Getting to the Roots of Your Family - RootsWeb - Ancestry.com

Getting to the
Roots of Your
Family
May 5, 2012
Sponsored By
Longmont Genealogical
Society
&
Longmont Family
History Center

Table of Contents
for a clickable version go to View > Navigation > Bookmarks
Article (Speaker) Page
Keynote
What's New with FamilySearch in 2012 (Tara Bergeson) ..................................................1
Practical Topics
Begin at the Beginning (Vicki Pfeffer) ...............................................................................5
Find Your Ancestor in the Newspaper (Vicki Pfeffer)........................................................9
Caring for Your Treasures: Photographs (Erik Mason) ....................................................13
Blogging 101 (Suzanne Smith) .........................................................................................17
How to Organize Your Paper Files (Video) ......................................................................18
Getting the Most Out of the FHL Catalog.........................................................................28
Netherlands
Dutch Research (Baerbel Johnson) ...................................................................................32
Dutch Background.............................................................................................................37
Germany
German Research on the Internet (Baerbel Johnson) ........................................................40
Finding Your German Ancestor ........................................................................................46
Using German Church Records.........................................................................................51
German Archives...............................................................................................................55
Germans from Russia
German Migration from SE Europe and Russia (Baerbel Johnson)..................................61
Ireland
Introduction to Irish Research (Dan Poffenberger) ...........................................................68
Irish Research Online ........................................................................................................73
Tracing Famine and Post Famine Irish Immigrants ..........................................................77
Irish Land and Property Records.......................................................................................83
Irish Census and Civil Registration...................................................................................90
Scotland
Getting the Most out of Scotland's People (Dan Poffenberger) ........................................92
Best Websites for Scottish Research ...............................................................................103
Scotland: Records of Property and Inheritance ...............................................................107
Scottish Nonconformist Church Records ........................................................................113
England
The Parish Chest: Beyond the Registers (Dan Poffenberger) .........................................116
England and Wales: Probate Records & Indexes ............................................................123
British Military Records..................................................................................................126
Church of England Records and Indexes ........................................................................129
England and Wales Census Records ...............................................................................133
England and Wales Civil Registration ............................................................................136
Is That English?...............................................................................................................140
Finding Your Ancestors in English Land Records..........................................................146
USA
Carry Me Back to Old Virginny (Carol Swensen) ..........................................................151
It's All About the Numbers -1790 to 1840 census...........................................................154
I Wish I Was in Dixie......................................................................................................157

Baerbel Johnson, AG
Dan Poffenberger, AG
Carol Swensen, AG
Tara Bergeson
Vicki Pfeffer
Erik Mason
Suzanne Smith
SPEAKERS
Baerbel Johnson, AG, is an International Reference Consultant at the
Family History Library. Baerbel holds degrees in Family and Local History
Studies and Sociology from BYU. With more than 20 years’ experience in
European family history, she has published journal articles, contributed
material for several books, and lectured at various conferences.
Dan Poffenberger, AG, is a Senior Content Strategist for the Family History
Department. He has been a professional genealogist for 22 years and has
also worked as a Research Consultant on the British and US and Canada
floors of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.
Carol Swensen, AG, is a specialist in Southern States research. Carol
served as Vice President, Program Chairman and Education Chairman for the
Virginia Beach Genealogical Society and has been a family history educator
and researcher for 19 years. Carol currently serves as Director of the Family
History Center in Lakewood, Colorado.
Tara Bergeson is a North America Area Manager for FamilySearch
International. In this role, she is responsible for all FamilySearch Support
efforts which provide family history assistance to priesthood leaders, family
history consultants, family history centers, and patrons in the southern United
States. Prior to this position, Tara worked in FamilySearch support providing
management support to missionaries worldwide. She and her husband Coby
live in Salt Lake City, Utah with their family of three sons.
Vicki Pfeffer is a professional educator in the state of Colorado. Her
genealogy research interests over the past 14 years have taken her to
various locations in Ontario, Quebec, New York, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.
Currently, she serves as the Boulder Colorado Stake Indexing Director and is
responsible for training family history consultants.
Erik Mason is Curator of Research and Information at the Longmont Museum
& Cultural Center. Erik has a B.A. in Anthropology from Colorado College and
an M.A. in History Museum Studies from the Cooperstown Graduate Program
of the State University of New York at Oneonta. He oversees the Longmont
Museum’s archival collections and has curated or co-curated numerous
history exhibits, including John Empson: Longmont’s Robber Baron, and
Front Range Rising, winner of the Josephine Miles Award from the Colorado
Historical Society and an Award of Merit from the American Association for
State and Local History.
Suzanne Smith started blogging in 2007 with her children's encouragement.
She began with a family blog chronicling family events and stories which she
still manages. In addition, she currently publishes a crafting blog with many
followers. In 2010 she co-organized a large family reunion -- with over 300
people in attendance -- by creating a blog to disseminate information and
encourage participation!
NOTE OF APPRECIATION
The Longmont Genealogical Society and the Longmont Family History Center
wish to express their sincerest thanks for the voluntary participation of these
speakers, without whom this event would not have occurred. We deeply
appreciate their donation of time and talent to further the advancement of
genealogical studies.

What’s New with FamilySearch in 2012
Presented by Tara Bergeson
www.FamilySearch.org
FamilySearch launched a new website in early 2011 that provides a richer family history experience
by putting all FamilySearch content, services, and products on the same site. Here is what’s new in
the last few months.
Home Page
The links on the home page have changed for easier access to the records or features. New to the
FamilySearch home page is: new links, “What’s New,” and the “Civil War Project.”
What’s New
FamilySearch is updated and released every three months, so check back often to see the changes.
Some of these updates are only minor “behind the scenes” fixes that you may not recognize. Others
are obvious improvements that make your FamilySearch experience richer and more rewarding. To
see what’s new, click the What’s New link.
1940 Indexing Project
On 2 April 2012 NARA is releasing the 1940 Census in digital format. FamilySearch is joining with
other genealogical organizations to coordinate a massive effort to index these valuable census
records. Be a part of preserving and sharing the census records of the “Greatest Generation.” Go to
www.the1940census.com to learn more and get started!
More Records
The FamilySearch website has many record collections from around the world, and each month,
more are added. At the end of 2011, there were over 3 billion names in FamilySearch!
New Search Options
New search options have been added in the last few months. The new search options include:
Single Search Form
The Advanced search feature has been replaced with all of the search capabilities on a single screen
where you can narrow your search by Event and Relationship.
• Multiple Events. You can now easily search multiple events, such as birth, marriage, residence,
and death, at the same time.
• Multiple Relationships. You can search for a spouse and/or parents.
Refine Your Search
You now have the option of changing the search information about your ancestor from the Search
screen. This may give you different or better results.
IGI Batch Number
You can now search for historical records using batch numbers from the International Genealogical
Index.

New Results Screen
Based on user feedback and testing, FamilySearch designed a new results screen. It has a new
layout, and a new image viewer.
New Layout
The new format will make viewing search results easier by clustering information into similar
groupings within columns. The first column contains the name of the individual, the name of the
collection the person was found in, and the time period the record collection covers. The second
column includes information about event dates and places. The third column includes relationship
information, such as spouse, children, and other family relationships. In this new layout, it is much
easier to scan the results quickly for dates, places, and relationships.
New Image Viewer
Up to now, FamilySearch.org has required that you use Flash to view images of records. However,
Flash does not work on many mobile devices. Images on FamilySearch.org are now displayed
directly in your browser using HTML. This new viewer looks almost the same as the old Flash one.
You don’t need to do anything to prepare your computer to use this new viewer.
Free Live Assistance
You can now get free live assistance in three easy ways. By scrolling down you will find an area on the left
side of your results page called Free Live Assistance. You can contact us with any of these three ways:
• Toll Free Call (855) 403-1836
• Chat Online with Support
• E-mail support@familysearch.org
Get Research Help
A new link on the left side of the results page called Get Research Help provides:
Join a research community. Would you like to collaborate with others who are researching in the
same areas or topics as you? You are invited to join any of the following communities, click to learn
more:
• Facebook Communities. Facebook pages focused on researching various topics and sharing news
and updates for each area.
• FamilySearch Forums. FamilySearch discussion forums for help with research questions
• Skype Groups. Chat groups with discussions between those researching in the same areas
Visit the FamilySearch wiki. This link takes you to the FamilySearch wiki.
Trees
The Trees link allows you to search family pedigrees that have been submitted. Finding a family
pedigree can save you hundreds of hours of work. Always verify the information found on Trees.
Search by AFN Number
When you search Trees, you can now search by using the Ancestral File number (AFN). This
number was once assigned to records in the Ancestral File. This is a fast way to find a specific
person if you know his or her AFN.
Pedigree Resource File
The Pedigree Resource File has recently been added to Trees increasing the number of linage linked
pedigrees.

• Notes from Pedigree Resource File. Notes that were part of original Pedigree Research File
(PRF) submissions are now displayed on the results screen.
Learning Resources
Online Courses.
There are now over 200 online research lessons in the Learning Center, with new lessons added
monthly. The Learning Center has a new interface that makes it easier to find the right online course
for you. There is a new beginner series called “5 Minute Genealogy,” as well as new research series
on Midwestern states, Mid-Atlantic States, Germany, Italy, and England.
Getting Started
The Getting Started section on FamilySearch is relatively new. It helps those who want to learn how
to do family history in a quick and easy to understand way. Once you click on this link, you will get
an overview of 5 minute genealogy. This video series is all about helping you quickly discover your
family history. Each episode will guide you through basic research principles that will help you have
success finding your ancestors.
FamilySearch Centers
Family history centers are called FamilySearch centers on FamilySearch. The new features under
this link are:
Find a Center
Finding local family history centers is easy with a revised look that lets you find a location using a
world map.
Online Film Ordering
You can now order microfilms from the comfort and convenience of your own home. No longer will
you have to wait for your next trip to a family history center to order a film. Nor will you have to
travel to a family history center, hoping they have the film you want, only to discover it’s not there.
Worldwide Research Help
FamilySearch not only offers the world’s largest collection of genealogical records—it also provides
research help through multiple channels—for free. You can get one-on-one help at one of the 4,600
local FamilySearch Centers, on FamilySearch.org, and a 24/7 research help network.
FamilySearch Portal
By going to a family history center, you have access to the family history center portal. You will
have free access to a vast array of online genealogical databases, such as: Ancestry.com, Fold3,
Heritage Quest, World Vital Records and many, many more.
Indexing
Handwriting Recognition Assistance
While many people find indexing enjoyable and rewarding, others are challenged by handwriting
that can be difficult to interpret. Links are available to the handwriting helps so you can increase
your expertise.
Invite a Friend
You can click a link or button in several areas to invite a friend to help index records. When you
click Invite a Friend, an e-mail page appears.

