Genealogy Chat

Kathryn, Mines the same, moved from york to plymouth, to northumberland and then back to plymouth....maybe in search of work...who knows?..how much wouldve it cost them to move a whole family around like that i wonder? demelza

Does anyone know why people were so tempted to move? Obviously I can understand the industrial revolution created jobs in cities etc, but I have several inexplicable journeys. One family moved from Cornwall to Devon to Yorkshire and back to Devon in under a decade (having a child in every place). What would possess a labourer to move his entire family, including babes-in-arms, to the other end of England and back?

Hi Demelza, Settlements and removal orders are held in county record offices. Some have been filmed by the LDS as "Parish Chest Material". Electoral rolls, although useful for the 20th C, are not very much help in tracing the "average" family in the 19th C. Women were not allowed to vote and men had to hold a certain amount of land. Hope this helps, Gwynne

Gwyneth and George, Thanks alot both of you, ill definately give both of those ideas a try and see where i get with that. Thanks again...Demelza

You can also track them by going electoral registers for the areas in question and the relevant years. George

If you think the whole family moved, you could try old school records. I have found some very useful information by contacting some village schools asking where records from the late 1800s were located.In both cases the records were still with the schools and after I sent what information I had regarding names, approx. ages etc.they sent really great information including birthdates, date entered into school, previous school and leaving dates. One lovely headteacher even included another surname from the given address, - that was a cousin of the family.

Gwynneth, Thanks but how do i go about doing that?..is it just a case of contacting the appropriate parish and sifting through the records?? Demelza

Hi, I have traced late 19thC family's movements by the births of the children. Not much use to you in this case but prior to that you can trace families through parishes via settlement certificates and removal orders. Gwynne

Hello evryone, This is a long shot and i think i know the answer already but its worth a try....is there any way i can find out when people moved places??...my grt grandad was born in plymouth in 1867, By 1881 he was living in Northumberland and by 1887 was back in Plymouth again. Is there any site or a way to get any extra info on what i know already??? Demelza