Family Historian User Group

Apologies for the confusing topic subject but I didn't know how else to phrase it.

I'll use as my example for this question Mike's excellent Lookup Missing Census Facts.

Plugins which look for missing facts are wonderful, but sometimes I need the opposite function -- a list of what census records that I already have on hand, in order to review previously-entered records, and think of new possibilities for research.

For example: the US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) offers two online research guides for using US Census records as pointers to other records:

• Clues in Census Records, 1790-1840
• Clues in Census Records, 1850-1930

To use these guides (e.g. to identify which people in my database have military service) it would be useful to have a query that would look for all people who have a census record for 1840, 1910, or 1930.

The question is partially prompted by this question on Genealogy Stack Exchange: Are there any resources that analyze tree and suggest what your next research goal(s) should be?

Another problem: locating the men who are eligible for the various US Draft Registrations for WWI and WWII, all of which specified a date range of birthdates. For similar reasons, it would be useful to have both a Lookup Missing Plugin *and* queries that would give you a list of what has already been found.

What's the most elegant way to go about this? Would it be easier to create custom queries for each instance, rather than to construct a plugin which generates a list of, say, all people for whom you have a 1930 US Federal Census?

Jan

I am not as expert as Mike or Jane but I have a query that shows everyone with columns for the UK census and then shows whether I have a census record for them or not. I then use the ones with no entries to go off and look for them, this is after running the Missing Census Facts plugin, as it is usually incorrectly spelt names in the transcriptions that cause that plugin not to find them.

I would have thought a query was the best way to do the research you are asking for. If you want mine as a starter for 10 let me know. It does take into account birth and death dates too. There is also a similar census query in the Knowledgebase IIRC.

Jan, first a short explanation why Lookup Missing Census Facts needs to be a Plugin.
Finding missing Census Events is more complex than finding existing Census Events.
The Date of Birth and Date of Death must be determined to check each person was alive at the Date of Census.
This uses not just actual Birth and Death event details but also where necessary Baptism, Christening, Burial & Cremation events, plus the events of relatives, and Maximum Life Span.
To compose online searches, the place of birth, marital state & surname, plus family members at the Census date are needed.
That database interrogation to check dates and compose Internet search criteria is beyond the capability of a Query.

Conversely, finding existing Census Events is much easier.
For some of your quests you may not even need a Query.

Let's assume you have a 'source splitter' Method 1 Source Citation for each Census household and the Source record title consistently includes the Census Year.
Then in the Records Window on the Sources tab you should be able to sort the Source Records by title such that all the records for any one Census Year such as 1830 are all grouped together.
Select those 1830 Census records and run the Where Used Record Links Plugin to list everyone who cites those records.

If you do need a Query there are several you can plagiarise in fhugdownloads:censusrecords|> Downloads and Links ~ Census Records.
It is not essential to create a Query for each instance of Census year, because it is easy to get a Query to prompt for the desired year, and likewise for birth date ranges.

Colin, for those Census Searches that fail due to misspelt names, have you tried editing the search filters?
The search composed by the Plugin is an educated guess including fundamental things such as dates and married surnames.
It is meant to be just a starting point, and if no suitable records are found, then the filters should be edited.
See plugins:help:lookup_missing_census:frequently_asked_questions|> Lookup Missing Census Facts ~ Frequently Asked Questions under How are Census searches refined to adjust the number of matches? that offers advice for each online web site.

Thanks, Mike and Colin!

I need to spend more time working on queries -- I understand the basic principles, but I don't create new queries very often, so the information doesn't 'stick' very well. So each time I want to make my own custom query, I feel as if I am starting all over.

Now that I am making use of Scrivener as my main research journal, and I have a place to put all the notes that don't fit neatly into Family Historian, I can make a Scrivener Project about custom queries -- that will make it easier to pick up where I left off.