Update on Harriet Beresford (c. 1819 – 1876) In my book Genealogy, Essential Research Methods, I use my great-great-great grandmother Harriet Beresford’s missing London baptism and unsure parentage as an example of how to think and plan for solid research when following up family stories. In this case the story was that she was the… Continue reading Harriet’s missing father
Tag: genealogy
The best family history advice I never had
Do you remember the defining moments when suddenly something clicked into place, or you learned something the hard way without reading about it or attending a class? I can count the following seven “aha” moments as some of my best learning experiences. 1. Don’t skip on collecting all relevant information. When I joined the Society… Continue reading The best family history advice I never had
Stray Thoughts on the English census
Not that long ago, the large microfilm room at The Family Record Centre in London (God rest its soul) was humming with conversation and the clacker of the census films being wound forward or back. The 1881 census was the first to be surname indexed, (which took a large team of volunteers under the supervision… Continue reading Stray Thoughts on the English census
You are being studied
Genealogists are more used to doing the studying, rather than themselves being studied as a community or group. So it might surprise you to know that there are a number of academic social anthropologists who are studying us genealogists. Dr Fenella Cannell of the London School of Economics, published a very interesting paper in 2011… Continue reading You are being studied
It’s there, but not online
Are you in a situation where you are certain you have examined or found all possible records online and your research is now stuck? There is no need to be despondent or to give up. What you need is available but is simply not online. In fact, not even half of what you could be… Continue reading It’s there, but not online
Playing the elimination game
Which John Smith is mine? This article deals with the common problem of having too many candidates to choose from. How do you separate out this John Smith from that John Smith? Unfortunately, people in the past chose first names from a limited range, so it is possible to have three or even four men… Continue reading Playing the elimination game
Online newspaper links
In genealogy it helps to be a ‘completist’. I always like to have a complete list of all records, sources or websites available, so that when I search I know I am not missing anything. As more and more goes online it becomes increasingly difficult to know precisely where to start a search. Often we… Continue reading Online newspaper links
Gapology – Finding People in Parish Registers
This article first appeared in Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine, in 2015 and is reproduced here by permission. Are you searching for people in parish registers online and not finding them? Are some members of a family found in a location while others are just not there, no matter how hard you try? … Continue reading Gapology – Finding People in Parish Registers
The art of method
Bringing a little more method into your research helps with many common research problems. Firstly, any research should have a clear aim. The best researcher does not jump around among websites trying a bit of this and a bit of that to see what turns up, and switching families when nothing does, but instead starts… Continue reading The art of method