The British CDs: Checking Out English Parish Registers
– Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA (Scot)
If you follow an International Genealogical Index entry through to the microfilm copy of the register, and if you habitually read further than simply the relevant entries for your ancestors, then you may have come across some of the fascinating details noted by long dead ministers and parish clerks. The Yorkshire (East Riding) CD is a good one for demonstrating what turns up in parish registers.
I began playing around with words, much like I described in the previous column, and combined that with simply browsing forward and backward within the records of individual parishes. This particular CD is a copy of printed transcripts, not only of entries recording baptisms, marriages and burials, but of anything else the local officials chose to record. Most common are the added details of place of abode and occupation. It looks like some parishes entered an occupation when it was something other than laborer. I spotted lots of blacksmiths and cordwainers, and a fidler [sic]. That was interesting, so I tried it in the Search Wizard. The records mention ten fidlers, and three of these instances are surnames.
Unusual and accidental deaths usually prompted a written note; e.g., at Brantlingham, 18 January 1811, Mary Chapman age nineteen was killed when hit in the head by someone trying to shoot pigeons. There are many fatal accidents involving children and violence crops up occasionally. Keywords such as 'killed,' 'drowned,' or 'burned' will turn up other tragic ends.
In several parishes, after the burials, are lists of collections taken in response to appeals for financial help - for poor people in the parish, for victims of fire, for those left with nothing after severe storms. What is interesting is how far away the charity was sent, Kent and Wales being among many areas mentioned. Some donations went further than that, for appeals were made to help sailors captive in Algiers, and in 1667 for two men held as slaves in Turkey. It was not much money; repeatedly, registers state that a collection of brass farthings (quarter-penny) and half-pennies was taken, and the totals were just a few shillings (20 shillings to the pound).
I have tried to imagine people who had never left a rural Yorkshire parish listening to the minister's sermon on Sunday, and his announcement that a special collection would be taken. There wasn't much cash about--who contributed to the six shillings collected for those two slaves in Turkey?
There are a couple dozen parish registers on this CD, most for the period before 1813. In a mathematical analysis it does not look like much, about 10 percent of the whole of the East Riding. On the other hand, if one of your parishes is here, it can be the ticket to much more than a handful of baptisms, marriages, and burials. Exploring the contents will catch your imagination and tell you relevant things. Surely the news of an earthquake in Cherry Burton in 1687 spread across the region! The burial of Thomas Cletheray in 1602 reminds us that failure to attend services of the Established Church had consequences even past death.
"Thomas Cletheray a recusant of the North Blockhouse was put into his grave in Drypoll Churchyard the 07 Mar, by the meanes of Henry Garrat without the minister & without the order of buriall according to lawe." (Drypool Parish Registers, Vol. 1)
This man's descendents are fortunate; many nonconformists buried by friend or neighbors were never entered into the register.
Vital events are the backbone of any family history, but just as most of us are interested in rounding out the facts with snippets of character and details of setting, so the records themselves can reveal more. Trolling through the past is something none of us would have contemplated prior to fully searchable databases.
NOTE: The Yorkshire (East Riding) CD is available from The Shops @ Ancestry.com and is on sale today: www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=831&key=P2480
More ENGLISH, SCOTTISH, and IRISH PARISH RECORDS are available from The Shops @ Ancestry.com at: shops.ancestry.com/subcat.asp?shopid=126&catid=520
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA (Scot) has been researching her British ancestry for thirty years. She founded Interlink Bookshop and Genealogical Services (www.interlinkbookshop.com) in 1988; she currently lectures in Canada and the United States and is president of the Association of Professional Genealogists. You can e-mail Sherry with suggestions for future British genealogy articles at sherryirvine55@myfamily.com. She will not be able to send personal replies, but will feature some questions in upcoming issues of the Ancestry Daily News. Sherry also regrets that she is unable to assist with personal research. Sherry is also the author of:
Your Scottish Ancestry: A Guide for North Americans www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=831&key=P1046
Your English Ancestry: A Guide for North Americans www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=831&key=P1045
(Copyright © 1998-2001, MyFamily.com Inc. and its subsidiaries.), "Ancestry Daily News" (http://www.ancestry.com/dailynews)
Queries
A query is a request for information about your ancestor. The advent of the internet and the global reach it brings has made a simple "query" a very powerful tool. However, to fully utilize this power you need to learn how to post effective queries.
Your query may ask for information on such things as:
How to Write an Effective Genealogy Query
In the second paragraph state what you already know. This will help those responding cut down on unnecessary suggestions.
This is an example of a good query:
I am conducting a one-name study of the WAGNER family in Germany for the years 1850-1910. Most of the family settled in MUNICH. If you have information on WAGNER's of that time, I'd be happy to share information.
Places to post your queries
Note: In addition to the sites listed below, you should also try posting your queries to the alt.surname* and soc.surname* newsgroups, and surname specific mailing lists.
You can also try typing +query +yoursurname into a major search engine in order to find a query site dedicated to your surname.
Online Query Sites
The USGenWeb website is one of the best places for US researchers to post queries.
In order to post a query on USGenWeb follow these steps:
- Click on "The Project's State pages" under the heading "State Pages for the Project"
- Click on either "Graphical Map" or "Table of States"
- Click on the appropriate State
- Click on the appropriate County
- You should then see a "Query" link on the county homepage. Sometimes you have to email your query to that counties Query-Co-ordinator and they post the query. Some counties use Rootsweb.com and Genconnect message boards.
Every country is represented on WorldGenWeb, and every country has a message board where you can place queries.
To post a query follow the following steps:
- Scroll down until you see a "Country Index" link under the heading "Resources".
- Click on the appropriate country link.
- Click on the "Message Board" link down the left hand side.