Discussion
I’ve been going back through the family history, we have managed to get my mums side back to 1700ish,
Now starting to work forwards filling in the details, as has been said, there’s some people’s family trees online that definitely aren’t right (found one where he had a son 11 months after he died) as the online record was mid-read and had a year later than the death certificate, and she remarried 7 months before the birth.
We’re struggling where boundary lines moved so the records aren’t right from the census records. I’m using an excel workbook, trying to piece together the details and putting a reference on, I’ve managed to put names to faces on some old photos, it’s never ending.
Now starting to work forwards filling in the details, as has been said, there’s some people’s family trees online that definitely aren’t right (found one where he had a son 11 months after he died) as the online record was mid-read and had a year later than the death certificate, and she remarried 7 months before the birth.
We’re struggling where boundary lines moved so the records aren’t right from the census records. I’m using an excel workbook, trying to piece together the details and putting a reference on, I’ve managed to put names to faces on some old photos, it’s never ending.
TheK1981 said:
I’ve been going back through the family history, we have managed to get my mums side back to 1700ish,
Now starting to work forwards filling in the details, as has been said, there’s some people’s family trees online that definitely aren’t right (found one where he had a son 11 months after he died) as the online record was mid-read and had a year later than the death certificate, and she remarried 7 months before the birth.
We’re struggling where boundary lines moved so the records aren’t right from the census records. I’m using an excel workbook, trying to piece together the details and putting a reference on, I’ve managed to put names to faces on some old photos, it’s never ending.
I've done a little bit of digging on mine and found Free BMD a useful resource.Now starting to work forwards filling in the details, as has been said, there’s some people’s family trees online that definitely aren’t right (found one where he had a son 11 months after he died) as the online record was mid-read and had a year later than the death certificate, and she remarried 7 months before the birth.
We’re struggling where boundary lines moved so the records aren’t right from the census records. I’m using an excel workbook, trying to piece together the details and putting a reference on, I’ve managed to put names to faces on some old photos, it’s never ending.
Also, I think death certificates on some online sites are done in quarterly periods (Q1, Q2 etc) so that can explain some irregularities. Not sure this is relevant to you though...
I've found ancestry.co.uk an excellent way of building up and organising a tree of names and getting a head start on finding basic births, deaths and marriages. It won't find everything automatically though, after exhausting the hints (not all will be correct) you will probably still find more in the search function. And viewing other users' trees is a great way of making sure you don't make the same mistakes they do. 
FreeBMD is great for putting in two surnames and seeing what comes out, and the more unusual the names the more confident you can be you've got the right people. So if Juniper and LeClerc got married in Swansea in 1900, and then you switch the search to births and there are half a dozen Juniper's born over the next ten years in and around Swansea, with the maiden name LeClerc, it's a good bet that they're the product of that marriage. You can also do another marriage search for Juniper/LeClerc and LeClerc/Juniper to make sure there's only one such couple around at that time; obviously, if Evans married Jones you're screwed.
Although BMD won't give you mothers' maiden names before about 1911, if you go to the Government Records Office (gro.gov.uk) you can do a surname/first name search for a certain year +/- 2 years and it will return the mother's maiden name back to about 1837. There are gaps in each of those sites' records though.
And don't rule out Facebook for finding living descendants.
Also with ancestry.co.uk I managed to find the high school yearbook photos of over a dozen musicians that played with Frank Zappa, which was a diverting afternoon.
FreeBMD is great for putting in two surnames and seeing what comes out, and the more unusual the names the more confident you can be you've got the right people. So if Juniper and LeClerc got married in Swansea in 1900, and then you switch the search to births and there are half a dozen Juniper's born over the next ten years in and around Swansea, with the maiden name LeClerc, it's a good bet that they're the product of that marriage. You can also do another marriage search for Juniper/LeClerc and LeClerc/Juniper to make sure there's only one such couple around at that time; obviously, if Evans married Jones you're screwed.
