Genealogical &
Historical Society Inc.
No. A17295X
Inaugural Member Society of Genealogical Society of Victoria Inc.

Quarterly Newsletter
 Number 64
November 2000
Page 4

Genealogy on the Internet

The Internet is a wonderful tool to assist us in the never ending search to 'know as much as possible about those who have gone before'. Some of you will have your own computers, and are Internet connected.. Those of you who do not, are encouraged to utilise the free Internet Service offered at the Swan Hill Library (or check with your local Library).  Due to high demand, bookings are required. One hour will be allocated to you. There are many Genealogy links online, however it will take time for you to sort out the useful from the ordinary.

Use the Internet in conjunction with the wonderful resources in our Library. The complete list of our Fiche Library is Online at:
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~shghs/list.htm

Scots Origins:  http://www.origins.net/  has a searchable database of Old Parochial/Parish Records of births/baptisms, banns/marriages from 1533-1854 and Civil Registration births and marriages from 1855-1899, deaths 1855-1924.
This is a pay per view site - £6 for 24 hours access, giving 30 pages of downloads. Certified copies are GBP10, ordered ‘securely online’, and usually arrive within two weeks from ordering.  The OPR database to 1854 has the parents’ names recorded, simplifying the search, however do your homework if searching 1855 and onwards, as parents are not recorded
on this index. It is prudent to know in which parish your relatives lived to have any hope of finding the correct person.

Births/Marriages, 1855-1899 and deaths 1855-1924 can be ordered as photocopies (non-certified, and not a legal document, however exactly the same as the £10 certified copy) for GBP2.50, enabling the purchaser to acquire four for the price of one, so to speak.

Counties can be searched or verified at
http://www.origins.net/GRO/Places/places.html   These pages are helpful and simple to follow.

Although this exercise is to familiarise readers with the Internet, there is a less expensive way to obtain births and marriages in Scotland between 1855 and 1875. Use the IGI to find them. This is widely available in LDS Family History Centres. Look at microfilm copies of the early certificates in these centres - there is no need to spend 10 pounds ($AU 28 approx.) for an extract just to get the information, and the same for pre-1855 parish register entries.

The IGI is searchable online at http://www.familysearch.org/  Ancestral File can be accessed from here, but if you wish only to search the IGI Index, click on 'Search ' (See image below)

then click on IGI.This will take you to a page where you will fill in known information in the available fields. Ensure 'Region’  & 'Country' is selected, also ‘County' if known. This will exclude unnecessary results.  Each result will display a reference number. The batch number is an indication of the input source from where the records came. For example, if you see a batch number which starts with C, as in C116851, this means the source of the data was a film of parish register baptisms - christenings, or M for Marriage.

The LDS Batch number reference for Scotland is 11. Say your parish is Barony in Lanarkshire, the number is 622. Put them  together and add a 1. Thus, 11 + 622 + 1 = 116221. That is your Batch Number. For further investigations on the same name and Parish try changing the last number 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9. Most importantly add the capital letters B or C or M before these numbers to make them work. Not all number changes will produce results.This is because there is nothing in the database to report.  If you feel that you have the correct Parish but cannot find anything, look at maps and find those parishes which border the previous search and try again.

If the number starts with M, as in M119845, this means that the data came from a marriage recorded in the parish registers.In this instance, Marriages in Edinburgh Parish, Edinburgh, Midlothian, between 1821-1827. If the number is
entirely numerical, for example, 7625525, then the information came from a patron submission, in 1976, on the 255th day of the year, batch number 25.
 

To determine whether or not a couple have children on the IGI, enter their names in the space for Father and Mother, fill in Region, Country, but not necessarily Parish, as families moved around just like we do today. Click on search. There will be a result if children are recorded on the IGI. Be cautious and check whether or not there is more than one couple with the same given and surnames.

If searching for a particular person type the name in First Name & Last Name fields, don’t forget to select Region, Country and County if known. To find a marriage fill in Spouse first and last name fields, along with the person for whom you are looking. Then use the batch number method previously explained to look for other possible members of the same family.

