SOME HELPFUL HINTS

This page contains some useful hints for genealogical research. It is not intended to be a "how to" guide, nor does it go into the basics from scratch, but instead contains information about sources other than BMD certificates, censuses and parish registers. It is based on my own experience over recent years as I've discovered more about research methods. Doubtless there are omissions - I'm still learning myself.

The second section contains some tips on using the internet for researching your family tree.

1. BEYOND THE BASICS - some things I have found useful recently.

1. WILLS - don't assume that because your ancestors weren't rich, they didn't leave wills. If you can find a will it can provide useful information eg. verifying the names of children, revealing where the children had moved to, who the daughters had married, whether the wife survived the husband etc. Wills after 1858 are kept centrally and are indexed. Before 1858 it's worth checking at the County Records Office as they may have an index (some CRO's have wills after 1858 too).

2. MEMORIAL INSCRIPTIONS - these can be helpful in linking burials together, as husband, wife, and some children may be listed on the same stone. And before you spend hours walking around graveyards with a notebook, check to see if the Memorial Inscriptions have already been recorded by the local Family History Society. Many have, and are available in book or fiche format.

3. BURIALS IN CITY CEMETERIES - if you find a relative buried in a large cemetery, bear in mind that the graves can contain several bodies (possibly up to six). Sometimes other family members may be in the same grave (wife, children, grandchildren perhaps), so it's worth finding out from the cemeteries office. One note of caution - partly filled graves were often used by the council for burial of unrelated people, so don't draw too many conclusions.

4. ELECTORAL REGISTERS - for most of us, these are only useful from the early 20th century, when ordinary people began to have the vote. However, if you know someone's address it's worth searching consecutive years to see how long they lived there. If the husband's name disappears but the wife remains, then search the death indexes around that time to see if he died.

5. LOCAL DIRECTORIES - useful for finding addresses if you need to search an un - indexed census. Many only list tradesmen, though some postal directories have the names for every address in a city too.

6. SCHOOL LEAVERS RECORDS - if you find these in a records office it can be a real goldmine. Lists were compiled when children left school - in the early 20th century that usually meant age 13 or 14. The entries include date of birth, parents' names and address, school attended, and grade achieved. If you're looking for the names of the children of a particular couple, this can be a useful source of that information.

7. ST CATHERINE'S INDEX - the usual advice is that you should never build a family tree from an index. This is good advice, but it's worth pointing out that from the 3rd qtr of 1911 the birth index includes the mother's maiden name. Therefore it ought to be possible to find all the children of a particular marriage by working through the index (providing you don't have a SMITH married to a JONES of course!). Also from the 1st qtr of 1912 the marriage index includes surname of spouse.

2. THINKING OF USING THE INTERNET - read on..........

1. BOOKMARK the following sites :

GENUKI - www.genuki.org.uk

An essential site telling you where to get hold of information both on the web and elsewhere. Includes all the addresses for local registrars, county records offices, and family history societies.

LDS "FAMILYSEARCH" SITE - www.familysearch.com

Contains a powerful search engine enabling you to look for baptisms and marriages (mostly pre 1837 but some up to the 1870's). HINT - use "Custom Search - International Genealogical Index" as this avoids all the less reliable data, and NEVER construct a tree from the IGI - you must only use it as an index to lead you to the original entry.

ROOTSWEB - www.rootsweb.com

An American site but being used increasingly by British people too. Contains the WorldConnect Project (see below).

2. SUBSCRIBE to genealogy mailing lists and newsgroups. Soc.genealogy.britain is a useful newsgroup to read. Soc.genealogy.surnames.britain can be useful too, but it seems to have server problems regularly. Instructions on how to subscribe to mailing lists can be found on the GENUKI website, under specific counties. If you don't want your inbox swamped with e mails, use "Digest" mode.

3. LOOKUPS - if you ask for a lookup on a mailing list, make sure that you're not asking too much, ask in hope not anticipation, and always acknowledge any help given. Also, if you are in a position to help someone else, then be prepared to. That way we all benefit.

4. CONSIDER posting your research on the Rootsweb WorldConnect site. Provided you have a program which can produce GEDCOMS, this is simplicity itself, and a good way to advertise your existence to other distant relatives.

5. REMEMBER that the only reliable way to construct a family tree is to spend time buying BMD certificates, and searching through censuses and parish registers. However much information you obtain via the net, it is only as good as the person who researched it, so don't take anything for granted.

HAPPY HUNTING!!

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