1. Place Names
- Normally the most accurate
because it is long lasting, and apart from rare occasions is rarely
wrong:
-
Look out for variable spellings by partially literate scribes,
small places of the same name in neighbouring counties (e.g. Brocton
occurs six times in Shropshire and the Staffs border area), old county
borders (outlying and detached areas belonging to one country within
another county), actual place names versus registration districts, and incorrect county on census returns.
-
The place where the
ancestor recalls growing up my not be the place of birth or where the
records are eventually found!
Many families have been very mobile.
-
Have a good set of detailed maps (OS) and use the OS Old Map website
for places long since disappeared or integrated within large
C20th/C21st conurbations. Old records may contain
references to Middle Age villages that have ceased to exist due to
disease, war or famine.
-
In general, there is a good likelihood that the parish of a birth for a girl is the place she marries (unless
'sent abroad' as a servant), and
that the place of residence for a man is where he is buried; consider
also neighbouring parishes. The only period where this is less
reliable is during the Industrial Revolution when many families moved
long distances in search of work. A girl may have been a recent
arrival as part of a family of coalminers, for example. The
industrialising West Midlands attracted people from all over the UK.
2. Occupations - Can be partly right. Many
unskilled ancestors had a variety of jobs depending on the season and
local trade requirements. Occasionally skilled trades pass from father
to son.
-
Census returns may contain some embellishment from Labourer to
Mason, or from Journeyman to Master Craftsman. Workmen no longer fit
for their primary trade often have less glamorous jobs later in life.
Multiple jobs are not uncommon.
-
Look out for old or unfamiliar local occupations that may cause
confusion if poorly legible - an ostler (a keeper of horses) and a
hostler (an innkeeper) can be confused. Someone who is bizarrely "an ironer
of rabbit burrows" turned out to be an ironer in the old Bristol area of
Rabbit Burrows.
-
Several trades have regional
preferences, for e.g. shoemaker or cordwainer, and many apparently
obscure jobs are part of a larger trade community such as watchmaking,
framework knitting or gunmaking.
3. Surnames - At least correct if viewed
phonetically! Some surnames can be spelled a multitude of way by
partially illiterate ancestors or scribes. The further you go back,
the more bizarre the variations you will encounter:
-
Some names become
interchangeable between married and maiden names, and previous
husbands names.
-
Some names are not always obvious (MORDECAI interchangeable
with MORT, and SHILVOCK interchangeable with SHELVOCK or SHILBURN),
whereas other variants are common, such as SANDERS & SAUNDERS.
Scottish/Irish names can be difficult: my MCDONALD / MacDONALD
family also appears as McDONNER & MCDONNELL. Traditional Welsh
naming patterns of X ap Y, for the son of, will change every
generation.
-
Confusion can result from using step-parents or adopted parents names,
as well as a woman using her lover's name. Common-law marriages were
still common in Victorian times even though this type of legally recognised informal marriage
was abolished in 1753, so records of a marriage simply may not exist.
-
Do not be surprised to find that
keeping more than one family is more common than you think,
through bigamy, the common-law relationship, or a kept lover.
-
Children of unwed daughters may be
incorrectly (either unintentionally or deliberately disguised) as
offspring of the parents, and may have other surnames.
4. First Names - One of the most confusing
aspects of research for a wide range of reasons:
-
Pet names or nicknames are very
common - Beth, Lizzie or Betty is common for Elizabeth, which can be confused
with Eliza (often a separate name). Patty has been used as a diminutive form for Martha. There is
also Amy used each for Alice, Nancy & Ann, and Polly for a number of girls names
including Mary Ann and Elizabeth. Girls
names are generally the most confusing.
-
Boys names can also interchange:
Jack for John & Jonathan, also Joseph & Josiah, Edward & Edwin,
etc. can swap.
-
The use of middle names is more common than you may think - very
often names appear in reverse order on a wide range of documents.
-
The
same name can also be given to several children, often the result of
an earlier child dying young, however this is not always the case! You
may conclude that there is both a John senior and John junior alive at
the same time.
-
It is also common to confuse relatives (father and son,
nephew & uncle, etc.) and family groups. Like me, you will find a period
in time where everyone seems to be a child of a couple named William
& Mary or Samuel & Ann, with several couples of the name living in the district
you're researching, all with children named with the most popular
names of the times!
The sex of some names is not always clear:
Treasure turns out to be male. For a long time I was very confused by
a marriage of a Frances (who turned out to be actually a male,
i.e. "Francis") to an Eli (turned out actually to be female,
i.e. Elly).
5. Dates - the general rule is to never trust a
date! Accurate dates of birth may be given for modern registrations
and in a few church records at baptism.
-
Family bibles may be a help,
but can be written from memory long after the event - beware of the
same ink and handwriting for all entries; a sure sign the dates were
written at the same time and therefore will be less reliable.
Sometimes only the day and month is given and not the year - not
helpful if only initials are used.
-
Women
will commonly reduce their age on marriage, and perhaps those under
"full age" may increase their age upon marriage or joining
the armed forces.
-
Census returns are notoriously unreliable,
particularly when looking for a date for a husband's death. If the
woman is at home while the husband is away, she could be given as Head
of household or assumed a widow. 1841 dates are rounded to the nearest five
years.
-
Dates around birth may be confused between birth and baptism.
Some families wait 3-5 years before baptising children, and adult
baptisms are not uncommon.
-
Both birth and marriage dates can be
adjusted to cover for pre-wedding pregnancies. It is very common for
the first child to be born before or within a few months of a marriage
and perhaps baptised in the mother's name if before, later adopting the father's
name after marriage. The father's name can also be used even if no marriage
has occurred.
-
In 1752
the 25th March became 1st January, so two dates and years may appear
around this time. The 24th of March 1751/52 occurred before the 1st of
January 1751/52!
In 1841 33% of men & 44% of women
signed marriage certificates with their mark. Only in 1870 was Primary
Education made available for all in Britain.
between two people, where Ga
is the person who is nearest to common ancestor (by no. of generations)
and Gb, the one furthest away.
Ga - 1 = C
Gb - Ga = R
Answer =
x C y R (xth Cousin, y Removed)
Final Words of
Caution!
Family history research is a very
rewarding hobby, however it is clear that research should not be
conducted with today's morals and standards in mind, otherwise key
data will be overlooked. I have enjoyed finding out what real life was
like in the past, discovering plenty of family 'scandals',
illegitimate children, lovers and second families, as well as being
able to put
these families in their social and political contexts. To some, these revelations can be considered 'shocking', 'immoral'
and personally embarrassing even after many generations have passed.
Often family stories have no basis in fact and may have been
embellished or manufactured to cover some 'unpleasant truth'.
Statistics from family historians show that more than 1/3 of family
have some kind of secret.
So, when you are looking around your family tree beware of fallen
branches and the odd coconut!
Happy digging!
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