family tree

[tezestwing]

Hi I am trying to improve our tree what documents and certificates give out the best information at the library,and who do you contact to obtain any certificates.
Thanks for any advice Tez

[banned-dot]

you can't get certificates from any library, you get certificates of birth death and marriage registrations from your local register office, there is a varied amount of information on early certificates issued in England and Wales from July 1837. Scottish certifcates always ghive more information as more information was required at registration.
In your local library you would be able to look at the census returns from 1841 - 1901 for your Town and distrcts, some libararies are able to make copies for you.
In your County Record Office you will find the Calendar of Grants from January 1858 which list alphabetically by surname the indexes for any will or letters of admin granted in this country. The volumes are very large and heavy but very worthwhile.
Youe local library will have OS maps of 6" to the mile which will help identify property and residences and these can be tied in to the Street, Trade or Town directories that were publised at local and national level throughout the 19th and 20th century .
There are Tithe maps at your County Record Office that will show detailed maps of lease and freehold propery with a schedule of people with it that owned leased or paid the tithe.
From 1784 to about 1824 you can look at the LaND tax assessments for your local area which were collected by the local administrations.
Wills and admons up to 1858 were registered with the Ecclesiasrical authorities which worked on a system of churhc hierachy, the Archbishop of canterbury's Court being the highest in the land down to the local Deanery courts that covered a more local area. the extant wills will have been deposited with your local CRO which acts as the archive for the Ecclesiastical Courts. They will be indexed and in bound annual volumes in most cases, which will be useful to search for relevent surnames.

[banned-dot]

There are various secondary sources that you can use both online and in hard copy that cover the Parish Registers County by County, the easiest but the least reliable is the International Genealogical Index started 60 years ago by the LDS Church.
Parish Registers, the records of the parish committee, vestry comittees, churhcwardens etc are also deposited if extant in your CRO.
manoral records are an endless source and will also likely be at your CRO, use Phillimores atlas and index of parish registers and the Vistoria County Histories, also in yourt local library, to identify the manor or parish relevent to your family.
i could go on but i am watching tele, let me know when you have exhausted this list.

[cazzz1975]

you can also order certificates online at the general records office

http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/

you can also look through the kellys directories which are available at the library and available on CD-ROM

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kellysearch

[dot.hawkes]

actually, i am wrong about not being able to get copy certificates at your local library, you can with marriages, well, not a copy of the certificate, which was written out by the Vicar (or the registrar if you were catholic or some non-conformist) you can get a copy off the microfilm of the marriage register entry, which by the way will probably be the BT s(Bishop Transcripts that started in 1598, any marriage register after July 1837 will be in the form of the marriage certified copy.

[tezestwing]

Hi dot and caz, thank you so much for your very informed answers, I think i am going to be so busy now, I am trying to keep as cheap as possible, I have ordered a copy of genealogy for dummies from the local library and will go into the main town one soon, now I am able to devote a little more time to the subject, I will keep AB posted of my progress, thanks again. Tez

[banned-dot]

Tez I strongly suggest you join your local family History Society, it will meet one evening a month and will have lots of books to lend you and to purchase, they may even meet in your local library. When you go to the library, ask about the meetings and who to contact, you can just turn up at the monthly meeting and pay about �10 for an annual membership. You will also get expert advice and support. If your family is not from the area you now live in that will not matter as you can still learn all about the sources and other societies.

[tezestwing]

thanks dot I have been given some information about Lincolnshire Family History Society from my local library this afternoon.
I will give them a ring thanks Tez.

[dot.hawkes]

hi again, i used to be with their society, I have ancestors from Heckington, Kirtoin-In-Holland, Boston, Farlesthorpe and Sixhills. You will find that up to the late 1800s very few seemed to move away from their home villages because agriculture was still so strong and industry had not been local enough to draw them away .