[Irish and other British Isles folk traveled back and forth a great deal. For that reason we include here a smattering of helps to get one started tracing in England. There is no atttempt to be complete... this is just a starting spot. This page is really for our own use, and we tuck things that we find helpful or intriguing into it! WORLD GenWeb and GENUKI have the definitive sites, and you'll find links for them below]   :)

      

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General Register Office (England & Wales)
Postal Enquiries
----------------
General Register Office,
P.O. Box 2,
Southport,
Merseyside PR8 2JD
England.
Tel: (0151) 471 4816
Fax: (01704) 55 00 13


In Person
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The Family Records Centre,
1 Myddelton Street,
London EC1R 1UW
England
Tel: (0181) 392 5300
Fax: (0181) 392 5307


Certificates are also available in Braille.

A part of the Office for National Statistics, the GRO is responsible for the recording of births, marriages, and deaths in the England & Wales since 1837. It is to the GRO one applies to obtain certified copies of birth, marriage, and death certificates.
Note that Scotland has its own GRO(S)

The Office for National Statistics - ONS

The ONS is responsible for the conduct of the English and Welsh censuses and, through it's GRO branch, for the registration of all births, marriages, and deaths since 1837.

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Public Record Office,
Ruskin Avenue,
Kew, Richmond,
Surrey TW9 4DU
London,
England
Tel: (0181) 876 3444
Fax: (0181) 392 5307
Email: enquiry@pro.gov.uk
The PRO is the national archive of England, Wales and the United Kingdom. The web pages
include links for inquiries about visiting the PRO, its records, and information for genealogists.

If you actually plan to travel to PRO to research you will spend a lot of time figuring out what they have and how to access it - same as PRONI (Public Records Office of Northern Ireland). Studying these resources online and/or gleaning information prior to a trip there will facilitate your valuable research time."

GENUKI's Help with the PRO

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The India office records at the British Library
96 Euston Rd, London NW1
phone: +44 171 412 7873
e-mail oioc-enquiries@bl.uk
They also have the marriage records for India.

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The Irish Genealogical Research Society - London
has a library housed in the basement of the Irish Club,
82 Eaton Square, London SW1W 9AJ,
which is open to visitors on Saturday afternoons from 2pm to 6pm,
for a fee of £5 per visitor per afternoon,
which contributes towards an annual membership of £16 (it may have gone up).

You can find a complete listing of all the Chapman Codes for the British Isles on the GENUKI site.

British Isles Family HistorySociety in America A WEALTH of information !!


To find which Registration District a town is located in, click on
the following site, scroll down to the correct county. There you'll
find the primary cities, sub-districts, GRO Volumes, and small towns.

Counties and changes for genealogists is a big help!


Maps of Counties in England

British Isles Family History Society

• British Military Records
  
  
• United Kingdom (UK) Manuscript Archives
  
  

  BMD - Births, Marriages, & Deaths: The index of civil registration for the United Kingdom from 1837 to the present day. This index was formerly called the St. Catherine's House index due to its former location in London. The index is available on microfiche from your local Family History Center, at many major libraries in the UK, and at the Family Records Centre in London among other locations. The index is used to locate index information on birth, marriage, and death registration certificates which can then be ordered directly from the UK's Office for National Statistics.

• Ordering Birth Registration Certificates from England & Wales
  
  
• FreeBMD means free birth, marriage, and death records and refers to making available on the Web transcriptions of the indexes to such records for England and Wales that are at least 100 years old. Added to continually, the goal is to make all material available for free on the Net. Take a look, and keep rechecking it!
  
  
  
  
• SoG - Society of Genealogists:

  This is the premier society for the study of genealogy and family history in the United Kingdom. Their library in London is excellent, the have a terrific online shopping bookshop, and their publications are often must-haves for serious research.

  Society of Genealogists
  

  • Goswell Road
    
  • London EC1M 7BA
    
  • Tel 0171 251 8799

  
  
  

  
  
  
• Cyndi's List of Genealogy Sites on the Internet: General UK Sites
  
  
• Genealogy Resources on the Internet: UK Resources
  
  
• There were many Irishmen and women in London in 1749. 9300 voters went to the polls in the City of Westminster in London in 1749. Their names and addresses are listed by Parish, online from The Southern Cross Library. Plus many more wonderful files!
  
