Genealogy Chat

A short while ago O.C. very kindly put forward a very basic instruction on how to use the LDS site successfully. Can anybody do the same for the Free BMD site please, I'm just going round in circles getting nowhere. Please use words of one syllable as I'm not computer literate so it's all a bit trial and error.

Thanks anyone and everyone who contributes to this.

Hi Linda, what are you trying to find?

Hi Linda

I miss OC too (Old crone)

How to find a marriage on Free BMD

Just put in the male surname and the christian name of the wife...hey presto!......if your lucky.

Gerri x

Oops! forgot to mention....highlight the 'marriage' box

Suppose you're looking for the birth of a William Henry Brown, born Camberwell, Surrey c1860. Go to http://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/search.pl and click to highlight the 'type' , i.e. 'birth'. Enter 'brown' in the surname box, 'william henry' in the 'first name(s)' box and click to highlight 'camberwell' in the 'districts' menu (you can't use both the 'districts' and 'counties' menus, it's either/or, but you already know he was born in Camberwell, so you've narrowed the search). Type in the year range - it's a good idea to add a couple of years either way if you're not entirely sure of the year, the ages given in censuses aren't always accurate (e.g. mar 1858 to dec 1862). Then hit the 'find' button. Brown's probably not a good example to use as there's bound to be quite a few of them, but you get the idea!

EXCEPT

...................... I tend to use the COUNTY of birth/marriage, not the place.



The place where the event occurs is not always the place of registration!


I also use the wild card symbol * a lot, both on freebmd and on other sites such as ancestry. This often picks up those entries where there has been a mistranscription or misunderstanding of how a name (christian or surname) should be spelt.

for example, Lou* picks up Louise, Louisa, and the very common mis-spelling Lousia.

Fish* could pick up Fisher, Fishes, Fishe, Fished, etc


Always use a span of years for an event ........ I usually allow +/- 5 years, or even +/- 10 years if I have got the estimated year of birth from the 1841 census!


Even on freebmd, I will begin by using a start year about 2 years before and an end year about 2 years AFTER the year that I have been given. Then I widen the years of search if nothing turns up.



Sylvia

If it is an unusual surname, then sometimes I do not put a geographical place, only the name
- for instance, I know when and where my great-grandparents married (because I searched in the big books a few years ago at the Family Records Centre in London), but try having a search for his marriage on FREE BMD: Luke Sadd. There's only the one!

Thank you each and all for your replies. Unfortunately, when I said I wasn't computer literate I meant it so when someone said about looking at previous threads is there a quick way to do this, it would take me forever reading every one in the hope there is something I need. Also, the GOOGLE, GOOGLE, GOOGLE instruction, when I've tried that all I get is a load of irrelevant info. I've never found anything that I've searched for!!!!
Lastly, anyone know where OC is, I miss her sooooooooooo much?

O.C. is alive and well and adding photographs of herself (!!!) over on the family tree forum:


http://www.genealogistsxgr.co.uk/index.php

Christine, what is pm me and how do I do it please

Thank you Christine. I off to take a look at it now.