How best to trace a line forwards

[JohnWoods]

Hi,

I've been making good progress working back up my family tree and now want to work forwards from my g-g-grandfather. He had 7 children and I know where they were & who they had married at the end of the C19th. I have full details for my line and a line we are still in contact with in Canada. I got lucky with another one by contacting people of the family name who still live in Leeds (where the family was based) but that leaves another four.

I can search through the BMD indexes for the right name and location but that will get expensive in certificates. Also, any that bear the family name - Beeforth - are no longer in Leeds so how do I track them down around the country?

With no access to C20th censuses can anyone suggest ways that I can trace these families forward and find living relatives?

I have the same problem with the other side of the family but more so as I don't know anything about them since 1901. Unfortunately Woods is a relatively common name, certainly in comparison to Beeforth so I wanted to hone my skills with Beeforth.

Any help would be much appreciated.

John Woods

[Wirral]

In my 1940 Trade Directory for Liverpool & Merseyside there are 14 columns of Wood/s, but not a single Beeforth so you are definitley starting with the right name! Have you tried the current phone directory? You may be able to do it online, but my local library has all the BT directories for the country, so yours probably does as well. It will give you an idea of the spread of the name in the country, as well as building up your arm muscles!
Have you tried GenesReunited & Curious Fox? They often have people looking for more recent relatives.

[Peter Goodey]

There's a book called "Tracing Your Twentieth Century Family History" published by the FFHS which you might find useful. But there's no denying that it isn't an easy job...which is probably why few people tackle it!

[JohnWoods]

Thanks for the replies. I'd not come across Curious Fox but am now registered. I have had a little success with Genes Reunited but from a branch two generations further back.

Phone books do give an idea of the spread but even with Beeforth it is a bit of a needle in a haystack job. There were a lot of them in north Yorkshire at the same time as mine in Leeds. Also some in London then. Now they are all over the place and I don't fancy writing to all of them on the off-chance one may be related, I'm thinking there must be a way to get closer before doing the blanket mailshot.

I might try and get hold of the recommended book.

Thanks

John

[Peter Goodey]

"I might try and get hold of the recommended book."

Whoaa!

I didn't actually recommend it - I said you might find it useful. You might be best to try a library or a bookshop where you can browse it before buying. Mind you, it doesn't actually cost very much!

[JohnWoods]

Peter,

Don't worry, I didn't mean I was going to rush out and buy it. My first port of call was going to be the local FHS booklist and then the library. After all, I don't really need a reference book just some ideas of ways I could approach this dilema.

John

[Stuman]

Hi John

I have tried the same exercise on one of my lines, starting at the begining of the 19C. Using parish registers I had some success for a while as the family tended to work in the leather trade in Bermondsey so all stayed wthin a few parishes. Towards the end of 19C there seemed to be a decline in the trade and they started to move out of the area and that is where I lost them.

The way that I approached it was to try and reverse the standard logic of familiy search, so I first looked for marriages of the individuals then with a husband and wife name I looked for children. Back up came with certificates where confirmation needed and some census searches were useful but luck was needed. As I got to 20C the mobility of people just defeated me.

Stuart

[Rove]

Yes like many of you I have the same problem

Up to 1901 it was not much of a problem. The black period was 1901 census figures to mid 1911 when birth records did not show the mother's name in Free BMDs and Library records. From 1912 onwards one can find more helpful detail.

What I would like to know is how easy it is to search Electoral Rolls in England and what kind of detail is shown in these records.

I was doing research in the Isle of Wight and someone sent me very useful detail from the 1933 Electoral Rolls.

[Geoffers]

I've been making good progress working back up my family tree and now want to work forwards from my g-g-grandfather.........I can search through the BMD indexes for the right name and location but that will get expensive in certificates. Also, any that bear the family name - Beeforth - are no longer in Leeds so how do I track them down around the country?Especially with a fairly unusual name, one of teh places to begin, is with wills.The indexes to wills and admons (Letters of Administration) are available in many record offices/local studies' centres around the country. The index alone is free and provides useful information, including the address of the deceased and/or where he/she died and when. Purchase a copy of the will and you may find descendents of whom you previously haven't heard.

With a place where someone died and other information from a will, you can turn to directories with more confidence and may be able to narrow down which certificates may be useful.
Geoffers

[Clive Blackaby]

Have you tried the current phone directory? You may be able to do it online, but my local library has all the BT directories for the country, so yours probably does as well. It will give you an idea of the spread of the name in the country, as well as building up your arm muscles!.
192.com is a useful source for this type of search.

A few £££ and some skillful mouse work, and you can build a pretty good address list and (given the right software) a distribution map and a mailing list which is perfectly legal to use to contact existing Beeforths.

Woods would cost you a lot more ££££££s. and give you a very big list tho :)

[JohnWoods]

Clive,

Thanks for the pointer to 192.com I've not come across them, it does look like a good resource but as you say, in this instance only for more unusual names. They also offer access to archived electoral roles but only from 2002 and charge a lot to get access. Where are older (1900 - 2000) electoral roles kept and where can you get access to them?

Geoffers,

Wills is a good idea. I went into the Wakefield Records office to check some of these Beeforth's and was able to see the wills proved there. However I am based in Somerset. Do all record offices hold a national index of wills?

Thanks guys,

John

[Geoffers]

Geoffers,
Wills is a good idea. I went into the Wakefield Records office to check some of these Beeforth's and was able to see the wills proved there. However I am based in Somerset. Do all record offices hold a national index of wills?
Most County Record Offices/Local Stduies Libraries hold the index to wills and admons (Letters of Administration) on microfilm/fiches. Try 'phoning your nearest centre to see if they have it and if you need to reserve a film/fiche reader. You can contact them via their web-site
http://www.somerset.gov.uk/archives/
which has a guide to their holdings.
Geoffers