General Chat

I have just paid to be able to search records, and must be completely dim because no records appear of family members I have history of but no detail.
Even searched on both my parents, my brother and self, and our details dont come up.
What am I doing wrong.?
Any help would be appreciated before \I explode with frustration ..
Thanks

are you maybe putting in too much info area, boundaries changed over the years too
Lots of births refs dont have the full christian names just the first name and initials for any other christian name

when you say you have paid for Search Records, I am presuming on Gr. These usually consist of Census from 1841- 1901,possibly 1911 depending on level of membership.WW1 records , and bmds. What records have you looked for? Perhaps you may like to give us some details and then hopefully we can steer you in the right direction.- JLe

Thanks Janet, I was looking at later dates that I thought would be available for births, deaths, marriages etc.
Didnt realise I could only look up until1911.
I wanted to look at the birth certificate of my father "Albert Potter) born I believe in Langley Park Durham on December 3rd 1915. to be able to trace further back.

I thought all BMDS were there

You can find your Father birth on FreeBMD so no need to pay

this will be it born Dec probably reg in Jan so comes under that qtr in 1916
Name: Albert Potter
Mother's Maiden Surname: Rand
Date of Registration: Jan Feb Mar 1916
Registration district: Lanchester
Registration county: Durham
Volume Number: 10a
Page Number: 647

Lanchester Reg district covers langley

and for good measure his parents marriage
Marriages Jun 1907
POTTER William Ernest Lanchester 10a 587
RAND Elizabeth Ann Lanchester 10a 587


Would you like a 1911 look up ?

Thankyou so much for your help, you obviously know what you are doing :-)
You have made my day..
I will add these details as soon as I can, and then look further back and for siblings once I have looked these details up.
You are a star..

Dear Shirley, Did you find these details on this
website, I dont understand why still cant find my dads detail of birth when you did.

Valerie, I and almost everybody else will strongly recommend *against* paying at this website to access records. Is it too late to get your money back? Seriously - check the terms.

And everybody should always look carefully at what they're getting for their money when they do pay here, since as you say, you didn't get what you expected.

Shirley found those records at Ancestry and FreeBMD (the one from Ancestry would be at FreeBMD, although it isn't complete past the mid-1900s yet).

FreeBMD is **free**. And easy. And fun.

http://freebmd.rootsweb.com/cgi/search.pl

You can practise by finding the ones she found, e.g. the marriage of Elizabeth Rand and William Potter. Starting in 1911, you can search for births using just the parents' two surnames.

I recommend Ancestry for records you can't get free, like censuses and recent BMDs. I also hate Ancestry. ;) Others use FindMyPast, but I'm not familiar with it.

Anything but this website, is what it comes down to. ;)


But note -- to see your father's birth certificate (to confirm that his parents are as suspected), you have to order it, you can't see it online anywhere.

You order here, with the registration details from FreeBMD:

http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificates/

-- and again, you never order from anywhere else; private companies charge rip-off fees.

Sorry been watching TV just seen Who Do You Think You Are -Jason Donovan very interesting.

As Janey has said i found them on Ancestry for the birth and FreeBMD which is easier to search for marriages pre 1911
Ancestry does cross over with FreeBMD as they are sponsors of FreeBMD and upload their transcribed records. Ancestry have also done BMDS. themselves from 1916-2005

I don't know how the genes records are, i suspect rather like the ones on Find My Past as they are now associated companies!! Once you have used up your units you have bought i would sincerely recommend you take subs to either Ancestry or Find My Past, Having used both sites I prefer Ancestry.

Right 1911 census for the parents
POTTER, William Head Married M 26 1885 Colliery Screenman Above Ground Co Durham Witton Gilbert VIEW
POTTER, Elizabeth Ann Wife Married
5 years F 27 1884 Co Durham Bearpark VIEW

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

RG number:
RG14 Piece:
29904 Reference:
RG14PN29904 RG78PN1731 RD550 SD3 ED5 SN324

Registration District:
Lanchester Sub District:
Lanchester Enumeration District:
5 Parish:
Esh

Address:
41 Quebec Street Langley Park Coy Durham County:
Durham

married 5 years no children by 1911


Now I would really recommend you buy the birth cert first to check the parents names before you go backwards on this couple, Its very easy to go offtrack and follow the wrong tree,

Did Dad have siblings ? this might be one, mmn is spelt incorrectly but could be a typo
Name: Philip Potter
Year of Registration: 1913
Quarter of Registration: Apr-May-Jun
Mother's Maiden Name: Rind
District: Lanchester (1875-1938)
County: Durham
Volume: 10a
Page: 801

Name: Robert Potter
Mother's Maiden Surname: Rand
Date of Registration: Jul Aug Sep 1918
Registration district: Lanchester
Registration county: Durham
Volume Number: 10a
Page Number: 683

Elizabeth A Rand birth is on FreeBMD will leave you find it as its nicer to have your own Gotcha moments! lol

Looks like William is there too but no ernest is his name

n

Hi Valerie
Just for the exercise....as you have been told that Albert Potter was registered in 1916....Click on Search Records...enter Albert Potter 1916. This will bring up 4 possibilities. As you know he will be in the first quarter because you have already been told....click onto image and then look for Albert Potter Lanchester together with mothers maiden name Rand. Buying the cert is always the best option if possible.-JLe

Thanks so much both Shirley and Janey for your help and advice. I am most appreciative of what you have found with my fathers relatives.
I shall look forward to trying to find out more about his mother and father (I never knew my paternal grandparents)
Yes both Philip and Robert were brothers of my father Albert. There was also another brother Ernest but I never knew him.
How frustrating that this website isnt what it is meant to be.
However I will hang in there to keep my tree records for the time being, and have a look around the sites you have mentioned.
Kindest thanks once again.