Siblings

[Finnis]

Please excuse a rather crass question as I'm VERY new to Genealogy but how on earth do you find siblings? At the moment I have a long thin line going from my mother to my Great great grandparents, but with the exception of my grandfather I can't trace any siblings at all. I've managed to dig up birth and marriage certs through the 1837 online, but can't find any of the elusive swines on the cenus'. I've got as far back as about 1831, but I can't believe they were all "only" children!
Thanks to anyone who can help at all!

[Guy Etchells]

Census returns are the easiest way to find siblings but they may not always show up there. It was not uncommon for children to die before they were ten years old and so it is quite possible to miss then on census for that reason.
Have you found any wills for the family, wills are a good source for siblings and other family relationships.

Trawling through the General Register Office (GRO, St Catherine's Index, 1837) is another way to find siblings.
Until 1972 it was possible to pop down to the registrar's office and browse through the registers (births & deaths) but many have now stopped that practise even though it is still enshrined in law.
It is still possible to browse the baptism registers if your ancestors had their children baptised and you know the parish in question.
Cheers
Guy

[Geoffers]

Please excuse a rather crass question as I'm VERY new to Genealogy but how on earth do you find siblings? At the moment I have a long thin line going from my mother to my Great great grandparents, but with the exception of my grandfather I can't trace any siblings at all. I've managed to dig up birth and marriage certs through the 1837 online, but can't find any of the elusive swines on the cenus'. I've got as far back as about 1831, but I can't believe they were all "only" children!
If you'd like to briefly type a few details of the line - maybe from your grandmother to your 2xgt grandparents - I'm sure that on this helpful forum, you'd get several people scouring records to try and assist.

Also, if you can provide a few basic details, it is much easier to make suggestions as they then have a context for you - using a fictious family as an example never makes quite as much sense.

The basic details that would be of use are:

Name(s)
date and place of birth, marriage and death
occupation
moving address/town found in census/directories.
What sources you have used to find the information (e.g. Certificates, census, IGI, etc).

Geoffers
Charlbury, Oxfordshire

[Finnis]

Thanks so much. A friend of mine who's helping me in the U.S managed to dig out a dead twin for one of my grandfather's sisters in one of the registry's (Family rumour has it that the existing unmarked graves for our family are stuffed full of young children who didn't survive!) I don't think any of them provided wills as they didn't have anything to leave. I'm certainly going to trawl through the GRO though, thanks for the tip for that.I've also joined the Calderdale Family History Society and may pop down to the Halifax registry office after Christmas as I believe they hold some of the records there. Thanks very much for your help.

[Finnis]

Thanks very much for the info. I'll put a message on the Trying To Find Board. I've got no qualms about anyone knowing who these people are, until about a fortnight ago I didn't know they existed either.