English Ancestry: Striking Gold with Indices
Richard W. Price, MA, AG®
Family history research in the past twenty years has taken huge strides in conserving time and energy in British research. The purpose of this discussion is to cover the major indexes available in various repositories in Britain, United States and online relevant to English family history. It is important to always remember when using indexes that these indexes are tools only. The original entries should always be checked.
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International Genealogical Index or IGI. This has indexed about 60% of all baptisms in England 1538-1837 and some as late as 1880. It has also indexed many marriages, but perhaps more like 30-40% of such marriages. This is the largest and most all-inclusive of all genealogical indexes. It includes approximately 50 million English baptisms and marriages.
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British Isles Vital Records Index is similar to the IGI. It includes indexed entries as follows:
Christenings Marriages
England 6.7 million 1.7 million
Ireland 1.1 million 100,000
Scotland 2.5 million 41,000
Wales 18,000 4,000
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The complete Index Report of the British Medieval/Nobility Bibliographic Index program has been completed by the LDS Family History Library. It is compiled from indexes and surnames with references to bibliographies, which contain genealogical information. The information was gathered from these published indexes:
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J.B. Whitmore’s A Genealogical Guide
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Geoffrey B. Barrow’s The Genealogist’s Guide
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George W. Marshall’s The Genealogist’s Guide
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Margaret Stuart’s Scottish Family History
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Brian de Breffny’s Bibliography of Irish Family History and Genealogy
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Burke’s Irish Family Records
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Frank Smith’s Collection (Family History Library B1 Floor)
This report allows the user to search alphabetically for a surname. It is arranged by counties for all of England. The user should go to the county of the family’s origin and seek the surname. There will usually be several references to pedigrees and other sources dealing directly with the family surname. By consulting the listed sources, the ancestral pedigrees and other references will be found. The microfilm number for these records is (FHL 1239015)
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Boyd’s Marriage Index has likely the most extensive scope. It covers marriages in all counties of England 1538-1837. It has indexed about 4,000 parishes including 7,000,000 marriages, and is equal to about 15% of the total marriages during the time-period covered. Mr. Percival Boyd was still compiling these records at the time of his death in 1955, but he had sent the manuscripts to Salt Lake City to have them typed before his death. The Society of Genealogists published A List of Parishes in Boyd’s Marriage Index in 1974. The LDS Family History Library and the Society of Genealogists in London, as well as the College of Arms all have complete copies of these indexes. Society of Genealogists is at 14 Charterhouse Buildings, Gosell Road, London EC1M 7BA. Many county record offices or local studies libraries have copies of their own county’s indexes as well.
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Burials. National Burial Index (NBI) for England and Wales has over 5,000,000 entries. The purpose of the NBI is to do for burials what the IGI and BVRI do for baptisms and marriages. A 2nd edition will be released 1 September 2004, bringing the total number of names indexed to over 13 million records. The cost for the new full database is 45 pounds. Sales and distribution enquiries to: FFHS (Publications) Ltd., Units 15 & 16, Chesham Industrial Centre, Oram Street, Bury BL9 6EN. Tel: 0161 797 3843 Fax: 0161 797 3846. Email: nbi@ffhs.co.uk, http://www.ffhs.org.uk/General/Projects/NBI2.htm. It is available from the Federation of Family History Societies on CD www.ffhs.org.uk/General/Projects/NBI.htm. Some record offices and family history societies have also indexed burials and monumental inscriptions in their counties. Some are completed 1538-1837.
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General Register Office indexes to virtually all births, marriages and deaths in England & Wales 1837 to the present are available online, at LDS family history library and centers and at the General Register Office. Indexes were kept quarterly for each year, with separate indexes for births, marriages and deaths. The public cannot view the actual certificates without purchasing them. These can be ordered online directly from the General Register Office and ancestry.co.uk as well as other businesses, which can be accessed through the Internet. (See Internet reference below) Also included at the General Register Office are Consular births, marriages and deaths 1849 to present, Marine Registers of births and deaths at sea 1837 to present, Regimental Returns of births, deaths, marriages while serving in the Army 1761-1924 and Adoption Registers 1927 to present. Also included are South African Ward Deaths 1899-1902, World War I Deaths 1914-1917 and World War II Deaths 1939-1948. These included deaths of English men and women serving abroad, and members of their families living abroad.
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Roots Web WorldConnect Project: The WorldConnect Project is a set of tools which allow users to upload, modify, link, and display their family trees as a means to share their work with other researchers. This is done with computer files called GEDCOM files. It currently contains over 187 million names that have been submitted by individuals. http://worldconnect.rootsweb.com.