  List Of Executions at Englands Newgate Prison
  
  Victorian London Public Institutions: Workhouses, Hospitals, Lunatic Asylums, Prisons, Barracks, Orphan Asylums,
  Convents, and other Principal Charitable Institutions. Part of the GenDocs information filled site.
  
  
  

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  The Royal Mail UK now has a great site for looking up names and address.
  British Telecom
  www.lookupuk.com An interesting site with message boards
  
  
• The London Gazette is a twice-weekly publication (which first appeared in 1665) of official English, later British and now UK government announcements, service appointments, decorations, honours and awards and so on. It was published more frequently in wartime. You will be able to search it at the PRO, Kew and the Newspaper Library at Colindale. London. Major Libraries may have it available on microfilm.
  
  
• There are lots of records for England pre-1600, far more than for Scotland, and many have been put into print by learned societies in most of the English counties, but more generally the Camden Society, Selden Society, Harleian Society, the publications by the Historical MSS Commission, and there are the government publications - Privy Council registers, etc.
  Ask the History Department of your nearest University, or the University Library for a list of sources for that period. They tend to be quite helpful if you ask nicely.

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Check The IIGS BDM Exchange or the UK BDM Exchange and then go on to the
Family Records Centre at 1 Myddelton St London EC1R 1UW UK
General Enquiries:
Tel: 0181 392 5300
Fax: 0181 392 5307
Minicom: 0181 392 5308
Certificate Enquiries: 0171 233 9233
(for international phone calls, remove the leading '0' and replace with your international dialling prefix plus '44')

The Family Records Centre provides a new home for the research facilities previously provided at St Catherine's House and the Census Reading Rooms in Chancery Lane London. The Centre provides a family history service to visitors, advising them on how to use our wealth of genealogical records. They can also advise on matters relative to the registration of births, adoption, marriages and deaths. The Family Records Centre (FRC) is run jointly by the General Register Office (GRO) and the Public Record Office (PRO). The FRC brings together some of the most important sources for family history. The material held at the FRC includes indexes of births marriages and deaths in England and Wales since 1837; indexes of legal adoptions in England and Wales since 1927; and the PRO's most widely consulted documents - population census returns for England and Wales from 1841 to 1891.

THE FAMILY RECORDS CENTRE HOLDS THE FOLLOWING RECORDS:
Indexes of births, marriages & deaths in England & Wales since 1837
Indexes of legal adoptions in England & Wales since 1927
Indexes of births, marriages & deaths of some British citizens abroad
since the late 18th century, including the deaths in the two World wars.
(Certificates can be purchased of any entry in the above indexes)
Microform copies of Census of Population returns (1841-1891)
Microfilms of Estate Duty Office death duty registers from 1796-1858, with indexes from 1796-1903
Microfilms of registered copies of wills and administrations up to 1858 from the Prerogative Court of Canterbury
Non-parochial registers from 1567-1858
Miscellaneous foreign returns of births, deaths & marriages from 1627-1960

ORDERING CERTIFICATES BY POST:
You can place an order by post, fax or telephone.
Normal fee within the UK is 6 pounds sterling, with delivery in four working days.
Ring 0151 471 4800 for further information and details of fees

PAID SEARCH SERVICE:
Paid research can be undertaken for the census and wills holding at the Centre - Please ring 0181 392 5300 for further details

OPENING TIMES
Mon, Wed, Fri 9am to 5pm
Tues 10am to 7pm
Thurs 9am to 7pm
Sat 9.30am to 5pm



Some general Comments that apply to censuses for 1841 - 1891 unless otherwise stated.

• The census books we see were NOT carried by the enumerators. Instead the enumerator copied his sheets into the book later. Not all adhered to the route they took, and may have copied entires in many different ways. Apparent neighbours were not always what they seem.
  
