Pre 1800

[RustyH]

Hi,

I am trying to gather as much supporting informaiton to confirm parents of a family member from the 1700s, his parents would have been in 1700s also. I have found a marriage record in a parish book, as being 1790. And I have also found a baptism in 1772 for the same name. I was wondering though if births were recorded in those days as well to try and get a D.O.B?

Also, were the 1801, 1811 and 1821 census records destroyed?

[stepives]

If you are lucky birth dates can be recorded, but not mandatory. Usually baptised within 6 months, but that's not set in stone.
I have had relatives baptised as adults, also a 'block booking' for children of different ages.

Steve.

[pwholt]

Re: early censuses. These were statistical and did not usually record names, although in some places there are survivals which did. It is thought that the locals in charge used the names to keep straight who they had listed and interrogated re ages of various family members. After the statistics were submitted, the pages were destroyed. Recorded was the number of males and separately females in various age tranches and total inhabitants of the dwellings. pwholt

[RustyH]

Thank you for both the reply

is there a site you can locate these statisics per dwaelling?
I guess even if you do have that information, you cant be sure if there were lodgers etc, so wont help in determining the number of children etc.

It gets quite hard finding evidence and linking parents when you get below 1850s, and even more so sub 1800s. Do you have any advice on best methods on doing this?

[stepives]

Depending on the coverage of your area of interest, you may need to sign to one of the paid for Genealogy web sites. But even those do not cover the whole of the country.
Best you check their coverage before you pay your cash to access.

What area are you looking at.?

Steve.

[RustyH]

Hi Steve,

The line of my family I am looking at at the moment are mostly from Gloucester.

Many thanks
Russ

[Pam Downes]

Hi,

I am trying to gather as much supporting informaiton to confirm parents of a family member from the 1700s, his parents would have been in 1700s also. I have found a marriage record in a parish book, as being 1790. And I have also found a baptism in 1772 for the same name. I was wondering though if births were recorded in those days as well to try and get a D.O.B?

If you're fairly new to family history, here's a few things to remember.
Civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths began on 1 July 1837, though not every birth was registered until 1874/1875, and even then I suspect a few 'escaped'.
Prior to then, your main source of information is via parish registers which record baptisms, marriages, and burials which, although very similar, are not the same as BMDs.
Information found in parish registers varies. In the 1600s for example you might just get 'Ye son of John Smith was baptised this day 10 April 1620'. By the end of the 1700s I've found baptisms which say 'William, son of John Smith and Mary late Brown' - late in this case meaning the mother's previous surname, usually her maiden name. Some baptism registers in the 1800s do give a date of birth as well as that of the baptism.
If your ancestors were Methodists then their childrens' births may have been 'registered'. Have a google for Dr William's Library for further details.

Also, were the 1801, 1811 and 1821 census records destroyed?

Read the end of section 3 in this TNA research guide.
https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/...ensus-records/

Pam