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GenForum: a collection of message boards, organized by surname which allow people to ask questions and share information with others who may be researching the same lines. http://genforum.genealogy.com/surnames.
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Google: one of the best search engines on the Internet, it is also one of the best search engines for family history. Google seems to provide more relevant responses to queries than many of the other search engines. http://www.google.com.
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Ancestry.com: one of the largest collections of online databases for family history research. There are new databases added everyday. In addition to databases, scanned images of all available United Stated Federal Census Recorcs from 1790 to 1930 are available. There is also a UK ancestry which has strictly records for UK research. A subscription is required to access most of the databases and census images. However, access to some databases including the Social Security Death Index is free. http://ancestry.com and http://ancestry.co.uk.
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FamilySearch Internet: Ancestral File, International Genealogical Index, and Pedigree Resource File can all be searched on this site, as well as the Family History Library Catalog. Online research aids and guidance is also available. Personal Ancestral File, a computer program to help users organize their family history records and data, can also be downloaded free of charge. http://www.familysearch.org.
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Cyndi’s List: Over 121,000 links categorized and cross-referenced in more than 150 categories. This is possibly the most all-inclusive genealogy site on the Internet. There is no data on this site, just links to nearly everything available on the Web concerning genealogy www.cyndislist.com. This includes the whole world of genealogical information. It is broken down by country, county, states or the geographical term for that country as well as genealogical related topics.
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Major English Internet Sites to be consulted are:
The Internet has an unlimited number of lists of surnames being worked on by people throughout the world. One could literally spend full-time seeking references to one’s family in this manner.
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The “Principal Registers of the Family Division, Somerset House, Strand, London WC2R 1LP” includes indexes to and original records of all wills proven in England and Wales 1858 to the present and all divorce records and indexes to them in England and Wales 1858 to present. These records can be ordered by mail or purchased in person at this repository.
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Pallot’s Marriage Index is one of the most important and useful indexes of marriages. It covers all but two of the 103 London parishes 1780-1837. It also includes parishes from all over England during the same time period. It is now available at ancestry.co.uk.
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The entire 1881 census for England and Wales has been indexed and is available at familysearch.org. It includes virtually every individual in England and Wales.
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The Society of Genealogists of London not only has many of the above indexes, but also the following:
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Great Card Index, including several million cards referring to individuals in a variety of records.
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Bernau’s Index to Public Record Office (PRO) materials, mainly Chancery and Exchequer Court Depositions and Proceedings 1714-1800. It is also held by the LDS Family History Library. An explanation of and call numbers for this index are found in the FHL binder, How to Use Abstracts of Chancery Proceedings, available in the regular book stacks (FHL 942 P2h). For the period 1714-1758 extracts have been made from the Chancery Proceedings by Bernau. By consulting first his index and then the extracts, much valuable genealogical information can be acquired on families involved in these court records.
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Trinity House petitions: 1750-1890 is an index to seafaring men and dependents asking for charitable aid.
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Apprentices of Great Britain from taxation records: 1710-1774. Also held at the LDS Family History Library.
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A County Record Office and/or Family History Society and/or individuals have compiled indexes to marriages, poor law records, wills and numerous other records in their own counties. Some counties have indexed every marriage 1538-1837 for males and females. Other counties are still completing 1800-1837 time periods and some only index the males who were married. Some of these indexes are housed at the LDS Family History Library. Detailed information on these indexes is found in Gibson and Hampson’s Marriage, Census and Other Indexes. Some of these indexes are published, but most are in private or archival hands. All are reported in Gibson and Hampson.
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Most counties have completed indexing the 1851 census returns. Most of these are published and available to the public. Some counties have indexed all censuses from 1841-1891 inclusive. Details to such indexes are found in Gibson and Hampson’s work.
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Some record offices and family history societies have also indexed burials and monumental inscriptions in their counties. Some are complete 1538-1837. Other counties have no burial indexes at all. Gibson and Hampson’s text gives details of how to have searches made in these indexes.
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Gibson and Hampson also report many miscellaneous indexes. These include census street indexes, quarter sessions papers, settlement and affiliation orders and poor law union papers, apprenticeships, etc. Nonconformist baptisms and gaol (jail) indexes are also available. Indexes to protestation returns, parish chest papers, removals, bastardy, court rolls, rent rolls, and association oath rolls are all indexed. Indexes to overseers’ accounts, churchwardens’ presentments, recusants, monumental inscriptions, etc., are also available. Indexes to millers and mills, marriage bonds and allegations, newspapers, parish assisted emigrants transported to Australia, Catholic marriage indexes, baptism indexes, wills beneficiaries index, county gaol inmates, vagrants, gypsies and travelers, baptisms, obituaries, deeds, military records, miners, pensioners, and chancery records are also available in various counties.
