How to be a Serious Genealogist in Australia, NZ and Britain: February 2015

Tuesday 17 February 2015

"The Informational Gaps in Civil and Parish Record Systems"

If you are new to research it is suggested you start with the FIRST Blog (see right).

There are 34 research links in this presentation. So it is not just an article, it is a searchable resource. It looks at the gaps in the historical records. This means records which were supported by laws, and relied upon witnesses & consistent content in creating records; comprising mostly government ("civil") or "parish" (church) records. The 'gaps' referred to exist not because of the lack of application by internet publishing services, but because of the gaps in the ORIGINAL data. These gaps exist due to (i) the turbulence of politics prior to democratic institutions, and (ii) the slow take up rates of family registration under the new civil registration laws.

The same general principles apply in every country where government started a record system, for example France, Republic of Ireland, Australia; but especially in Canada and India.

The approach in this Blog is to assume you know very little on this subject. It might be more reading than you expect, but if you get the 'big picture' your understanding will grow, block-upon-block; and your confidence will be assured. You might read this in several "bites".

Church Structure & Terms
Do you understand the terms used to describe the structure of the 'established' (aka "state") church in the UK? This means the Church of England, or its equivalent in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, etc These are the state sponsored churches in the UK (the meaning of UK is defined below). You are going to learn about the structure of the main churches, one way or the other! When researching ancestors you eventually encounter church records, and references to church entities like "parishes" or "dioceses". The same in Commonwealth countries like Australia and New Zealand.

A systematic approach to research in this "challenging period" (that is the time of crossover from parish to civil records) is to consistently check you have the correct parish, and check the logic of where your ancestor was MARRIED. Marriages are the foundation of sound research. You may have found a promising record, but does it sound logical? If you do your research systematically, by discovering the parish CHURCH of your ancestor, you will visit these old churches online and in library records, and develop an affinity for old churches. They are the 'touchstones' (of your ancestors) which still exist! Take the fast track now, by learning about the structure of the Church of England from a professional presenter, here.

There is also the Catholic Church hierarchy to consider (including chapels of ease); especially in Ireland. In the Roman Catholic Church a parish is defined by the laws of the church as:

"...a certain community of Christ's faithful stably established within a particular Church, whose pastoral care, under the authority of the diocesan Bishop, is entrusted to a parish priest as its proper pastor. (Canon 515) ".

But for most people it is the records of the 'established' (state) church, the Church of England (and its equivalents in the different countries) which are encountered the most. Here is a 'snap-shot' of the structure of the disposition of the Church of England, in the field.

Area Title	Leader	Consists of
Province	Archbishop	A number of dioceses
Diocese	Bishop	One or more archdeaconries
Archdeaconry	Archdeacon	A number of rural deaneries
Rural Deaconry	Rural Dean	A number of ecclesiastical parishes
Parish	Vicar or Rector	Smallest 'self-governing' unit of Church of England
Chapelry	Parish Clergy (Vicar or Rector)	“Chapel” building within Parish; limited functions; like may not have been able to perform marriages; inexplicably causing patrons to go to a parish church some distance away.

Geography
It should be noted that this Blog covers Australia, the UK, the Republic of Ireland and New Zealand.

A word about Ireland. There is often confusion about the the 'two' Irelands. Northern Ireland is the province in which the more recent "troubles" occurred, and which is still part of the UK. To remind you:

"Under the Good Friday Agreement, properly known as the Belfast Agreement, voters elected a new Northern Ireland Assembly to form a parliament. Every party that reaches a specific level of support gains the right to name members of its party to government and claim one or more ministries...

"On 8 May 2007, devolution of powers returned to Northern Ireland. DUP leader Ian Paisley and Sinn Féin's Martin McGuinness took office as First Minister and Deputy First Minister, respectively. (BBC). "You Raise Me Up", the 2005 track by Westlife, was played at their inauguration." (Wikipedia)

There is also confusion about the terms 'UK' and 'Great Britain'. The terms have become somewhat interchangeable, at street level, but really have different meanings.The following is the differentiation in the historical context (Wikipedia):

"Wales...was officially united with England in 1535...but the two countries remained separate entities until the Act of Union in 1707 forming 'Great Britain'. Ireland had been claimed by the English...since the 12th Century but was not officially joined to Great Britain until 1801...For three days from 6 December 1922 Northern Ireland stopped being part of the United Kingdom and became part of the newly created Irish Free State [known as "Republic of Island"], but the counties of Ulster opted out and (as Northern Ireland) remain part of the 'United Kingdom'.
So, today, the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland' includes 'Great Britain', which in turns includes England, Scotland and Wales".(refer "Why is England or the UK Sometimes called Britain?")

So the term 'UK' means 'Great Britain-and-Northern Ireland'; one single entity comprising two parts, but the term 'Great Britain' means 'England, Scotland and Wales', but not Northern Ireland.

It is also noted that the 'English Census' from 1841 included the census of Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

An area called a "county" is a government administrative unit, like a province in France, or State in Australia.

First Informational Gap

There is the "respect of privacy effect". This is best explained by using a specific 'jurisdiction': that is, a geographical area administered by a sovereign state.

Case Study: Western Australia

So, as an example, the online Western Australian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages will only give out information on births, deaths and marriages within a specific range of years (below). "Access conditions apply to births, deaths and marriages that occurred less [i.e. closer] than the periods stated. The recent certificates held by the Registry [closer in time than the periods shown] contain sensitive and personal information and are restricted to eligible people only." This means that eligible, close relatives have to produce identification and demonstrate their relationship.

