Sources

[Guy Etchells]

A quick tip for those beginners who are just starting out in genealogy or family history.
There are very few original sources in family history, most of those viewed as primary sources are in fact trascripts of notes or day books.
Take for instance Parish Registers if we discount those which are know to be transcripts, i.e. the bulk of those prior to 1597, and concentrate on those produced since how were they filled in.
The clerks or churchwardens would make a note of the event in a day book then once a week they would transcribe the notes into the register.

In a similar way the census would be transcribed by the enumerator after collecting the schedules from the individual householders.

Even the civil registers of births and deaths depend upon information given to the registrars without any form of checking being made

Because of this there may be errors in many of the records we rely on and so we must build our trees on the balance of probabilities rather than firm evidence.
That is not to say that if care is taken an accurate tree cannot be developed, it can, but all information must be checked and counter-checked against as many source as possible.
Cheers
Guy

[Tomp]

Hi

Regarding sources, does anyone have any idea what sources I would look at to find brothers and sisters of my gg grandfather? His wedding parish register does not show any of his family as witnesses. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1849 so I would suppose it would have to be a document from England. The wedding register just shows his father as John Prince with no other info.

Thanks for any help.

Tom

[Linda]

Be aware that the 1841 census does not show relationships. All children in one household may not necessarily be siblings.

Linda

[Tomp]

Hi

Unfortunately John Prince and wife Martha emigrated as a mother and father with their children. The only info I have on John's father is from their marriage on the parish records of St. Peter and St Pauls in Aston that Johns fathers name was, John, and that he was a victualler. John Prince was a common name at that time.

Tom

[Geoffers]

Regarding sources, does anyone have any idea what sources I would look at to find brothers and sisters of my gg grandfather? His wedding parish register does not show any of his family as witnesses. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1849 so I would suppose it would have to be a document from England. The wedding register just shows his father as John Prince with no other info.
Did any other family emigrate at the same time? Do they show up in the 1850/1860 American census returns? Your family may have emigrated with assistance granted by the Poor law Amendment Act 1834. Records relating to this are held in The National Archives (TNA) at Kew in document class MH12. These are arranged by Poor Law Union and Date, but are otherwise quite simple to use.

If no other family emigrated, you might try working through the 1851 census for the parish/town to pick out all Prince entries and follow them back to Parish Registers (yes, it can take a while to do this) - The 1851 census includes place of birth.

[The only info I have on John's father is from their marriage on the parish records of St. Peter and St Pauls in Aston that Johns fathers name was, John, and that he was a victualler. John Prince was a common name at that time.]

If John senior was a victualler, does he appear in any directories? If you have a town where he traded (and lived) then it may make things easier in hunting him (and other family) down in census returns.

Geoffers
Charlbury, Oxfordshire

[Tomp]

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions. It gives me more to work with.

Tom

[WaltonAus]

A quick tip for those beginners who are just starting out in genealogy or family history.
There are very few original sources in family history, most of those viewed as primary sources are in fact trascripts of notes or day books.
Take for instance Parish Registers if we discount those which are know to be transcripts, i.e. the bulk of those prior to 1597, and concentrate on those produced since how were they filled in.
The clerks or churchwardens would make a note of the event in a day book then once a week they would transcribe the notes into the register.

In a similar way the census would be transcribed by the enumerator after collecting the schedules from the individual householders.

Even the civil registers of births and deaths depend upon information given to the registrars without any form of checking being made

Because of this there may be errors in many of the records we rely on and so we must build our trees on the balance of probabilities rather than firm evidence.
That is not to say that if care is taken an accurate tree cannot be developed, it can, but all information must be checked and counter-checked against as many source as possible.
Cheers
Guy



Hello Guy,
I really appreciated the tip on sources. With the number of people becoming interested in Genealogy could there be a useful place for a "teaching & tips" forum. Education about available resources and how to get the best use of them would make research that much easier for beginners not knowing quite where to start.
I had a look around BG for this type of forum but if I missed it please just ignore this post.

Kind Regards
Peter Euston

[Geoffers]

With the number of people becoming interested in Genealogy could there be a useful place for a "teaching & tips" forum.
You could try the Beginners forum
http://www.british-genealogy.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=40
which has several threads in which useful advice is given. Other advice is often specific to a topic or place, and so information is placed there - e.g. the Boer War forum, similarly the forum for WW1.

Other than that, the British-Genealogy homepage has links to useful information and sources.
http://www.british-genealogy.com/

But if you get stuck - ask. This tends to be the simplest way

Geoffers

[BeeE586]

Am I allowed to mention a book on the Forum ?

I have recently read "Meet Your Ancesters" - written by a lady Diane Marelli who has recorded the first four years of her search, starting from virtually nothing and recording her finds as she went along, thoughts, deductions and assumptions, things to do next, mistakes, false trails, in fact the whole nine yards of research. It is very readable in style, and has clearly drawn tables and family trees and does name its sources.

The only niggle I have about it is the immense amount of money spent on Certificates - she must have bought enough to paper a room.

Eileen

PS I have no shares in the publishing company.

[fannyadam]

Does anybody know if all registers show on line. Just put my own marriage in a search, and it came up with a blank. my name and my husbands not even mentioned. Bit off I thought as I know I was there with the vicar! Any help on this?|computer|

[Geoffers]

Does anybody know if all registers show on line. Just put my own marriage in a search, and it came up with a blank. my name and my husbands not even mentioned. Bit off I thought as I know I was there with the vicar! Any help on this?

Relatively few parish registers are on line, the majority of the registers available being transcripts, the quality of which can vary. What have you searched to try and find the marriage?

Geoffers