Genealogy Chat

Please, could anyone give an explanation as to why I can't find my Grandmother's 2 brothers and sister on the 1871 census or their births. I keep trying with different variations but nothing shows up. It's so frustrating. I have found them at different locations on the other census'. They were born at Paddington between 1865 and 1868 and I have even tried Kensington and altering the birth date but nothing works. I'd really appreciate some help. Thanks Pam

Possibly they have been mistranscribed. The brilliant Emma in Yorkshire found my Matthews family in 1871 after many other kind people had tried and failed. I knew they were in Islington and had the address, but when they were finally found they'd been put in with nextdoor's family and were called Marthers! A bonus was finding a sister with them, Eliza Moore, but she had been mistranscribed too and I would never have found her under Thorne. nell

I'm having a similar problem with one of my branches, Pamela; it's so frustrating, isn't it! Some members have suggested that I try my ancestors' local parish records, which is what I'm hoping to do. One of the more experienced members would be able to explain better than me, though! Any takers ...............? Glenys.

Hi Pamela, Have you been using Ancestry's 1871 census? If so, I'm sure you know that it's not complete yet, not even for the counties that are listed. I've found family appearing on there weeks after Ancestry said the county was indexed. Either that, or as Nell said, they've been mistranscribed (and that wouldn't be unusual!) As for their births - although civil registration has always been compulsory, before 1874 there was no penalty for not registering a birth, but there was a fine imposed for missign the six week deadline, so if that happened there was no incentive to register late. Also, it was up to the district registrar to chase people up and get them to register, for which he was paid a sum per birth, but some people, especially in the cities evaded (deliberately or not) doing so for one reason or another. It's been estimated that upwards of 15% of all births went unregistered during those years. Another possibilty, again, is mistranscription. When the district registrar sent a copy of all the births to the GRO, the staff may not have been familiar with the surname, or the handwriting was bad, so it went onto the index as something else. Cazza

They may have been born in Paddington but I have seen census images that state the road people were born in.( If someone asked me "where were you born?" I might answer St Marys hospital, Stratford or Essex, depending on who asked. Perhaps if you give us some names someone may be able to find them. Janet

Thanks to you all for your comments and help. Pam