Where am I from? (Genealogy in general)

Member Name: wearsidelass

Product:	Genealogy in general
Date:	11/02/05 (466 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Learn about your family history

Disadvantages: Can take a long timre

When I was young I never really thought about my grandparents or the history of my family – my grandparents died before I was born so really didn’t come into the equation.

But something happens as you get older. I yearned to know more about my family but my father never talked about his at any time and mam would only tell us little bits and pieces. In fact, on the day of my father’s death, I actually met his sole surviving brother for the first time and he told us quite a bit about the family!

Just over a year ago my godfather (uncle Dick) died and his daughter told my sister in Canada that she had found the death certificate of my maternal grandmother in his belongings and so we both got a copy of it. You see, my grandmother died in a mental hospital and I didn’t know this. I wanted to know why. I wanted to know what had troubled my grandma so much so that she admitted herself voluntarily to a mental institution. My mam said it was because of the war (she died Christmas Eve 1946). Of course, today she would probably have been diagnosed with depression but I guess in those days it was a shame for this to have happened and so would not have been spoken about. This event led me to thinking about my heritage and I started to search on the internet. I hadn’t a clue how to go about it but one of my friends was researching her family and she gave me a few hints.

Now, genealogy is a minefield and you should really try first of all to get as much information as you possibly can from your parents, grandparents and any other members of the family.

Without a little bit of data you could be performing like a headless chicken, believe me.

Let me explain that I am researching my mother’s side of the family as a distant relative has taken 20 years to research my father’s side and, in the next week or so, I shall be taking delivery of a family tree dating back to the early 1700s together with photographs of my paternal grandparents and great grandparents together with fascinating family history.

I sincerely hope I can do the same with my mother’s family but I will do my utmost to do so.

I was already a member of Friends Reunited so I joined their little branch called Genes Reunited. So, I registered with Genes Reunited and started to try and figure my way around the site. I started the family tree with the family members I already knew – mostly immediate members. Then I searched for my mam’s parents’ names and eventually came across my cousin Brian’s daughter who had started to research the family history too. However, she had less than me to go on!

Then, again through Genes Reunited, I came across a lady called Sue, who still lives in Sunderland, who had been researching the family name. At present, we don’t think our two branches are related but in doing my research we may finally find out that we are! We shall see.

Sue has been absolutely fantastic and has pointed me in the right direction. I had already found some sites through my search on the internet but she did tell me about others but, not only did she do this, but she researched too. She was interested in finding out about my family too and, who knows, as previously mentioned, we may even be related.

Some of the internet sites are free, such as www.freebmd.org.uk but this is an extremely busy site and possibly the best time to research on this site is very late at night. I have tried several times during the day but it has been so busy that it is almost impossible to do any research. However, you must persevere, and you will eventually get onto the site for information. I guess it is because it is free that it is so popular. However, there may be some information missing from this site as they are still updating it and, from what I can gather, it is volunteers that input the information.

Another popular site is www.1837online.com. I registered with this site but in order to really try and find out information you need to purchase credits by giving your credit or debit card details via a secure site.

It was through this site that I found the birth date of my maternal grandfather, birth of my maternal grandmother and also her death (although I already knew this but wanted to double check it too).

The site shows information in quarters (eg. Jan, Feb, March quarter). Once you have filled in the details you want to search for then it will bring up the various finds. Each time you search you use a credit and your credits can quickly go. But it is worth it and, once you get accustomed to the site and how it works, you can learn how to use it more efficiently.

When I first bought credit (last year), I hadn’t realised there was a timescale in which to use up your credit. I lost about £1.30 worth of credit due to my ignorance and I won’t be doing that again.

One particular point I should mention is that when searching for your family name please print out everything you find with regard to your name search as it is costing you money to do this and there may be information on other relatives on those pages – you may not realise it at the time – but this information can become invaluable in the future and you really don’t want to pay twice to see the same information now do you?

Now what information, I hear you ask, do you see on these searches on the 1837 site and how can it help me?

Well, the title shows whether the index is for births, deaths or marriages. It will list alphabetically by surname and show the surname then underneath list the Christian names. Beside these Christian names will be the age at birth, death etc. and on the right hand side of the entry there will be codes eg. 10a (means Sunderland) and then a number. This helps the registry office in locating where the certificates are held.

Other good sites are: www.1901census.nationalarchieves.gov.uk, www.thegenealogist.sandn.net and www.familysearch.org. Census information is another important search tool and lists all family members together with their address, occupation and age. The 1881 census can be viewed freely – simply go to the top where you will see tabs and then choose which search tab you need, then there is a list down on one side, simply choose the census year and then fill in the boxes for the information and you will be guided through the procedure. I found this to be quite daunting at first and my searches came up as “could not be found” but then, like everything else, it is always easy when you know how!

The 1901 census site is very good but, again, in order to obtain correct, expanded information you need to purchase credits. If you purchase these credits via the internet then you must be aware that you only have a 48 hour timescale and then you credit will run out. However, you can purchase credit from your local library and use it on this site and the advantage of doing this is that the credit lasts up to 3 months. So, I am going to go to my local library to purchase credit.

As mentioned previously, Sue had located quite a lot of information but I wasn’t sure if it was all correct and I didn’t want to waste time by “barking up the wrong tree” – get the pun?

So, from the indexes obtained from the 1837 site I applied to Sunderland Registry Office for copies of the certificates. I had previously telephoned the Registry to ask about the correct procedure. I had to write a letter and give them as much information as I possibly could. They also told me to put individual cheques in the sum of £7 for each certificate applied for. The reason being that if they couldn’t find a particular entry because of insufficient information then they could return one of the cheques to me. A stamped, addressed envelope should also be enclosed with your cheques. So, I wrote everything down and enclosed copies of the 1837 search indexes. I was applying for:

 Birth certificate for my maternal grandmother
 Marriage certificate for my maternal grandparents
 Death certificate for my maternal grandfather

You may ask “why didn’t you apply for your maternal grandfather’s birth certificate”?

The reason why I haven’t is because I think there is a discrepancy on that side and, before going any further, I need to know the exact names of his parents – which will be on the marriage certificate. From this information, I will be able to check with my printed data (and information from Sue) which branch my grandfather belonged to. Only then can I apply for copies of their certificates too and so on. The same applies with my maternal grandmother. I have data showing the birth dates of her siblings and possible grandparents but I need to check the certificates thoroughly.

Of course, you can always visit Somerset House to do your research but I understand (and I only think I am correct in saying this) that you have to pay for either a half day or full day.

It is a fascinating journey and, as I keep my mam up to date on events, I am now learning more. Mam is of the old school in that “skeletons should be kept in the cupboard) but, eventually, she is telling me more and more of the relatives and events she can remember and, believe me, she has a very good memory.

I am starting to put pieces of the jigsaw together – illegitimacy, twice married, you name it and I am starting to find it.

I am hooked on genealogy. It is very time consuming and I want to trace back as far as I possibly can. As I am still very much a novice, I have a long way to go but, my determination and the help of my newly-found friend Sue, will get me there. In fact, when I go up to Sunderland in May, I am going to visit Sue.

It is now Friday 11 February 2005 and my certificates have arrived from the Sunderland Registry office so I can now trace back to my correct great-grandparents for both sides of my mother’s family and I am absolutely ecstatic. This is wonderful news and I can’t begin to say what a buzz this gives me.

I have also found out the telephone numbers of two of my cousins who are going to give me as much information and photos as they can and I have promised to provide them with a copy of the family tree when I am finished.

Of course, once they get their copy, then they can research on their various branches too!

And so it can go on, and on, and on.

Happy researching.

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