  
• Many people gave as their place of birth their earliest remembered place of residence.
• Terms such as Brother and Brother-in-Law were used interchangeably and somewhat unreliably.
• A boarder shares the dinner table with the family, a lodger has separate accomodations.
• Many night-workers were missed on all the censuses, although theoretically included from 1851 on.
• The occupation of 'dressmaker' was commonly given by prostitutes.
• The terms lunatic, imbecile and idiot were used in a pretty confused and confusing manner, but there was, in theory a definition:
  Lunatic: A mentally ill person with periods of lucidity.
  • Imbecile: "Persons who have fallen in later life into a state of chronic dementia"
  • Idiot: "..those who suffer from congenital mental deficiency."
• The term annuitant could describe someone on an annual allowance as well as someone receiving annual income from an investment. Often however, it was used also used for institutionalized pensioners.
  
  
• In 1841 the term Ag. Lab was used to describe "all farming servants and labourers in husbandry".
• From 1851 - 1851 enumerators were given explicit instructions to exclude women's domestic work in the family from the "Occupation" column.
• From 1861 onwards a child was described as a scholar if he/she was over 5 and receiving daily schooling *OR* regular tuition at home. There was no definition of the latter.
• In 1871 the census officials in London broke the confidentiality pledge and divulged the names of all children 3-13 and their parents (with addresses) to the London School Board to help enforce compulsory education.
  
  
• The following are *some* of the missing returns:
  1841: Kensington, Paddington, Golden lane and Whitecross
  1851: Salford and parts of Manchester badly water-damaged. Also all ships' returns.
  1861: Belgravia and Woolwich Arsenal.

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Newport/Pledger Index to Registration Districts UK from 1837

This is a little booklet which lists all the Registrations Districts of England and Wales that have been used since civil registration began in 1837 and their successor districts as and when changes have occurred since that date.

The list also includes the date related Volume Numbers under which the registrations pertaining to a particular district are held at the General Register Office in London and hence on the microfiche available in Libraries and repositories world-wide.

The booklet also contains a second listing listing of the Districts sorted alphabetically by County and a list of the County abbreviations used. It does NOT, repeat NOT, contain a list of current Registration Offices or their addresses.

The booklet is approximately 100 pages A5 size and neatly bound and costs £5.50 which includes postage. Orders and requests for more information should be sent direct to
P.Pledger. 2 Warner Road, Selsey.
West Sussex. UK. PO 20 9 AL or
perhaps by e-mail to Selsey Regeneration Ltd
selseyrg@arunet.co.uk

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"What is the Domesday book?" It is a detailed census taken at behest of William the Conqueror who invaded England from Normandy (France) in the year 1066. It may prove useful to anyone who can trace family back to medieval times as it lists land and other property held by families in each county. However there is not much info on the northern regions (Scotland) or Wales and women are rarely recorded.

It may not be ALL that useful, as it came out about 150 years before the use of surnames became a growing practice. So don't start there! ;)

Anyone wishing to obtain translated copies of Domesday Book may do so by contacting the following publisher: Phillimore & Co. Ltd., Shopwyke Hall, Chichester, West Sussex, PO20 6BQ, England You can purchase each county separately or the whole set.

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The Hampshire page, http://www.hantsgensoc.demon.co.uk/, has indexes for the 1891 and 1851 census for Hampshire.

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The good news is that the 1891 UK census is readily available. The bad news is that it is not indexed. :(
Except for Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire, where the local FHS *has* produced an index :-)
And for sale!

and the 1901 is online!

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• Britannia Site. Take the Magical History Tour! and the Earth Mysteries! Excellent!
  
• Old English Studies All kinds of goodies, even the Lord's Prayer in Old English! <
  
  
  
• Was your ancestor a doctor?
  
  
• U of Newfoundland, Maritime History Archive Check them out, there's more than sailing stuff here!
  
  English Parish Records Collection, 1500-1830 [microfilm] 97 reels. The English parish records collection consists of microfilm copies of records of many parishes in the South West of England, particularly the counties of Devon, Dorset, Somerset and Hampshire. The collection focuses on those areas which supplied crews for the Newfoundland fishery, and the places of origin of Newfoundland settlers. Devon parishes predominate. The collection is indexed by parish.

