benny1982
26-08-2008, 09:40 PM
Hi
Like myself, there are millions of you out there researching London ancestry. And because of the shher population of the city it can be very hard. In 1801, London had nearly 1000'000 inhabitants. By 1851 that number had risen to around 2.2 million. Inbetween 1841 and 1871, a million people moved to London from other parts of the UK, and some from Continental Europe. But migration to London has always been great and rose in the late 1700s.
Due to that, there can be many difficulties in researching London ancestors, and with my experience, I thought I'd share them.
If you find an ancestor born in London in say 1812, and if both parents were dead before the 1841 or 1851 census, dont always assume that they were both born in London unless you have proven it through relations, or a name that is easy to trace. The parents may have moved to London before the birth of the eldest child, and yet after they married.
Dont despair if you cannot find a baptism, marriage or burial in a London church parish that an ancestor lived in. He may have had family who lived in another part of the capital, and had children baptised, or got married or was buried in an uncle's, parents, siblings parish or any other relatives parish that was different to the ancestors usual parish of residence. London had so many churches to choose from that some parishes of a persons worship may not have had any connection with the family, just that they were popular like St George Hanover Square.
If you cannot find an ancestor's marriage in London, then it is wise to assume that they might have got married outside London.
If you cannot find a baptism, marriage or burial of an ancestor who didnt live in London anywhere, try London as a possibility, especially for marriages. Many people just moved there temporarily to marry, for business, or simply leisure, or an ancestor had London connections with his job.
If the census says that an ancestor was born in London, yet the parents were not from London, and you cannot find the eldest child's birth, then try where the parents originated. Due to the huge numbers of people moving to London, many families with newborn babies would have moved there and a lot of people grew up in London thinking that they were born there when they were actually born just before the parents moved to London.
Ben
Like myself, there are millions of you out there researching London ancestry. And because of the shher population of the city it can be very hard. In 1801, London had nearly 1000'000 inhabitants. By 1851 that number had risen to around 2.2 million. Inbetween 1841 and 1871, a million people moved to London from other parts of the UK, and some from Continental Europe. But migration to London has always been great and rose in the late 1700s.
Due to that, there can be many difficulties in researching London ancestors, and with my experience, I thought I'd share them.
If you find an ancestor born in London in say 1812, and if both parents were dead before the 1841 or 1851 census, dont always assume that they were both born in London unless you have proven it through relations, or a name that is easy to trace. The parents may have moved to London before the birth of the eldest child, and yet after they married.
Dont despair if you cannot find a baptism, marriage or burial in a London church parish that an ancestor lived in. He may have had family who lived in another part of the capital, and had children baptised, or got married or was buried in an uncle's, parents, siblings parish or any other relatives parish that was different to the ancestors usual parish of residence. London had so many churches to choose from that some parishes of a persons worship may not have had any connection with the family, just that they were popular like St George Hanover Square.
If you cannot find an ancestor's marriage in London, then it is wise to assume that they might have got married outside London.
If you cannot find a baptism, marriage or burial of an ancestor who didnt live in London anywhere, try London as a possibility, especially for marriages. Many people just moved there temporarily to marry, for business, or simply leisure, or an ancestor had London connections with his job.
If the census says that an ancestor was born in London, yet the parents were not from London, and you cannot find the eldest child's birth, then try where the parents originated. Due to the huge numbers of people moving to London, many families with newborn babies would have moved there and a lot of people grew up in London thinking that they were born there when they were actually born just before the parents moved to London.
Ben