Expecting more than we can find?

[coombs]

As we know before the census era and the advent of birth, marriage and death certs in 1837 it does tend to get harder. Many of our ancestors may have been born 1770-1790 who lived to the 1841 census at least, and to 1851.

For instance my ancestor was James Webb born c1755. He died in Foulness, Essex in 1829. His age at death puts him born c1755. He married Mary Newman Smith in 1780 in Foulness. One of the witnesses was the parish clerk and I have been unable to trace the other witness Joseph Purser. I am still thinking there is a chance of finding the origin of James Webb. And the same for other ancestors who I have found a marriage for but not a baptism for yet. But there could be several candidates to choose from baptism wise.

Although unfortunately many witnesses to ancestors wedding 1754-1837 were regular witnesses or just friends. And you can find some gaps in parish registers, or they never baptised their children but were always in the parish. Often the chase of tracing ancestors can make you more determined to trace ones with more common names, or ones who cannot be traced before their marriage. You get to the point where you wonder if you should admit defeat especially with common name ancestors. And also, people tended to move around more pre 1800 than what is stated, so even if your ancestor married in Suffolk in 1760, he may have come from Kent or Cumberland, and were in Suffolk on a job, or army and stayed there.

[andrewalston]

Sometimes you just have to put things on the back burner for a while and get on with researching other things (even if it's just for other Rootschatters).

Often, something will turn up in an unexpected place. The will of someone else in the area might mention your ancestor.

I've been stuck for years with a John Smith in a little village, where three John Smiths were producing children in the 1750s, and two of those, one mine, were shoemakers. I found it so frustrating that I left him alone for ages.

Then I remembered that I had not researched my John's wife, who had a distinctive name. I took me about two hours to work my way back in her ancestors to a marriage in 1588.

[carom]

I have searched for years for Robert Porter, my 3x gt.grandfather. His only appearance in official records is his marriage in 1788 in Sheffield to Hannah Hall.
They had children born in Nottingham and I have her intestacy papers dated 1833, which showed her as a widow.
Their sons were all in the building trade and moved around a lot, so I assume Robert did the same.
Have often wished they could have hung on until 1837!

[coombs]

Also genealogy is so popular nowadays I suppose lots of them want more records to come online especially if the genealogists/family historians live hundreds or thousands of miles from the record offices of the county/country they are researching. I live 250 miles from Co Durham and if I lived there, I would be down the RO pretty much every week.