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Similar indexes of censuses, marriages, and monumental inscriptions are also available for much of Wales, Scotland and even Ireland. These are all catalogued in Gibson and Hampson’s Marriage, Census and Other Indexes for Family Historians.
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There are many indexes of “queries” or individuals working on given surnames. These are found in most family history society publications, as well as in Family Tree Magazine each month. Family Tree Magazine can be subscribed to by writing Mrs. F. Rand, 1062 North Buhach Road, Merced, CA 95340.
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The international Genealogical Research Directory lists hundreds of thousands of individuals working on given surnames. These are listed alphabetically by surname. Individuals submitting these entries can be contacted to see if they are interested in your ancestral family. Hundreds of one-name societies are also listed in this publication. To acquire copies of these directories from 1984 to the present, go to their web site at http://members.ozemail.com.au/~grdxxx/. The contact person for the US is: John Poole, 130 E. Montecito Ave #120, Sierra Madre, CA 91024-1924. Email: grdxusa@earthlink.net.
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One-Name Studies have been developing and growing significantly during the past 20 years. The Guild of One-Name Studies has had more than 2,500 surnames registered in the past 20 years. The main purpose of its Register is to enable individuals who specialize in researching specific surnames to have their interests on record. Only one person may register a given surname but membership of the guild is not restricted only to those who have registered a surname. Less-common surnames are the norm in such societies because common names such as Smith and Jones would be almost impossible to study adequately. The Register of One-Name Studies 20th Edition can be acquired from www.one-name.org.
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Smith’s Inventory of Genealogical Sources: England is a county-by-county inventory of major record sources. These include monumental inscriptions, heraldry, pedigrees, maps, chancery proceedings, etc. Lists of surnames are available to be checked in pedigrees and other sources. The record is found in British (FHL 942 D23s). These items 17 and 18 can be invaluable in collecting large amounts of family information in a short amount of time. This is especially true in medieval times and with prominent families, although it can cover any time period and all socio-economic levels of families.
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However, one of the major Internet sources is Kindred Konnections, a Genealogical Research Service. It includes over 12 million names in its database. It can be investigated at www.mytrees.com. For other information on this source, telephone 1-801-229-7967 or write Kindred Konnections, Inc., P.O. Box 1882, Orem, UT 84059.
Bibliography
Caley, Iris L., ed. National Genealogical Directory (Shepton Mallet, Somerset: The Whitstone Press, 1990).
Gardner, David E. and Judith G. Ison. “English Marriage Indexes,” Genealogical Journal 4:71-76.
Genealogical Society of Utah. Index to Commission and Warrant Books of the Admiralty of Great Britain and Ireland, 1695-1742 (Salt Lake City: Genealogical Society of Utah, 1970).
Gibson, Jeremy and Hether Creaton. Lists of Londoners, 2nd ed. (Birmingham: Federation of Family History Societies (publications) Ltd., 1997).
Gibson, Jeremy and Elizabeth Hampson. Marriage and Census Indexes for Family Historians, 8th ed. (Birmingham: Federation of Family History Societies (Publications) Ltd., 2000).
Guild of One-Name Studies. Register of One-Name Studies 2004, 20th ed. (London: Guild of One-Name Studies, 2004). ISBN 190346305X.
Hawgood, David. Genuki: U.K. & Ireland Genealogy on the Internet (FFHS, 2000).
Johnson, Keith A. & Malcolm R. Saintly, eds. Genealogical Research Directory: A Key Reference Work for Worldwide Family History Research (Melbourne, Australia: Genealogical Research Directory, 1997).
Marker, Joan & Kevin Warth. Surname Periodicals (London: The Guild of One-Name Studies, 2004).
Massey, Robert W. A List of Parishes in Boyd’s Marriage Index (London: Society of Genealogists, 1974).
Raymond, Stuart A. Births, Marriages and Deaths on the Web (FFHS, 2002).
Raymond, Stuart A. British Family History on CD (FFHS, 2001).
Raymond, Stuart A. Family History on the Web: An Internet Directory for England and Wales (FFHS, 2002).
Smith, Frank. Smith’s Inventory of Genealogical Sources: England (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1994).