Genealogy Chat

Is the only way to find siblings, through census's or is there another way? Thanks Gypsyjoe

depends when, and how much you know. it can be a good start, although may not 'capture' them all

Census is the best way... cant really think of anothre way unless you buy up all the birth certs that look promising? Suzanne

Oh just thought...you can trawled through the baptism parish records? Suzanne

You can sometimes pick up siblings through the IGI. If you can find one child born to the right set of parents on the IGI with a batch number attached, you can click on the B.N, enter in the surname only plus a parent's name and often it will bring up other children born to that couple. Sometimes there are more children with another batch number if they were born over an extended period of time. Regards, Beverley from Perth

Thanks Ladies gypsyjoe

Morning, Joe. Don't forget that on the censuses there may be other children who have either left home when they got married, or gone into service or other work. They didn't have to be very old to do that, either. One of mine doesn't appear on any census with her parents as she was already in service at the age of 8 in 1851 and was married by 1861.

So chances are I may not be able to find the siblings. I checked that IGI site and came up with nothing for any of my names even the ones I do know. Gypsyjoe

Hi Gypsyjoe, sometimes even the census isn't too reliable for finding siblings, especially if occasionally the head of household lied about the relationships, or just couldn't be bothered with the details. However, searching through parish records may be a better way of discovering siblings. There may be some good news on the way though for those wanting to confirm relationships. The GRO are currently in the process of digitising all their indexes, the birth indexes will show mothers maiden name, and the marriage indexes will show spouses surname right back to 1837 by the time they're finished. (I think it's due to be completed by 2008) I sent the GRO an email last week, as I wondered whether these new indexes will only be available to the GRO staff, or whether the public will also have access, so as soon as I get a reply from them i'll post it on this board. Personally, I think it might be counter productive if the indexes are only available to GRO staff, as they're going to end up searching through the indexes themselves for possibly unrelated individuals, it would be much better for us to be able to search them, as it would decrease the amount of time they spend on searching, and also, possibly make the system more effective. I hope that's what the GRO feels as well, but you never know. Anyway, best of luck with your research John

Thanks everyone, it's just something I'll have to keep battling. Gypsyjoe

IN ADDITION to my question at the top: From what I can tell Census are every 30yrs right? If that is the case, we're going to miss a lot of family who had their kids after one census and they would be moved out by the next. Gypsyjoe

Every 10 years, Joe! (1841-1901) Do you want to say who you are looking for????!!!! Merry

If you have a family history centre near you they might be able to help. They have copies of thousands of local church records on film and fisch, they can also order in films. The only cost as far as I know is to cover expenses. To find out if there is one near you log on to familysearc.org, scroll down on the home page and you will find a box that will let you to find the nearest one to you. Stephanie

The censuses will not identify any children who are born and die in the ten year gap between any one and the next........ Reg

Hey everyone, back again. It's hard being on a different time zone to you all. Still in China at the moment but will be back in the UK in only 18days but only until Aug28 when I return here to China for work. So Stephanie thatnks for those points I'll see what's near me, where ever I end up. I am looking for Foleys and actually Merry I think it was you who found the last bit of info. Which was my Grandfather Albert and his parents and siblings. Now I'm trying to find more on Patrick's parents. I have his siblings thanks to another king member on here and his parents, but I wanted to start going further back than that. Thanks to one of the old threads on here that has marriages in Ireland I may have found them. My family believed they came from county Kerry so hopefully it's the right couple. When I get there I will get certificates starting from my grandfather and see what I can find. Still I'm not sure where else to look. With not a lot of information it becomes a waste of credits checking pretty much every name. Joyce good luck with yours too, I know once in England mine were around Whitechapel, though my grandfather was born in Bethnal Green (I haven't a clue how far they are from each other). So thanks again to everyone, hopefully things will be a bit easier when I get back there. Gypsyjoe

I try to find memorial inscriptions a lot have been transcribed. Family graves often include details of children who died young often between censuses. My last find a sister of my great grandfather came from a simple request - are there any more Graves for .... name. The inscription said daughter of. She had not been with the family on any census and had never married. Inscription 'She went about doing good'

Thanks Annie, If I'm on the right track looks like the sister of GG grandfather married his brother in law (wifes brother). Gypsyjoe

As well as Monumental Inscriptions, which have been a goldmine for me, too - I thought I had three men oif the same name with three families - the MI sorted out the fact that it was ONE man, who married 3 times, each time to a Mary (grr) and fathered 29 children over a period of 53 years! You couldnt have guessed that, could you. Wills are another fantastic source of information. From one Will costing £3.50, I got the names of ten children, including the married names of the girls, umpteen grandchildren AND the two executors turned out to be relations too. I often hear people say 'Oh my lot were too poor to make a Will' - well, this was a family of Ag labs, who had inherited a small amount of land from a richer rellie.They had absolutely no money, but they did have this bit of land. Olde Crone

I agree with Old Crone. I had a great uncle who died a batchelor. The estate had to trace his heirs and the solicitor hired a professional genologist to track down descendents of a great aunt who had emigrated to Australia. Not only did I inherit a couple of thousand pounds but I was sent details of all my grandmother's siblings with details of their married names and children. I also got an invitation to visit a cray fishing village near Perth.

Thanks for that. Olde Crone where will I find wills? Or should I say how do I go about finding them? Did women leave them too or only the man? I'm looking for siblings born after 1901. Gypsyjoe