyone tell me what proof is needed before I add to my tree please. I suppose a lot of it is conjecture, and educated deductions, but I don't want to add anyone without knowing (as far as one can) that I'm not adding someone who is no relation whatsoever. Has anyone any advise please? Many thanks, Bex