Confusing IGI

[Ulrich A Klug]

Some times one does wonder a lot when reading the IGI.

After 18 years of research I finally managed to trace one of my Danish great-great-great-grandmothers in the IGI and I was surprised to see that her exact date of birth was stated, as was her brother's. I had a look at the webpage with all Danish parish registers online (scanned an use is free, excellent service btw), and this particular parish register began in 1814, and she was born in 1774. I studied the first two Danish censuses, from 1787 and 1801, and then went on to the probate records, which said nothing, and then the protocols of deeds. In Denmark deed were read out loud at the local court and written down in full text in protocols of deeds and mortgages. And here I found that my gr-gr-gr-grandmother had remounced all claims in the estate of her parents as she had received a be-cube and some linnen. To prove that she was the correct heir both her and her brother's birth certificates had been read at court and thus were entered in the protocol.

So the IGI can be surprising in more than one way.

My major problem with this family was that my gr-gr-gr-grandmother and her husband lived in one county but seemed to come from another. By searing for a Anne Kirstine Frederiksdatter with a mother called either Helene, Else or Hedevig I found her in seconds.

Ulrich

[susan williams]

That is certainly fascinating to read about your research and just goes to show that some records are available online that with a bit of searching can prove successful.  My mother's family are Dutch and they too have some excellent sites re births marriages and deaths, which has certainly made the search a lot easier, they too are free like the site you mentioned and  the freebmd   here in the UK which is also free.  I do not however speak Dutch which can be a bit of a disavantage when using these sites. However earlier Parish records are becoming available online for Lancashire being transcribed by volunteers for the Lancashire Parish Clerks Project. Yes , the years do seem to fly by when doing family history research - I started 12 years ago without a computer.. suppose I would call them the good old days . Computers like the IGI can be confusing
Susan

[andrewalston]

Even the "extracted" items in the IGI can have problems. Some baptism registers, for no apparent reason, have only female children listed.

Also, some "marriage" registers have dates from the Banns. The marriage may have taken place much later, elsewhere, or not at all, and such a register does not mention marriages by Licence,

As mentioned before, use the IGI as a hint at what to look for in the proper registers.

Some "proper" registers have problems too - the Bishops' Transcripts rely on the clergyman not getting things wrong. Some clergymen kept two books, attempting to write the same in both, and some spent a week copying things for the Bishop. Errors creep in whichever method is used.

In my direct paternal line, the "proper" baptism register turns out to be a copy from some genuine original register, and has a mistake in the name of my gggg gf. The BTs have his name correct, along with hs birthplace, a whole column omitted from the "proper" register.

[susan williams]

Perhaps the only true record of  family births and maybe marriages would be  an old Family Bible. My grandfathers family originated in Halesowen and I was lucky enough to make contact with another descendant of the family. I could hardly believe it when he said he had the old family bible with all the names of the children and their dates of birth it had been passed down in his family for " generations " - it also included one of the marriages that of his gt gt gt grandmother who had married a  gentleman called " Smith " listing all of their children also.  He very kindly sent me a photocopy which was so beautifully written.  Maybe the family Bible should be re-instated and even beginning now people could write down the information from all the certificates that they have  within the family for future generations , or maybe all of the family history researches will be able to " leave " near perfect family trees for all to see. I decided to put all of my research into book form collecting as many old pictures along the way as possible, it was certainly not the way I had thought of spending " early retirement " It has been very intersting though to read all the replies re; the IGI and other records and that there is no real certainty with the old records, but  now and again pieces of information do come to light -  that make such a difference to the  family history jigsaw puzzle. Thank you all very much for taking the time to answer this  - a fresh look at a problem  can sometimes make all the difference. 
Susan

[Redroger]

By definition I believe there can never be such a thing as a 100% accurate record, specially in Parish Registers. The clergyman  writes down what he hears, or possibly what he thinks he should have heard, which may or may not be correct. Then the document is transcribed or copied, the more times it is copied is yet another opportunity for an error to occur. I had serious difficulty with my wife's great grandfather. All of the family were baptised in a small village near Doncaster. His birth occurred according to the census (another source of possible error) in 1800. His older and yournger siblings all appeared in the Baptismal register, yet he was missing. There was a note in the front cover of the transcription book in Doncaster reference library to the effect that the clergyman for the parish at that time wrote the details of ceremonies performed down on a scrap of paper stuck it in his cassock, and then copied it into the register later if he remembered. I have seen thios practise referred top in other parishes in other areas too. The transcriptions at the London Guildhall have a warning about the accuracy or rather lack of it of the IGI in the cover of the record transcriptions. Having said all that, the IGI is a most useful tool, but everything should be confirmed with the original record if at all possible.

[susan williams]

Many thanks for your reply and all of the information re the reliability of early records.  It was only when I noticed that my copies of the Parish Records did not match with the IGI - when we finally joined the computer age -  that I ever really gave much thought to the records on the IGI . Many new researchers seem to put such faith in everything that the computer tells them re family records when researching a family history - the IGI being a site well known to everyone .   Having said that the computer has enabled my research to travel all over the world and contact many descendants that I would never have had the opportunity of knowing.  Contact with  Cemeteries in Australia , America and Canada is also a part of the research that would not have been possible without the computer and its records. So I do hope that all the information written here will be of some help to all new researchers when looking at the IGI
Susan

[aelf]

Perhaps the only true record of  family births and maybe marriages would be  an old Family Bible.

My wife has a Bible in which her great-grndmother has entered the date of her father's death - incorrectly.  Unless he was buried a year before his death...

[susan williams]

Just goes to show that no records are perfect even the Family Bible can have an off day - bit like the IGI -  I found an entry that stated that one of my relatives was buried before he was born!!!!

[Nick29]

Where family bibles really come into their own is with infant deaths.   They are very hard to find from records, but fairly easy to confirm, once you know about them.  My g. grandmother lost her first two children (twin boys), who would have remained in obscurity, had they not been written into her family bible.