    BIRTHS (1841-1932)

    DEATHS (1841-1971)

    MARRIAGES (1841-1936)

This privacy effect between now and the above end dates is typical in most countries. It is because of this 'informational gap', among other things, that the expert advice to those starting their family history is to obtain all the information you can from "family records" and from living members of the family; including their stories; in order to bridge the gap.

This tentative 'cross-generational' information might be supplemented to a degree from other sources. Fortunately, in Western Australia the gap from 1936 to present day is offset by a privately compiled "Reverse" Western Australia Marriage lookup, but only from 1837- until 1965.

Also, online copies of "The West Australian" newspapers in Western Australia, starting in 1803, provide information until 1954; which for births and marriages brings you about another 18 years closer! From there you need to look up microfiche copies, in the State Public Library (The "Battye Library" area); or LDS Family History Libraries, until you get to July 2004. At this point "The Western Australian" newspaper becomes available online , with notices right up to the present day! An explanation of the actual coverage (which does not include Good Friday or Christmas Day), and 'subscription-options' is seen here.

The latter is a 'pay-for-service' website, but if you are a member of the State Public Library Service you can access the newspaper site for free. Another service: West-Australian-Daily-Funeral-and-Death-Notices.Com .Au also offers funeral and death notices for all Australian states, free, from early 2012 up to the present day.. "Unlock the Past" website and the Perth Dead Persons Society give further ideas.

The Second Informational Gap

The most significant gap you will encounter, however, is the relative 'thin air' before civil-registration began in a country. This is the "pre-registration" gap, or more correctly 'space', before the government got involved in record keeping.

For example, civil registration of births, deaths and marriages began in England and Wales in 1837; and in Western Australia in 1841. Many Australians trace their ancestry back to Britain, Europe or Commonwealth countries, like South Africa, Canada, Pakistan, India, due to immigration policies.This is fortunate because wherever the British went they largely implemented good record keeping. In the USA record systems were implemented less fastidiously, and Americans envy Australia's.

Regarding Australian composition by origin:

"At 30 June 2011, 27 per cent of the estimated resident population [of Australia] was born overseas (6.0 million):

"The countries representing the highest overseas-born populations are the United Kingdom (1 180 160, 19.6 per cent of overseas-born), New Zealand (564 920, 9.4 per cent), the People's Republic of China (391 060, 6.5 per cent), India (343 070, 5.7 per cent) and Vietnam (212 070, 3.5 per cent). Overall, the proportion of overseas-born residents from European countries of birth is declining, while the proportion of migrants coming from Asia and Africa is increasing. (Source:Dept of Immigration & Border Protection; 2011)

The starting dates in the rest of Britain are as follows:

Scotland: 1st January 1855;
Northern Ireland: 1864, but many Irish records were destroyed in 1922 and during WW1; and
Isle of Man: births 1849,deaths in 1878.

The beginning dates of civil registration in some other places are:

Ireland, Republic of: 1864, but many Irish records were destroyed in 1922; and during WW1 the government destroyed more.
Canada: problematic & variable, province by province. For example, in Ontario, from 1908 a new act made the system more reliable:
"In Ontario, Canada, for example, the compulsory civil registration of births dated from the province’s Vital Statistics Act of 1869, but the law was widely ignored for some years. In 1930, the eminent demographer Robert R. Kuczynski cited the 1865-1895 period of birth registrations as a “thirty year’s war against passive indifference’’ and the 1896-1920 as one of “slow progress.” He estimated that provincial birth registrations were only two-thirds complete for the 1875-1895 period and a maximum of 85 percent complete for any year in the 1896-1919 period. Kuczynski also judged that registration was“more complete from 1913 on” and “at least 90 percent” complete by 1920." ("Incomplete Registration of Births in Civil Systems; The Example of Ontario Canada; 1900-1960";by George Emery, Department of History; University of Ontario).
It is beneficial to realise that even where there were systems in place, they did not get total support.

India: registration of births was not compulsory and very few are entered in the records. Registrations do not generally appear until the 1920s. A review of India's system was conducted in 2010 and the level of registration at that date is shown here by state, at page 5, on a map of the states. A plain list of states is at page 15. A good source of births of Brits born in India is the census back in Britain (starting from 1841), where they show up with their families back "home". There was a recorder for each family, in a tribe-specific village; you just have to ask around the village(see TV series: "Who Do You Think You Are?"). The best source is the British Library’s "British in India Collection" and records from FIBIS (Families in British India Society).
New Zealand: from 1848,civil records cover a large part of the population and the records are indexed. They are easily accessible at BDMHistoricalRecords.DIA.GOVT.NZ and Ancestry.com.au and contain a rich amount of genealogical information. Evolution of the record quality is shown here. Registration was not compulsory until 1856. Historical records can be printed out with more information.

Parish Records

Returning to the UK example, beyond 1837 in Britain (meaning away from now), researchers largely resort to 'parish records' (church records; mainly by the Church of England); and not all of these are online! The principles which apply in Britain apply to most localities in the old British empire. FamilySearch has digitised billions of these records and made them available online. Nevertheless, beyond these registration dates, there are still historical gaps in the records, not within the control of data service providers; that is: whether the suite of records is online or not, there are gaps in the original data. Here are some of them in the UK:

