Can any genuine U.K.person help where pre 1831 genealogy records can be traced?

Question

I'm unsure of giving the necessary information held, to

anyone unknown to me,for obvious reasons

Answer 1

Have you tried genes reunited, you can put a message on there and there are people who will find this information for you.

Answer 2

For the moment, lets talk England and Wales, as Scotland is a different animal altogether, and as someone above has already said, all of Scotlands records are online together in one place and can be downloaded at scotlandspeople.gov.uk for the price of a few credits.

Presumabely you've got as far as playing with ancestry.co.uk and pretty much discovered that beyond 1841 (for the census) and 1837 for the beginning of birth/marriage and death certificates, the site isn't of much use at all with early records.  You've probably reached the same conclusion at the mormon website (familysearch.org) - chances are, the parish that your ancestor claimed he was born in in the 1851 census is not covered on the online database, so when you enter a name you're not getting anything back.

That's not especially unusual.  You've reached the stage now where you will have to get out of your nice comfy chair by the computer and actually go to visit the record office or library in question that holds the registers you want to look at.  You need to look at the church of england parish registers - baptisms, marriages and burials.  If your ancestors weren't CofE and dabbled in non-conformity or methodism (and plenty did switch religions and switch back again), then you'll have to check those registers too.

Most registers are now on microfilm, which means that they can be found in more than one place.  If your ancestor is from Essex for example, then the registers are at Essex Record Office in Chelmsford, but there are duplicate copies of the registers dotted around other large libraries and towns across the county.  Of course if you didn't live anywhere near Essex, then you'd be screwed, but there are a couple of other options - either go to your nearest Mormon family history centre and get them to order in a copy of the film for you for a small fee, or in some cases you can purchase copies yourself from the county record office and then view them at home at your leisure.  The latter may be the best option, as microfilm readers can send the best genealogists cross-eyed at the best of times, and if you've travelled half-way across the country to be at a library its usually best to make sure that your paeleography skills are up to the task otherwise you'll just be wasting your time.  If you do travel a long way to a record office, make sure they have a free reader-machine for you by phoning or booking ahead, especially at busy times of the year and when that BBC program is on the air, as spaces fill up very quickly.

Searching in small rural village churches is quite easy, as you can usually be guaranteed that everyone with the same surname is probably related to each other.  In large towns and cities, and especially as the 19th century wore onwards and the industrial revolution came into full swing, you can't be so certain of that fact as everybody started moving to the cities from the country looking for work.  If you're searching a surname, then be methodical and make a note of ALL instances of that name in the register, even if it doesn't appear relevant at the time.  Early registers from the early 1700s and earlier may well be written (at lleast partly) in Latin, so make sure you know your "Filius"'s (sons) from your "Filia"'s (daughters) and what the common Latin names might be - Guliemus for example is William.   It may take several trips to a library for you to get a grasp on the registers you seek (some vicars were diligent and wrote quite neatly, others less so), and there is always the possibility that the records may not exist.  One of my parishes in Norfolk was unfortunate enough to be hit by a fire in the 1960s, and the registers went up in flames.  Others may have fallen to similiar fates, such as floods and water damage.  Try and find out what survives and when before you go making any plans.  Nothing in genealogy is 100% certain.  Even if the registers do survive, your ancestor might be on the one page that appears to be covered by a great big ink blot or has become too faint to read.  It happens to the best of us!

Answer 3

I am in England, the best source of pre 1831 records for

the UK is : http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Home/Wel...

You can check to see where their nearest LDS Family History Centre is to you, there you can access, free, just about every record for the UK that exists, they are very helpful people, and unless you mention religion to them, they never bring up the subject themselves.

The first census that is of much use is 1841. The LDS have something called the IGI which is a good finding aid for people listed in the parish church registers of marriage and baptism. At their site mentioned above you can make searches of the IGI, but you must confirm anything you find, by looking at film of the original records, again, you can access film or microfiche of  those at the LDS Family History Centres.

EDIT : If you have a LDS Family History Centre near to where you live, it is normally much cheaper to use them, than to travel around the country to various County Records Offices etc., unless of course the one you need is in your home town !

Answer 4

http://www.genuki.org.uk/

Here is one of MANY online sites that have genealogical information that you can access.

http://www.cyndislist.com/england.htm

Here is a list of sites that relate to English research.

Nothing in this site has any need for you to input any information concerning yourself.  These are collections of either records, or methods of finding records themselves.

This is completely DIFFERENT from "genealogy" sites that are based in collecting family trees, and requiring you to register, or contribute your information. It is an important distinction.  These records are accessible to anyone doing research, whether they are in the UK, or somewhere else, but studying their ancestry USING  UK records.

Posting the name(s) of your ancestors as a question is also not the same as posting your name and relationship.  I might ask for help finding the baptismal record for Richard Fillingham, born in the mid 1600s', without any risk of someone "linking" this to me.  The only information necessary is the name of the ancestor, who is long dead. It is not a risk at all to your security or privacy.

Many new researchers are confused as to the difference between finding ORIGINAL records (like a parish register), and those which focus not on records, but submitted family trees.  I hope I can reassure you as to the difference.

Answer 5

UK answer.

Anything prior to 1837 when civil registration became mandatory will more than likely to be held in the *Archives library* for the area where the life event was registered. From 1538 baptism, marriage and burial records were kept  by the church parish.  Some of the churches DO still keep these records others, have had the records archived.

Another good source of this kind of information is the Family History Society's for the place where the event was recorded. This link is for a complete list of FHS, here in the UK.

http://www.mick-gray.co.uk/family_histor...

This link is one for a site that I use all the time to purchase my parish records on CD.

http://www.genealogysupplies.com/

http://www.bmdregisters.co.uk/

If there's anything I can help you with then you can email me through my yahoo profile.

There is also the *Pallott* index for baptism's and marriages on www.ancestry.co.uk

Hope this helps.

Answer 6

Check out the census records.

Answer 7

Somerset House London.

I think there might be a fee to get records now, but they have people who research family trees.

Answer 8

There is lots of stuff out there if you can search in person, if you can't then try here:

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/

I'll try to help if you email me more details.

Answer 9

i think it depends on whether you're looking for Scottish or English records.

I've found pre-1830 records for scottish ancestry, at www.scotlandspeople.gov

What's great is that you pay per view. (using credits). They have a LOT of records scanned. I have gone back as far as 1799/1800.