What is the IGI

[sallysmum]

Hi Caz
I should have looked more closely!  The 14 year gap is between 2 christenings so Thomas (father) could have been christened at a late age and quite feasibly begat John.  However  William was born 1689 and his son was christened 1700 - William father would have been 11 at the time.  This doesn't sound very feasible to me!
Sallysmum

[carrielovesfanta]

I suppose there is no way that there could be another William? 
But as you say, it's quite possible that the IGI could be wrong - it's best to look at the originals to see if there's a transcription error

[Bill749]

I recently found a baptism (not one of mine) of a man in his fifties - I would suspect he was ill and decided to "hedge his bets" by getting baptised before he died, just in case there was an afterlife!

 

The IGI, where information was derived from actual transcriptions, would give dates of baptism, which could be from a few days (or even hours) after birth to several years.  However, where the entry was derived from a submission from a person wishing to become a member of the church, it could be an approximate date of birth based upon family "knowledge", so could be of dubious accuracy.   

The other thing to remember is that, as the Index only seeks to identify individuals, only one entry will usually appear.  This was ideally the baptism but, if this could not be found, the marriage might be listed.  In the event that neither was available, you might find an entry for a death or burial.

This means that, as you don't (in most cases) have multiple entries for an individual, there is no way of knowing if a person who's baptism you have found eventually married and had a family of their own or died a few days later.

The obvious answer is to use the index purely as a guide to where to look for possible family members, and not as a main source.

Regards, Bill

[Bill749]

Quotes from LDS website:

Q:
 Why do members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints trace their family history and do genealogical research?
 
A:
 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints emphasizes the importance of family relationships and believes that families can be united in the most sacred of all human relationships—as husband and wife and as parents and children—in a way not limited by death. Through priesthood authority from God, marriages are performed in temples. These marriages can continue throughout this life and for all eternity. In addition, children are "sealed" to their parents, meaning that their relationship to their parents will continue even after death. In order to give these same blessings to their deceased ancestors, Church members seek information about their ancestors to be able to perform marriages and sealings on their behalf. These ancestors may then choose to accept these sacred rites.

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Library/FHL/frameset_library.asp?PAGE=faq_library.asp

This is the belief that underpins the IGI - here is the basic description of the index:

The International Genealogical Index database contains approximately 600 million names of deceased individuals. An addendum to the International Genealogical Index contains an additional 125 million names. These names have been patron submitted or extracted from thousands of original birth, christening and marriage records.

http://www.familysearch.org/Eng/Home/News/frameset_news.asp?PAGE=Press/fhl_library_facts.asp

[Burrow Digger]

Hi Sallysmum,

does the IGI give the birth dates or just the christening dates? Sometimes people were christenend at about 10 years old. I have an example of this in my tree in the 1600's.

Caz

Check the IGI records again.

If it was "extracted from local records" then it is most likely to be accurate.

If it was "submitted by a church member" then it could be very suspect.

You would need to find at least one - two if you possibly can - other pieces of documentation that supports the record that was "submitted".

[sallysmum]

The obvious answer is to use the index purely as a guide to where to look for possible family members, and not as a main source.

Regards, Bill

I've rechecked the IGI and discovered that the entry for William has been submittted by a church member.   I'd thought in the back of my mind that the info gleaned from here would actually be a guide until I could get to the records office and am very grateful for the info supplied on this thread for me to get a greater understanding of the nature of the LDS site.

In reply to Caz, yes I do take it that there could be more than 1 William!

I do apologise as I feel rather thick at times that I haven't taken in all the relevant info infront of me and digested it properly - I'm still learning!
Sallysmum

[Guy Etchells]

Check the IGI records again.

If it was "extracted from local records" then it is most likely to be accurate.

If it was "submitted by a church member" then it could be very suspect.

You would need to find at least one - two if you possibly can - other pieces of documentation that supports the record that was "submitted".

It should also be noted that Patron submissions are not just submissions from members of the LDS Church but include submissions from the general public, this includes highly experienced family historians.
About 80% of the IGI consists of Patron Submissions don't write them off but as with all transcripts check them for accuracy.
Cheers
Guy

[julianb]

There is a good explanation of the merits and pitfalls of the IGI here:

http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/LIN/igi.html

there's also quite a good thread on RootsChat here:

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,56530.msg226181.html#msg226181

JULIAN

[Cas (stallc)]

I have also found this useful in relation to the IGI, it can help narrow searching by place/parish/dates etc.  But agree with all that has been mentioned re checking entries if you are lucky to find a match.

http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hughwallis/

Cas