How to trace pre 1837?

[Oates]

I know that on here many people have trees going back to when records began. However, I don't understand how this is achieved with any degree of confidence. I know about parish records and such; I've heard mention of removal orders, and of course there are wills and also some directories.

In my tree, most are textiles workers, skilled tradesmen, farmers or miners - i.e. highly common professions. With the skilled tradesmen (blacksmiths, cordwainers, joiners etc) it's a little easier if the profession was passed down father to son (though of course this may not have happened) and perhaps there may even be apprenticeship records. The vast majority will not have left wills nor will many of them appear in directories. They also have names which are very common in the area (Hill, Clark, Blackburn, Allen etc).

To give an example, I have an 1828 marriage record. It tells me the names of the bride and groom, that they were bachelor and spinster, the groom's profession and the date. It says that both were of this parish and there are two witnesses, but no clues (as far as I can tell) in them. What it doesn't tell me is their ages, parents' names or where they were born. (Perhaps other churches recorded more detail, but most of my lines are in that same town).

I'm at a loss as to how to go any further back on that information. There could be hundreds of possibles in the surrounding area in an approximate date range. Then there's the possibility they came from further afield. How do you know which is the right one? Come to that, how do you find the right marriage? How do you know which children belong to whom when there are two or more couples described as 'William and Mary Allen, cloth spinner'. Then what if they changed profession? Oh, and how about when the baptism records only list the father's name which is something ridiculously common like John or William?!

So many questions... How can it be possible?!

[Astoria]

Well you have to hit the records office, write them down - rule them out.

[Jan1954]

Hi Oates,

Have you had a look at the Resource Pages? There are a load of "dos and don'ts" therein, as well as examples of what to look out for.

[Oates]

Well you have to hit the records office, write them down - rule them out.

How do you do that though? Say for example, you're looking for a John Blackburn (which I am). I know that that name is insanely common in the area. I haven't looked through the parish records that many times, but when I have, there's been at least one Blackburn on almost every page. Now in this case, the only thing I know about John is that he was the father of William (assuming I have the right one). This is one of those records which only names the father. So, I could look for other children of John Blackburn around that period - and there'd be hundreds. As the records don't name the mother, I'd have no way of knowing who he married. Then reaching his birth, assuming he had his son William between the ages of 20 and 50, that's a 30yr period in which to search for his birth. There'd be so many possible candidates I have no idea how any could be ruled out, especially when the only records available are baptisms, marriages and burials.

[Oates]

Hi Oates,

Have you had a look at the Resource Pages? There are a load of "dos and don'ts" therein, as well as examples of what to look out for.

Thanks for the suggestion but I've had a look through there and didn't find anything that answered any of my questions. Perhaps I missed something but I can't see anything.

[Astoria]

There will be addresses and occupations - for example - John son of John and his wife Mary of ....... occupation Miller.

I would go to the records office - if this is possible for you, and grab a friendly face, explain your problem and see what happens.

Also have a look at A2A - Access to Archives - you can narrow your search down to a local records office and it will give you details of their holdings.

[MythicalMarian]

What period is this, Oates? When I was tracing on of my lines, I took down every reference of the surname I could find in the probable parish of birth and its surrounding ones, and grouped all these into family units (this takes time and work, but it's probably the best way to do it). You may spend a lot of time researching all these little units just in order to eliminate them, but for me, that's part of it all.

If you have groups of John Blackburns and children in a given area, did one of these perhaps live to appear on the 1841 census, thus enabling you to check a grouping? Were any of the youngest children born after 1837, thus enabling you to check Mum's maiden name on a birth certificate? Did anyone live long enough to have a death certificate? Could the informant here be of help? If John had daughters and you have possible marriages, do the witnesses help to identify the correct family? Same for the sons.

E.g. If your John Blackburn has a daughter called Catherine and you have a Catherine marrying a Thomas Fairhurst, does a later marriage for your suspected son William have Catherine Fairhurst signing or marking as witness? Does Thomas Fairhurst himself witness the wedding?

These are just little things taken at random, but they are the sort of things that can help to bring the evidence together. I'm sure our experts will have other examples.

At the end of the day, you may well reach a situation where you have to put that inevitable dotted line into your tree for now, hoping that some extra bit of evidence appears at a later date.

[Astoria]

Thanks Marion, my thoughts too, I just don't explain as well as you.

Write down - rule out

[janbooth]

Do look for wills even if you think your ancestors may not have made one as you could well be surprised. If your ancestors were skilled tradesmen they could have left wills in which wives, children, brothers, sisters and relatives by marriage were often mentioned. Even if your own ancestor did not leave a will, perhaps a possible sibling may well have done in which your own ancestor could be mentioned. For example, on the National Archives Documents Online site doing a search on John BLACKBURN brings up wills for a Tin Plate Worker, Cooks Mate on board Ship Greenwich, Caulker of Ship Fox, Carman, Carpenter & a Victualler as well as the normal range of Gentlemen & Merchants, etc.

Janet

[Peter Goodey]

How can it be possible?

You could write a book on it!

In fact, several people have done just that! So why not have a browse through your library catalogue (most of them are on line) and choose a few books to read. The Dewey Code for genealogy is 929.1