Genealogy Chat

Rosemary, I know Massachusetts has Hampshire and Berkshire counties. I expect there are a few others in the older states. Crista

christa good point to make I hadn't thought to add country as well as town and county. I found a new way to search for possible links yeaterday and that was to go to the home page on here and simply search for the surname of a rellie and then search through all of them to see who I have not contacted yet (coz there is a tick next to them if i have) I then search fot the place of all the rest and then send a polite message to ask if they have any tenuous links to any of mine. I was successful and found a possible link; who has proved to be vey helpful. Loz:~)

Christa, I know what you mean. When I see Birmingham on this site, I assume Warwickshire but found out later these people were in Alabama. I would also request that the full name of a county be used, e.g. Monmouthshire instead of just Monmouth. There is a Monmouth county in New Jersey. Christa, correct me if I am wrong but I don't think any counties in the US have 'shire' at the end of the name.

Good advice Crista! What really irks me though is that if you upload a gedcom to this site, the birthplace and DOB don't seem to show up. That's all well and good if you are searching for a really unusual name, but if it's John Smith........well you might as well give up! Jacquie I just tend to put Yorkshire without the North, East or West. I live here and even I'm not sure of the boundries! lol Jeanette x

It's hard to know if you should add the old name, or new name of a County. I put Cumberland instead of Cumbria (the obvious new name), yet put West Yorkshire instead of West Riding of Yorkshire as I was only 4 when they re-did the borders and can't remember the old boundaries. A county is a must though how else would you know where Loggerheads was etc!! Jacquie

Rosemary, Yes, countries too are good. I just saw a load of names with 'St Leonards' as the place name and got excited I had a match. I assumed it was St Leonards in Sussex but it turned out to be in Australia. Very disappointing. Crista

Good advice. I also have noticed that Countries are not always noted. Many of us veteran genealogist probably know by now what counties are in which country but let's be considerate to the rookies.

Adding middle names if known, is also a great help, I have found a few contacts that way. Marion

I was just going through my 'Name Summary' and was looking at all the new names being added. It's amazing that most of these just have a village and no county. Please remember to add the county as it's impossible to figure out if someone is a potential relative otherwise. Crista