You are here: Home/Gilwit Help
HELP
INTRODUCTION
This page describes the current state of the Gilwit Files and how to interpret the data they contain.
SCOPE AND USE
The Gilwit Files contain varying degrees of detail about several hundred families and people, all connected, if not strictly related, to the original Gilbertson and Witney families with which the research began.
The data are frequently extended and refined, including the addition of further families and people, as research continues.
Information from the Gilwit Files may be extracted for personal use only. It may not be used in any way commercially.
PEOPLE LIST
The People List, to which there is a link on every page, lists all those families and people for whom data are available on this Web Site.
To find a given family either scroll through the People List or search using "Ctrl F" or the "Find on this page" option in the "Edit" (Internet Explorer) or "Search" (Netscape Navigator) browser menu.
To find a particular individual, scroll through the People List or search using only their given names or first search for their birth surname then scroll through the family to the individual required. (Because of differences in the data, it is not possible to search the People List using an individual's full birth name although this can be done in the Relationship Chart q.v.)
The right hand column of each entry on the People List provides a link to the relevant page.
PEDIGREES
The top row of each pedigree, labelled "HUSBAND", follows a Male line through the various generations. Note that the "Husband" is not necessarily the oldest sibling in that generation of the family. He may be the first male sibling encountered during research or perhaps the male in the direct line of most interest to the researcher.
For each generation, below the "Husband" are shown his known siblings, his known Wife or Wives and any other husband his wife is known to have had.
With a very few exceptions, for example where only the forename of a wife is known, each name on the Pedigree is a link to the Detail Page of the person concerned.
Clearly, all siblings of a given generation share the same ancestory but the Descendant's Pedigree of each sibling will differ. To see the Pedigree of a sibling's descendants, click on the sibling's name to go to that sibling's Detail Page. Once there, click on "Descendant's Pedigree" at the head of the Detail Page.
Similarly, to see the Pedigree of a wife's ancestors, click on the wife's name to go to her Detail Page. Once there, click on "Ancestor's Pedigree" at the head of the page.
DETAIL PAGES
A Detail Page exists for every person in the Gilwit Files containing as much as can currently be made available concerning that individual, including the source of each piece of information. Wherever possible Primary sources are used, such as Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates. Where secondary sources are quoted, the information should be treated with caution until it can be verified.
In many cases, a secondary source is given as "Family Records". This covers all the verbal and written information provided by various members of the extended family, all of which has been extremely helpful but for which sources have not always been quoted. Occasionally, for example because of failing memories of elderly members, some notes or recollections have been found to contain errors. Consequently, information ascribed to Family Records should also be treated with caution until it can be verified.
FAMILY GROUP RECORDS
Family Group Records are traditionally associated with the male line. Using the standard format used by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Family Group Records can be reached through links on the Detail Pages of males in the Gilwit Files. If the Family Group Record for a given male is not yet available, no link is provided on that male's Detail Page.
For those who would like to print information from the Gilwit Files, the Family Group Records are in Portable Document Format (.pdf) for which Adobe Acrobat Reader version 4 or later is required. Adobe Acrobat Reader is a widely used, free program readily available from a number of sources including www.adobe.com
FILE CODING
Families, individuals and their details are added to the Gilwit Files as they are discovered, which precludes the production of lists sorted into alphabetical order.
Family numbering started with A1 Gilbertson and A2 Witney. Thereafter, each related family researched takes the next available number. Consequently, file numbers should not be taken as any indication of how closely families may be related.
Generation numbering began with "1" for the present generation ("US" on Pedigrees) The preceding generation ("PARENTS" on Pedigrees) is "2". Thereafter the number increases by 2 for each preceding generation e.g. Grandparents are "4" and Great Great Great Great Grandparents "12". Siblings are denoted by an alphabetical suffix. Consequently a code of A17-8c indicates Family A17 ("Haigh"), generation code 8 ("Great Great Grandparents") and the husband's third sibling ("Elizabeth").
Descendants of the present generation (e.g. "CHILDREN" and "GRANDCHILDREN" on Pedigrees) are coded similarly but with the prefix "D".
No data are included for people who are, or could be, still alive. Consequently, some families may be omitted entirely, as indicated by gaps in the sequential numbering on the People List. Similarly, some families may appear to stand in isolation if the links to them are not shown because they depend on marriages of people who are, or could be, still alive.
RELATIONSHIP CHART
The Relationship Chart is a very large table which records the connections between all the people included in the Gilwit Files. When first opened it will appear to be blank. On your first visit, try scrolling right and down until some entries appear. Many blank areas result from having deleted the names and relationships of people who are, or could be, still live.
