Race Family in Bishop Auckland, Durham area

[MRace]

First, thank you for the reply. Everyone has been great in responding and I am learning. Second, THANK YOU for the link to the General Registry Office. I suppose the manor in which a person aquires documentation is the same as in the states, the offices are just different in regard to name & that is one of the hurdles I must overcome.

The 1881 census, Piece 4913; Folio 71; Page 42 (Next Page Over) shows that John Race Jr had a housekeeper named Mary Watson. Margaret Greenwell died in July-Sep of 1879 in Auckland, Durham, England. Eng - Wales Free BMD Index, Reg Dist: Auckland, County: Durham, Vol: 10a, Page: 103

I don't know why Joseph Race & Maria Readman didn't appear in the 1871 Census. Marriage, children, etc... they were more than likely missed. Just following the 1881 Census they migrated to the United States in 1884. They are most definately here, I was at there gravesite yesterday in Homestead Cemetery (Pitsburgh) Pennsylvania. They are buried with many of there children & family friends. The remainder, and majority of the Race family, is in Jefferson Memeorial Cemetery also in Mt Pleasant (Pittsburgh) Pennsylvania.

I know I am lacking in the manner to reference specific documents. That is why I was uploading records in there entirety. Page numbers are understandable but "Folio" & referencing "Piece" was unknown to me. I went back & looked at the individual census, found the refernces and will follow the practice. Please excuse me, not a professional, just an old man trying to give something back to his family.

Here, in the states, they use the word "Parish" to reference a specific church. In England, it appears that the use of the word "Parish" is two fold. One being a reference to specific area, ie: St Andrews, Bishop Auckland, Durham, England, the second actually referencing a physical church ie: Auckland St Andrews Church. How do I tell the difference? Also, does the churches there provide any searchable records or is everything done through the General Registry Office?

Again, for you and everyone that has provided me direction I thank you. I have a 1 1/12 year old grandson and a 36 year old son that this will all eventually mean the world to... until I started down this journey even I had no knowledge of my past & all of our family is gone. No one to ask.

Mark

[Megan Roberts]

Mark

Everywhere does things differently so I thought I would set out a few bits and pieces which might help you:

in 1837 a law was introduced requiring that all births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales must be registered with the civil authorities. There are local record offices in each area, and these register the events and then every quarter the local results are combined centrally, and that's where you get the England and Wales civil registration indexes from. If you have a Scottish or Irish ancestor the dates are different and also the information that appears on the certificates. The GRO link I gave you has a question and answer section which you might find useful.

Prior to 1837 you have to look for baptism, marriage and burial records. There was no rule requiring children to be baptised when they were born, so you might not find a record for them. These religious records often collectively called "parish records" would be held and compiled by the church in question. A parish church will be an Anglican church, but people would also use non conformist churches and chapels. There are no central rules about where those records can be found. Good starting places are pay to view like Ancestry and Findmypast, or free to use such as FamilySearch, or FreeReg.

It may also be worthwhile contacting local record offices such as the County Durham record office at https://www.durhamrecordoffice.org.uk/Pages/home.aspx. There is also another online site: https://www.durhamrecordsonline.com/i...&cookiecheck=1. I have no idea if it is any good. Another good place for general information might be GENUKI - https://joinermarriageindex.co.uk/pjoiner/genuki/DUR/

With regards to censuses, these have broadly speaking been undertaken every 10 years from 1841. The amount of information in each varies - the 1841 census being the least useful, because it does not even give relationships of people in the same house. The last census that can be looked at is the 1911 census. In the UK there is 100 year rule on censuses, so we won't be able to see the 1921 census until 1 Jan 2022. Very frustrating.

The National Archives have a lot useful information about to look for people or subjects, and this is all available free on line: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/r...%5Cdefault.htm

Please ask any questions you want even if you think it sounds daft.

[MRace]

That is a great help. I knew it would be a learning experience once I left the states. Now that I have buttoned allot of this up on this end I need to regroup, get my resources in order and start again there. It is nice when you can just get into your car & drive there, research, visit, speak with people. This is a completely different scenario.

I have to go out of town for a couple of weeks so I do little while traveling but I will get all of the links bookmarked & start putting together a strategy for continueing on. I had even thought about running a couple of ads in the local papers there to try to find living relatives but I think I better get everything documented before I leap.

Mark

[JayGee81]

Hi Mark

Maria Readman was a sister of my great great grandfather.

Would be great to exchange information/research etc.

[MRace]

Megan,

It has been a little while since I have been here but I just wanted to stop & thank you for the links. It is an ongoing process but I have started to acquire marriage & death certificates from the GRO. I have come to find that even though I have dates of birth on death certificates issued here in the US, they are not always correct. A person literally relys on what the "informant" supplied as information. That may not always correspond with other documents made available in England, and in the US. Quite a maze... but everything you told me was very helpfull & I just wanted to thank you.

I have done the DNA testing supplied by Ancestry.com. I won't get the results for a few weeks but every tool I can add to my arsenal is an advantage.

Thanks again... Mark

[Megan Roberts]

Mark

I am pleased to be able to help, and even more pleased that you are making progress.

Megan

[aden1967]

Hi Mark,

There are still persons with the surname Race living in Shildon which is near to Bishop Auckland.

[MRace]

Thanks! Appreciate that allot. Have been waiting for Ancestry.com to finish my DNA Test so I can have more substantial verfication as I, and my son, move along with this. Posting an add in the local papers there is one thing that we have been waiting to do but wanted to nail down specific areas & find a safe way to recover responses. I will target Shildon when we start, Thanks again! Mark

[jayrace4581]

I am also from Pittsburgh, and the grave sites you visited are my relatives. I have documents regarding Joseph Race. I would love to share this info and get more. I am not sure how this website works, but I can be found on facebook as Jay Race in Trafford, Pa.

[MRace]

Jay, sent a message to you thru your work contact page. My son's wife said she also knows your wife from the Facebook pictures! I don't know much about Facebook so Missy looked for me. Missy is going to get in touch with your wife and pass along my phone number, also sent it in that message I sent. Would love to talk to you and get together. Call me... Mark