Genealogy Chat

Thanks for the tips Helen. Ive had a brick wall for ages in trying to find a father for 2 children. Their mother was widowed at the time so no Fathers name is on the birth certs but the kids marriage certs had a man called David Leighton on?? As the children were called Batty I knew something had gone a bit wrong lol. Jubletroop did a census lookup for me from 1851 and bl**dy hell there was the mother, living with her deceased husbands family and the LODGER called David Leighton!! He was aged 23 and he was a policeman and saying he was born at East Ardsley. This is all I have to go on. There is only one family in the village with that name and of all the kids they had...no David. I will do as you say Helen and leave no stone unturned!! Cheers Sue xx

Sue Firstly, the fact that he put East Ardsley may mean he was born there, but he might have been baptised somewhere else, or not necessarily around the time of his birth. The first census was taken 1801, but I think that pre-1841 they were only head counts and not much has survived. I think you will need to visit the local record office. There is often a lot of genealogical material there, but it is harder to get at than post-1837. For example, I found (on the Access to Archives website) a reference to my gt gt grandfather being a witness. I got to the local record office to look at the original document, which was to do with his settlement. The info gave me where he lived the names of his 3 children and how much he paid in rent each year as well as the info that the roof in his house fell in and he had to move as it was uninhabited. Thre may be rent books, poll taxes, bastardy bonds, all kinds of info in the parish chest, but you may need to spend some time unearthing what is relevant to you. nell

Ive traced my hubby's family to before 1837. How do I continue from here? I'm at 1828 and the person I'm looking for is not registered for any events (not even his birth!!) at his local church. I know this man is from East Ardsley as he has put that on the 1851 census when he was lodging in Wakefield. And there is only one family in East Ardsley with his surname, with children around his age...just no sign of him. Any tips on how I can find him? When is the earliest census recorded and what info would that show? I dont know what to do from this point on Sue xx