Genealogy Chat

Heather Welcome to the A2A appreciation club!! If I was only allowed one site to access, A2A would be it, I am never off it. Lou Persevere, you just have to keep plodding. Type in a name and an area. Use all the alternative spellings you can think of and just keep on going. You officially only get a 'descriptive title' of a document, but on some of mine the title has been two pages long! I also had to wade through a lot of stuff where my ancestors were merely witnesses to a document, however that was interesting in itself. Oh, and as one of the spellings of my name is Holding, I also got every document on site which mentioned anyone holding a party, a dog, a bunch of flowers ....! You need lots of patience. Marjorie

Veronica A2A is like a big guide to what is available in England (doesn't cover Wales). you can type in a name - I tried rare family surname CHOWNS and found that one of my relatives had been involved in a settlement dispute. You can't see the original documents online but a2a tells you where they are and I was able last summer to get to the records office in Aylesbury and see the original statement my ancestor gave and the magistrates' proceedings. You can type in a company or firm, or 'burial registers' or whatever. It tells you which documents with those terms are where and gives you a brief summary of their contents. Play around a bit, you will find something of interest, I am sure. nell

Just taken a look! Not really sure of my way round it yet (bit like the NA site, I have problems with that too!) but looks like it might be useful! Lou

Many thanks for the info Heather as you say helps with research but not kind on poor folks who were moved.Tony

Hi Heather, glad you've taken the plunge! Hi Tony Removal orders are orders to remove a person or entire family from the place they are living to their place of settlement. Each parish was responsible for looking after paupers who belonged to the village. You gained settlement in various ways. It could change during your life. If you fell upon hard times, or it looked as if you were going to, then you might be physically moved. This would have been a dreadful, distressing procedure for those involved, but it does help us in our research, providing links between places that we might not otherwise have thought of. B

Does anyone know what REMOVAL ORDERS ARE as found on this site. Thanks Tony

Way to go, Heather! My treaure was found there too! Sue (in NZ)

It stands for Access to Archives. If type A2A on your search engine it should bring it up for you. Regards, Alan.

Hi Heather - glad you found something so interesting. I have also found quite a few bits on the a2a site which I found out about from a message on this board. They are mainly property documents from two different branches of the family. When I have time I must go to the record offices and give them a read.

Well, guys thanks for your encouragement to carry on trying to access this site. I have just been on this morning and done it! I have found a Sun Fire Insurance policy for one of my ancestors! Samuel Hanson, Cabinet Maker of Soho. And I think I have also possibly found the school attendance certificates of one of the others. Amazing. Thanks for encouraging me to look.