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Tracing English Immigrants From Abroad: Difference between revisions
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Return to the [[London]] page. | Return to the [[London]] page. | ||
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=== Introduction === | === Introduction === | ||
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Here’s a quick-list of home record sources:: | Here’s a quick-list of home record sources:: | ||
? Personal diaries and journals | |||
? Old letters: old addresses may provide an all-important locality | |||
? Handwritten family histories, biographies, autobiographies in private possession within the family or sometimes found in library/archives | |||
? Funeral home records: may give excellent information | |||
? Family Bibles: sometimes give specific localities of vital events | |||
? Obituaries: often contain locality-specific residence or place of birth | |||
? Certificate copies of vital records of marriage, death & births: often give parents names and specific place of residence and/or of birth and more | |||
? Military papers, i.e. discharge, pension, enlistment, court martial, or awards of merit, valor: usually provide a place of birth and sometimes parents names | |||
? Baptismal records, membership records, letters of recommendations | |||
? Naturalization papers: from three to as many as five different papers; one or more may indicate specific locale within an England city | |||
? Trace as many living descendants as you can in telephone directories (particularly ones with uncommon surnames); also in the U.S. try www.zabasearch.com; then— | |||
? Interview or correspond with—the more elderly members of extended family members and distant relatives which can prove very effective in obtaining clarifying information on specific locales for in-common ancestry and for obtaining assistance in collaborative research efforts | |||
Once you have gleaned as much information as possible from home sources, but still lack a specific birth place or residence then proceed to Step 2. If you succeeded in obtaining the specific township or parish in which your immigrant ancestor was born or resided before emigrating, then proceed to search in records of the specific England locale mentioned in Step 4. | Once you have gleaned as much information as possible from home sources, but still lack a specific birth place or residence then proceed to Step 2. If you succeeded in obtaining the specific township or parish in which your immigrant ancestor was born or resided before emigrating, then proceed to search in records of the specific England locale mentioned in Step 4. | ||
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Example of an Uncommon Surname - Example 1: Let’s say that Florence Beatrice Bradsell Dunn, came to the United States in the year 1946 but all that’s known is that she was born in “London" but it’s not known precisely where in London. Let’s also suppose you’ve just searched through your family records, and those of extended family members but your searches provide no solution to the precise place of birth. As you search your list of compiled sources, you discover in the www.FamilySearch.org website an entry from one of the databases called Ancestral File, possible clues suggesting her birth could have occurred at Hampstead in the year 1884. With an open mind and using this tidbit of birth data, you directly focus your research now in England’s civil registration indexes and certificates for a possible birth for Florence in the years roughly 1875 to 1895. With such an uncommon surname, you find only one likely birth registered—in the whole of England in the 4th Quarter of 1884 and order her birth certificate. The certificate is hers and it reveals and confirms that Hampstead was in fact her place of birth. The names of parents match that which was already known among living descendants and that which appeared in the compiled source. Thus, this single birthplace clue from compiled sources in the country of settlement (i.e. a source within www.familysearch.org), led your search directly to not only a “London” birth entry, but it helped you verify and confirm her precise birthplace in primary records, and narrowed your search from the whole of “London” with its 28-plus registration districts which comprise Greater London—and quickly helped you locate her precise birth place, birth date and parentage. | Example of an Uncommon Surname - Example 1: Let’s say that Florence Beatrice Bradsell Dunn, came to the United States in the year 1946 but all that’s known is that she was born in “London" but it’s not known precisely where in London. Let’s also suppose you’ve just searched through your family records, and those of extended family members but your searches provide no solution to the precise place of birth. As you search your list of compiled sources, you discover in the www.FamilySearch.org website an entry from one of the databases called Ancestral File, possible clues suggesting her birth could have occurred at Hampstead in the year 1884. With an open mind and using this tidbit of birth data, you directly focus your research now in England’s civil registration indexes and certificates for a possible birth for Florence in the years roughly 1875 to 1895. With such an uncommon surname, you find only one likely birth registered—in the whole of England in the 4th Quarter of 1884 and order her birth certificate. The certificate is hers and it reveals and confirms that Hampstead was in fact her place of birth. The names of parents match that which was already known among living descendants and that which appeared in the compiled source. Thus, this single birthplace clue from compiled sources in the country of settlement (i.e. a source within www.familysearch.org), led your search directly to not only a “London” birth entry, but it helped you verify and confirm her precise birthplace in primary records, and narrowed your search from the whole of “London” with its 28-plus registration districts which comprise Greater London—and quickly helped you locate her precise birth place, birth date and parentage. | ||