My Accuracy
You can review submitted batches to see how often you agree with the arbitrator. After batches have
been arbitrated, they will be available for you to view. You can see the information in one of your
batches that the arbitrator changed. By reviewing the differences, you may identify areas for
improvement in the future.
Social Media and Technology
With so many changes, new records, and new features, you may feel overwhelmed. To keep up with
FamilySearch there are several places you can go to stay up-to-date. You can now follow
FamilySearch on social media sites. Use these sites to find the latest information on Facebook,
Twitter and YouTube.
Blog
On the Blog you can keep up-to-date and find insights into the future and past of FamilySearch.
Tech Tips
Technology tips for genealogists and family historians are available in easy to understand articles.
FamilySearch YouTube
The newly updated FamilySearch YouTube channel gives viewers an informative, fun, and fascinating look at
several different aspects of genealogy through a growing number of videos in five playlists.
RootsTech Conference
FamilySearch sponsors RootTech. This is a three day conference where you can discover emerging
technologies and devices to improve your research. Learn from hands-on workshops and interactive
presentations as well as collaborate with technology creators to advance family history through technology.
What’s Coming Next?
• Multiple Event and Relationship Searching. In coming months, the basic search form will be
retired and replaced by an advanced form that is even simpler, but much more powerful. You
will be able to search on multiple relationship and event information to highly refine your search.
All your options will be visible and accessible with a single click.
• A Multiple Collection Search. The Browse All Collections page currently lets you see all the
collections available on the site and quickly filter down to the ones you want to search. However
it only allows you to search a single collection at a time. In the near future, we will allow you to
select multiple collections on this page as well as in the search form and the results filter. We
believe this will be a huge time saving for patrons and allow you to highly target your search to
just the collections of interest.
• More Matching Options (Exact Search, Close Search, and Missing Search). FamilySearch
will soon provide you with more options for deciding which matching requirements you want to
use. Shortly you will be able to specify Exact, Exact+Close or Exact+Close+Missing on a field
by field basis.
• A New and Improved Tree! The year 2012 is the year when FamilySearch released its new Tree to
the public. The Tree will be integrated with historical records, sources, and many other incredible
features.

Get My Ancestors
Begin at the Beginning
Presented by Vicki Pfeffer
Email: vpfeffer@hotmail.com
303-999-1024 CP
http://www.ohanasoftware.com/?sec=downloads&page=GetMyAncestors
http://www.ohanasoftware.com/?sec=GetMyAncestors&page=GetMyAncestorsHelp
*Requires the ability to log in to New FamilySearch
https://new.familysearch.org/en/action/unsec/welcome
Family Tree
When it is out of the beta stage, it will be available to everyone and it will replace New
FamilySearch. Currently, Family Tree is only available to beta testers. At the 2012 RootsTech
Conference, it was stated that it MIGHT be available by the end of 2012.
Genealogy Software
There are many good genealogy software programs to choose from and each one has
something special to offer. Many of the companies offer free trials and learning tutorials.
Ancestral Quest http://www.ancquest.com/index.htm
• Windows version
• Most like PAF, however, with updates
• Interacts with New FamilySearch
• Collaborate with others easily
• Will search www.Ancestry.com within the program, if you have a subscription
• It will not sync with www.Ancestry.com.
FamilyInsight http://www.ohanasoftware.com
• Add-on program
• Helps clean up genealogy files in several different ways
• Simplifies merging files
• Use it with PAF and other software programs to synchronize information with New
FamilySearch.
• See this support article on functions of FamilyInsight.
http://support.ohanasoftware.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=21
Family Tree Maker http://www.familytreemaker.com/
• Windows and Mac versions

• FTM 2012 will sync with www.Ancestry.com, if you have a subscription
• Software FamilyInsight (Ohana) needed to interact with New FamilySearch
• Will download source citations, when it syncs with FTM.
Legacy
• Free and deluxe version
• Window version
• Interacts with New FamilySearch
• Source templates and timeline
• Research guidance
PAF http://www.familysearch.org/eng/paf/pafonline.asp
• Free
• Software FamilyInsight by Ohana needed to interact with New FamilySearch
• No improvements made in approximately 7 years
• There are no plans to improve PAF
• I use it to open PAF files, and then, export them to another program.
RootsMagic http://www.rootsmagic.com
• Free and deluxe version
• Window version
• Interacts with New FamilySearch
• Source templates and timeline
• Program can be carried on flash drive and will sync with program on computer.
• Reunion http://www.leisterpro.com/
• Mac version
• Expensive
Family Sources
Ancestors: Family Records (26 minutes)
http://byutv.org/watch/28af813c-da34-4549-89bb-40f161ad8d1c
Transcribe Your Family Records to Discover Heritage Details
http://www.family-genealogy.com/familyRecords.html
Extend Your Learning
www.familysearch.org – Learn Tab
• Research Wiki
• Research Courses
o Genealogy in Five Minutes
http://broadcast.lds.org/elearning/fhd/Community/en/FamilySearch/5Minute/index.html
• Tech Tips

• Discussion Forums
www.familysearch.org – FamilySearch Tab
• Records-both indexed and digitized originals
• Trees-both FamilySearch submitted projects and patron submitted trees
• Catalog-microfilms and other resources
• Books-digitized and online
www.google.com - Choose the video tab and enter genealogy or any related genealogy related
word.
www.youtube.com - An amazing variety of genealogy videos as well as many how-to videos for
family history related topics. There are many videos on how to use computers and software
programs.
• Example: Google search with search terms Google and genealogy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MUsaxTM7yrw&feature=relmfu (part 1 of 5)
http://is.byu.edu/site/courses/free.cfm (Free courses offered through BYU Independent
Studies)
Genealogy Blogs & Podcasts
http://geneabloggers.com - Searchable list of genealogy blogs and upcoming online genealogy
events
www.genealogygems.com - Lisa Louise Cook’s podcasts
http://blog.eogn.com (Dick Eastman’s Online Genealogy Newsletter)
Books
Crawford-Oppenheimer, Christine. Long-Distance Genealogy. Cincinnati, Ohio: Betterway
Books, 2000.
Powell, Kimberly. The Everything Guide to Online Genealogy: Use the Web to Trace Your Roots,
Share Your History, and Create a Family Tree. Avon, Mass: Adams Media, 2011.
Lynch, Daniel M. Google Your Family Tree: Unlocking the Hidden Power of Google. Provo, UT:
FamilyLink.com, 2008.
Renick, Barbara. Genealogy 101: How to Trace Your Family's History and Heritage. Nashville:
Rutledge Hill Press, 2003.
Rising, Marsha Hoffman. Family Tree Problem Solver: Proven Methods for Scaling the Inevitable
Brick Wall. Cincinnati, OH: Family Tree Books, 2005.

Rose, Christine and Kay Germain Ingalls. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Genealogy. New York:
Alpha, 2012.
Cornerstones of Genealogy Research
1. Census records
2. Vital records
3. Land records
4. Probate records
Organization
Organizing for Success Webinar by Karen Clifford (2 hours)
http://www.millenniacorp.com/_videos/webinars/2011-08-03-organization/2011-08-03organization.html
Research Logs: The Most Important Tool for Organizing Your Genealogy by David Dilts (45
minutes)
https://www.familysearch.org/learningcenter/lesson/research-logs-part-1/142
https://www.familysearch.org/learningcenter/lesson/research-logs-part-2/143
Introduction to Microsoft OneNote for Genealogists (16 minutes)
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GkbDPWl0BE
Evernote for Genealogists
https://www.familysearch.org/techtips/2012/02/evernote-genealogists
United States Sources
http://www.progenealogists.com/genealogysleuthb.htm
International Sources
http://www.progenealogists.com/genealogysleuthi.htm
Citing Sources
http://www.geneabloggers.com/Citations_Quick_Reference.pdf
http://broadcast.lds.org/elearning/FHD/Community/en/ICAPGen/Citing_Sources/Player.html
https://www.familysearch.org/learningcenter/lesson/5-minute-genealogy-episode-24-i-wantto-learn-more-about-sourcing/478

Introduction
Find Your Ancestor in the Newspaper
Presented by Vicki Pfeffer
Email: vpfeffer@hotmail.com
303-999-1024 CP
Find your ancestors in the newspaper! There are many different ways to access the historical
treasures that can be found in online digital free and paid newspaper collections. Learn how to
go online to go offline and locate newspapers that have not yet been digitized. Discover some
new and old ways to save those online newspaper images including citations.
Why Use Newspapers in Your Research?
• Family news
• Birth, marriage, & death information
• Military information
• Historical sketches of people, places & events
• Legal notices - probate, divorce, homestead
• Migration
• Church functions
• Fraternal organizations
• Voter lists
• Social events
• Identify maiden names of women
• Locate information about ancestors, when many county records were destroyed by fire.
Understanding Some Abbreviations Used in Newspapers
Two abbreviations frequently seen in earlier newspapers are “inst.” and “ult.” Ultimo (ult.) is a
Latin word indicating that the event took place in the previous month. When instant (inst.) is
used, it refers to the same month in which the news event was published.
Chronicling America
Search America's historic newspapers pages from 1836-1922 or use the U.S. Newspaper
Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present.
• Digitized Historical Newspapers, 1836-1922
• Searchable U.S. Newspaper Directory, 1690-PresentThis directory of newspapers
published in the United States since 1690 can help identify what titles exist for a specific
place and time, and how to access them. Use the options below to select a particular place
and time, using keywords to locate specific titles. Titles currently listed: 140,115. These
newspapers can sometimes be ordered through interlibrary loan

Accessing Newspapers Not Available Online
• Interlibrary Loan
• Institution librarians for a small fee
• Onsite visits
• Possible volunteer through a locality forum
Family History Centers
• 19th Century British Library Newspaper Digital Archive
� British Library Newspapers consists of two major collections from the British
Library which span three hundred years of newspaper publishing in the U.K.—
17th and 18th Century Burney Collection Newspapers and 19th Century
Newspapers.
• Access NewspaperArchive
Some Individual/Institution Subscription Newspaper Sites
http://www.newspaperarchive.com/ (available as an individual subscription or at participating
institutions)
“Newspaperarchive.com is the world's largest online newspaper database featuring over 120
million newspaper pages. Our newspaper archive dates back from 1609 to the present. Plus our
database expands by one newspaper page per second for a total of around 2.5 million pages per
month.”
http://www.genealogybank.com/gbnk/ (available as an individual subscription or at participating
institutions) Genealogy Bank's exclusive newspaper archive for family genealogy research
provides information on millions of American families from 1690–today. Over 5,850 newspapers
provide first-hand accounts about your ancestors that simply can't be found at other genealogy
websites.
http://www.ancestry.com/search/ (available as an individual subscription or at participating
institutions)
http://www.proquest.com (available at many institutions & libraries)
http://gale.com (available only at subscribing institutions such as Univ. of Wyoming, Wyoming
Community College, Colorado State-Pueblo, University of Colorado, & University of Denver)
*The 19 th Century British Digital Newspaper collection, available through family history centers,
is offered by the Gale Group.
http://www.worldvitalrecords.com/ (available as an individual/institution subscription)
http://www.americanantiquarian.org/digital2.htm#aa – see subscribing institutions, such as
Colorado State University

