Genealogy Chat

see below

Oh please take me back to the the good old registration and census days!!!! Im into the pre 1837 and census years on all my lines and Im finding it hard going, my mind just isnt strong enough to figure it out. For instance Ive got a baptism from the IGI that fits with name (James Newman), rough date (1772 - census tells me he's c1771)and rough area (Norwich, Norfolk - quite a big place) but how do I know that this one is mine. Would welcome any tips on how to get as much confirmation as possible that the findings are my rellies? Suzanne

Hi, If it is an 'extracted from parish records' baptism then the LDS have filmed the records. Get a copy of the film at your nearest LDS centre and view the original entry. Records that late often have an address and occupation of father, you can compare this to census or the birth cert. If you meant to type 1772 then you will have to look for the marriage of the parents in the registers and baptisms of siblings Gwynne

Have you checked to see if there are any baptisms for other children belonging to the same parents? Can be useful if you already know some names. Click on the batch number, this will take you to a search page, enter the surname only in the usual place, enter the parents names, you may have to choose the region also, click on search. Alternatively search the records for the parish via the IGI Batch numbers site, you may be lucky enough to find a marriage entry too. http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb(.)com/~hughwallis/IGIBatchNumbers.htm Remove the ()s. Christina

Thanks for this thread Suzanne. It has helped me too! Mandy XX

Suzanne do you know who James married, if you can find his marriage in the parish records you might get lucky & it will name his father. Georgina.

Hi Everyone, thanks for your help and advice. Sorry I did mean 1771/2 Have changed the thread. yes there are other children but no clues such as naming patterns and my James was married by the 1841 so cant put siblings with him. (There was a William to the same couple and there is a William as a Witness to the marriage so i guess thats something) Parish entry for marriage does have two witnesses (Sarah Newman and William Newman) could be William brother with wife? Or William Father? Thank you all again... Ill keep plugging away Suzanne

A good question! Thanks for asking it, I've reached the same stage with some lines and have been wondering about the same thing.

Short answer to your question (and I sympathise as I have a James Newman, same period but in Hants, that I can't identify) is that you are unlikely to prove the link with parish registers alone. You wouldn't use certificates without censuses. Before 1837 you certainly can't rely on the IGI alone for common names. Even the registers only give limited information - though Norfolk registers are better than most, particularly for burials in the late 1700s. Wills, poor law, land tax records help. Anything to establish a family in one parish and prove their links to each other. Some people didn't get baptised. Some families would move to Norwich from considerable distances away. Good luck!

You can also try to find siblings by searching the IGI entering just parents names. Enter the Dads first and last name and the Mums first name. Narrow it down to the county you want and +/-20 years from the child you have already found. This can help if the family moved around a bit and had children baptised in other Parishes in the area.

Thanks again, Where would I find Wills, Poor Law and Land Tax records? Are they kept at the records office of the area? Suzanne

Hi Suzanne Sorry for not replying sooner. Blame a senile brain. Most records will be in the local record office, though if they have been microfilmed the LDS church may have a copy that you can order and view at their nearest library. A few indexes will be on the internet. OPCs - online parish clerks - will often put odds and ends on the web. It's worth googling genuki, searching for the village you are interested in and looking for what's available. Because there was no useful centralised record keeping prior to 1837, apart from what's at the National Archives, the sorts of records that survive vary from place to place.

Thank Phoenix, much appreciated. Suzanne

I have just nudged a tips thread for pre 1837. It gets harder but it can be done. Have fun?