I have been doing family history for about 10 years, but most of my research has been for ancestors in Scotland or here in Australia where I live. I have mostly used Ancestry and FindMyPast plus Family Search. In Australia, I can also visit local records offices when I have needed to, but that isn't so easy for UK records!
Scotland has been good too, because Scotland's People only charges about $A2.50 for online records, and so I can afford to be a little speculative and buy a few certificates that prove to be dead ends.
But now I am researching ancestors in England (specifically Herefordshire, adjacent counties and Birmingham city), and I have to rely on online records. After 1841, the census information gives a very good indication of births, occupations, places and dates, which allows BMD records to be interpreted. But before 1841, there is no census information, and the BMD information available from Ancestry and FindMyPast typically is very sparse. Birth records often don't state parents, marriage records often don't state spouses, etc. At something like $A30 for certificates (if I have done my maths correctly), I can't afford to buy anything "on spec". And so I often have a number of possible births, parents, spouses, etc, to choose from.
But I am new to English records, so perhaps I am missing something obvious. What do more experienced people here do to overcome the limited information available from FindMyPast and Ancestry? I'd appreciate any tips.
Thanks.
You are hitting a road block which has always been there but is becoming a larger obstacle than in the past due to “new researchers” not developing research methods, including manual browsing of records, but relying on the database search engines.
Having said that you sound as if you have developed some skills by visiting your local records offices in Australia and manually searching their records.
Research prior to 1837 is really a continuation of the same methods that should have been used for records post 1837.
By that I mean using as many records as possible to build a picture of your target family rather than just the commonly available BMD & Census records.
There are many types of records that overlap the 1837 sticking point.
For instance post 1837 the researcher will be used to searching Parish Registers for Births, Baptisms Marriages, Deaths and Burials. Births & Burials I hear the murmur: Yes, many parish registers record (as legally required) births & burials, but it can be hit or miss, but researchers should develop the skill of searching these records for post 1837 research as it will help them when it comes to pre 1837 research.
In a similar way there are other records that bridge the two periods, Wills & Probate records, Poor Law records, Occupational records I.E. Apprenticeship & freemen records, trade, guild/livery records. Court Records (these are not just criminal records but cover a wide range of interaction between the individual and state) on many different levels.
Manorial records, Land Records, Military Records, Newspapers, Visitations, Inquisitions Post Mortem etc., etc.
There are hundreds of types of records that give information to the family historian, it is up to us the researchers to find, evaluate and corroborate the information using other records relevant to the family.
As researchers rely more and more on online records these research skills are not being developed as they used to be in the past.
Cheers
Guy