Too many records - how do I sort them into families?

[Burrow Digger]

I have a kind of different problem. Never had this before. 

Usually we genealogists complain about not enough records. My problem is too many records.

I have a STEPHENS family from the village of St Winnow in Cornwall (between Lostwithiel & Fowey). I have online access to the Phillimore Marriages (1640 to 1812) and I recently purchased a CD of Baptisms (1708 to 1850).

The problem with this family is the repetition of names, and with so many records & repeating names,  I am finding it rather difficult to match up which children belong to which parents.

Add to this is that not all the marriages occured in the village - so I have the mom's first name from the baptismal records but no maiden name for her because the marriage didnt happen in St Winnow.

Any ideas on how to proceed?

Thanks

BD

[Little Nell]

If I get too simplistic, I apologise, but it may help to go back to basics.

Presumably from the baptisms, you have parents' christian names, so I suggest you get some paper (it has its uses!) and put down 1 couple per sheet, starting with those who married in the parish.

Then from the baptisms add the children to those couples.

If you have two couples with the same name then this is where the fun starts.  Children generally appear at intervals of approximately 2 years.  You can expect to find both the parents' names repeated for their children at some point.  A woman from outside the parish might bring in different names, which may help.  However, if the families are related then they start naming their children after the new aunts and uncles!

If you can to the census records, that may help with groupings.  Also look for burials - after 1812 the age has to be given in the register, but it won't necessarily give relationships.  However an infant burial might explain a birth less than two years after the previous one in a family.

Does this help - or are all the couples called John and Mary? 

Nell

[Guy Etchells]

You main find you need another resource Digger -yet more names- a transcript of burials.

To be able to collate the individuals into family grouping it help to know who died in infancy and when various parents died.

It is then an easy task to match the majority of baptisms & parents followed by the more difficult choices where there could be two or more possibilities of couples per infant.

Obviously no couples should have children born less than 9 months apart (except multiple births); many families tend to develop a pattern of births. Some 12 months apart some 18 months apart some 2 years apart (no exact measurements). This helps to locate likely candidates.

Look also for other sources such as wills & census which mention family groups.

I tend to write or print out all the names, then colour code likely groupings before trying to actually arrange any of them into family groupings.
Cheers
Guy

[Berlin-Bob]

Hi BD,

Would this help ??
Topic: Spreadsheets help track Surnames
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,31779.0.html

it would be a lot of work to enter them in the spreadsheet, but then you could use the filters to try grouping various names, or dates or addresses, or events etc, etc.

Bob

[Burrow Digger]

Does this help - or are all the couples called John and Mary? 

Nell

My examples are like this. I have John and Mary, John and Rebecca, John and Elizabeth, John and Dorcas, John and Jenefer, and while some dates definitely indicate different people or different generations, other dates make it hard to tell if it is a different couple or John's second marriage.

Get Burials and Use a spreadsheet. I think those are both very good ideas. I'm going to have to go nice and slow with this family.

The other small problem is the gap I have between weddings starting in 1640 and baptisms starting in 1708. That means at least 2 generations of children for whom I dont have any baptisms.

Obviously census records dont help here - they were actually very useful in tracking this family back to the 1700s as quickly as I have. I only started doing this family just before Xmas. 

Thanks for the suggestions.

BD

[casalguidi]

Hi BD

It might also be a good idea to check for any marriage banns post 1754 which "should" show those of the parish who married in another town/village.

Casalguidi

[Springbok]

Don't forget that the date of baptism does not indicate the date of birth.

Sometimes these could take place with 2 or three siblings at the same time.

Regards Springbok

[Guy Etchells]

Obviously census records dont help here - they were actually very useful in tracking this family back to the 1700s as quickly as I have. I only started doing this family just before Xmas.

Thanks for the suggestions.

BD

Why obviously?
There were many census before the decennial census started in 1801, I don't know what census there were for Cornwall (not a county I've studied) but don't write off the idea that there may be ecclesiastical census or even estate lists etc. before 1801.
Cheers
Guy

[Burrow Digger]

Thats true Guy, I havent looked at Hearth Tax or militia returns, but since I live in Canada, I'm not sure exactly whats available online. I dont mind purchasing documents for a small amount as long as it pertains to the parish of St Winnow

I've checked the a2a archives, and only found 1 mention of a Stephens family member - and only because the parish name, his name, his wife's name and the date all match up. 

There are quite a few Stephens names listed on the A2A site that are connected with Lostwithiel and that might also be family members, but thats hard to tell. Lostwithiel was within walking distance of the farm in St Winnow and they could easily have done business there, but it was not the home parish.

Can anyone give me some websites  and/or book titles to check out?

Thanks

BD