Family History.

[john james oliver]

Hello , I am a new member on roots chat, I have been researching my family history for about a year now but practically all that I have done I have needed help from someone else and I am afraid that if I keep asking for help , people are going to be sick of me, I am a novice at my family history, and even worse on computers, anyway before I send you all to sleep with my droning on I would like to know if someone can help me with this problem . I have found my ancestors in South Shields County Durham England back to 1781, what I want to know is how can can I decide which ancestor is in the right place , I have Thomas Oliver born in 1781 but cant find his parents, I thought I had found them in Monk--Wearmouth Sunderland, but since then I have found more Oliver's in South Shields but I don't know if they are the right ones, please can someone help .

[davidft]

Welcome to the board

There is no such thing as too many questions, we all learn from asking questions.

To answer the question about Thomas there are a few things you can do.

1. If he had children before 1811 then look at the baptisms of his children as the baptisms in that period especially in the North East have some genealogical information about the parents. These are called Dade and Barrington Registers see link

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parish_register

2. Look to see if he left a will as that may provide some information that helps

3. Look at the names of his siblings and his own children and see if they form a pattern

4. Do Newspaper searches (some Libraries have subscriptions to sites that can help with this)

5. Look at online trees and see if any members of your family are mentioned and if there is data there that can help

6. If that fails post what details you have re Thomas and see if anyone else can help

Good luck

[iluleah]

Hi and welcome to rootschat

No question is boring and the only question that is stupid is the one not asked, we all learn every day and none of is know all the answers to everything...so ask away

Sounds like you are surname searching and just slotting in 'what/who you find' that way you are just name collecting and also assuming only one person/family use that name in that area of the country, instead of researching an individual, findings their real records that they generated during their lifetime that way with each record you find you add a little more information which can be used to prove the person is your ancestor and not just someone who 'fits'.

The whole point of FH research is to prove each and every ancestor from yourself back so you have your family tree and not a tree of unrelated names, so you don't 'decide' you prove from the records you find. Remembering that one wrong person in your tree means everyone before them are not your family.

My suggestion would be to step back get off the computer/website and look at home for the records you already have also ask family if you can see their records, these are real, free and will also teach you how to research and prove and that makes it much easier the further back you get...so your own birth cert, proves you it also proves your parents, your parents marriage cert proved they married on x date and also proves their fathers, occupations etc , so the records start to connect as you cross reference them

[emeltom]

I can only find one Thomas Oliver born Sunderland 1781. Is this the one you found Thomas Oliver born 1781 baptised 23 Dec 1782 Monkwearmouth?

If so he was the son of William and Jane Oliver. I can only find one marriage for a William Oliver to a Jane and that is in Houghton le Spring not Sunderland, so possibly suspect.

Jane and William had three children that I can find. Jane born 1782 and William born 1779, as well as Thomas. There may be more , I just haven't seen any.

I presume (really shouldn't do that!) that you are aware of the Durham Records on line site

www.durhamrecordsonline.com

and also

www.freereg.org.uk

also the parish registers are availble to view on the familysearch site under Durham Bishops Transcripts.

One quick tip regarding Durham Records on line. If you know roughly when and where the marriage took place, the husband's name and surname and the wife's Christian name but not her surname then enter her Christian name in the first box and put the husband's Christian and Surname where it says Spouse and , if they have the details, it should come up with her surname.

Emeltom

[john james oliver]

I would like to thank davidft/iluleah/emelton who came to my aid last evening in my search for Thomas Oliver DOB 1781 in Monk--Wearmouth /Sunderland, I am very greatful for your help, do you know where William & Jane were married in Houghton le spring I have managed to get one or two marriage certs but the Registry Office in South Shields  don't have any before 1837.  I have discovered that the pattern emerging is in Christian names being William & Thomas which seem to run through every generation that I have Discovered right up to my deceased Younger brother who was William. once again I thank you for your help . Regards J J Oliver.

[emeltom]

Civil Registration only began in 1837 so you won't be able to get a marriage certificate from the GRO. Parish certificates do exist but are few and far between. I would imagine that they were married in the Parish Church at Houghton le Spring, but don't quote me on that. The marriage is on Durham Records on Line - for £1-50 they will give you the details of when and where.

Emeltom

[Rena]

One tool that I use is the Genuki website, which gives information about each parish/village and town.

Scroll down this Genuki Houghton-Le-Spring webpage:-

http://joinermarriageindex.co.uk/pjoiner/genuki/DUR/HoughtonleSpring/index.html

You will see:-
Church Records > Houghton-Le-Spring > Marriage Indexes for :-

It's obvious that the people with the surname you are researching have been living in the area for centuries

To obtain records submitted by church vicars I usually go to my nearest Church Of Latter Day Saints Family History Library and view the microfilms of the Old Parish Records.   It's a bit of a hit and miss affair of what each vicar recorded; some included witness names and some couldn't even be bothered to remember full names of those they either married or baptised.