Closer than 1899 all churches could record their own official data

Closer than 1811 the UK Parochial Registers Act required the state Church to use specially printed registers, not just 'rule up' pages, with separate books for baptisms, marriages and burials. Baptismal entries were to now include the names, address and occupation or non-working 'status' of the parents (e.g. "domestic duties"). This format became the basis of the later civil registration, with financial penalties for non-compliance. In the previous parish record coverage there is not as much 'compliance' in providing the information. Burial entries in the register were now required to include age and place of residence of the deceased, which is a big help to researchers.
before 1811 the parish records were not as informative: that is 'somewhat abbreviated'; by not including the mother's surname. Fortunately, in 1711 "...an Act had been passed requiring that proper register books be used with ruled and numbered pages" (refer JoinerMarriageIndex.Co.Uk, for history of marriages), so from this date there was at least improvement in the presentation of the information; improving the organisation and legibility of the record, but not necessarily the content!
from 1783-1793 the 1783 Stamp Act called for a duty of 3d to be paid for every entry of a birth, christening, marriage or burial. This acted as a disincentive to register, so events went missing.
from 1754 marriage rules were tightened up. Marriage in England was required by Act of Parliament 1754 to be performed by a clergyman of the Church of England, and only in a Church of England parish church or public chapel. Catholics and non-conformists were required to marry in the Church of England, which logically created a disincentive. Such restrictive requirements led to manipulation of the system. The parish of the bride was usually recorded; but often the groom's parish was omitted, and, due to complex rules, neither the bride nor the groom may have married in their home parish! Instead, meeting eligibility in another parish, by using a temporary address.

The Act needs deserves more explanation:

"...known as Hardwicke's Marriage Act, 1754 [ it ] affected England and Wales, [and] came into force from March 25th 1754. The Act stated that a marriage could be solemnised only in a parish church or public chapel after the publication of banns [public announcement of a proposed marriage] OR by a special licence issued by the Bishop of the diocese [if there were grounds for relaxation of the rules; for example: they wanted a quick marriage]. Banns books and marriage registers were required to be kept separate from the books containing baptisms and burials. With the exception of Jews and Quakers, marriages were required to be performed by [clergy] of the Church of England. Parties under the age of 21 (minors) required the consent of parents, or guardians, to marry. Those embracing the Catholic faith or other non-conformists [Protestants and Jews] married in the Church of England and [then] their own chapels/churches; just to be sure the marriage was recognised as 'legal' ". (quote).

So, for many years in England and Wales, until 1899, only the Church of England had the right to record official data. From 1899 the "Non-Conforming" Churches could send their records directly to the General Registry Office in London. In August, 2013 with historic celebration Ancestry.com put the private Registers of these other Churches online : England & Wales, Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers, 1567-1970 .

So if you could not find your person in the Church of England registers, this is where they may be found.

before 1754 there were parish registers but inconsistencies in a particular event's coverage (like details of a marriage),supplied on an individual record, dependent upon the diligence of the individual Parish Clerks.
Another inconsistency is that:

- from 1087 to 1155 the English year began on 1 January,

- from 1155 to 1751 on 25 March!

- in 1752 it was moved back to 1 January.

So you need to remember this when doing searches. In the British Empire (including the American colonies), Wednesday 2 September 1752 was followed by Thursday 14 September 1752. Goodbye to 12 days!

from 1694-1706 the register entries were used as a means for a tax to raise money for a war against France. This tax resulted in some events not being recorded in parish registers at all, due to the individual's lack of funds to pay the tax! It created suspicions of registration laws for ever after
from 1649-1653, during the "English republic", there are large gaps in a newly required 'Civil Register', which placed the responsibility for the records in the hands of appointed officers called "Parish Registers" [Registrars, meaning officers]. Marriages were no longer to take place in a church; instead before a 'Registrar'. Hence there was a gap in the normal Parish registers. The records kept by the new parish Registrars became known as "Civil Registers" (confusing?), but many do not survive. After the system reverted, the clergy diligently destroyed them and required re-marriage under their supervision. This time period is sometimes referred to as the "Commonwealth gap" by family history researchers; due to the experiment with a Republic.
from 1598, due to the 'ecclesiastical mandates' of 1598 and 1603 the Provincial Constitution of Canterbury required that the Act of 1563 was enforced throughout the country. These re-enacted laws stated that henceforth registers were to be kept in parchment books and that all previous entries made on sheets should be copied to the new books, and especially all those entries since the accession of Queen Elizabeth. Clergy tended to implement only entries in the latter bracket, which led to many registers beginning in the year 1558, rather than copied from 1538. The original paper registers from the earlier years rarely survive. Those that do survive indicate the enormous task which faced those transcribing early paper registers. In those parishes where the original paper records/registers survive, additional information can often be found.
from 1563 'Bishop's Transcripts' were introduced. Parliament passed an Act which required records were to be kept in 'great decent books of parchment' and copies of new entries were to be sent each month to the Diocesan Centre; administered by a Bishop, who entered them in his record. Previous entries in paper registers dating back to 1538 (less lasting) were to be copied into the new books. This was strongly opposed by the clergy, and the Act was not enforced. Whilst some parish registers have omissions, you may find a record in the Bishop's transcripts held by the Diocese; a circumstance still standing in the 1800s, even in Western Australia (for an understanding of Church of England jurisdictions, see side panel links).
from 1547 a fine [previously introduced] was 'toughened up'; this time the money going to 'Poor Relief'.
from 1538 parish Registers were first ordered to be kept by a mandate of Thomas Cromwell, Vicar General of King Henry VIII. Cromwell ordered that every parish must keep a register and that every Sunday, the incumbent, in the presence of the wardens, must enter all the baptisms, marriages and burials of the previous week; or a fine would be imposed. Many parishes simply ignored it. I thought that was an Australian tradition.

Finding Relevant Parishes

In Britain, because parishes were usually large areas, except in London, it is more efficient to know the name and boundaries of the Parish in which the ancestral 'home town' of your ancestor was located. Then you can search mainly in one parish but also in adjoining parishes.

FamilySearch has the most easily accessed info, including maps of parishes at the relevant date. You can even overlay boundaries for different time periods online and see what changed! But not all parishes are documented as yet. A user-wiki operates.

The Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers (2003), which is available in most large libraries, shows the pre-1832 parish boundaries in the UK.

You can determine which parish records in the UK are relevant through the free website GENUKI (an acronym for Genealogy in UK and Ireland).

Third Informational Gap

Yes, there are more. This gap is due to the destruction of records by disaster and by vandalism.

In Ireland birth death and marriage records were destroyed by a fire instigated by rebels in 1922 (during the Irish Civil War); and census records were destroyed by the government, in its wisdom, to protect privacy during World War 1. In Ireland there are ways, however, to circumvent this gap (see separate post, this Blog, under "Family History and Genealogy Inform Each Other"

The Fourth Informational Gap

Returning to civil-registrations, few governments internationally, namely provincial and state authorities, have provided free searchable digitised images of their birth, death and marriage certificates (the ones not covered by privacy laws), online.They mostly only supply indexes.

"I thought all the records were online!" Mmmm. Common misconception.

For now, most governments see the withholding of images as a source of revenue. So the online information that enthusiasts are often excited about is largely "indexes", similar to the list of names at the beginning of the Death Notices section, in the local newspaper. But with a bit more info. Another post explains what indexes are, and the difficulties of relying on their data alone (see Post about record "indexes"). The benefit of obtaining full certificates or images is that incidental information can not only confirm you have the right person, but also provide extra data which allows you to prove the previous generation (names of parents) and find the next generation (occupation of father; place of birth -- not just district).

There is another source of civil-registration information: "transcripts". Some online providers like FamilySearch provide these intermediate "records"; situated between index and certificate. The history of transcripts, however, is that there can be mistakes in these, due to human error. So they are best used with care.

The Fifth Informational Gap

There are still microfiche parish records 'out there' (subject to the caveats below), in some dusty, county archives; OR, in the case of FamilySearch International, in high-tech microfiche storage vaults, awaiting digitisation. There ARE transcripts of a number of county parish records online (called "Parish Clerks"), and these are increasing as we speak, but you would do well to obtain confirmation of transcript details from the original; off-line. Sometimes the transcripts do not include small pieces of helpful information, like the "Occupation of Father", which are well worth getting.

"Bricks and Mortar" Source

This means that to see the full content of a government or parish record, that is the information contained in an image of a birth, death or marriage certificate, you may well need to resort to a "bricks and mortar" source, offline. You may, however, be able to purchase the image online, and have it sent to you electronically.

Still sceptical of there being more records offline? Otherwise, why would FamilySearch and Ancestry.com be cooperating to digitise billions of images, or at least transcripts; and upload them? Consider this press release in 2013:

(Quote) "PROVO, Utah, Sept. 5, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ancestry.com and FamilySearch International (online at FamilySearch.org), the two largest providers of family history resources, announced today an agreement that is expected to make approximately 1 billion global historical records available online and more easily accessible to the public for the first time. With this long-term strategic agreement, the two services will work together with the archive community over the next five years to digitise, index and publish these records from the FamilySearch vault."

"The access to the global collection of records marks a major investment in international content as Ancestry.com continues to invest in expanding family history interest in its current markets and worldwide. Ancestry.com expects to invest more than $60 million over the next five years in the project alongside thousands of hours of volunteer efforts facilitated by FamilySearch." (Unquote)

The Sixth Informational Gap

This gap is a lack of corresponding records to ensure your single-record online is in fact the correct one. The standard for researchers (refer Nick Barrett) is that you should have at least one primary or secondary record which corroborates your allegation.

It is common to find persons with the same full name. Nick Barrett ("Who Do You Think You Are, Encyclopedia of Genealogy"; HarperCollinsPublishers" (sic); 2008; p53) makes the point:

"Just because the name and date appear to be right doesn't mean you have found the right person.

Good researchers do make mistakes. Excellent researchers only put data into a tree when they have two corroborating sources (WDYTYA; Barrett; p53); at least one of them a 'direct source' (historical or official record), and they provide citations for those sources.

Otherwise they write up the evidence collected thus far, and note that 'the jury is still out'. "Better information may come along in the future".

Sceptical? First, consider the status of Ancestry.com:

"Ancestry.com is the world's largest online family history resource with approximately 2.7 million paying subscribers across all its websites. More than 11 billion records have been added to the Ancestry.com sites and users have created more than 50 million family trees containing more than 5 billion profiles. In addition to its flagship site www.ancestry.com, the company operates several Ancestry international websites along with a suite of online family history brands, including Archives.com, Fold3.com and Newspapers.com, all designed to empower people to discover, preserve and share their family history."

So, when Ancestry.com acknowledges the challenges of resolving competing candidates, it is good advice:

Quote:

"If your ancestor has a common surname [for example], it is important to keep patience and perseverance in spades [idiom]. In effect, you will need to become acquainted with each family so well that you know which individuals come from which lines when you spot them during research. This is likely to be an arduous sorting project, so researching this line at the same time as another [easier one] may help you avoid possible discouragement.

For example, let us suppose you have two different lines, Smith (where you struggle to make progress) and Wahlquist (where you find success more easily). After you get to a point in your Smith line research that you no longer feel like continuing, you might consider switching your research to focus on the Wahlquist line for the next day or two. After you make more progress on the Wahlquist line, the success you have found might help you be willing to continue your Smith family research again."

