Genealogy Chat

These would seem to be the 1901 kids:

Births Dec 1892 (>99%)
Macgregor James Edward Stepney 1c 383

Births Jun 1895 (>99%)
McGregor Katherine Helen Stepney 1c 423

Births Sep 1899 (>99%)
MacGregor Mary Elizabeth Stepney 1c 378

Check the 1901 image to see if Mary's age is really said to be 2 - mistranscriptions aren't confined top names.

I think the reason there's a 1911 with almost the same names for the eldest 1911 kids is that they're the same kids.

The obvious way to check who your Kath's mum was is to buy Kath's b.cert - the informant was probably one of Kath's parents, but might be one of Kath's grandparents - those rellies are the usual informants.

oh, I'm getting in such a muddle! I think Charles McGregor married a Catherine Thompson!

Also, I think the 1901 census family is correct . Charles McGregor married an Irish lady so I believe this was Mary. I think the 1911 census above is a different McGregor family. It is so confusing when they all seem to use the same Christian names for their offspring!

Thank you so much! That is very useful. I'm determined to get through this. Just wish I had more time to devote to it. Need to win the lotto so I can retire!

On a practical note, I would download every record onto my PC.

I would also copy & paste transcriptions into text files on my PC.- I paste into notepad.

Click on the windows start button - all programs - accessories - notepad.exe
(You might follow this path with a final right-click on notepad.exe and create a shortcut which you could cut and paste onto your desktop) I have several files for transcriptions, basically one tracing back from each grandparent, and one for all the more recent stuff - aunts, cousins etc.

Still, I'm sure everyone develops their own way of dealing with things.
One point abt the downloading is that if you let your subscription lapse for whatever reason, you'll still have access to the images you've downloaded./

Finally, I would sign up for the free membership on Ancestry and also sign up to receive emails abt collection upates, and abt offers. You can also sign up for a two-week free full access trial - you have to provide credit details for this and cancel in time to avoid them charging you, but I would postpone this for now - you'll get a lot more benefit from this with a few more months experience - it is a one-time free trial.

Not the line you're after, but...
1911 [rg14/1535 rd20 (Stepney) sd1 (Shadwell & Ratcliff) ed6 sn291]
HOUSEHOLD MACGREGOR MR CHARLES M 1870 41 Stepney London
HOUSEHOLD MACGREGOR MRS F 1876 35 Stepney London
HOUSEHOLD MACGREGOR JAMES M 1893 18 Stepney London
HOUSEHOLD MACGREGOR CATHERINE F 1895 16 Stepney London
HOUSEHOLD MACGREGOR ELIZABETH F 1900 11 Stepney London
HOUSEHOLD MACGREGOR WILLIAM M 1902 9 Stepney London
HOUSEHOLD MACGREGOR CHARLES M 1904 7 Stepney London
HOUSEHOLD MACGREGOR ARTHUR M 1907 4 Stepney London
HOUSEHOLD MACGREGOR ANNIE F 1909 2 Stepney London

There is a 1901 McGregor family in Stepney RD - Registration Sub-District: Ratcliff
Charles E 33
Mary 27
James 8
Catherine 6
Mary 2
[I don't have any sub, so I can't see the image nor the transcription - there could be other members in the h/h.
Kate'a uncle James also has a h/h in the same piece RG13/291, I think.]


1881 https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X3GR-BK1
James Macgregor Head M 47 Scotland
Mary Ann Macgregor Wife F 39 London, London, Middlesex, England
James Macgregor Son M 16 London, London, Middlesex, England
John Macgregor Son M 11 London, London, Middlesex, England
Charles Macgregor Son M 14 London, London, Middlesex, England
William Macgregor Son M 8 London, London, Middlesex, England
Walter Macgregor Son M 5 London, London, Middlesex, England
Thomas Macgregor Son M 2 London, London, Middlesex, England
Laura Macgregor Daughter F 0 Ratcliff, Middlesex, England

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There's a convention on genealogical sites that if an age is given on some record dated in year Y, one estimates the birth year by subtracting the age from Y.