Wikipedia’s List of Online Newspaper Archives
This is a list of free and pay wall blocked digital online newspaper archives. Most were scanned
from microfilm and stored in gif or similar format until converted to text with OCR. The OCR in
most cases is used to create the index of searchable text, but some newspapers don't allow access
to the OCR-converted text until it has been proof-read. Older newspapers are still in image
format, and newer newspapers are available as full text that can be cut and pasted.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:List_of_online_newspaper_archives
International and U.S. Newspapers by Location
International Coalition on Newspapers (ICON) provides a freely accessible database of
bibliographic information for more than 25,000 newspaper titles from participating institutions.
ICON also actively coordinates and supports cataloging of international newspapers in
participating U.S. libraries to increase the availability of bibliographic and holdings records.\
http://icon.crl.edu/digitization.htm
Online Historical Newspapers
Online blog that tracks newly uploaded online historical newspapers.
http://onlinehistoricalnewspapers.blogspot.com/
Preprinted Sheets-Time Savers When Searching Page by Page
Many newspapers from about the 1870’s to the early 1900’s used preprinted sheets. Knowing
this can help, when doing a page by page search of a newspaper that is not digitized or if you
think the search engine may have missed your ancestor.
Saving Newspaper Items
PC Users:
• Microsoft One Note (comes with some versions of Microsoft Office or can be purchased
separatedly):
• Snag-It: http://www.techsmith.com/snagit.html
• Evernote (free and paid versions): http://www.evernote.com
• Jing: http://www.techsmith.com/ji http://www.evernote.com/ng.html (basic, free)
• Print Screen
• Snipping Tool (Windows 2007)
Mac Users:
To capture the entire screen, press Command + Shift + 3

To capture a portion of the screen, press Command + Shift + 4
http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/screencapturemac/ht/macscreenshot.htm
Using Translation Tools
The following websites allow you to translate text from one language to another language. Some
of the sites will translate a website into another language. The translations are computer
generated and therefore, not perfect. However, it is a wonderful tool to use, when you do not
read or write the language being used. Ethnic newspapers are often in another language, but may
have more detail for immigrants than the English language newspapers. Below is a list of some
of the major free translation sites:
http://www.freetranslation.com/
http://babelfish.yahoo.com/
http://www.google.com/webmasters/igoogle/translate.html
http://translate.google.com/translate_t?hl=en#
http://www.worldlingo.com/en/products_services/worldlingo_translator.html
Foreign word lists can be printed at https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Main_Page. On the main
page, type in “foreign word list” and the language desired.
Bibliography
Gale Research Inc. Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media. Detroit, Mich: Gale
Research, 1993.
Brigham, Clarence S. History and Bibliography of American Newspapers, 1690-1820. Westport,
Conn: Greenwood Press, 1976.
Gregory, Winifred. American Newspapers, 1821-1936: A Union List of Files Available in the
United States and Canada. 1937. Reprint, New York: Kraus, 1967.
Wynar, Lubomyr Roman. Encyclopedic Directory of Ethnic Newspapers and Periodicals in the
United States. Littleton, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 1972.
Pinnick, Timothy N. Finding and Using African American Newspapers. Wyandotte, OK:
Gregath Pub. Co, 2008.
How to Find & Use Newspapers for Genealogical Research by Kimberly Powell
http://genealogy.about.com/cs/newspapers/a/news_research.htm

Caring for Your Treasures: Photographs
A photograph can be one of many processes in which light-sensitive media are employed
to create a visible image. The prevalence of photographs allows us to forget that they are
potentially fragile objects that can be easily damaged by careless handling, improper
storage, and exposure to environmental influences such as light, humidity, and
temperature.
In caring for a photographic collection, it is important to know that various components
comprise the structure of a photograph. The interaction of these components, with each
other and with their environment, has a lasting effect on the longevity of the image. Most
photographs consist of a final image material, a binder layer, and a primary support. The
final image material—commonly silver, platinum, organic dyes, or pigments—creates the
image we see. The binder layer is a transparent substance such as albumen, collodion, or
gelatin in which the final image layer is suspended. The binder and final image material
are applied to a primary support, usually paper, glass, metal, or plastic. Although many
photographs have this three-part structure, individual images may have additional
components. For instance, color, coatings, original frames, and cases need to be
considered as part of the photographic object.
Maintaining a Suitable Environment
Photographic materials benefit from a cool, dry, well-ventilated storage environment.
High temperature and relative humidity increase deterioration and promote the growth of
mold and mildew, which could mar surfaces and break down binder layers. Avoid storing
photographs in the attic, the basement, or along the outside walls of a building where
environmental conditions are more prone to extremes and fluctuations and where
condensation may occur. In some storage situations, seasonal adjustments such as
dehumidifiers or fans may be necessary to improve problematic environmental
conditions.
The optimal storage conditions for most photographs are a temperature of 68°F and
relative humidity in the range of 30–40 percent. Film-based negatives and contemporary
color photographs benefit from storage in cooler environments of 30–40°F and 30–40
percent relative humidity.
Choosing Storage Enclosures
Keep photographic materials in enclosures that protect them from dust and light and
provide physical support during use. Chemically stable plastic or paper enclosures free of
sulfur, acids, and peroxides are recommended. Plastic sleeves should be constructed of
uncoated polyester, polypropylene, or polyethylene. They should not be frosted. Paper
enclosures should have passed the Photographic Activity Test (PAT), a test designed to
determine the safety of an enclosure in contact with a silver photographic image. If PAT
test results are not available, choose paper enclosures that are lignin-free, 100 percent rag

or alpha-cellulose fibers, and have a white or off-white color. Film-based negatives,
which can produce acidic gasses as they age, should be stored separately from other
photographic materials. Store cased objects, such as daguerreotypes and ambrotypes, in
their original cases or frames with the addition of custom-made, four-flap paper
enclosures to reduce wear and tear on fragile cases. Place individually housed prints,
negatives, and cased objects in acid-free, durable boxes that will afford further protection.
The storage of photographs in albums serves the dual purpose of organizing groups of
images while protecting them from physical and environmental damage. Albums can be
wonderful sources of historic and genealogical information. Preserve them intact when
possible and store them in custom-fitted archival boxes. Magnetic or self-adhesive
albums can damage photographs and should not be used.
Displaying Photographs
Photographs should be protected from extended exposure to intense light sources. Limit
exhibition times, control light exposure, and monitor the condition of the photographs
carefully. Prolonged or permanent display of photographs is not recommended. Use
unbuffered ragboard mats, and frame photographs with archivally sound materials. Use
ultraviolet-filtering plexiglass to help protect the photographs during light exposure.
Reproduce vulnerable or unique images and display the duplicate image; in this way, the
original photograph can be properly stored and preserved.
Housekeeping Guidelines
An overlooked area of collection maintenance is keeping the areas where photographs are
handled or stored clean and pest-free. Paper fibers, albumen, and gelatin binders are just
some of the components in photographic materials that provide an attractive food source
for insects and rodents. It is vital that collection areas be free of debris that might
encourage pests. Food and beverages should not be allowed. Apart from the potential for
attracting pests, accidental spills can irreversibly damage most photographic objects.
Handling Procedures
Most damage to photographs results from poor handling. A well-organized and properly
housed collection promotes respect for the photographs and appropriate care in handling.
When images can be located quickly, there is less possibility of physical damage.
Establish handling procedures and adhere to them whenever photographs are being used.
View photographs in a clean, uncluttered area, and handle them with clean hands. Wear
clean white cotton gloves to lessen the possibility of leaving fingerprints and soiling the
materials; however, be aware that gloves may reduce the manual dexterity of the user.
Support photographs carefully and hold them with both hands to avoid damage. Keep
photographs covered when they are not being viewed immediately. If it is necessary to
mark a photograph, write lightly with a soft lead pencil on the reverse of the image. Do
not use ink pens.

Disaster Preparedness
Disaster preparedness begins by evaluating the storage location and the potential for
damage in the event of a fire, flood, or other emergency. It is important to create a
disaster preparedness plan that addresses the specific needs of the collection before a
disaster occurs.
The location and manner in which photographs are housed can be the first line of defense.
Identify photographic materials that are at higher risk of damage or loss. Remove all
potentially damaging materials such as paper clips and poor-quality enclosures. Store
negatives and prints in separate locations to increase the possibility of an image surviving
a catastrophe. If a disaster occurs, protect the collection from damage by covering it with
plastic sheeting and/or removing it from the affected area. If using plastic, make sure not
to trap in moisture as this could lead to mold growth. Evaluate the situation and
document the damage that has occurred. Contact a conservator as soon as possible for
assistance and advice on the recovery and repair of damaged materials.
Common Concerns and Solutions
The following problems are commonly encountered in photographic collections:
Broken, torn, or cracked photographs: If the primary support of a photograph sustains
serious damage, place it carefully in a polyester sleeve with an archival board support. If
the photograph has a flaking binder layer or friable surface components, such as the
pastel coloring often seen on crayon enlargements, place it in a shallow box, not a
polyester sleeve. Do not use pressure-sensitive adhesive tapes to repair torn photographs.
Soiled photographs or negatives: Do not clean photographs with erasers. Brush soiled
photographs carefully with a clean, soft brush. Proceed from the center of the photograph
outward toward the edges. Do not attempt to clean photographs with water- or solventbased
cleaners, such as window cleaner or film cleaner. Improper cleaning of
photographic materials can cause serious and often irreversible damage, such as
permanent staining, abrasion, alteration, or loss of binder and image.
Photographs or negatives adhered to enclosures: High-humidity environments or direct
exposure to liquids can cause photographs to adhere to frame glass or enclosure
materials. This is a very difficult problem to resolve, and great care must be taken to
reduce the possibility of further damage. If a photograph becomes attached to adjacent
materials, consult a photographic materials conservator before attempting to remove the
adhered materials.
Deteriorated negatives: Chemical instability is a major factor in the deterioration of early
film-based materials. If film-based negatives are brittle, discolored, sticky, or appear
wavy and full of air bubbles, separate the negatives from the rest of the collection and
consult a photographic materials conservator.