"Tips on using census indexes: [follow link & scroll down page to see tips on UK Census]"

"Technique"

"Often it is possible that a brother or sister has their name on record somewhere, even if your specific ancestor does not. If you find someone you know for certain is a sibling of your ancestor, you may be able to use their information to help fill in gaps.
For instance, let us say you know that Sara is 3 years younger than Ezra. You find a marriage certificate for Sara in 1807, showing that she was married in Chatham County, North Carolina. Since most individuals did not move often in this area at this point in history, it stands to reason that a high probability exists for her siblings to also be located in Chatham county."
"...we recommend proceeding by first gathering all you can about this ancestor and all of his relatives in the 1850 and later records. This includes information for siblings, their spouses, and families and children of this generation. Build a wide foundation from what you know before going into this difficult time period [1850s, USA, but a principle applicable elsewhere]. The wider the foundation, the easier it will be to go further back and know you have the right individuals."
"Continue following the census records for this person until they disappear. When you come to the generation when that person is a child and you are unsure about his father’s name, gather all of the records on individuals with that surname in that county. (In our example, then, when we come to the generation where John Smith is a child but we cannot find his father's name, we would gather all records for individuals with the Smith surname in Chatham county, North Carolina.)
(http://help.ancestry.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/637/kw/exact%20search)

(Unquote)

This technique (above) informs any research situation where there are multiple, indistinguishable candidates. You can read the full article here.

What is Effective Genealogy?

So, under these conditions, how do you do effective genealogy?

It can be exhilarating to identify a record, albeit rather brief, for someone you are absolutely sure, for some reason, is your ancestor! Let's call this "generation No 1". Perhaps he has a rare middle-name or even several, middle names. So you skimp on the rest of the information; the marriage place in the marriage details; the town born, the day and month; and just settle for the "District", taken off the civil, birth registry index (what's an index? - Refer to another post in this blog). You don't find out the month he died, so you resist looking up the Death and Funeral Notices in the newspapers, which could have given you exact date of death; where he was currently living; where he was originally from; the names of family and relatives, by groups; when and where he was buried; and corroborative data from the cemetery, including name of wife, age, place of birth; where living; and relatives in same grave.

Then, when you look for the next generation, generation No minus-1, you realise there are no civil registration records. Your spirits rise, however, when you find an early census record containing generation No minus-1, and the preceding generation, generation No minus-2; still showing in the census, even though there was no census in their youth; which to a degree bridges the pre-civil-registration void. This is fantastic! In the census you glean the names of the generation No minus-1 and generation No minus-2; where they lived; where they were born; and their occupations. From this information you also see some possible siblings living nearby; and their details.

So you go looking in the parish records which are even briefer than the civil records, and you are delighted to find in parish records the exact name of the generation No minus-1 and minus-2 ancestors, found in the census; in the right birth county or district, at the right time! This gives you the christening record, with the names of parents, where christened (which you assume is where they lived), and you say: "This is so great!

Unfortunately, in generation No minus-3, there was a great ancestor who had a number of children, and in deference to his 'greatness', a number of grandchildren (generation No minus-2) were named after him. As generation No minus-2 did not move very far from their ancestral district, the villages in that county became littered with a number of generation No minus-2 persons who had the same name; and the same names still survived in generations following.

And alas, because you did not know the exact village (merely the District), the exact birth date (merely the year); and the exact siblings (could have got from newspaper; whereas census is only a 'snap-shot' in time, and therefore incomplete), you picked the wrong person in the census. Undeterred you found a matching wife (also the wrong person; because the census record did not supply a middle name; which could have been found in a newspaper notice or a will); and in your continuing haste constructed a generation without a marriage certificate ("the census said they were man and wife"), and therefore did not learn where the couple lived at the time of their marriage and therefore, most likely the birthplace of their eldest child; all because you allege you 'have the evidence in the census'. On you go, constructing the wrong family tree; in the wrong village; passing on the wrong information to all your relatives; who continue the mistake for generations to come; visiting the wrong graves; searching out the wrong cousins; and generating cross-ocean-visits to the the wrong ancestral home.

You wouldn't be the first person to say: "If only I had known!" (see video)

Perhaps you would like to learn more techniques of well-grounded genealogy? Well, that cannot all be taught here, but there are other posts in this blog. Where do we begin? Scroll down until a topic appeals to you. Perhaps: "Beware the Pitfalls". This post is intended to be read in sequence after "The 'Big Picture' on Family Research".

Footnote:

Genealogy and Family History Inform Each Other

A separate post addresses the meanings of "family history" and "genealogy" as used here ("The 'Big Picture' on Family Research").


'Bare Bones' Pedigree and Comprehensive, Family History

Family History & Genealogy Inform Each Other

The point made in this article, now that terms have been defined, is that genealogy and family history inform each other, as stated in the headline.

There is an adage:

"There are no shortcuts in life - only those we imagine". (Frank Leahy)

There are no shortcuts in life - only those we imagine.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/shortcuts.html#SRzluB1TiwQS8JYO.99

There are no shortcuts in life - only those we imagine.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/shortcuts.html#SRzluB1TiwQS8JYOit’s “not about a single moment of inspiration or brilliance.” Instead, it’s about years and years of hard work and practice. He said that a lot of building a company or product like Facebook is just about determination and believing that you can do it. He stressed that it’s actually hard work that underlies everything that you do, and “there’s no shortcuts.”

There are no shortcuts in life - only those we imagine.
Frank Leahy
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/shortcuts.html#phs0aqfzGUoR48Kd.99

In life, the longer way usually makes for a better conclusion. Like getting an education. There are exceptions, as I admit to my children, but generally education gives advantage for flexibility in choice of occupation over the whole length of life; coping with all the challenges of life; and enriching hobbies and interests. The educated class is usually more open to democracy and human rights, for example.