Although BMD won't give you mothers' maiden names before about 1911, if you go to the Government Records Office (gro.gov.uk) you can do a surname/first name search for a certain year +/- 2 years and it will return the mother's maiden name back to about 1837. There are gaps in each of those sites' records though.
And don't rule out Facebook for finding living descendants.
Also with ancestry.co.uk I managed to find the high school yearbook photos of over a dozen musicians that played with Frank Zappa, which was a diverting afternoon.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Out of interest, if she had been around, and interested in what you were finding out, would you have told her?That's a fairly extreme example, but I'm still not sure on the etiquette of a) looking at publicly available documents, and b) snooping up on people's pasts that they may not particularly want to find out about, or be uncomfortable with you finding out about it first....
I have recently got into this research as I came to a dead end a few years ago as my father's family came here from Ireland around 1860, and there were very few Irish records before then.
My father was overseas with the RAF from 1939-45 and never returned home as his family had been killed in an air-raid in 1940 However, I wanted the names and dates to finish off the tree as I had a big blank from 1921 onwards. But I could find no record of my grandparents’ deaths. It came as a nasty shock when I eventually found that I’d been lied to and that my grandfather actually died in the 1960s. I have managed to trace some cousins who I never knew existed, but their mother, my father’s sister, refused to discuss the family history with them, saying, “You don’t want to know”. So it seems my grandfather was a wrong ‘in, but the only people who knew what actually happened are long gone.
A few other skeletons in the closet have been discovered in other branches of the family with some “honeymoon babies” as my mother used to say. The saddest part was to find the number of infant mortalities pre-1900. But I’ve managed to trace my mother’s family back to the 1650s, which was quite satisfying.
My father was overseas with the RAF from 1939-45 and never returned home as his family had been killed in an air-raid in 1940 However, I wanted the names and dates to finish off the tree as I had a big blank from 1921 onwards. But I could find no record of my grandparents’ deaths. It came as a nasty shock when I eventually found that I’d been lied to and that my grandfather actually died in the 1960s. I have managed to trace some cousins who I never knew existed, but their mother, my father’s sister, refused to discuss the family history with them, saying, “You don’t want to know”. So it seems my grandfather was a wrong ‘in, but the only people who knew what actually happened are long gone.
A few other skeletons in the closet have been discovered in other branches of the family with some “honeymoon babies” as my mother used to say. The saddest part was to find the number of infant mortalities pre-1900. But I’ve managed to trace my mother’s family back to the 1650s, which was quite satisfying.
CanAm said:
A few other skeletons in the closet have been discovered in other branches of the family with some “honeymoon babies” as my mother used to say. The saddest part was to find the number of infant mortalities pre-1900. But I’ve managed to trace my mother’s family back to the 1650s, which was quite satisfying.
I had a similar experience, found my relatives in Birlingham in Worcestershire around 1650, they were farm workers who did the classic thing of moving to the city for industrial work ending up, for a few generations, at Chances Glass Works in the midlands.Like yourself, I found a number of children's deaths aged under 10 but also one relative who lived to be 97, his date of death was 1813.
I knew nothing about my fathers history, he had been kicked out of his home as a teenager in 1935 because he wasn't earning enough and never spoke of his family, so finding out my roots has been interesting.
Similar situation for my mother's side. Her mother had a telegram from the War Office in 1944 saying that her son was missing in action, believed dead. She was so distraught that she threw away all his clothes and belongings. He turned up six months later, his mother didn't believe it was him, or didn't want to believe it, closed the door and never saw him again.
His Death Certificate showed that she was wrong.
Ruddy families.
RickvsAlfas said:
CanAm said:
I've used both Ancestry.co.uk. and Findmypast as you often find information on one but not the other.
Findmypast give full details of everyone in a household in their census search, which is very useful, and they have been awarded the Contract for the 1921 Census which will be published in January 2022.
Does that mean Ancestry won't have access to it?Findmypast give full details of everyone in a household in their census search, which is very useful, and they have been awarded the Contract for the 1921 Census which will be published in January 2022.
Now here's the catch - Census transcripts and originals have previously been free to view, but it looks like this is not going to be the case for the 1921 Census.
