RootsChat.Com
General => The Common Room => Topic started by: RedWolf0502 on Sunday 03 December 17 22:36 GMT (UK)
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Not sure if this is the right place but here goes.
I really appreciate all the help I've been given over the many years I've been a part of this site, on and off.
I'm just wondering how people find all this information, I search before I post and only usually post asking for help after not being able to find much. So where do people find all their information? I use ancestry and other family history sites, trove, birth, death, marriages but I must be either typing in not enough info or wrong info.
There is also the fact that I am unable to pay, at this stage, to look at different things if I do find something.
Are there any sites that I'm missing or are others more intense or something than me.
Thanks
:)
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Probably a little more fluid in terms of dates, known-by names and lateral thinking.
I have no paid subs, but familysearch, freebmd, localbnd and freereg/ online parish clerks can do pretty well.
Do the replies which have found stuff not stated which resource was used? I try to show where it was found wherever possible
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Sometimes as well, less is better than more when searching. Often if I can't find a person in a census, I try looking for children instead. Or if I know the first names of people in the family, I search just using all of those, in case the surname has been transcribed incorrectly. Using that method I once found a family who, for some reason, had completely changed their surname - it was definitely them, as identified by a few unusual first names, correct order of ages and dob and places of birth. I would never have found them if I'd stuck to the father's name.
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Thank you both for your responses.
@PaulineJ yes I believe most do say where the info is from but it can be overload depending on how much comes through.
@groom I hadn't really thought of that, I mean there was one relative way back that was the right person but had her surname spelt differently. I guess its a case of trying to work out if it is the right person depending on how much you already know.
Thanks again
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I hadn't really thought of that, I mean there was one relative way back that was the right person but had her surname spelt differently. I guess its a case of trying to work out if it is the right person depending on how much you already know.
Oh come on! - surname spelt differently? That happens all the time, the more so the further back you look (see many threads on here). Surnames became 'stable' relatively recently, and most had settled in several variants, largely dependent on how the original (literate) recorders imagined they should be written. Even the same recorder could change his mind year by year (it was usually a he).
That's why all our search engines come with a 'sounds like' button.
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It still happens today!
In the last week or so, I have had at least 2 RootsChatters spelling my surname incorrectly :-\
Can you imagine how many incorrectly spelt "official" letters I have had over the years?! ;D
The "secret" to successful researching is to remain a flexible state of mind.
Spellings can vary, transcriptions more so.
Age wasn't important in the 19th Century - so tended to be flexible!
Forenames can be switched around, or shortened. My maternal grandfather & siblings ALL used their middle names on the 1911 census :D
Places of birth can get more general the further away from home the person is.
E.G. I come from a town in North Somerset, Portishead. Working in Europe, and traveling around the globe, I usually tell people I am from Bristol (saves geography lessons), or even simply the West of England.
So stop trying to find exact matches ;D ;D
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Local knowledge can also mean a lot when knowing where and how to search. The advantage with Rootschat is that members are from all over the world with lots of experience in researching different places and subjects. :)
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Some people can remember more sites and ways to search and bring past search experiences into the moment and are able to rattle off each search option straight away.
Blue
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Thank you for your thoughts,
Yes I do believe that I have a lot to learn about researching family history. That's why I ask questions so that I can learn.
Thanks again
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Exactly, it's the only way. If people don't quote their sources, I'm sure no one would object to you asking how they found something.
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I learned from watching the helpers/searchers on forums. Note the sites used when they refer to them or when they provide links. If they find something others couldn't find check spellings, transcriptions etc and find out how they found it. Bookmark all useful sites for quick access. Try to help others in that way you will improve your own searches.
Blue
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Sometimes the people know of more specialised sites, having found them useful in the past.
For example someone with Essex roots would know all about SEAX but be unlikely to know about great volunteer projects in Lancashire such as LancashireBMD and Lancashire Online Parish Clerks.
We are truly spoiled in our part of the world, while others have very sparse online resources.
The good news is that there are RootsChatters who are happy to help when you get stuck. Often it is the solving of a puzzle that is rewarding, a bit like a logic problem.
Even those of us who have been around the block a few times get stuck sometimes. A couple of my knotty problems have been untied recently on these boards.