Scaffolding for Your Tree

The relevance here is that the family history you glean while doing genealogy, the use of wider investigations (along the way), helps provide the "scaffolding' for your pedigree (don't worry if you don't understand that term yet; I invented its application here, so...). It helps prove your data; and overcome any "brick-walls" encountered. If genealogy is your focus, don't be afraid to still spend some time exploring the context of your ancestor's life: the social history; economic setting; and local geography.

"What do you mean?"

Asking Questions

Where did cranie come from; did he migrate? What was the route? What countries did he pass through? How long did they stop; and where? Did he come from an 'old' family? [think he looks a bit tired?]. There might already be a history written. In which suburbs has he lived? Which habitats does he like? What waterways do cranes generally head for? How long do they stay? Who do cranes generally "buddy up" with? Do they share that "take it easy" life style with the eagles? Have they had good and bad years? What sort of diet does he eat?

"What did he have for lunch?" Hold on! I think we will stop right there!

These factors will often explain for example, why your family moved; and where they may have gone. Identifying a theme to their movements helps separate one "candidate" from another. This makes for well-grounded-genealogy.

Themes

Did your ancestor move to NSW in the 1850s? Gold was identified 25km north-west of Bathurst, New South Wales, in early 1851. Could your ancestor have been drawn to the gold rush? "Oh no; not him. He was from the professional class".

Sir Charles Fitzroy, the Governor of NSW at the time, commented in late 1851 that the rush was already "unhinging the minds of all classes of society" (p37; "The Gold Rush"; David Hill; William Heinemann Publishing). The Gold Rush was no respecter of social standing. Did your ancestor go missing in late 1840s (California Gold Rush) or 1850s (NSW)? Hargreaves, accredited with the official identification of the first goldfield, went first to California, but recognised the similarity between the California landscape and country he had seen north-west of Bathurst, and doubled back. 'Diggers' would shift heaven and earth to get to the gold fields.

"No words can describe the excitement occasioned in all classes of society by the announcement...In less than a week the diminution of the street population of Sydney was very visible, while Parramatta, previously half deserted, became dissipated". (op cit; p38)

Colonel Godfrey Mundy, deputy adjutant general of the colony's military establishment, observed that:

"...all classes of people joined the rush, including builders, bookbinders, tailors and veterinarians, which was to create a chronic labour shortage for several years." (op cit; p42).

An Australian journalist reported:

"Within weeks, thousands of diggers had 'poured into the diggings from all directions...majors, magistrates, emigrants and Norfolk Island expirees, all washing side by side." (op cit; p48)

Understanding these sorts influences can guide your research and ultimately make for accurate findings. When another researcher "puts the blow torch" to your data, it will stand up.

Care in Using Parish Registers

Blow Torch

In "Parish Registers in England and Wales", Celia Heritage comments:

"...more parish records are [being] digitised or transcribed and put online...but the danger is that researchers may erroneously identify an event in the registers believing it to relate to their ancestors when in fact the correct baptism, marriage or burial is not yet online."

"To avoid this problem, any research relating to the period before 1837 needs to be carried out with great care. Parish registers should be used with different sources, such as wills and local tax records, to build up a more complete picture of your ancestors and to ensure you trace your family tree back along the right line."

"Becoming familiar with the area--both the geography and social history -- where your ancestors lived is essential, if only by means of the internet or a good map."

"Knowing which towns and roads surrounded the parish where you family lived can play an important part in tracking them down if they moved out of the parish. Bear in mind, too, that many county boundaries have changed over the years, notably in 1974..." ("Who Do You Think You Are?" Magazine; Issue 81, Christmas 2013; italics added).

This principle applies to research in any country. It is "scaffolding".

The Genealogical Value of Estate Papers in Great Britain
The wealthy class in agrarian Britain were called the "landed" class. Our crane is not one of those. Not now, any way. Landed property or landed estates is a real estate term that usually refers to a property that generates income for the owner without the owner having to do the actual work of the estate. In Europe, agrarian landed property typically consisted of a manor, several tenant farms, and some privileged enterprises, such as a mill. The TV series "Downton Abbey" reflects this phenomenon in history.

Downton Abbey House

"How to be a Serious Genealogist in...Britain" includes research in Ireland. So let's talk about Ireland for a moment. Ian Maxwell advises that in Ireland, due to political unrest in the mid-19th century, and to tenants not being able to pay their rents during and after the Great Famine in Ireland (1845-7), owners of large estates fell into financial ruin. During the 1850s, when the gold rush was on in Australia, more than 5 million acres passed into the hands of new landlords; many of whom were wealthy speculators.

"By the middle of the nineteenth century more than three quarters of the population lived in rural areas." (Ian Maxwell; "How to Trace Your Irish Ancestors"; How To Books Ltd; Ch. 12: "Landed Estate Records"; 2009)

Where am I going with this? Estate papers can be a rich source of genealogical information for the non-landed classes as well. Maxwell says government assisted schemes in Ireland in the mid 1800s allowed tenants to buy land from the landlords. The Irish Land Act of 1903 ("Wyndam's Act") offered Landlords incentives to sell their entire estate. The purchase terms were made easier for the lucky tenant, with the repayment period being extended to 68.5 years.

Leases from the original large estates in Ireland in their heyday were for three "lives" [tenants] which were named in the terms; or 99 years, whichever came first. "Lives" were often relatives and new "lives" could be substituted, for a fee. A sub-tenant under the lease, however, might only be mentioned in estate correspondence. Also, this is the place to find names of tenants of less than three years.

The estate papers include muster lists; tithe lists; voter lists. A stunning item of such estate collections is the Maps of the Estate. There were surveys done for various purposes, including taxation, and they often show vanished mills, woodland, paths and houses (Ian Maxwell; op cit).