Edited by CanAm on Friday 26th November 21:46
Well the 1921 Census arrived yesterday and it has answered a few questions for me but still left a few gaps, in particular my own father, for whom I have his birth certificate and baptism in early 1921 but no trace on the census, nor of my grandmother. My grandfather was in the army and appeared to have been stationed in India at the time.
Anybody else using it yet?
Anybody else using it yet?
I had a quick look yesterday to see if it cleared up a couple of bottlenecks I have.
I have no problem with paying to see details and scans of originals.
The problem is that the search results do not give enough information to be able to make a good judgement on if the record is relevant to what you are looking for.
You could spend a fortune looking at details that are not at all linked to your family tree.
I have no problem with paying to see details and scans of originals.
The problem is that the search results do not give enough information to be able to make a good judgement on if the record is relevant to what you are looking for.
You could spend a fortune looking at details that are not at all linked to your family tree.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I'm just using it for the direct family where I have unanswered questions. I'll wait til it's free to complete my records on the wider family circle.There are lots more optional questions, so for instance if you're not sure of the Christian names being used you can put occupation and place of birth to help narrow things down.
While trying to trace my Grandfather's army records, I came across one with the same (common) name and age, which may or not be his. Whoever he was, this soldier was discharged for being under the age of 17; he'd enlisted in 1915 at the age of 14½ and served for 4 months before being found out!
Kind of gets you thinking.
Kind of gets you thinking.
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Yup. Literacy levels were low, lost records, lots of illegitimate children, prison, poor house, etc.People want to make a connection but data has to be scrutinised very carefully.
Also we are going to have to wait a while for the next one:
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/help-with-your...
"As the 1931 census for England and Wales was destroyed by fire during the Second World War and no census was taken in 1941"
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I checked the 1939 survey which shows my grandparents and their 2 sons (age 17 & 14), but none of their 3 daughters (who were 19,17 & 9), it's possible the 19yr old had left home but mum (17) and auntie (9) were definitely still there.Also my dad, his brothers and parents aren't there at all, I know the house they lived in, the only reason I can think of is because they rented the house.
Summary - seems like it's not a full record.
Since 2018 Mrs Caziques has written about her relatives. Fascinating story. Involving bigamy, the Workhouse and a Boys home.
I have been collecting chess books written by a great uncle - managed to get one with his signature.
Great aunt made wooden jigsaw puzzles and operated an early mail order service. I was outbid on ebay for one of her boxed creations, it ended up with a collector in Chicago.
Father now has dementia at 93, but I managed to get information a couple of years back - still getting information from my mother who is 91. Never knew she was a unqualified PE teacher before she married my father.
john2443 said:
I checked the 1939 survey which shows my grandparents and their 2 sons (age 17 & 14), but none of their 3 daughters (who were 19,17 & 9), it's possible the 19yr old had left home but mum (17) and auntie (9) were definitely still there.
Also my dad, his brothers and parents aren't there at all, I know the house they lived in, the only reason I can think of is because they rented the house.
Summary - seems like it's not a full record.
The 1939 Register (it wasn't a full survey) does not show people currently under the age of 100, unless they are known to be deceased.Also my dad, his brothers and parents aren't there at all, I know the house they lived in, the only reason I can think of is because they rented the house.
Summary - seems like it's not a full record.
CanAm said:
john2443 said:
I checked the 1939 survey which shows my grandparents and their 2 sons (age 17 & 14), but none of their 3 daughters (who were 19,17 & 9), it's possible the 19yr old had left home but mum (17) and auntie (9) were definitely still there.
Also my dad, his brothers and parents aren't there at all, I know the house they lived in, the only reason I can think of is because they rented the house.
Summary - seems like it's not a full record.
The 1939 Register (it wasn't a full survey) does not show people currently under the age of 100, unless they are known to be deceased.Also my dad, his brothers and parents aren't there at all, I know the house they lived in, the only reason I can think of is because they rented the house.
Summary - seems like it's not a full record.
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