Researching Family History

mark308 · Post by **mark308** » 02 Nov 2008 15:23

Hello

I've got a lot of information through the ancestry.co.uk website - census records, birth, marriage and death records etc...but now I'd like to do some more research and don't really know where to go next.

I live near London - is there somewhere there I can go to look at microfiche films etc (i have a lot of reference numbers for various volumes of births/deaths/marriages records that I'd like to use to see the original documents).

Also - where would be the best place to start looking next as I've pretty much exhausted what seems to be available online - ie 1841 Census onwards.

Any clues would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

Mark

ID:3099

YouTube · Post by **Jane** » 02 Nov 2008 15:45

I would recommend 'Ancestral Trails' by Herber as a good read on accessing pre 1837 data, if you have English Ancestors. Once you are pre Census then the records are diverse, but sparse so searching obviously becomes much more difficult and will typically require travelling to the counties your ancestors came from as Parish records etc are normally stored in the Local Record offices.

There are some other hints in this thread

http://www.fhug.org.uk/cgi-bin/index.cg ... y&num=2079

Search for 1837 to see more relevant threads

mark308 · Post by **mark308** » 02 Nov 2008 16:10

Thanks for that. I'm fortunate that a lot of one half of my family seem to have all come from very near to where I live so local offices might be a good next step.

Thanks again.

philjo · Post by **philjo** » 02 Nov 2008 16:51

Mark,

If you are near London then it will probably be worth joining the Society of Genealogists. Non-members can use the library, but have to pay to enter. They are open on Saturdays. Their library is near Barbican tube station, and contains a large number of microfilms of copies of parish registers from all over the country, as well as a large collection of other books and directories, also they have numerous indexes that can be consulted in print, on CD rom. or online.
Check their online catalogue to see if the parishes you need are covered.

Whilst in the SOG library, you can have full access to ancestry.com databases (including tne overseas datasets not included in the UK subscripton), findmypast, Documentsonline (wills etc digitsed by the National Archives) etc - the only charge is for printintg anything out.

Other places to try are the LDS family history centre in Exhibition Road, South Kensington - you can consult the LDS microfilms - it they don't have the one you need in stock, you can order it in for a few pounds which is normally much cheaper than travelling to the Record office for the county you need.

Also, the National Archives at Kew - besides the vast amount of original documents, you can consult the online censuses, documents online and non-conformist records etc that have been digitised for free whilst in the building. They also have all of these on microfilm.

You don't say which counties you need to research.
Joining the family history society for the area/county you need will often give you access to advice for the area you are interested in, and many societies have published indexes/transcripts of parish registers, burials, etc - many are on CD so are searchable.
you also get a regular magazine from the society giving detials of forthcoming events, etc.

Jeremy

mark308 · Post by **mark308** » 02 Nov 2008 17:06

Thanks Jeremy. Very useful.

One part of my direct family are all from Greenwich/Plumstead (SE London) and Kent so I'd guess that the London records offices you mention could hold info on them.

Another part of my family are from Yorkshire though so perhaps I might have to order info from local offices to there.

Looks like there will be some trips to London coming up!

philjo · Post by **philjo** » 02 Nov 2008 17:12

Greenwich & Plumstead parish registers & electoral registers etc should all be available to view on microfilm in the London Metropolitan Archives, near Farringdon.

Which part of Yorkshire do you need? the records are all over the place, depending on which area you need.
Pre-1858 yorkshire wills & marriage licences are mainly held by the Borthwick Institute at the University of York.

it is worth cecking the yorkshirebmd website - this contins some fo the local bmd indexes from the local registrars, and shows the name of the churces fo rthe marriages.
The main coverage so far is for Leeds, Hull and york areas. (Leeds marriages for example are indexed on this site from 1837 onwards up to 1950)
http://yorkshirebmd.org.uk/

Jeremy

mark308 · Post by **mark308** » 02 Nov 2008 17:39

Excellent. I shall check with the Farringdon office you mention.

Yorkshire wise...I have family in Brandsby (they are Wedgwoods so I'm wondering if there's some link to the pottery people although I've not found one yet!)...and also other various places such as Bawtry, Cantley, Middlesbrough, Branton, Ackworth.

And while we're on the topic, the last area I'll be looking into will be family in Cambridgeshire (Ely & Littleport)

I appreciate you taking the time to respond to my messages.

AnneEast · Post by **AnneEast** » 03 Nov 2008 22:10

The places you mention in Yorkshire are all over the county. There is not just one central archive for Yorkshire so you would need to check first which ones you would need to contact/visit.

Alternatively, as has already been suggested you could order microfilms at your nearest LDS Family History Centre.

It gets much harder now but equally fascinating!
Anne

mark308 · Post by **mark308** » 04 Nov 2008 16:57

Thanks Anne.

I thought it might start getting tougher now! But all the more rewarding when you find stuff I would imagine.

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