With the break up of the large estates many Estate Papers were eventually donated to government and private archives:

"[For example] Estate records are held by repositories throughout Ireland including PRONI, the NAI, NLI, Trinity College, Dublin, the Boole Library at NUI, Cork, the Hardiman Library at NUI, Galway, and the Cork Archives Institute. Some are deposited in local libraries and museums....Most county record offices in Britain publish summary guides to their [Irish] holdings on the internet..." (Ian Maxwell, op cit)

Estate records in Ireland and the British mainland in general are a gold-mine, but particularly in Ireland because birth death and marriage records were destroyed by a fire instigated by rebels in 1922 (during the Irish Civil War); and census records were destroyed by the government, in its wisdom, to protect privacy during World War 1. Light bulb moment. FamilySearch has a collection of indexes and images: Ireland, Landed Estate Court Files, 1850-1885. Register with FamilySearch and go to Menu>>Search>>Records".

Case Study Yorkshire Estate

My family in Australia (my father's line) descended from a British foot soldier (hereafter "Pioneer"), of the 85th Regiment of Foot ("The Kings Light Infantry"). When gold was found in NSW, he was in Yorkshire thinking about traveling on the seas. Born in a small town in South Yorkshire, he served in expeditions on Navy vessels out of Hull in 1851; then came time in Mauritius, and from there he was sent to Australia, in 1858. Along the way, he failed some conduct-while-on-leave, and respect-for-officers tests, and became a "convict". An historical factor which may have played some part in his reckless behaviour was a devastating cholera plague in Mauritius in 1854-55.

A researcher in my family tree alleged that meanwhile a younger brother back in Yorkshire married and had children. But there was no corroborating evidence. So how did this get resolved?

"The Family Village"
For 30 years the Pioneer's English family had remained sketchy in several respects; defying resolution. But during this time I became very interested in the location and nature of the family village in Yorkshire; a family history question. I became determined to find an address that we could closely associate with the family. From the 1841 census record, the Pioneer and his father were coal miners; but there were no working mines close to the accepted town-of-origin at the time, which intrigued me. So I widened the search area and in the process found that a number of coal mines in that area of South Yorkshire were owned by the Earls Fitzwilliam.

So I went looking for 'the Earl'. The current Earl (in my progenitor's time) had a reputation of looking after the interests of his workers, by rejecting the employment of young women altogether; requiring young males to be of at least age 9 (instead of age 6); giving workers Sunday and Monday off; improving mine conditions and instruments; providing schools (e.g. Parkgate School) and Sunday Schools adjacent to Churches; supplying purpose built housing; providing medical support to any workers injured in a mine accident; and giving material support to widows, after their mine-worker husbands died. I decided to find out more about the unique Earls Fitzwilliam.

Wentworth Estate
The Earls Fitzwilliam had large estates in Ireland. Staggering. They also owned Wentworth-Woodhouse Mansion, the largest private house in Europe today. They inherited it when the Wentworth line ran out of heirs. The mansion had over 200 rooms. Because of the difficulty of counting them, some argue the real count is 350 rooms. Visitors would get lost in the building!

It was noted that it was only several kilometres from the traditionally held location of the Pioneer's 'family village'.

Wentworth House, Yorkshire; country house viewed to the right of the entrance; with stairway and entrance colonnade; showing figurative sculpture on the top balconies; © Trustees of the British Museum

In 1841 Wentworth Estate directly employed over 1000 staff in occupations ranging from carpenters, masons, joiners and labourers, to gardeners, housekeepers, and servants. The Town of Wentworth was enhanced for them. Here is the town in the background, and the mansion.

Wentworth-Woodhouse: largest private house in Europe; 1800s house of the Earls Fitzwilliams

This was an interesting, tasty morsel on its own.

The Wentworth-Estate Papers were donated to The National Archives, London and include records of the financial affairs of coal mines; records of purchases of homes for employees in general; architectural plans for construction of groups of worker-houses in various localities; correspondence with managers of mines; pay rates of employees of the estate; and the names of mine employees who qualified for an annual St Patrick's Day bonus payment! Light bulb moment.

Search of Parish Records
The Estate was situated in Wentworth Parish. I decided to see if there were any of our family line in the records of Wentworth Parish. But all adjoining parishes should have been searched 35 years ago! Perhaps not. There was a child born in 1817, in Cortworth hamlet, to a couple sounding identical to the Pioneer's parents, except that the mother's first name was foreign; and his occupation was a "miner"; not a "coal miner". The location was in a "hamlet" (a small village or group of houses) well away from the traditionally held place of origin, but 580 metres from the Wentworth-Woodhouse mansion; which of course piqued my interest! Could there have been some relationship with the Wentworth household?

Wentworth Estate Iron Mine

Wentworth Forge, 2013

With regard to the father's occupation, it was noted that, curiously, there was no coal-field near the hamlet. But, across the road, on the Wentworth estate was an iron mine, to serve the needs of the estate. So, this person, directly or indirectly, might have been an employee of the estate; or, at least, of a contractor hired by Earl Fitzwilliam. Added to that, even closer, on the road frontage, was an estate-owned "Wentworth Forge" (blacksmith), still in existence today (see insets).

Worker Homes in Cortworth Hamlet

My 4 x great-grandfather could have visited this building! Estate maps (those 'surveys' mentioned earlier) show that a path led from the forge to the mansion. Historical documents from the Wentworth Estate, held by The National Archives of the UK ("TNA"), reveal that before 1817 (c.1795) the Earl purchased two homes in the hamlet, for his workers.

