Genealogy Chat

Hi,
I'm helping someone who is just starting family history and I'm going to send some genealogy sites to them.

I'm just wondering if the old IGI site is the same as the new family search site?
These are the websites I'm looking at.
https://familysearch.org/
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/igi

The IGI was the early database of the LDS.
My opinion:- By all means mention it. But also explain what it was, and how much more data is now available on their website. When I first used the early IGI it was on a large set of microfiche (copies of the original card index system) at the London Metropolitan Archives.
I suggest that you read some of the information on that second link. In particular note the "was" in this piece:-

International Genealogical Index (IGI)

The International Genealogical Index was a family history database that listed several hundred million names of deceased persons from throughout the world. Names in the IGI came from two sources.
Community Contributed IGI (Personal family information submitted to the LDS Church)
For a short period of time duplication in the IGI was reduced by removing records from the indexed data when these records were submitted by the community. To do an exhaustive search for your ancestor you should choose to search the Community Contributed IGI and follow the process outlined on the Family Search Wiki IGI page to determine if the record you find was part of an indexed collection.

Community Indexed IGI (Vital and church records from the early 1500s to 1885)
The indexed data has been organized into the original collections from which it was transcribed and resides in the Historical Records system. To see a list of all collections available choose Browse All Published Collections from the home screen. The Community Indexed search from this page searches ONLY the records that were part of the old IGI. Most of these collections have had many more records added to them. To do an exhaustive search for your ancestors you should choose to use the search form on the home screen.

I found that the many of the Batches submitted by individuals were not complete records of Church registers. In particular, Blackburn Cathedral (previously St Mary). Many of the Batches were female only.

Had the list on and Excel sheet. Sorry the column formatting does not get in, but I think that you get the idea. No males at all.

ST. MARY THE VIRGIN, BLACKBURN

IGI Batch No. Period Period Record Male Female
From To Count

C017050 JAN1798 FEB1804 1680 0 1680
C017051 MAR1802 NOV1807 335 0 335
C017058 JUN1798 SEP1809 3 0 3
C017053 MAY1807 AUG1812 871 0 871
C017054 SEP1812 DEC1812 60 0 60
C017640 OCT1817 DEC1819 444 0 444
C017641** JAN1820 MAY1822 329 0 329
C017644** JAN1823 JUL1823 87 0 87
C017056**** JUL1823 JAN1829 916 0 916
C017645** FEB1824 DEC1826 21 0 21
C017057 JAN1829 APR1829 929 0 929
5675 0 5675

** IGI shows 'Blackburn'. Probably St. Mary's, but could be another Church.
**** Includes 2 Female Baptisms on 06JUL1828 - date of my g2gf's baptism.

Thanks very much Inky1. I've read the information you gave me, and I've decided to just give my friend the link about the new family search website.

Jan

Do tell her to use only the Records section, not the Genealogies

The old warnings about the reliability of family trees on familysearch still apply!!


This link on familysearch might help her find records they might have on her area of interest .........

https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list

the Online Parish Clerks sites can also be useful if one is lucky enough to need information on one of the counties that is being worked on. Lancashire is EXCELLENT!

the general site ........

http://www.ukbmd.org.uk/online_parish_clerk


and the Lancashire link ....

http://www.lan-opc.org.uk/Search/indexp.html

Thanks very much Sylvia - that's very useful. I'm still going through other sites that I think may be useful for my friend.

Do also mention http://freereg2.freereg.org.uk/search_queries/new for (mainly) England PR. If featured, they'll show more transcribed info than the FS equivalent.

Thanks DetEcTive, I'll send it to her later on.