Genealogy Chat

I have my great great grandfathers marriage certificate which says he was 52 in the year 1851 when he married. which works out he was born 1798 or 1799. I have found one on the family search site born 1798 with the same name for the father. and it gives the mothers name as well. How do I know this is the right one if I ordered his Birth certificate it would give both those names anyway. and I could be following the wrong Family. can anyone give me any suggestions as what to do Please. Debbie

Sorry Debs, I thought that Certificates only started in July 1837? Jim

James Well I never knew that, So how do you go back further then, is it parish registers. Thanks Debbie

Yes the only way is the parish registers. George

Thanks for that Georgina. Debbie

But having said that, the parish register entry for the baptism can't tell you the baby's future. It may tell you where the family was living and what the father's occupation was, or even more if you're lucky, they vary a lot before 1813, but life changed a lot between 1798 and 1851. What you can do, is look forwards and backwards for other children of the same parents. You can also do this in IGI, though additional occupation/residence information makes it more certain. What you're looking for is connections between the whole 1798 family and your gg-gf's known life. Was a brother a witness at his wedding? (or was he at theirs?) Was he the informant on a parent's or sibling's death cert? Do they turn up together or close by in censuses? Also look at it the other way. If the one you've found is the wrong guy, that means there were two of them, born into two different families with the same father's name. Sometimes it happens, but can you find any evidence? How many people had the surname in the area at the time, and can you tie them all together? Ultimately it's a game of odds, but the odds are good if the only alternative is that your gg-gf belonged to a whole different family that just rose and sank without trace

Debbie If the one on the IGI is from the same area as your grandfather I would think there is a good chance that it's the right one, but would still suggest you have a look at the parish records - transcription errors happen on the IGI and some parishes have not allowed the records to be transcribed I understand. If you search on the parents on the IGI and find children you may find that some of the names there occur later in the family which again may help. Good luck Jane

Thank you Robin and thank you Jane you have helped me a lot. It looks as though I have a lot of searching to do on this one. Thanks again Debbie