How to find more when working from a distance.

[Jardiner]

Currently I reply upon free and subscription sites to research my family and I must say that the success rate to date has been very good. There are however a lot of loose ends to which I can't get answers to and therefore cannot confirm if they really are related. This fact is exacerbated when looking for a particular name one finds many similar christian names, born around the same time and in the same location and could be verified if only 2 names of parents were given. but alas only the fathers name is given and they end up being the same.
1. The King family living in Whitehaven, or surrounding area. I've managed to locate a Michael King. Born Circa 1713 and married Ann Alkin in 1752 at Holy Trinity in Whitehaven.The birth date was taken from other documents which did not confirm actual day and month. I cannot find birth records for him which stops me from finding out his parents and where he was born.
2. He had a son  Robert (26/12/1760).  He married a N Fisher at Holy Trinity W'Haven in 1786. Now I cannot locate any children for them and indeed when it comes to his death there are now 2 Roberts. One dies in 1841 and another dies in 1847. The latter is RF King and indeed other documents indicate that this could be him. How can I confirm who is the right guy?

Any help would be appreciated.

Regards

MEK

[*Sandra*]

Is there a will for the one that died in 1847 which might throw further light on things for you 

Sandra

[Jardiner]

Hi Sandra. Alas I'm unable to find any.

MEK

[iluleah]

I cannot find birth records for him which stops me from finding out his parents and where he was born.

You will not find a birth record regardless of where in the world you are researching from as civil registration didn't start until 1837. So you are looking for a baptism.

The reality is that research is never easy and regardless of if you are in the same area or not you need to research the real records or online images of the real records and when you can't find what is required to progress that is when your research stops, until/of you do find proof and can continue.
 
What I do is research what records are in that area , at that time in history, so I know what to look for... so what churches are there, when were they built, when do PRs start and where are they, are any transcribed/indexed and if so check them, then using that as a clue see if any are online and scanned or contact the records office/local FHS/ local to the area rootschatter and see if I can get an image/photo of the record.

From Genuki:
"Holy Trinity in Whitehaven  are available at the Whitehaven office of the Cumbria Archive Service: Church of England (CRO Reference: PR84) Bap start 1715 Marriages and Burials 1716 and BTs 1717.
Holy Trinity fell under the authority of the diocese of Preston and wills prior to 1858 were proved in the consistory court there. Records from 1548 to 1858 include original wills, letters of administration and inventories, although there are significant gaps in the years before 1661. These are deposited with the CRO at Whitehaven."

I went last to a local church to see the parish book for someone looking from Australia, while there I took photos of the church and all and any graves with that surname on it.

[Gan Yam]

Sometimes on the original record it may contain a tiny snippet of extra information not available on transcribed records, eg an address on a baptism/birthdate on a baptism, or witnesses on a marriage record, so can give you a small lead. 
The church records for Whitehaven are also available in Carlisle Archives.  I usually go once or twice a month so could look up the church records you have mentioned for any other information?
Its possible that there may be a church burial record for both the 1841 and 1847 death which may contain information?

I would also research brothers and sisters of the person you are interested in as this may also led to further information about the person you are really interested in.  I did further research into my 2xgt grandmothers sister in law, which led me to a court case which in turn led me to the name of my 5xgt grandmother!!

[Jardiner]

Thanks for the replies. I remember visiting Whitehaven several years ago and spent a couple of days at the records office and it was from there that I uncovered a lot of info. I visited the graveyard with the coordinated given and alas the grave area was no longer there but seemed to be part of a landscaped area within the site. I realise that before a certain date one is relying on baptismal records but when you have say 2 Williams, baptised in the same year, at the same location within the same quarter and with the father having the same name and no mother's name listed then how does one prove who is who? Bearing in mind that I've discovered there were several King families in Whitehaven at the same time but not related.

Regards
MEK

[cristeen]

http://www.cumbria.gov.uk/archives/Online_catalogues/genindexes/indexes.asp
The above link has some excel databases from various Cumbrian registers which might be worth a look. These sometimes contain more information than 'original' transcriptions. As an example I found one of mine buried at Maryport, with his place of death very specifically 'At sea off Maryport while fishing'

[cristeen]

Robert King buried 18th May 1841 aged 17 years
Robert Francis King buried 22 March 1847 aged 44 years
both Holy Trinity Whitehaven

[iluleah]

when you have say 2 Williams, baptised in the same year, at the same location within the same quarter and with the father having the same name and no mother's name listed then how does one prove who is who?

Yes that is hard and people seemed to use the same given names. My x? grandfather lived in a tiny village and there were 4 boys named the same given/surname, three of which had fathers called John  and the families were unrelated. I researched each of them and sideways until I found other information that proved the one I was looking for, lots of extra work researching someone elses ancestry but it paid off in the end.

The funny thing is, or rather sad is that each and every online tree I see of this part of my family is wrong, they have the one child who died aged 7yrs old married off and having children and of course him and everything before him is not the correct family