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Rulers of England and Great Britain

SAXONS
Egbert	828-839
Ethelred I	866-871
Edmund II Ironside	1016-1016
DANES
Canute	1016-1035
Hardecanute	1040-1042
SAXONS
Edward the Confessor	1042-1066
Harold II	1066-1066
NORMANS
William I the Conqueror	1066-1087

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MONARCHS OF ENGLAND AND WHEN THEY REIGNED

REIGN	NAME
828 - 839	Egbert
839 - 855	Aethelwulf
855 - 860	Aethelbald
860 - 866	Aethelbert
866 - 871	Aethelred
871 - 899	Alfred the Great
899 - 925	Edward the Elder
925 - 939	Athelstan
939 - 946	Eadmund I, the Magnificent
946 - 955	Eadred
955 - 959	Eadwig, the Fair
959 - 975	Edgar, the Peaceful
975 - 978	Edward, the Martyr
978 - 1013	Aethelred II, the Redeless (Unready)
1013 - 1014	Swegn of Denmark, Forkbeard
1014 - 1016	Aethelred II again
AprNov 1016	Eadmund II, Ironside
1016 - 1035	Canute the Dane
1035 - 1040	Harold I, Harefoot
1040 - 1042	Harthacanute
1042 - 1066	Eadward, the Confessor
1066	Harold II
1066 - 1087	William I, the Conqueror, bastard
1087 - 1100	William II, Rufus
1100 - 1135	Henry I, Beauclerc
1135 - 1154	Stephen
AprNov 1141	Matilda the Empress
1154 - 1189	Henry II, Plantagenet, Curtmantle
1189 - 1199	Richard, Coeur de Lion
1199 - 1216	John, Lackland, Softsword, Dollheart
1216 - 1272	Henry III
1272 - 1307	Edward I, Longshanks
1307 - 1327	Edward II, of Caernarvon
1327 - 1377	Edward III
1377 - 1399	Richard II
1399 - 1413	Henry IV, of Bolingbroke
1413 - 1422	Henry V
1422 - 1461	Henry VI
1461 - 1470	Edward IV
1470 - 1471	Henry VI again
1471 - 1483	Edward IV again
AprJun 1483	Edward V
1483 - 1485	Richard III
1485 - 1509	Henry VII
1509 - 1547	Henry VIII
1547 - 1553	Edward VI, the Boy King
1553 - 1558	Mary, Bloody Mary
1558 - 1603	Elizabeth I
1603 - 1625	James I
1625 - 1649	Charles I
1649 - 1659	The Interegnum (Oliver Cromwell etc.)
1660 - 1685	Charles II
1685 - 1688	James II
1689 - 1694	William III & Mary II
1694 - 1702	William III (after death of Mary)
1702 - 1714	Anne
1714 - 1727	George I
1727 - 1760	George II
1760 - 1820	George III
1811 - 1820	The Regency of Geo. IV
1820 - 1830	George IV
1830 - 1837	William IV
1837 - 1901	Victoria
1901 - 1910	Edward VII
1910 - 1936	George V
1936 -	Edward VIII
1936 - 1952	George VI
1952 -	Elizabeth II

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KINGS & QUEENS OF ENGLAND, a rhyme for school children

Willy, Willy, Harry, Stee,
Harry, Dick, John, Harry Three,
One, Two, Three Neds, Richard Two
Harry Four, Five, Six, then who?
Edward Four, Five, Dick the Bad,
Harrys Twain and Ned the Lad,
Mary, Bessie, James the Vain,
Charlie, Charlie, James again,
William and Mary, Anna Gloria,
Four Georges, William and Victoria.
Edward Seven, then George Five,
But Edward Eight preferred his wife.
George the Sixth did then arrive
And Lizzie Two is still alive.

ALTERNATIVELY - - -

First William the Norman; then William his son;
Henry, Stephen and Henry, then Richard and John;
Next Henry the Third, Edwards One, Two and Three;
And again, after Richard, three Henries we see;
Two Edwards, third Richard; if rightly I guess,
Two Henries; Sixth Edward; Queen Mary; Queen Bess;
The Jamie, the Scotsman, then Charles who they slew;
Yet received after Cromwell, another Charles too.
Next James the Second ascended the throne;
Then William and Mary together came on
Till Anne, Georges four and Fourth William all past,
God sent Queen Victoria, may she long be the last!
But 60 years later, she too want to Heaven
And next on the throne was her son Edward Seven;
George the Fifth, Edward Eighth (abdication not reckoned);
And at last George the Sixth and Elizabeth Second.

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