This is very possible to do when you have the benefit of researching an ancestor with an unusual or uncommon surname; it can save you the time necessary to search in any or all sources in any country-- indexed records or not! | This is very possible to do when you have the benefit of researching an ancestor with an unusual or uncommon surname; it can save you the time necessary to search in any or all sources in any country-- indexed records or not! | ||
==== Step 3: Search Indexes: Key to Finding Immigrants' Sspecific Place of Birth ==== | ==== Step 3: Search Indexes: Key to Finding Immigrants' Sspecific Place of Birth ==== | ||
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Regardless of your research experience in primary and original record sources, test your knowledge and see if you’ve done your ‘due diligence’ in the past by looking at the following ‘Where to Find’ list for home, compiled, and/or secondary sources for information on your families. You will be pleasantly surprised. In today’s world, making an orderly approach to tracking all available sources at your perusal is a very difficult task! The following is a standard list of family, home and compiled sources: | Regardless of your research experience in primary and original record sources, test your knowledge and see if you’ve done your ‘due diligence’ in the past by looking at the following ‘Where to Find’ list for home, compiled, and/or secondary sources for information on your families. You will be pleasantly surprised. In today’s world, making an orderly approach to tracking all available sources at your perusal is a very difficult task! The following is a standard list of family, home and compiled sources: | ||
? Family & Home Sources | |||
o Pictures | o Pictures | ||
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o Family data deposited or published | o Family data deposited or published | ||
? Compiled Sources | |||
o Family Histories | o Family Histories | ||
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1. Online family genealogy sites, pedigrees, history sites: | 1. Online family genealogy sites, pedigrees, history sites: | ||
? [http://books.google.com http://books.google.com] - thousands of scanned books now online | |||
? [http://www.worldcat.org http://www.worldcat.org] - thousands of libraries and their catalogs online via this site | |||
? [http://www.newberry.org http://www.newberry.org] – Chicago’s massive library collection | |||
? [http://www.familysearch.org www.familysearch.org] (follow prompt to catalog; do a “Surname” search) | |||
? [http://www.fhlfavorites.info www.fhlfavorites.info] – see “England/General/Book search” or England/General/Genealogy” | |||
? [http://www.familyhistoryarchives.byu.edu www.familyhistoryarchives.byu.edu] - published family Histories online | |||
? [http://www.americanancestors.org/ http://www.americanancestors.org/] - New Eng. Hist. & Gen. Soc. | |||
? [http://www.acpl.lib.in.us/eresources.html http://www.acpl.lib.in.us/eresources.html] - Allen co., Indiana Pub. Lib. | |||
? Houston TX Public Library | |||
2. Repositories and libraries with published family genealogies, biographies and other compiled source databases; here are their online website addresses: | 2. Repositories and libraries with published family genealogies, biographies and other compiled source databases; here are their online website addresses: | ||
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b. Research libraries, i.e. Genealogical Research Library, Toronto, Dallas Public Library or Allen County IN – have important genealogical collections | b. Research libraries, i.e. Genealogical Research Library, Toronto, Dallas Public Library or Allen County IN – have important genealogical collections | ||
c. Society archives and libraries, i.e.www. | c. Society archives and libraries, i.e.www.americanancestors.org/ and the D.A.R. – have significant records including, biographies, family Bibles, and much more | ||
d. University and college archives - i.e. University of York; BYU - have extensive collections | d. University and college archives - i.e. University of York; BYU - have extensive collections | ||
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f. College of Arms (London), Lord Lyons (Scotland) | f. College of Arms (London), Lord Lyons (Scotland) | ||
g. Large (and frequently small) local public libraries have local genealogical collections | g. Large (and frequently small) local public libraries have local genealogical collections | ||
[[Category:London]] | [[Category:London]] [[Category:Middlesex]] | ||
[[Category:Middlesex]] | |||