Broken glass negatives or ambrotypes: Place broken glass carefully in archival paper
enclosures. Use a separate, clearly marked enclosure for each piece to reduce the
possibility of scratching or further damage. For long-term storage, construct a custom
sink mat that holds the pieces of broken glass, separated by mat-board shims, in one
enclosure.
When to Consult a Conservator
If your photograph requires special attention or you are unsure about how to protect it,
you should contact a conservator.
For more information see http://www.conservation-us.org/
Published by permission from American Institute for Conservation
1156 15 th St., NW | Suite 320 | Washington, DC | 20005

What is a Blog?
Blogging 101
The word blog is an abbreviation for “weblog” which is a type of website created and published
by an individual or small group. Any blog can be customized to make it available to a select few
or anyone searching the web. A blog consists of posts similar to pages in a journal or articles in a
magazine.
The types of posts found on a blog vary depending upon the purpose and intent of the writer.
Genealogically speaking, a blog might promote an event such as a family reunion or recent finds
in family research. Some genealogists might want to create a blog to share their expertise in a
particular subject. A blog is as unique and varied as its creator!
Blogging Platform:
Before you create a blog, you must decide on a blog hosting service. This service is called a
blogging platform and is often provided free of charge. A blogging platform contains all the
tools necessary to create, style, and maintain your blog. These sites offer templates for a basic
design and push-button publishing. The two most popular host sites for the beginner blogger are
“Blogger” and “Wordpress.”
Blogger is by far the most popular blogging platform for all types of blogs. Blogger is part of the
Google family of applications and services. Its free, user-friendly platform makes it easy to
navigate and use. I would recommend it for the first-time blogger and for individual family
history blogs. You can find this site at http://www.blogger.com
Wordpress is also a popular blogging platform for those who feel more comfortable with web
technologies and when a more complex blog is desired. It has a free version available, but works
best with a paid hosting service. It touts an extensive number of templates and features. It would
be recommended for blogs that are more complex and require more features such as a
genealogical society blog. You can find this site at http://www.wordpress.com
Creating your Blog:
By following the step-by-step instructions of the blogging platform you select, you will be able
to create a blog in about 10 minutes. Don’t worry if your blog is more plain than other family
history sites you’ve visited. In time with a little blogging experience, you will learn how to
customize the look of your blog and create interesting and informative posts that will make it all
the more appealing!

1
Introduction
How to Organize Your Paper Files
Created by Mary V. Hill
www.familyrootsorganizer.com
Genealogy is fun when you can find things, and it can be frustrating when you
can’t. Therefore, you need a simple system for organizing pedigree charts, family group
records, To Do Lists, Research Logs, documents, photographs, memorabilia, notes and
research tools so that you can quickly find them again when you need them. Even in
this computer age, preserving your family history requires a well maintained filing
system. The system needs to be:
• Simple
• Easy to maintain
• Flexible
• Inexpensive
• Well organized
• Understandable to future
generations
The following steps will help you begin to organize your family records and documents.
• Step 1. Gather together items you already have that give genealogy
information. Find a place that you can put a simple box to place genealogically
related documents, pictures, letters, and so forth as you find them. Make quick
notes or lists of items that other family members might have in their possession
and place them in the box. The purpose of this box is to have one place to find all
your unorganized genealogy.
• Step 2. Fill in a pedigree chart with as much information as you can. Write
down your name and the names of your parents and grandparents. Include birth,
marriage and death dates and places if you know them. Add any information
about your great grandparents and other ancestors further back.
• Step 3. Divide up the items you found by the family surnames of your
ancestors and place in temporary containers. Label temporary containers
such as shoe boxes or manila envelopes with the surnames or last names on
your pedigree chart. Depending on how much information you have, you may
have several containers. Sort what you have gathered, putting items related to a
surname into the container labeled with that surname. For example, have one
container labeled with your father’s father’s last name (one of your two
grandfathers), and put items about that grandfather and his family into it. Make
sure to use your grandmothers’ maiden names as the surname on their
containers. Example:
Box for Father’s Father
Box for Father’s Mother
Box for Mother’s Father
Box for Mother’s Mother

2
• Step 4. Update your Pedigree Charts and Family Group Records. Look at the
items in each container and see if you can find additional information about birth,
marriages and deaths of your ancestors. Using the information you find, add any
additional names, dates and places to your pedigree chart. Make family group
records for each family on your pedigree chart. If you have a computer genealogy
management program, such as PAF, Family Tree Maker, Legacy, or another
program, enter your family information into it.
Setting Up The Filing System
The thirteen steps given below for setting up a filing system were developed and refined
over a period of years by Mary E.V. Hill. While this system is not the only way to organize
family history information, it is inexpensive, simple to use, not hard to set up, and has
proven to be very helpful to many people who have used it.
This system sets up file folders for the families on your pedigree lines, and also shows you
how to file information about cousins and other relations. Pedigree charts are divided into
four colors, based on the lines of your four grandparents. Dividing your pedigree by color
helps make it clear which line a family belongs to. For each family on your pedigree, a
family file folder holds documents and a printed copy of that family’s group record.
Don’t think you have to do all the steps outlined below in one day. Pace yourself. Check
each step off as you do it. Discover for yourself the good feeling of knowing you have a
system to keep your genealogy records organized for your own benefit and to hand on to
your posterity.
Step 1. Gather the supplies for your filing system. This system works best if you gather
together the following basic supplies:
• File Boxes - Minimum 2. The boxes should have lids. The boxes need to be strong -
preferably made of plastic and with horizontal inner ridges or groves for hanging lettersize
hanging files.
• Hanging File Folders - Minimum 4 of each color. Letter-size hanging file folders in blue,
green, red and yellow. They come with 1/3 and 1/5 cut slots, which has to do with the
size of the plastic tab. Choose the 1/5 cut which works best with this system. Hanging
file folders keep the manila folders from slipping down in the file box.
• Hanging File Folders - Generic standard green, 1 box of 25. Hanging file folders, lettersize
in the generic standard green color, 1/5 cut.
• Manila Folders – 1 box of 50. 1/3 cut tabs assorted, with reinforced tops to last through
heavy use. Use 1/3 cut so that the labels will fit on the folder. (1/5 cut will not give you
the room to place the label on it and write down the information.) Paying a little more for
reinforced tops will be well worth it because you won't have to redo your work down the
road in a few years.
• Pens: Ultra fine point, felt tip, black permanent ink. They must be permanent ink for use
with both labels and charts.

3
• Highlighter Pens - 1 each of the 4 colors: Light blue, light green, yellow and pink (don't
use red because it is too dark.) They come in packs of 4 and also contain orange which
may be used in the color system. Colored pencils also work.
• Labels For The File Folders – 1 package each of the 4 colors. You will need labels in
blue, green, red, and yellow. They should be permanent labels with adhesive backs or
you may have to replace them over time. The labels should be 1/3 cut to mach the
Manila folder cut.
• Labels (Dots) – 1 package. You will need labels in blue, green, red, and yellow. They
should be permanent adhesive backed or you may have to replace them over time.
• Lined Paper - As needed. Acid free paper will extend the life of your notes. Good quality
photocopy paper is almost acid free.
• Carrying Case – Optional. This is a letter size carrying case to be used to take selected
files with you for research projects. This case needs to be strong; preferably made of
plastic, with horizontal inner ridges or groves for hanging letter-size hanging files, and a
hinged lid and a handle.
• Large Wall–Sized Pedigree Chart – Optional. Large pedigree chart helps you to see
clearly your family lines. They are available from commercial genealogy suppliers. The
circle chart works well with color-coding.
Step 2. Label the tab of a standard green hanging file folder “Pedigree Charts”. At the
front of your file box put a complete set of your family pedigree charts. Print a complete set
of all your pedigree charts, for all lines. Start with yourself. If your computer program allows
you to, print an index of your pedigree names, print and include the index in the file folder
with pedigree charts. This complete set of your pedigree charts will act as a map for you
family files.
Step 3. Study the circled 5-generation pedigree chart. This pedigree chart is a crucial
key to understanding how the color coding of family files works in the filing system. (see p. 10)
Step 4. Separate the lines of your 4 grandparents by color. Print a copy of your own 5generation
pedigree chart, starting with yourself as number one. You are the first
generation; your 16 great-great grandparents are the fifth generation.
Using the sample circled 5-generation Pedigree Chart as a guide, draw colored
circles around each family on your 5-generation pedigree chart. Color code the lines as
follows:
• BLUE: Circle all families who are ancestors of your father’s father
• GREEN: Circle all families who are ancestors of your father’s mother
• RED: Circle all families who are ancestors of your mother’s father
• YELLOW: Circle all families who are ancestors of your mother’s mother
Step 5. Put 16 hanging files into your box. Put 16 hanging file folders in the file box. Use
four of each color, grouping them together by color.
Step 6. Label the colored hanging file folders with your family surnames. Label each
colored hanging file folder with the surname of one of your 16 great-great grandparents.
There will be 4 surnames in each color. Follow the colored circles on your 5-generation
pedigree chart to know which surname to put within each color.

4
• Write one surname on each hanging file tab (plastic tabs come with the colored
hanging file folders). Use a permanent black-ink ultra fine point pen for writing the
names.
• Hang the files in alphabetical order by color. Put the blues alphabetically in one
group, the greens in another group, the reds in their group and the yellows in their
group.
• If you don’t know the last name of any of your 16 great-great grandparents, label
as many of the folders as you can and leave the other folders in the file for future
use.
Tip 1. Your great-great grandparents are the people who are listed with the
numbers 16 to 31 on your 5-generation pedigree chart.
Step 7. Put a highlighted copy of your 5-generation pedigree chart in each of the
colored folders. Print 16 more copies of your 5-generation pedigree chart, with you as
number one on the chart. Using one of the pedigree charts, highlight the names of all
persons with the same surname, using the color assigned to that surname. File the
highlighted pedigree chart in its surname hanging file folder.
• Repeat the process of highlighting a surname line and filing the pedigree chart in its
surname hanging file folder for each of the 16 surnames of your great-great
grandparents. These charts will be used as guides or maps for each of the surname
folders. Highlighting the surnames on the pedigree chart makes it quick and easy to
see how that surname fits into your complete family pedigree.
• Tip 2. How do I handle the pedigree line of a surname that goes back one or
more generations beyond the first 5 generations? Print all the pedigree charts for
that surname, starting from the person who has that surname on your 5generation
pedigree chart. File them in the front hanging file of that surname,
together with the highlighted 5-generation pedigree chart. Print and file pedigrees
for all surnames that go beyond the first 5-generation pedigree chart.
• Tip 3. What if I have two persons with the same grandparent on my pedigree
lines? If two persons on your pedigree lines prove to have the same grandparent,
put a note in one of their files saying that this particular line will be continued in
the file of the other person. From then on, just follow the one pedigree line
because they will be identical. This situation happens when cousins marry.
Step 8. Set up a manila file folder for each family on your 5-generation pedigree chart.
Print a copy of the family group record of each of the families on your 5-generation pedigree
chart.
• If you can identify all of these families, including the parents of your great-great
grandmothers, you will be setting up a total of 23 manila family folders.
• Once the system is set up, you can add additional family folders as you find more
information.
Using your 5-generation pedigree chart as a guide, decide what color each of the
families should be filed under. Write or mark the color on the top of the family group record.
Set up manila folders for each of the families by putting a colored label on the file folder tab.