Deceased members of a given family, at birth, are listed in the same column, earliest at the top and latest at the bottom. There may be gaps between successive members. Marriages are shown between individuals in different columns.
An extreme example may illustrate how to use the Relationship chart, e.g:
How is Martha Hall, in the final column, connected to Sarah Ross, in the fourth column?
Open the Relationship Chart and use the "Find" or "Search" feature of your browser to go to Martha Hall. Her name will be highlighted on the right edge of the visible portion of the chart. Use the scroll bars of your browser to see her name more clearly.
Moving sideways to the left, Martha Hall married Robert Savile
In the same column, Robert Savile had a daughter Mary Savile
Moving sideways, Mary Savile married David Haigh 3rd
Moving down the same column (past some inevitable gaps in the Haigh names), David Haigh 3rd had a Great, Great, Great Grandaughter Dorothy Haigh
Moving several columns sideways, Dorothy Haigh married Fred Witney
In the same column, Fred Witney had a sister Ruth Witney
Moving many columns sideways, Ruth Witney married Alexander Park Gilbertson
Moving up the same column, the father of Alexander Park Gilbertson was William Gilbertson 1st.
Moving sideways, William Gilbertson 1st married Elizabeth Park
Moving up the same column, the father of Elizabeth Park was Alexander Park 2nd
Moving sideways, Alexander Park 2nd married Sarah Ross
Q.E.D.
With very few exceptions, shown in black type, each entry on the Relationship Chart provides a link to the relevant Pedigree or Detail Page.
DISPLAY
A screen resolution of 1,024 by 768 pixels and Text Size set to "Medium" using Internet Explorer is preferable. However, to satisfy those with older machines, the Gilwit Files have been made useable with a resolution as low as 640 by 480 pixels and "Larger" Text Size. Samples have been tested satisfactorily with Windows 98, ME and XL. The Gilwit Files are also useable with Netscape Navigator but, because of differences between the browsers, the display is less acceptable.
The Gilwit Files have not been tested with other Operating Systems. Since, over a period of three years, more than 87% of visitors to a comparable site are known to use some version of Internet Explorer, it appears more productive to spend time adding genealogical data to the Gilwit Files rather than overcoming differences between how different browsers display the same HTML code, all of which was hand written and then checked using CSE HTML Validator Lite.
On some pages, e.g. those containing extensive Pedigrees, it is necessary to scroll horizontally in order to see all the data but this is thought preferable to the common practice of only showing three or perhaps four generations at a time.
Because it is impossible to predict how many people with the same name may be encountered, note that names such as William Gilbertson 1st, William Gilbertson 2nd and William Gilbertson 3rd work backwards in time i.e. William 3rd was the father, not the son, of William 2nd and the Grandfather of William 1st.
For consistency, all links are shown in Underscored Blue Text. All addresses refer to England unless specifically stated otherwise.
In addition to the links provided, the "Back" button of a browser can be used to return to an immediately preceding page of the Gilwit Files.
ABBREVIATIONS
Abbreviations have been avoided wherever possible. Those most likely to be encountered are:
LDS CD = Latter Day Saints Compact Disc
By courtesy of the British Public Records Office (PRO), the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has produced a series of Compact Discs containing the whole of the United Kingdom Census Records for 1881 with an associated National Index. Because this data has been indexed, this is the most useable Census CD currently available. Where no index exists, as with some other commercially produced CDs, relevant entries can only be found by knowing the approximate address of the people concerned and searching the entries individually for those of interest.
S & N CD = S & N British Data Archive Ltd. Compact Disc
By agreement with the British Public Records Office (PRO), S & N British Data Archive Ltd. has produced, or intends to produce, a range of Compact Discs containing digitised images of data from the British Censuses for 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1891 and 1901. Census data less than one hundred years old are not available to the public. Projects are in hand to index this material.
Stepping Stones CD = Stepping Stones Compact Disc
Also by agreement with the British Public Records Office (PRO), another commercial organisation, Stepping Stones, has produced, or intends to produce, a range of Compact Discs containing digitised images of data from the British Censuses, beginning with the 1841 Census although other CDs may follow. Unfortunately, as Stepping Stones says, "a number of the pages are either faint or illegible as the original 1841 Census images were of poor quality", the original enumeration sheets apparently having been completed in pencil. As yet, there are no known projects to index this material.
Family Search
Run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the Family Search Web Site contains an eclectic mixture of genealogical information from a variety of sources, including individuals who have contributed data from their own researches. Unfortunately, the standard of research varies widely, with reliable sources rarely being quoted, dates of Baptisms and Burials frequently being given as dates of Birth and Death and numerous factual and transcription errors. Consequently, although helpful, the data must be treated with caution and verified from other sources before being considered reliable.