Genealogy Chat

As being quite a newbie at this game I think I've sussed the searching of family through census but where I stumble is then building the other info around them ie birth, death & marriage. I read that people search for baptisms on line, please how is this done especially before 1837?

Frustated

Try:
http://www.familysearch.org/

That's what I'm on, either get nothing or just too many too similar, just thought I'd ask in case ther was some other way.

well give us a name and we could look ...if that helps

Susie .... there are various online sources as well as sources you can purchase. For example

First of all, it is usually baptisms and not births that are recorded pre-1837. Secondly, marriages are easier to find because they had to be in a C of E church.

The IGI can often be a very usueful guide.
There are also a number of regional sites which are excellent. I use one for the Isle of Axholme and I know there are others.
Finally, you can buy records on CD or other media from various family history societies. I have Notts and part of Lincs as well as burials around Doncaster.

You are using freebmd for bmd after 1837?

Have you tried the following on Family Search?

Click the Search tab, and then enter the surname and country only. Leave everything else blank and click search.

If nothing obvious appears in the Pedigree Resources, open the IGI files that have appeared and refine your search to a single county. It might help to specify a date range as well.

If you find something relevant open the file then click on the batch number. This will have a C for christenings and M for marriages. This will take you back to the search screen. Simply enter the surname, nothing else, and you will get all the records entered for that particular church.

We owe a huge debt of gratitude to LDS researchers, but remember that the records are not complete, and in some cases incorrect.

Tread warily if the names is in lower case. According to one set I found, a girl died 7 weeks AFTER she was buried, while in another a guy got married 186 years after he had died!!

Best of luck with your searching.

Re M David's message

The extracted records on IGI should be OK as they have been transcribed from parish records. Of course, there could be transcription errors/

It is the submitted records that you need to be careful with.

For parish records try freereg - there is a link to it on freebmd home page. Quite a lot for some areas but nothing for others. Parish records being transcribed by volunteers so it will be being regularly update.

Also, for parish records, some counties have online Parish clerks and some have transcribed bdms. Googel Online Parish clerks

It's worth investing a years membership to the local family history society too, (local to the area you want to research that is).



Most have online lists of discs/books etc they have transcribed at reasonable prices and can also advise/search for members if needed.

Glen

Remember that not all Baptisms and Marriages are on the IGI. Many Bishops refused permission for the LDS church to transcribe from their registers, so joining a Family History Society, as Glen above has already said, is one of the best ways to obtain information regarding Parish Registers as many FHS have CD's of their parish registers which you can purchase. Northants is one area that is very thin on the ground for IGI, and I have purchased many CD's from the Northants FHS which has helped me considerably.

I would be very careful about constructing a tree from IGI only, as you may end up climbing the wrong tree or even climbing several trees at once! IGI should only be used as a guide and always checked against the original Parish Records.

Janet North London Borders

Dear Friends

Many thanks for all your good advice, hopefully in the New Year I can put some of it into practise.

Regards
Susie