5
Match the label color to the color of each family group record. Be sure to used labels with
permanent adhesive.
On the label write:
• The surnames of the husband and wife in capital letters, followed by their first
names
• A small ‘b’ for birth and the year of their births
• If one of them was married more than once, write “m2” or “m3” for which ever
marriage this is. The label only gives enough information to identify this family.
• Other information about them can be found on their family group record in the file
folder.
Colored Strip
BURTON, Paul b. 1841 M2
HILL, Jane b, 1845
• Tip 4. Why do I want to set up family file folders for the parents of my great-great
grandmothers now? If you are going to have a family file folder for each of the 16
surnames in the fifth generation on your 5-generation pedigree chart, you are
going to have to find the names of the parents of your great-great grandmothers.
Then set up file folders for these 8 families. Your 8 great-great grandmothers will
appear as daughters in these families. If you want to you can do the same for
your 8 great-great grandfathers now. If you also do the parents of your 8 greatgreat
grandfathers, you will have a total of 31 family file folders in your system.
• Tip 5. Where do I find the information to make family file folders for the parents of
my great-great grandmothers? To find the parents of your great-great
grandmothers (numbers 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27, 29, and 31 on your pedigree
chart) either go to the set of pedigree charts you printed for your whole pedigree,
or the charts you prepared in Tip 2. Find the pedigree chart that shows the 6 th
generation for a great-great grandmother. That pedigree chart will give you the
names of the parents of that great-great grandmother. Do the same for each of
your 8 great-great grandmothers.
Step 9. File the manila family folders. Place the manila family folders in hanging folders,
matching the color of the label on the manila family folder to the color of the hanging file
folder.
• Group the family folders by color and then by surname. Put all of the “blue”
Burton’s together, the entire “yellow” Hill’s together.
• Arrange the family folders in alphabetical order by the husband’s first name.
• Put family folders behind the surname hanging file that holds the highlighted 5generation
pedigree chart in it.

6
Blue Green Red Yellow
Step 10. A family folder holds the following items.
• The family group record of the family. If there was more than one marriage, make
a separate folder with a family group for each other marriage.
• Documents you have already gathered, which belong with this family.
Add the following items to a family folder, as you need them:
• To Do List – a list of questions about this family which you want to find answers
for
• Research Log – for keeping a record of sources you look at about this family
• Timeline – for a chronology of this family’s life events
• Maps pertaining to where this family lived
• Research notes taken
• New documents found
• Family group records for children, as parents with their own children, who are not
the direct-line child (see Tip 6 for more information)
Include all documents from the time of a couple’s marriage. Documents that pertain
to events prior to their marriage should be filed in the folders of their parents, such as birth
certificates and baptism certificates.
Separate folders for children are especially useful when tracing descendants. These
folders will also be useful for keeping track of collateral relatives if you choose to trace these
lines.
Tip 6. How do I file children of a family other than my direct-line ancestor? Create a
family group record for each non direct-line child, as the parent of a family. Include his or
her spouse and their children. File the family group records of non direct-line children in
their own manila folders behind the direct line parent’s folder. NOTE: They are not part of
the alphabetical filing system, but are filed right behind their parents. Put a colored dot in
the upper right hand corner of the family group records of non direct-line children so that
you can quickly see they are non-direct line. The color of the dot should be the same as the
color of the parent’s line.
Step 11. Set up other useful files.
1. Holding Files
• Set up holding files to store items temporarily. Genealogists acquire lots of
paper in the form of documents, e-mails, letters, notes, photographs and maps
that need to be analyzed, used and filed. But it isn’t always possible to file
items immediately after finding new information.

7
• Use holding files for storing information that pertains to a surname until you
can analyze, use and file the items. Place the holding file right behind the
surname hanging file with the pedigree charts, and before the family files. Do
this for any surname where you have many documents and see the need.
• When you have a large number of documents for a surname, it helps to create
two holding files for that surname. Set up one folder as a temporary storage
file and the other to permanently store documents that have a great deal of
family information in them. An example might be the parish registers of a
church where your ancestors of that surname lived for 200 years. Be sure to
go back and use the documents stored in the holding files!
• Tip 7. Photographs should be stored in archival quality holders in 3-ring
binders for long-term preservation.
2. Locality Files
• Set up locality files for places (locations) where you are researching.
Genealogists often find documents that contain: information about more than
one family from the same place and documents from one place which have
several families with your same surname.
• You may not know yet how you are related to these people. Records such as
a census index of your family surnames, a map, a list of marriages from a
town or county, and indexes to the wills in an area, or a local history can be
stored in a file names for that locality.
• Information from these documents can be added to your computer genealogy
management program with a source reference and notes taken from the
documents filed in your locality file.
• Add locality files as you need them. Set up locality files for countries, states or
provinces, counties, cities, parishes, or towns as you find the need.
• Use standard green hanging files for the locality files.
• Put these hanging files in the second file box you purchased.
3. Help Files
• Set up help files, as needed, for tools such as language aids, religion, or
handwriting. Put the help files, grouped together, in the front of the locality
box.
Step 12. Expand to other boxes, as needed. When one of your color sections gets too
big for your box, move all files of that color into another box. As you find more information,
you will eventually end up with boxes for each color - sometimes with several boxes for a
color!
Step 13. How do I keep the basic file folder system updated and useful? Once you get
your basic file folder system set up, it is important to realize that your filing system needs to
be treated like a living creature; it needs to be “fed, watered and loved!”
• Set up a simple “In Box”. Any box you have will do. Place every new item
(documents, e-mails, correspondence, etc.) in the “In Box” until you have time to
file the items in the holding files, family folders or locality files. Take few minutes
every day to look over a couple of items and decide where each item needs to be

8
filed. Write the name of the family the document pertains to, or the locality file
where the document should be filed, in the upper right hand corner of the
document, i.e.: “File: Burton, Paul” or “File: Cumberland County, New Jersey”.
For family documents, you can also put a color mark in the corner by the person’s
name to remind yourself which color the document should be filed under. Make a
rule with yourself that you will file at least one item a day into your basic file folder
system.
• Work on researching one family at a time. Think one family’s research problem
through and make a To Do List of questions you want to research and find
answers for.
• Do the research needed to answer the questions on your To Do List.
• Record on the Research Log the names of records you search and whether the
record had information that was helpful or not.
• Label the documents you find, i.e. “File: Burton, Paul”.
• File the documents.
• Enter information about individuals that you find into your computer genealogy
management program. Enter documentation into Sources and make explanations
in Notes.
• Write up a brief summary report of what you’ve found concerning this family. Use
a word processor. When new ideas come to you about the research problem,
rename the summary report in your computer files and add to or change it. Do
not just change the old report. The old report and new report, side by side, help
you see where you’ve been and where you are now headed in your research.
• File printed copies of summary reports in the family folders involved.
• As you continue in this process, you will discover that step by step your
genealogy research questions are being looked at, analyzed, worked through,
and solved. What a satisfaction that is!
How To Add New Surnames
In the course of your research, you will find information that will add new family lines
to your pedigree. To add this information to the file:
• Make new hanging surname folders for the new surnames
• Add highlighted pedigree charts to the folders to see how these people are related to
you
• Make new other family group records and file them for each of these new families
Three Ring Binders (Notebooks) - Setting up your filing system in Notebooks
After you set up a basic file folder system to organize your direct and collateral family lines,
you may want to supplement the basic system with binders for various special needs.
• Organize by surname

9
One method of organizing, instead of the basic file folder system, is to set up a
separate binder of each of the main surnames on your pedigree. Family group
records, pedigree charts, notes, and photocopies of documents can be 3-hole
punched and filed in binders. Sheet protectors (archival quality or acid free) allow
you to store items without having to 3-hole punch them.
If you trace the family line of a surname back to the early 1800s, and especially if you
research the families of aunts, uncles and cousins, the binder will soon become too
full. Binders are also too bulky to carry or store easily. Many researchers have found
it better to set up a basic file folder system and then supplement the basic system
with binders for various special needs such as original documents, histories, and
photographs.
• Original documents, histories and photographs
Three-ring binders are a good method for keeping valuable original documents,
family histories, and photographs. You may want to number items and create an
index for them. You should store valuable original documents in sheet protectors
(archival quality or acid free). Do not carry these items with you when doing
research. Put photocopies of original documents into family file folders in the basic
file folder system and take these file folders with you in a carrying case when you are
doing research.
• Challenging research problems
Use a 3-ring binder to organize information about a single, challenging family history
research problem. Make dividers for pedigree charts for the branch of the family you are
researching, family group records of the families concerned, To Do Lists for each family,
Research Logs for each family, printouts from the Family History Library Catalog, notes
you have taken and documents organized by record type. Sheet protectors allow you to
store documents without having to 3-hole punch them. Once the research problem is
resolved, type the information about individuals into your computer genealogy program.
Document your findings in Sources and make necessary explanations in Notes in the
computer program. Either leave the binder intact, or place the information into your
basic file folder system.
• Binder of a family history line
After you complete research on a family line, you can compile a binder that includes
family group records, pedigree charts, documents, family histories and stories and
photographs. Such a binder is almost like a book, but only one copy is usually made.
The binder can become the precursor to a book and makes a nice gift to a family
member.

10
Questions?
As you set up the basic filing system, you may have some additional questions.
Answers to some of the more commonly asked questions are on the Internet at
www.familyrootsorganizer.com under the tab “Q&A”. If you still have questions, use the
“Ask An Expert Form” at the bottom of the “Q&A” page.