Indeed, the 1841 census, some years later, showed a "footman" and "game keeper" living in the hamlet of about 6 homes. So my ancestor might have negotiated rent of one of the houses from the Estate's Steward who, we know from the Estate Papers, as a manager, had an office in the Wentworth-Woodhouse house. This is a fascinating possibility, given the grand nature of the rooms in the house. My ancestor may have walked in those grand-rooms, still there today. But it is speculation. More direct evidence was needed that these were the Pioneer's parents.

Tying the Families Together
Further investigation revealed that the conflicting mother's first name was just a "nickname", well known to be used for the formal first name we knew. Added to that, in the 1841 census, the 1817 child turned up as a "boarder" in the Pioneer's parents' household (child now married; and previously overlooked).

This key piece of direct evidence from the census proved her connection to the Pioneer's parents; and led to a wider search of Wentworth parish records, producing the record of another child (1819); at the same hamlet location! All the supplementary details on this birth record matched the earlier one; except in this instance the mother's nickname name was replaced by the formal first name we knew ; linking both births to the Pioneer's family. So we had corroborating evidence. These children had gone undetected in an "outside" parish for over 30 years!

This was a very exciting discovery, all as a result of investigation into the location of the family village.

Data on the Next Generation
Added to that, the census revealed the married name of the daughter-come-boarder; and gave the full name and age of a child who was with her. Using her married name from the census and the age of the child led to the boarder's marriage record, offering direct confirmation of her maiden name, date of birth; the full name of her husband; his age at marriage; his (calculated) birth year; the names of his parents; and from these, his birth record.

Her status as a 'boarder' with her family also suggested that her husband had died. Because of the financial challenges for mothers with children, following such events, it was common to live with relatives. Light bulb moment. This led to finding the husband's death record.

Finally An Address

Former Cinderbridge Lodge

With regard to the search for a family address, research into family homes through census records finally turned up "Cinderbridge Lane, Lodge", in the 1861 census, run by the Pioneer's mother, after the death of her husband. A lodge of that name appears on maps for the very small Cinderbridge locality in the 1860s, adjoining the Wentworth Estate dam. Today the site is acknowledged as part of the Wentworth Estate; and is used by Wentworth Fisheries (see inset and Estate sign outside house).

Vital Data for The Pioneer's Brother
My 4 x great-grandmother passed on while at the Lodge (in 1869). Mention of the Pioneer's younger brother, described earlier, became sparse after that. The 1841 census had said he was working as a "labourer in an "iron works". The 1851 census said he was "blind". Many searches of the 1861 & 1871 census did not bring up a listing.

"Mining" of a Census District

Use of a Cluster Search
With my knowledge of former neighbours' names, a "cluster search", or "mining" of the census district was done in the 1871 census (a geographically-based search for relatives; neighboring homes and localities...a 'trial and error' approach; see inset). It revealed the younger, blind brother was living as a "boarder" in a nearby locality, with a former neighbour from the Lodge precinct!

He was blind, unmarried, with no children. After the death of his mother's friend (the neighbour from Cinderbridge Lodge), he was no longer found in that household (source: 1881 Census).

Rotherham Workhouse

With the evidence that he was in this location in 1871, it was possible to identify his death in 1876 in a Poor Union hostel; at the age of 42. Without family or carers he had been living in a Diocese based "Workhouse", serving the whole area but located in Rotherham (see inset). Here the 'able' could work outdoors for their sustenance; but there was also support for the 'poor and infirm'.

Fortunately, the Workhouse was not situated in a coal mining town, but on a stately site in a semi-rural setting:

"...in one of the most healthiest and picturesque areas of the town".(from Moorgate Cemetery History)

His mother would have been somewhat content he lived his final years with some dignity.

Story About the Pioneer's Family in England
This was a very moving story: the mother's courage after the death of her husband; being self-employed, running a business; her devotion to her son Joseph; her friend's subsequent care of him; and the challenges he personally would have faced, being blind. This drew me closer to the family.

Parish records revealed that there was a very happy day in the life of this ancestor's family. Joseph's married sister (noted in the 1841 census as a "boarder" with a young child; see above) and his mother each gave birth to a child on the same day; the sister a daughter, and the mother a son! The boy was the parents' last child, sadly born just 4 years before his father's death. And Joseph's sister's husband also died within a few years. But what a happy day that would have been!

Fresh Data

With regard to the genealogy of the Pioneer's family, the vital data for the Pioneer's brother had been discovered; two other siblings found; and the second-generation family of one of those children discovered.

Economic and Social History Informing Genealogy

Learning about the Earl Fitzwilliam's coal mines provided the reason why the family would have moved to another area between 1819 and 1841. Remember the question about crainie's migration pattern? The Earl Fitzwilliam developed a new coal mine in the early 1820s situated several miles east of the traditional ancestral village, at Rawmarsh ("New Park Way, Deep Pit" mine); situated along the road linking Cortworth hamlet to Rawmarsh. This mine was thankfully documented in the "1842 Royal Commission into Children's Employment". The report also contains a verbatim report of an interview with the Pioneer's brother, George (aged 12; born "before Christmas" -- i.e.30 Nov)!

This locality is where the Pioneer's father registered his occupation as "coal miner" in the 1841 census, and which gives credibility to the Pioneer, upon reaching Australia, reporting his father as a mine "steward" (manager). The Pioneer's father subsequently died in 1842.

The support which the Pioneer's mother subsequently received from a kind employer of thousands of people, by being allowed to run a Lodge on Earl Fitzwilliam's personal Wentworth Estate until her death, and employ family members (daughter; "servant"; 1861 Census), confirms that the father must have been a man of some special status in the Earl's workforce. Also, a fitting end to a 24 year long association with the Earl's enterprises, from 1817 to 1841.

Family history informs genealogy, and vice versa.

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