Here's an example from FS for the 1920 US census
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:M61S-SWS
Name: Clara E Wallace
Event Place: Sadsbury, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, United States
Age: 35
Birth Year (Estimated): 1885
Line Number: 38
https://archive.org/stream/14thcensusofpopu1585unit#page/n4/mode/1up

I picked this census as the nominal census day was 1/1/1920 - they were actually enumerated 2/1/1920 as you can see from the header.
Clara was almost surely born in 1884 (unless Clara was born 1/1/1885).

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By law, information from English/Welsh registrars can only be released in the form of BMD certificates.
Although having a formal cert makes life easier if you're wanting to get a passport, or get a body buried, or etc, it really is overkill for genealogical purposess.
The rest of the UK (and former UK) allow one to purchase "uncertified" images of their registers at a discounted price. These images might be sent by email.
[This is useful if you're needing an 1870s Irish b.cert.
It's cheaper still if you've gotten the ref info from the civil index, say via
https://familysearch.org/search/collection/list#page=1®ion=UNITED_KINGDOM_IRELAND
For purchase, see
http://www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/Apply-for-Certificates.aspx ]

English/Welsh B & D certs can be bought from the local registery office that now holds the register containing the original registration, or from the GRO that has a copy of that rego.
M.certs can be bought at the above places, but also from the church if it's in their current rego. The local rego office holds a copy of this rego, and when the church's rego is full, and the copy checked, the full rego is deposited in some archive, usually the county records office.
If the couple got wed in a church that had no authoruzed person to keep an official m.rego, so the official m.cert was recorded in the registrar's rego, the church was free to make their own record of the marr. Such records were eventually deposited in some archive - in the case of RC records, this was often the diocese archives.

As a footnote, most folk buy records from the GRO Kath gave the URL in the 2nd post of this thread.

As I indicated earlier, some archives have some of their records online, incl parish rego's.

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If you just want to see a marr rego, here's one from Mancester - nowt to do with your Davis so far as I know.
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VZKD-9T3
There's an image link via that URL, but you can no ;onger page thru the rego

Accessing the same image via "browse images" lets me browse thru the rego:
http://tinyurl.com/o42m283

My grandad, John Davis, married Nan, Katherine or Catherine McGregor on 25 December 1913. Grandad's age says 22years,( his DOB was 22/11/1891 so this is correct) and his father, John Davis, is said to be deceased, ( I believe he died in 1899).
Nan is said to be 20 years old,( her DOB was 18.3.1895 so she was only 18), and her father is Charles McGregor. The marriage was in the presence of H Knox then looks like V Beryfield and J Know.
I have lost track of the family on the 1901 census as obviously, great grandad was deceased and grandad's siblings seem to have disappeared! My great nan, Catherine Ball, may have re married as my grandad did not get on with her new "man" and put himself into Barnardos childrens home!

Please can you tell me how to view the certificates online?
I really appreciate all the help.

GR has pretty much the same as FMP - as far as London is concerned, this means parish records for Westminster and the west end - incl Pimlico, St George Hanover Sq, St Marylebone, etc. Ancestry has most of London via the London Metro Archives.

I think your next step is to locate your grandparents on the 1911 census, then follow their lines back thru the censuses. You have their m.cert so know their fathers (assuming they didn't lie - my dad's stepfather did lie to mask his illegitimacy - how long this masking went on for, I don't know, but all his kids knew by the time they left home, so maybe it was just for the ceremony).

It was to help locate John with his dad that I asked for his age - obviously if he were 20, it's pointless looking for him on 1881. Also, the witnesses were usually siblings or siblings in law of the couple, so knowing them helps with the census search. Occasionally, the witness is merely the parish clerk or a mate of his, so if you get to see the m.cert online, and there's a strange witness, check if he's also a winess on most of the adjacent marrs.

WHAT WAS JOHN'S AGE AND WHO WERE THE WITNESSES ON HIS MARR CERT?

Public libraries often have free access to ancestry and findmypast - might be worth enquiring.