Getting the Most out of the Family
History Library Catalog: Tips and
Tricks from a Pro
Dan Poffenberger AG ®
poffenbergerds@familysearch.org
Have you ever searched the Family History Library Catalog (FHLC) for the record that is going to have
the baptism or will you are looking for only to put a film on the reader and realize it isn’t at all what you
thought it was? The purpose of this course is to help you have more success at finding the right record
more often and more quickly.
CONTEXT
Finding the right record in the FHLC can be daunting for a variety of reasons. The catalog was made by
computer programmers with information from book and microfilm catalogers. Catalogers follow specific
rules for how information is listed and how call numbers are determined. Computer programmers have
their own preconceived ideas of how the catalog should appear and work. The catalog was not
necessarily made be genealogists for genealogists. And . . . the catalog changes.
KEY THINGS TO CONSIDER
When looking for something in the catalog, it is important to consider the following:
• There is no substitute for trying different searches.
• If you look at the catalog the same way you’ve always looked, then you’ll see what you’ve
always seen.
• Never assume.
PLACE-NAMES SEARCH
Perhaps the best part of the latest version of the catalog is that it uses “starts with” capability. The
following tips and tricks are helpful:
• The catalog uses “starts with” capability but still requires you to spell the place-name correctly.
The catalogers have a standard reference they use to determine the “correct” spelling of a placename.
Type in a part of the place-name and review the results. This may help you find your place
when the spelling is difficult and you may find the same place in the catalog more than once.
• Never forget that a place is only in the catalog if the Family History Library has a record directly
tied to it. The library doesn’t have records for every town. Also, a record related to more than one
town will likely be found under a higher jurisdiction, depending on the discretion of the cataloger.
Some excellent information for a town may be found at the county or state or country level.
• Less is usually more. You may eliminate the place you are looking for by putting in too much
information. Don’t assume you know the jurisdictions used by the catalogers.
• Cities with more than one church or parish may have a separate catalog entry for each.
• When selecting a place, a list of topics and sometimes notes is given. Always review the list of all
topics. Sometimes the topic you think something should be found under is not where the record

you need is identified. For example, by selecting “Church Records—Indexes,” you may miss an
excellent marriage index found under “Church Records” only. Browse related topics.
LAST NAMES SEARCH
The following tips and tricks are most helpful:
• The only surnames listed are those deemed relevant by the catalogers.
• Use the filters on the left side of the screen to find digital and copies that can be ordered to a
Family History Center
TITLES SEARCH
The following tips and tricks are most helpful:
• This search acts as a “keyword” search for titles
AUTHOR INFORMATION SEARCH
Here are the best tips or tricks related to Author Search:
• The catalogers follow the source exactly in determining the name of the author.
• Typing just the author’s surname will usually get you the best results. For example: Jeremy
Gibson has authored many guides useful to English research. His works are found in the FHLC
under the names of Gibson, J.S.W. and Gibson, Jeremy. His full name, Gibson, Jeremy Sumner
Wycherly, is also listed but refers you to Gibson, J.S.W.
• Pay attention to how authors or groups responsible for records in your area of interest are listed as
you do your place search. Some government collections can be hard to find using “Place Search”
because they are at the national level. Learn the catalog “author,” and use Author Search, instead.
SUBJECTS SEARCH
This search uses the United States Library of Congress subject headings even though the Family History
Library uses a modified Dewey Decimal system for cataloging. These aren’t very intuitive. The best tips
and tricks are:
• Try different subjects. You’ll learn how to find subjects by trying different words.
• This is an excellent way to find “how-to” and historical, cultural, and group information.
CALL NUMBERS SEARCH
The call number search is for books only. It is most helpful if you understand how the book call
numbers are assigned.
For example, the call number for England is 942. For Middlesex County in England, it is 942.1 and for
London in Middlesex County, it is 942.1/L1. The “L1” stands for London because it was the first “L”
town in Middlesex to be catalogued.
The catalog will not let you use this search to find all books for a country, but it may for a county, and it
will for a city. Another example: If you know that the book call number is 974.45 for Essex County,
Massachusetts, you can find all books specific to that county by using the Call Number search and typing
974.45.
This can be even more helpful if you understand that the letters assigned to each subject. For example, the
call number for Dublin, Ireland, is 941.83/D1. The catalog designation for church records is “K.” By
typing “941.83/D1[space]K”, you will get a list of books dealing with Dublin church records. This
search is case sensitive.
Other common catalog designation letters include:
A—Guides to archives and libraries

B—Serials and society publications
E—Place-names, maps, directories
H—Histories
K—Church records
R—Land and property
S—Probate records
U—Occupations and company records
V—Vital records and cemeteries
W—Migration and immigration/emigration
X—Census
There are sub-classifications and many more subjects not identified here. Also, if a record has more than
one subject, it may be difficult to pick the right letter. It is usually best not to put the lowercase letter after
the record category unless you have an exact call number.
This is great for books and maps at the Family History Library.
FILM NUMBERS SEARCH
Many times a patron will come to the desk because they can’t find a film or because they don’t believe
the film has the record they expected.
The best tips or tricks for a film or fiche search are:
• The film or fiche search is excellent for helping patrons to find films or to find information
on a particular film as well as when working with extremely large collections.
• The Film/Fiche search is an underused gem, especially for large collections. After digging
through a large collection to get a film number, keep the number and use it in the future.
• If a film or fiche cannot be found in the drawer at the Family History Library, use this search to
find the film notes; the location of a film will be next to the film number. Many films have
multiple items. Use this search to review the items on a film. Also, by paying attention to the item
number, you can more quickly find the record you want and not waste time looking at irrelevant
records.
• The “Physical” section of a title will list how many films make up a record. Only 100 films are
listed on a screen. Use the “Get film notes from number” box to jump ahead in a record to find
the film you are looking for.
• Also, the Research Outlines published by the Family History Department list the film numbers
for major collections for any given area. Using this search get you the information on a specific
record more quickly.
KEYWORDS (BETA) SEARCH
The following tips and tricks are most helpful:
• The keyword search only looks at the titles, places, authors, notes, series, and subject fields.
• I find this search most helpful when I can think of a less common keyword, such as an unusual
place-name. For example, the notes list townland names for the 1911 Irish Census. You could do
a place search for the townland but not find anything, yet do a keyword search and find the
census entry because the townland name is in the notes.
• Use Keyword Search to find other records relating to a place if the sought-after record is not
included within Place Search topics.

TOPIC DETAILS
After identifying your place and a topic of interest for that place, you will click on the topic and see the
Topic Details screen. Understanding what to look for here can save you lots of time. Some tips and
tricks include:
• If you are looking for an original parish register, look at the author rather than the title first. The
author will be a church organization rather than a name. By examining the author you can easily
weed out the non-original records. You can also more easily identify the religious affiliation you
are seeking.
• Does the range of years make sense for the record you are looking at? Some of the cataloging is
not as precise as we would like. Look at the record detail to be sure the desired years and events
are what you need.
• Catalog entries for microfilm numbers under 0,900,000 tend to be less precise.
CATALOG ENTRIES
The Title Details screen typically displays the Title, Statement of Responsibility, Authors, Notes,
Subjects, Format, Language, Publication, and Physical Description information. It may also display
summary contents, alternate titles, subject class, other reference information, or a link to a digital copy. A
link to film notes is also found when a title has been microfilmed.
Besides the title, the most useful information is:
• View Film Notes: It is not uncommon for patrons to find the title and print the page not realizing
that the item is on microfilm only and that the “View Film Notes” link has to be clicked to get the
film/fiche numbers.
• Authors: The link there can be used to find other sources from the same author. Remember that
the author can be a county court, church, or other organization.
• Notes: A note can include anything from the date a county was organized to when the courthouse
burned. It may also describe limitations to a source. Review the notes to better understand a
record when searching it. Also, if a family history has been digitized by BYU, the link will be
found here.
• Subject field: Can give you clues about what subject to use to find related material.
• Format field: Helps you understand what you will be looking at. Is it an original record or a
transcript? Is it on book or film or both?
• Publication: It’s often helpful to know when an item was published or filmed. If a history was
published in the 1800s, it may be more relevant than one published recently. Also, if it is a
government or archive record and it was filmed in the 1950s, it may not be as easy to read as one
filmed more recently.
• Physical Description: Pay attention to how many pages something is. If it is a book of marriage
records and is only 12 pages long, the source may not be what you think it is.
• Subject class: The subject class can be important because it will help you find books on the same
subject. The subject class has a precise meaning and can be used when doing a call number
search. See the section titled “Call Number Search”
When printing an entry, the printable version may not be the format you want. It is more concise, but you
have to pay particular attention when printing out a list of film numbers to make sure you know which
information is applied to a film.
© 2011 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this document may be reprinted, posted online, or reproduced in any form for any purpose without the prior written permission of the
publisher.

Dutch Family History Research on the Internet
FamilySearch
Baerbel K. Johnson, AG ®
E-Mail : johnsonbx@familysearch.org
The Internet is a wonderful tool for Dutch genealogical research. Indexes to civil registration and church
records, gazetteers, maps, postcards, and photographs are available on various archive Web sites.
GENERAL RESEARCH WEB SITES
http://www.genlias.nl - GenLias is a genealogical collection created by the Rijksarchiefdienst (National
Archive). It currently contains primarily indexes of town civil registration records beginning 1811 for
various provinces. An introduction and a search interface in English are available. On the home page,
click on the word “English” found on the top right hand side.
http://www.cbg.nl - Central Bureau voor Genealogie – This is the equivalent of a national clearing
house for genealogical information. Some English introductory pages are available. Holdings can be
searched for a surname by entering the name in the search field “zoeken in Catalogus” on the home
page. A color coded page shows which categories of resources are available for this name. [Green
button- hits found, grey button – nothing found]. Resources include printed genealogies in the CBG
library, funeral cards and – notices, pictures, and contact information of others researching the
surname, among others.
http://www.archiefnet.nl/ - web site for the Dutch archive system. Click on the province in which you
want to search, and a list of all the archives, by type and town, comes up with automatic links. If
searching for a specific locality, click on “Nederland” in the top left and choose either “plaats” (place) or
“provincie” (province). English is available for part of the site.
http://www.geneaknowhow.net/ – This site includes research tips, maps, and other reference material
for research in Belgium and the Netherlands. In addition, there are links to Internet resources and
bibliographies of other digital source material. Basic instructions in English are available. To get to the
digital sources, click on the folder titled “Digital Resources Netherlands and Belgium”. The left-hand
navigation bar includes general information, passenger lists, and then names each province in both
countries with the sections: ”Internet” [lists links to various internet resources for towns in this province],
“bbs” [bulletin board systems], and “disk/cd-r” [material available on diskettes or CD-Rom, either free or
for purchase]. Abbreviations are explained under “Explanations” at the bottom of the left-hand bar.
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~nldwgw/ - The Netherlands GenWeb project. The site has links to
several state archive Web sites.
http://leidenarchief.nl/home/collecties/verhalen/bladeren-door-blaeu/blaeu - Dutch maps from the
1650’s, drawn by Joannes Blaeu. The maps are very detailed and can be downloaded and printed. This
Web site has the entire Blaeu atlas with text and maps.

