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WHY CAN'T I FIND MY ANCESTORS?
Researching can be very Rewarding, however - it can be frustrating when year after year you cannot find your ancestor/s. Below I have written a list of reasons why your ancestor may have gone A.W.O.L Check first the following: Name Has been spelt incorrectly: Dont assume that your ancestors name has always been spelt the way it is today. Many of our surnames have changed over the years and many of the ennumerators spelt surnames as they sounded, even Billington was spelt with one 'L' in many entries or Blyngton,or Bellington. Look in other areas:Ancestors travelled greater distances than we gave them credit for, some of them with occupations like 'Painters', meant that they travelled to other parishes to work, Always check parishes surrounding the one you are concentrating on. Servants are nearly always found away from home on census day as they are working in the homes that have employed them. Ages Incorrect:Our ancestors were notorious at giving their ages incorrectly to the ennumerator, or a relative answered the census questions and guessed the age of a relative. Often, the ancestor did not know his own age because he was illiterate. Case in point is my own ancestor who was first found on his Marriage Cert. aged 23yrs inn 1855 which puts his birth around 1831/2...On the 1861 census he is 27yrs,(1834). On the 1871 census he is 40yrs,(1831) on the 1881 census he is 45yrs,(1836) at death in 1888 he is 64yrs! (1824) He was finally found in 1841 census aged 15yrs...So when was he born..........Actually it was 1825! Many married underage, but with no birth certificate in hand to show the clergy, the ages given to the church was usually accepted by the clergy. This is a guide how ages were given for the 1841 Census:15yrs and under 20 write 15, 20yrs and under 25yrs write 20, 25yrs and under 30 write 25yrs,30yrs and under 35yrs write 30, 35yrs and under 40 write 35yrs,40yrs and under 45yrs write 40yrs,45yrs and under 50 write 45yrs, 50yrs and under 55 write 50, 55yrs and under 60 write 55yrs,60yrs and under 65yrs write 60yrs,65yrs and under 70 write 65yrs,70yrs and under 75 write 70yrs Not in the Census: Many ancestors are not recorded in some of the censuses either through being missed, or deliberately avoiding the ennumerator. People were very suspicious of the censuses back then and did not want to divulge what they considered to be personal information, the story of two little old ladies riding around the block on their bikes for hours to avoid the ennumerator, was not uncommon. Census Pages Missing: The ravages of time has meant that some pages of the census are totally illegible or missing, this is very much the case with the C On M and Salford Census of 1851 which was water damaged. I am currently looking through the 'Addenda' Not Using their correct Name:This can be a tough one! Many of our ancestors for some reason, whilst christened as eg: Thomas Richard, prefer to then be known as Richard. Polly could be Margaret, Sally could be Sarah, Ann Jane could be down as Jane. Mary is often called Margaret, and my favourite, Bartholomew preferred Anthony! The way to check is to look at the other people in the household and see if the ages match with previous censuses and places of birth. It is not foolproof but will certainly help you narrow the field down. 2nd/3rd/4th Marriages.. Female ancestors are often misplaced because they have remarried and are on the census under their new married name. Sometimes couples may have only been married 6 months before the death of a spouse and it was not unusual in those days to re-marry 6 months later to someone else. The death registers are a great source! Ennumerator Mistakes: The Ennumerator like everyone else is human, the strong northern accents often had him writing down names of places that did not exist, or as in my case, the place of birth was Garstang, however he had me chasing around looking for my relatives in Garston! After two years, the penny dropped and the next census confirmed my suspicions, it was Garstang. Writing by hand everyone's names is a big job, at the end of the day tiredness would have set in and writers cramp. Due to a lot of people not being able to read and write, the ennumerators job was made that more difficult and relationships to heads were often confused as in the case of a mother 82yrs with a daughter five years. Often the illegitimate children of one of the daughters was often put down as the daughter of the head instead of grandaughter to save face in the family. It was also not unusual for a single girl to have two or more children illegitimately, and not from the same father as was also the case within my tree. Rule of Thumb: Ancestors tended to live closer together than they do today, one of the best pieces of advice I was given as a young person starting out in family history, is to make a list of all the families with the same surname that are living within a five mile radius of your family, you can bet they are related in some way. Before Birth/Death & Marriage Registration: Before B/M/D Registration began in the UK in 1837, These events were recorded in the parish books of the church in which the event was held. The LDS has recorded many of the surnames taken from these parish books and have listed them in alphabetical order and named them the International Genealogical Index, or IGI for short. Of course, not every parish book was copied or available, but a great source that can date back to 15th Century. At the end of the year, the parish clergy would hand a copy of his Birth/Marriages and Deaths to the Bishop. The Bishops copy became to be known as the Bishops Transcripts and if parish registers are not found, the Bishops Transcripts will often find you your elusive ancestor. Last but not least: This is perhaps the most important advice I can give you if you want to seriously research and do the job well. NEVER ASSUME ANYTHING! Make sure that you have some backup data on your ancestors. I was going though the LDS online recently and noticed a Billington entry that was incorrect, because I have the paperwork here, I contacted the person in the States to advise them that their information was incorrect and could lead people up the garden path costing them time and money to no avail, the reply I got was " Well I am sorry but I have wasted too much time and money already and I am not changing it again" If you are having problems with your research, please do not hesitate to email me.
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