Thank you. that's very helpful. :-)

There are several free sites you can use
Family search.org
Freebdm.org.uk for births deaths marriages
Freereg.org.uk for parish records
Some counties have on-line parish clerks OPC's . So for example type into google opc for Sussex and you will get your options come up. Also some Parishes have records on- line just try google and see what turns up. Sometimes you can be lucky !!!
I use Ancestry at the moment for my own research.
Birth years can vary . One year difference is common it depends when the birth date fell . Some people did not know when they were born some lied about their age. I have a great grandfather who was 26 years older than his second wife . He frequently knocked 10/ 15 years off that is why if you are having trouble finding someone one a census expand the search years they are not always recorded as you would expect.
With death records sometimes the person registering the death did not know when that person was born so took a guess at their age. So not all records will be exactly as you would want them to be.

No idea why you do not have pay per view option at top . I am only returning to this site after a few years away . The other way to find them is by click on account
Then on the left hand side you have account details
click on check credit detail
Then just to the right it says credits available to buy more credits click here.
You should then be able to purchase some
To use your Platinum credits click on search
The categories available come up pick which one you want
Put information in search boxes
You will then get possible records come up .
Iwhen you find a record that you wish to view there are the small boxes to the far right of record you can view transcription or original.
Hope this works if I have it wrong I am sure a seasoned member will help you .

GIFTS ADD FEATURES ACCOUNT HELP SUSAN DAVIS PLATINUM MEMBER SIGN OUT. This is all I have next to gifts. No pay per view option?

I am a platinum member and my account says I have unlimited credits. How do I use them?

Wow Lynda! How did you find this so quickly? I obviously cannot be going about this the right way. Can you give me a brief step by step guide as to how you would go about finding info please? Only if you have time. If my great grandad DID die in 1899, the death entry says his birth year was 1855 so not sure about the 22 April 1854 bit. You could well be right as there are so many John Davis's. How did you get the mother and father's names? Do you have some extra subs on your membership? Thank you so much for your help.

This may be him baptised Joseph known as John?
Will try and find a census with family on source family search

Joseph John Davis
England Births and Christenings
Name: Joseph John Davis
Gender: Male
Christening Date: 01 Sep 1859
Christening Place: SAINT JOHN EVANGELIST,LIMEHOUSE,LONDON,ENGLAND
Birth Date: 22 April 1854
Father's Name: Joseph Davis
Mother's Name: Elizabeth Ann
I

John Davis/ Catherine Ball
Marriage1 Jun 1873
Parish: St James the Great, Bethnal Green
Father Name: Joseph Davis
Spouse Father: John Ball
Source London marriages and banns 1754-1921

Ah, great, thanks Lynda!

This is what I have so far :- My dad John Charles Davis Born 15.3.1925
Married mum, Patricia Fuller 7.6.1952
Died 10.8.1998

his dad, (my grandad) John Davis Born 22.11.1891
Married Catherine McGregor 25.12.1913
Died 30.12.1976

his dad, ( my great grandad) John Davis Born 1855, ( month and day unknown)
St George in the East, Limehouse, Stepney, London

Married Catherine Ball in 1873 in Bethnal Green,
Tower Hamlets.

Died 1899 in Whitechapel , London although I have not definitely confirmed this is the right John Davis!

Now stuck as I believe my great grandmother may have re married and have not found my great grandads parents yet.

If you look at the top of the Genes page there is a line starting with gifts next to it is pay per view click on that and it will give the details of the options available. On the same line at the very end it says search click on there and the records available will be shown .For example If you are looking for a birth click on there and the records that are available for different counties will be shown.
Do you have more information about your grandfather and great -grand father nothing to go on at the moment? Year place of birth ect.

Thank you Lynda and Mgnv. I have both my grandparents now and have moved onto my great grandfather, would you believe another John Davis! He died aged 44. I now need to find his parents and my great grandmother's re marriage, if indeed she did re marry. Do you know what the pay per view credits are on here? Also, how do I view parish records as I paid extra on my subs for this?