http://www.atlas1868.nl/ - Kuijper’s Gemeenteatlas from 1868 digitized. It includes over 1200 maps of
provinces and municipalities.
http://www.hisgis.nl/ - Historical-Geographical Information System. Currently the site contains
information for the provinces of Drenthe, Friesland, Gelderland, Groningen, Limburg, Overijssel, and
Utrecht, and the Netherlands in general. Cadastral maps based on an 1832 survey can be enlarged to
show great detail. The user can choose the features to be displayed (community boundaries, parishes,
churches etc.)
http://www.nationaalarchief.nl – Web site of the National Archive. It has an English interface. If that is
not working, click on “uitgebreid zoeken” (broad search).
EXAMPLES OF CITY- AND STATE ARCHIVES WITH EXTENSIVE ONLINE INDEXES
Note: all of these sites and more can be accessed indirectly through http://www.archiefnet.nl
http://www.gemeentearchief.rotterdam.nl/ - The Web site of the Rotterdam city archive includes a
“digital pedigree” section, where all the church records through 1811 for greater Rotterdam, as well as
some civil registration records, have been indexed. Click on “stamboom” on top, which leads to the
“Digitale Stamboom”, or “digital pedigree”. If you click on “English” in the top right first, the table of
contents for the digital pedigree will come up in English. Click on “Zoeken” to get to the search
interface.
https://stadsarchief.amsterdam.nl/archieven/archiefbank/indexen/index.nl.html – Includes indexes and
images of various sources, including “persoonskarten” and some baptisms and burials. The English
interface does not allow access to as many databases as the Dutch one. On the “indexes” page each
record group is followed by “zoek” [search index], “voorbeeld” [shows an annotated sample record], and
“handleiding” [user instructions for the database]. Indexes are available online; scans of the actual
records can be bought with a credit card.
http://www.drentsarchief.nl/ - link to “Drenlias” under “genealogie”, emigrant database, photographs,
maps etc., and
http://www.drenlias.nl/ - indexes to church and civil registration records of Drenthe province, with
abstracts
http://www.tresoar.nl/ - Frisian Center for Family and Local History. Under “Voorouders” (ancestors) you
will find indexes to several record types, including church records and civil registration, for the time
periods before and after 1811.
http://www.groningerarchieven.nl/content.php?hoofd_id=4 – Groningen Provincial Archive; includes
indexes to many pre-1811 parish registers, images of deaths 1933-1952 and births 1883-1892 under
“onderzoek”.
http://www.archief.delft.nl – The Web site of the Delft City Archive, which also includes a section of
indexed church records through 1812 for Delft and Pijnacker. The archive is also in the process of
posting the civil registration records of Delft and the surrounding towns.

http://database.zeeuwsarchief.nl - the Zeeland state archive web site. A link to “English” is on found on
the bottom right front page. The genealogical data base ISIS includes indexes to church records, civil
registration, emigrant lists, and other sources.
http://www.historischcentrumoverijssel.nl/ - Overijssel archive; includes indexed civil registration
indexes and a large collection of historic picture post cards. For indexes, click on “zoeken en finden”,
then “Databanken”; for maps click on either map set under “woonomgeving”; for the photograph
collection click on “beeldbank” [picture collection]
www.leidenarchief.nl – The Leiden city archive Web site includes a search for “personen”” [persons],
which will eventually include all persons recorded in the church-and civil registration registers.. The
search is by name. To see which records are included, click on “Zoeken in de genealogische
Bestanden” in the red field on the bottom right.
http://archief.schiedam.nl –City Archive of Schiedam. Genealogical material is found under the tab
“stamboom”. You can request scans of records without charge, and they will be sent to you by e-mail.
http://www.bhic.nl/ - Noord-Brabant State Archive genealogical website for northeastern Noord-Brabant;
go to “mijn stamboom achterhalen”
http://www.stadsarchief.breda.nl/index.php?option=com_genealogie_zoeken&Itemid=7 – Breda City
Archive Web site, genealogical section.
http://www.gelderland-page.nl - General information Web site with links to instruction, sources, maps
etc. for genealogical research in Gelderland.
GENEALOGICAL SOCIETY WEBSITES
www.hollandsociety.org – Web site of the Holland Society of New York
http://drenthe.ngv.nl - Dutch Genealogical Society –Section of Drenthe
http://www.veluwsegeslachten.nl/ - Veluwse Geslachten Genealogical Society Web site. The “Weluwe”
is a cultural district that includes the following municipalities: Apeldoorn, Arnhem, Barneveld, Brummen,
Ede, Elburg, Epe, Ermelo, Harderwijk, Hattem, Heerde, Hoevelaken, Nunspeet, Nijkerk, Oldebroek,
Putten, Renkum, Rheden, Rozendaal, Scherpenzeel, Voorst en Wageningen. The society has
published extensively.
http://www.nljewgen.org – Web site of the Jewish Genealogical Society of the Netherlands.

DUTCH WEB SITES- VOCABULARY LIST
This list includes words and phrases used on commonly used Dutch genealogical web-sites. It is not a substitute
for a dictionary, but should help the user successfully negotiate the World Wide Web in search of family history
information. Many archives are currently indexing the civil registration and church records in their holdings
and putting the indexes on the Internet. They are a gold mine for the genealogist!
Aanmelden Log in as a registered visitor
Advocaten Lawyers
Afkortingen Abbreviations
Bestellen To order
Bezoekers forum Visitors – forum
Bidprentjes Funeral cards
Boeken Books
Bouwtekeningen Blueprints
Bronnen Source
Catalogus Catalog
Centraal Bureau voor Genealogie Central Office for Genealogy
Collecties Collections
Digitale stamboom Digital pedigree
Discussie Discussion forum
Echtscheidingen Divorces
Familie advertenties Family newspaper clippings
Familie dossiers Family files
Familie drukwerk Family publication
Familie geschiedenis Family history
Familie wapens Family crests
Geboorten Births
Handleidingen Instructions
Huwelijken Marriages
Inschrijven Register as a new visitor
Kwartaalblad Quarterly
Laatste nieuws Latest news
Landverhuizers Emigrants
Leenregisters Land records
Lijst genealogische onderzoekers List of professional researchers
Lopend onderzoek Continuing research [online addresses of researchers
willing to exchange information]
Lopende On-going
Naamsaanneming Records dealing with taking on a fixed surname
Nieuwe uitgaven New editions
Onderwijs Instruction
Onderzoek Research
Over het CBG About the CBG

Overige adressen Other addresses
Overlijden Deaths
Overzicht site Site overview
Persoonskaarten, persoonslijsten Cards and lists of individuals who died since 1938
Postadres Mailing address
Reeks- en onderzoeksgidsen Source- and research guides
Regiogemeenten Regional communities
Stamboom onderzoek Pedigree research
Tarieven Price list for charges
Terug Back
Trefwoord Search term
Uitgaven Publications
Uittreksels Extracts
Veel voorkomende vragen Frequently asked questions
Verstrekking Delivery of information
Verwante wetenschapen Related sciences
Volkstelling Census
Voorouders Ancestors
Vrienden Friends (members of the CBG)
Wachtwoord Password
Zoeken Search
Zoek resultaat Search results
Zoek vraag Query
© October 2011 FamilySearch International. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reprinted or reproduced in
any form for any purpose without prior written permission.

Family History Library • 35 North West Temple Street • Salt Lake City, UT 84150-3400 USA
Netherlands Historical Background
History
Effective family research requires some understanding of the historical events that may have
affected your family and the records about them. Learning about wars, governments, laws,
migrations, and religious trends may help you understand political boundaries, family movements,
and settlement patterns. These events may have led to the creation of records such as land and
military documents that mention your family.
Your ancestors will become more interesting to you if you also use histories to learn about the
events they may have participated in. For example, by using a history you might learn about the
events that occurred in the year your great-grandparents were married.
During the 15th century the Netherlands had a population of nearly 750,000 people, most of
whom made their living by farming or fishing. Only about 7 percent of the people lived in towns.
By the 17th century the picture had changed completely. The country had a population of about
two million, with about 45 percent residing in the towns. In the provinces bordering the seacoast,
many people were employed in industry and the trades while the people of the inland provinces
were engaged primarily in agriculture.
In the 18th century there was a definite decline in the trades and industry. This, in turn, caused
high unemployment, and public assistance became a burden. Town governments sought to
combat the problem through various statutes aimed at curtailing the movement of the poor.
Below are some key dates and events in the history of the Netherlands.
1576 The provinces of Holland and Zeeland were unified. The 17 provinces of the
Netherlands (north and south) were also unified into what was called the
Pacification of Ghent.
1579 The southern provinces broke with the Pacification of Ghent. The northern
provinces formed the Union of Utrecht.
1579 The southern provinces broke with the Pacification of Ghent; the northern
provinces formed the Union of Utrecht.
1587 The Republic of the Seven United Netherlands was founded.
1648 The Peace of Munster ended the 80-year war for independence. The Dutch
Republic was officially recognized as a nation.
1685 The Edict of Nantes (a decree issued by Henry IV of France in 1598 that gave
political equality to the Huguenots) was revoked. Consequently, there was a
heavy influx of Huguenots into the Netherlands (by 1686 there were 75,000),
who founded many French Reformed Church congregations.
1794 The Republic of the Seven United Netherlands was overthrown, and the
Batavian Republic, patterned after the French republic, was established. Zeeuws
Flanders, Flanders, and Dutch areas in Limburg were annexed to France.

