Genealogy Chat

Tomorrow i am taking a hour plus car drive to my nearest large libary to do some family tree research. I have booked to use one of those machines you know the ones i mean lol. So i can search through the BMD's. But like my title asks what else can i do there to aid my search ? will i be able to look at census from all over? As you can guess i am still quite new to this only in my 3rd month and with it being so far away i dont want to miss out on anything i may be able to find. Please any guidence would be great. REgards Shaz.

Perhaps you should tell us where the library is to give us some idea? Kate.

My library have a collection of books with transcriptions of the towns gravestones and memorials which I found very useful - Di

Do you know for sure that the library has the censuses? In my case in Somerset the BMD indexes are in the big Taunton library plus some newspaper reports and other useful stuff BUT all the censuses, parish records and ancient documents are in the Somerset Records Office....a different building and not close by. The library you can just pop into and usually look at BMD without appointments but the Records Office needs a readers card and appointment to book a microfiche reader. Sue

Your local library will deal with local affairs, so the Census you find will be confined to a local area not a national area. You may find the 1881 Census as that is indexed nationally and you may find the 1901 pay per view but in the main all the other census will probably be address only for the area local to that library. What else you will find will depend very much on whether it is an area that you yourself are interested in. You should find a lot of local history, giving you ideas on the various villages/hamlets/city/town as well as maps tithe or otherwise and history of big houses/estates in the area which may lead you on to other thoughts and ideas how to research your own family history. Sometimes, though not always, they have parish indexes which can take you back beyond 1837. Libraries can be very useful indeed. If you want to delve deeper into Settlement Records etc you will need to go to the CRO(County Record Office) of your interest. Janet

Hi Sharon Is it the family History Centre, if so then they will have church records you can look at, Christening and Marriages. Also they should have Elec Rolls which will help you for the more recent time from about 1900 to present day. Take a pencil and plenty of paper, small change for lockers and photo copies oh and drink and something to eat. Probably have Maps, local papers and censuses all free but only for the county it is in so take as much information as you can so if you find what you want you will be able to do some more hunting. On your list have want you to find first then in order of what else you would like to find. I save mine on my computer then when I get home I can delete what I have found and then continue to add to it over the weeks until I go again Have fun Irene

Hi again i will going to Lincoln, but most of my research is in Staffordshire area. So am i right to understand that to view the staffordshire census i need to go to staffordshire. I will still be able to to find some stuff out wont i ? Shaz Sorry Janet and Irene your replys were not showing when i entered my 2nd message.

Sharon Sorry to have to say this but if your interests are in Staffs then most of the census you will want will be in Staffs unless you are near the border! I am interested in Northants FH so I really need to go to a library or the CRO in the Northants area but I can get quite a lot of info on Northants in Milton Keynes library, which is in Bucks. May not be a complete waste of time but would be better if you could get to a Staffs Library. Janet

Thanks for that Janet, I had thought about a few days in staffs to do some church yard hunting I will also book at their libary as well now i have that info. Just have to sort it out. Thanks to every one for your advice, a less confused shaz. :-)

Hi Shaz Looks like it's going well. Enjoy your trip out to the library! Jeanette x

Hi Jeanette, nice to hear form you, I have so far got back to 1860, which i am really pleased about but there are some hard bits like not finding marriage certs of both sets of G Grandparents, out of wed lock births. I have found one living 2nd cousin, which is also great, still got my fingers crossed for a aunt, uncle or 1st cousin with some info on my Dads childhood, but it is still early days. Hope your research is going well. Once again thanks for helping me in my very early days. Regards Shaz :-)

Hi Sharon Guess what? I'm going to Lincoln library tomorrow morning. I'm afraid that they haven't got the BMDs, only censuses for Lincolnshire. You will need the Lincoln Archives for BMD which are quite close to the library, but you will need to book a reader and they get quite busy. http://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/section.asp?docId=37864 will take you to what they hold in the library. See you tom? Jenny

Hi Jen, I am so daft, it is the lincoln archives i am going to tomorrow, but not till the afternoon. I should be there about 1.30 will you still be around then ? if so perhaps a cuppa some where. let me know Shaz.

Hi Sharon Got a date at the gym in the afternoon, so will be leaving about 12. Never mind!! I'm going to have to get up really early tom as takes me over an hour to get there as well!! Good hunting Have you seen the Linoln archives website? It tells you in detail what they have. Jenny

HI Jenny i will give it a look. Enjoy you time at the gym, are you in land or are you by the coast, im at Mablethorpe. Just wondering. dont mean to be nosey. Shaz.

Hi Sharon, you might find this site of use before you go. Good Luck. Alan.

oops, would help if i put the web address in too, soz, Alan. http://www.familia.org.uk/main.html

Thanks for that Alan will go take a look now. Shaz

Shaz My pleasure! Glad it's going well. Jenny If you're ever coming over to the East Riding Archives, give me a shout and I'll show you the sights! lol Jeanette x

Just a thought Shaz! If it's your first trip to an archives you'll need to be prepared! lol Take a few sharp pencils (pens are generally not allowed) and plenty of paper. Have a list of what you need to find and any notes that may be applicable. Take some change for any photo copies you might want and car parking. Have you checked to see if they require any ID - we don't here in E, Yorks but some ask for it. Take a cardigan cos it sometimes gets a bit chilly! And don't forget your glasses if you wear them! lol Jeanette x