Genuki: Genealogy UK and Ireland, covers Scotland, England, Wales and all of Ireland  and is an extremely valuable site.

Each link is 'hosted' by an individual, although the page format remains the same throughout.
http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/

As the URL suggests it is a‘big’ site.Take your time browsing the many pages, covering:- Archives and Libraries, Bibliography, Cemeteries, Census, Chronology, Church Records, Civil Registration, Colonization, Description and Travel Directories, Emigration and Immigration, Gazetteers, Genealogy, Handwriting, Heraldry, History, Land and Property, Manors, Maps, Medical, Records,  Merchant Marine,  Military History,  Military Records, Newspapers, Occupations,  Periodicals,  Population, Postal and Shipping Guides, Probate, Societies, Taxation.

For instance, if you have family in London select the URL above, then select England. Then, select London and you will find a wonderful description of London written in 1842. This page deals  with parishes within the City of London. If you are looking for Greater London, then look at the pages for Middlesex, Kent and Surrey, as these are the areas to which the population spread.

From the City of London, click on ‘London Parishes and Boroughs’ where you will find a wonderful list of parishes and an explanation that these parishes only run a few blocks and are given the name of a church in the area, and if the name is duplicated some other identifying information is added, like the name of a street or landmark.

Many of the individual county pages also have Surname Databases . The idea is to submit your surname interests as you would in the SHGHS Inc. Members Directory, giving your email address as contact.
http://www.genuki.org.uk/indexes/SurnamesLists.html
Check these lists frequently, as they change often.

Another wonderful way to look for connections on the Internet is to go to http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/
There is almost 50 million surnames in this database. The idea is to submit your GEDCOM (GEnealogical Data COMmunication) from your Genealogy Software, so that others and of course yourself can look for a connection using
Rootsweb’s powerful search engine, Rootsweb presents the option of submitting as much/ little information you wish to give. If you are unfamiliar with exporting GEDCOM’s from your Genealogy Datbase, consult your User Guide or find
simple instructions at http://worldconnect.genealogy.rootsweb.com/wc2.html#menu2BK

Search all Rootsweb Datbases - http://searches.rootsweb.com/
You are encouraged to put aside some time to browse the main site at  http://www.rootsweb.com/

 

Editor’s Invitation to Members

As your newly installed Newsletter Editor, I  hope that the great job done in past issues by Ian Gribble as Editor and Wes Guse in formatting, can be carried forward seamlessly. In accepting this position, I look forward to the challenge of
producing interesting articles for publication.

I invite Members to submit stories on your own Family Research. It might be that you have recently knocked down that 'brick wall' that we all reach at some time. We would all love to share your success. The following is one of my own I would like to share:

Searching on the LDS Site http://www.familysearch.org for EDGAR, I found Peter EDGAR, married to Margaret SIMPSON. Their children showed up with middle names, Anderson, Hope, Mouat and Simpson. These names were used
throughout my ANDERSON, EDGAR & PAVLICH lines and it seemed logical to me that this family could be mine, but could not ‘claim’ them without proof. I emailed  my contact in Edinburgh for the marriage of Peter and Margaret and within 48 hours received a transcribed reply.  Yes, it was my family! Peter was the brother of my g-great grandmother Beatrice Grieve EDGAR  This led me to search the 1881 LDS UK Census CD. I found Peter and Margaret and family living in Edinburgh and the entry also showed that Margaret was born in Kircudbright. A hunch had paid off,  cost only $AU23, and presented me with another trail to follow!
 

Helen Lane

helenl@malleenet.net.au

SHGHS Inc. Website

Well over 2000 visitors have accessed our Web Site since it was launched on 1st November 1999.The Members’Directory is online and fully linked at: http://home.vicnet.net.au/~shghs/directory.htm
Recent past Issues of Mallee Roots are now archived online.  It is hoped that in time all back issues of Mallee Roots will be available online.

Newsletter Page 1 November 2000

Newsletter Page 2 November 2000

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