Netherlands, Historical Background
1806 The Batavian Republic was dissolved, and the Kingdom of Holland was
established, with Louis Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon, as king.
1810 The Kingdom of Holland was dissolved, and the territory was annexed by the
French Empire.
1813 French troops left the country. Prince Willem VI of Orange–Nassau became King
Willem I, and a new constitution was adopted.
1815 The former Southern (or Austrian) Netherlands became part of the Kingdom of
the Netherlands.
1831 The people of the former Southern Netherlands rebelled and set up their own
government. This was the beginning of the Kingdom of Belgium.
1839 Belgium was recognized as an independent nation, and border disputes were
resolved. Limburg became a province of the Netherlands.
1840 The province of Noord–Holland was created by a division of the province of
Holland. The remaining part of the province of Holland later came to be known as
Zuid–Holland.
The Family History Library has many published national, regional, provincial, and local histories
for the Netherlands. You can find histories in the Family History Library Catalog under one of the
following:
EUROPE – HISTORY
NETHERLANDS – HISTORY
NETHERLANDS, [PROVINCE] – HISTORY
NETHERLANDS, [PROVINCE], [TOWN]– HISTORY
The following are only a few of the many historical sources that are available. Books with film
numbers can be ordered through local Family History Centers. Some may be found in major
research libraries.
Grattan, Thomas. Holland: The History of the Netherlands. New York: Peter Fenelon Collier,
1899. (FHL film 1181862 item 5; computer number 355947.)
Historical Background Affecting Genealogical Research in the Netherlands. Salt Lake City, Utah:
Genealogical Society of Utah, 1977. (FHL book 929.1 G286gs ser. C no. 32; fiche 6001722;
computer number 723335.) This work emphasizes religious minorities and emigration.
Kurian, George Thomas. The Benelux Countries. New York: [s.n.], 1989. (FHL book 949.3 H2k;
computer number 557579.)
Calendar Changes
The Gregorian calendar is the calendar commonly used in the world today. It is a correction of the
Julian calendar, which had been in use since A.D. 46. Leap years had been miscalculated in the
Julian calendar, so by 1582 the calendar was 10 days behind the solar year.
Brabant, Zeeland, and lands belonging to the States General (mostly Limburg) adopted the
Gregorian calendar on 14 December 1582. The days 15 December through 24 December 1582
were dropped to correct the calendar error. Holland adopted the calendar on 1 January 1583
(omitting 2 January through 11 January).
The last areas adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1700 and 1701. In the province of Gelderland
the Gregorian calendar was adopted 30 June 1700 (omitting 1 July through 11 July 1700), in
Utrecht and Overijssel on 30 November 1700 (omitting 1 December through 11 December 1700),
in Friesland and Groningen on 31 December 1700 (omitting 1 January through 11 January 1701),
and in Drenthe on 30 April 1701 (omitting 1 May through 11 May 1701).
Research Guidance
Version of Data: 02/15/01
2

Netherlands, Historical Background
Double Dating. When an area changed from Julian to Gregorian calendars, the first day of the
year changed to 1 January. Before the change the first day of the year was 25 March. Prechange
dates may be confusing. For example, before the change, 24 March 1565 was followed
by 25 March 1566. Many researchers record dates between 1 January and 24 March with two
years, using a technique called double dating. An example of a pre-change date using double
dating is 16 February 1573/1574.
Alternative Month Names. Sometimes you will find these old Dutch names for the months of the
year:
Louwmaand January
Sprokkelmaand February
Lentemaand March
Grasmaand April
Bloeimaand May
Zomermaand June
Hooimaand July
Oogstmaand August
Herfstmaand September
Wijnmaand October
Slachtmaand November
Wintermaand December
French Republican Calendar. During 1793 to 1805, when the French Empire under Napoleon
controlled parts of the Netherlands, another calendar was introduced. This calendar was based
on the founding of the French Republic, and it used a system of months unrelated to the regular
calendar. See the library publication French Republican Calendar Research Outline (34046) for
more information.
Research Guidance
Version of Data: 02/15/01
3

What’s New in German Research on the Internet?
FamilySearch
Baerbel K. Johnson, AG ®
Johnsonbx@familysearch.org
New material of interest to the genealogist appears on the Internet almost daily. More genealogical
societies, archives, and others post indexes and even images of records online. Link lists dealing with
German genealogy are found at
https://wiki.familysearch.org under “Germany – Digital Resources”
Germans settled in many areas around the world. Among others, the FamilySearch Wiki also includes
links to new online resources for the Czech Republic and the Germans from Russia.
Generally speaking, electronic translators are fairly effective in translating the tabs and basic
information presented on a Web site. Go to “translate.google.com”. Choose the “from” and “to”
languages and enter the Web address in the field provided. The Web site will then appear in its
translated form. Clicking on any part brings up the original foreign-language text.
RECORDS, IMAGES, AND INDEXES ONLINE
In addition to providing digital record finding tools, several archives have started to post selected record
groups on the Internet. Even though the availability of digitized parish registers online is still minimal,
several Websites now offer access to various sets of records, including the following:
• https://www.familysearch.org/ now has 22 record sets online, including:
1. Mecklenburg-Schwerin 1867, 1890, and 1900 Censuses, indexes with attached
images [in various states of completion]
2. An expanding collection of “miscellaneous city records”, which currently includes sets
from Dinkelsbühl and Nördlingen (Bavaria), Angermünde and Heegermühle
(Brandenburg), Bautzen, Dresden, and Freiberg (Saxony), and Albstadt
(Württemberg), covering various years
3. A collection of images [not indexed] titled “Darmstadt city records”, which includes
several sets of applications to receive citizenship in Darmstadt, some emigration
records [first volume set is laws and ordinances, the others are applications for
permission to emigrate], “Bevölkerungsverhältnisse” [population registers] includes
several volumes with vastly differing contents, including what looks like a 19 th century
list of move-ins which list the birth place,”Heimatscheine” [registers of “hometown
certifications” issued, may include name, father’s name, birth date, destination]
4. An image collection titled “Ludwigshafen Church Record Extractions and family
registers”; includes various collections and genealogies from the Ludwigshafen
region. Some “indexes” seem to be by first letter of the surname only.
5. Church record images, mostly from Pommern, filmed in the Greifswald State Archive

6. Indexed records for Baden and Posen19 th Century parish register duplicates, and
some Bremen passenger lists 1904-1914; extracted baptisms, marriages, deaths not
previously published. The indexed Baden church records now include links to the
respective images on the Baden-Wuerttemberg state archive Web site.
7. Minden, Westfalen – images of citizen list, census records
8. Schwäbisch-Hall, Wuerttemberg, “Probate records”, browse-able by year. The
collection also includes various financial records, such as tax and debtor lists.
• http://matricula-online.eu/ - International and ecumenical site dedicated to making digitized
church records available online; with an English interface. Conditions of use must be approved
each time the Web site is accessed. Available records include
1. Catholic parish registers of the Diocese of St. Pölten, the Oberöstereichisches
Landesarchiv, and the Archdiocese of Vienna, Austria
2. Diocese of Passau, Bavaria, digitized parish registers for about 200 parishes
3. Evangelical records of parishes in the Gelnhausen, Hessen-Nassau, Germany area, plus
metadata for all parishes by church district
4. Evangelical records of sixteen parishes in the Rhineland region, Germany
5. Digitized parish registers of Münchham, Niederbayern
• http://genteam.at – Primarily a site for research in Austria, it also includes an index to the church
book duplicates and civil births [to 1899], marriages [to 1929], and deaths [to 1979] of the city of
Nürnberg [see “regional” in list at left]. Newly added is an index to Bayreuth City marriage
testimonials from 1875 to 1915. Free registration and password are required.
• http://www.kirchenbuch-virtuell.de/ - Parish registers of the Bayreuth, Bavaria, Lutheran Archive.
The “virtual reading room” allows access to scanned images of over 30 parish registers. The
user joins an association and pays yearly dues [42 Euros in 2012 plus modest additional
monthly fees for access to specific records.]
• https://www2.landesarchiv-bw.de/ofs21/olf/struktur.php?bestand=5632 – Digitized microfilms of
Jewish birth, marriage, and death records from Baden, Wuerttemberg, and Hohenzollern
available through the Landesarchiv Baden-Wuerttemberg. This collection complements similar
records available through the Family History Library.
• https://www2.landesarchiv-bw.de/ofs21/olf/struktur.php?bestand=10028 – Images of parish
register duplicates for Southern Baden held at the Freiburg State archive. Parishes are listed
alphabetically under their civil court district, because these church-originated records were
turned over to the civil authorities for non-religious purposes, such as creating the local muster
roll. These records are also available on microfilm through Family Search.
• http://www.ancestry.com (subscription only) has recently added images of Mecklenburg
Evangelical parish registers for 1876-1918, 19 th Century Brandenburg parish register duplicates,
passenger lists from Greifswald and Swinemünde (1869-1901), Lübeck City census records
1807-1880 in irregular intervals,
• http://www.kirchenbuchportal.de – Cooperative interdenominational project to put digitized
church records on the Internet. Currently 33 church archives participate; about one third have

already posted inventories online. The inventory database is fully searchable. Adding digital
images is planned “for the not-too-distant future.” Access to images will be fee-based.
TOWN GENEALOGIES (ORTSFAMILIENBŰCHER)
Over 300 town genealogies are available on www.genealogy.net. They are easy to use and follow a
standard format. New material is added each month.
• Access the home page on http://www.online-ofb.de/. Choose the locality, either from the
alphabetical list found under “Funktionen” on the left, or from the main page. Localities are listed
from north to south, with separate sections for German communities in other countries, such as
Hungary.
• The main page includes geographical and historical information, a list of sources used, and a
tool bar with three different search options:
1. Gesamtliste der Familiennamen – List of all surnames
2. Geburtsorte auswärtiger Personen- Birthplaces of persons from other localities
3. Sterbeorte weggezogener Personen – Death places of those who moved away
• Click on a surname. A list of persons with birthdates [if known] comes up.
• Click on a person of interest. This brings up the individual or family page.
• Some entries may show cross-references to other online OFBs with a red notation “Es gibt
(eine) ähnliche Person(en) im OFB [town name]”
• “Keine Angaben!” means “no information given”
• A family page may include spouses, parents, children, other spouses, and additional
information.
• Some “books” are databases designed to gather all extant genealogical data for a given locality
[town/county/geographical area], especially in cases where the church records or civil
registration records are missing. Example: OFB Memelland and “Familiendatenbank Kreise
Arnswalde and Friedeberg (Neumark)”
Check genealogical society home pages or use www.google.de (keywords: Ortssippenbuch,
Dorfsippenbuch, Ortsfamilienbuch, Dorffamilienbuch, Familienbuch, OFB, OSB) to locate lists of
available and future publications. For example, “the Maus” (Bremen area genealogical society) has
published about thirty town genealogies on its website. Most, but not all of them, are accessible through
the online town genealogy portal at www.genealogy.net
Some compilations cover a larger geographical area (example: the “Euregio family book” -
http://www.familienbuch-euregio.de/guest.html - is free, but requires registration.
BAVARIAN MILITARY RECORDS
Military service records of Bavaria for 1914-1918 with indexes and images are now available on
www.ancestry.com . (World subscription only) This collection will be updated periodically until all the
records are online.
When searching by name and/or place, correct German spelling, including diacritics, should be used.
Also remember that some letters like “n’ and “u” often look alike to non-German speaking indexers. For
example, one should check under both “Erlangen” and “Erlaugen” for an ancestor who came from this
Bavarian county seat. Place names entered in “keyword search” rather than “location” yield more
results.

INDEXES ON SOCIETY WEB PAGES
Some genealogical societies post indexes to records held in archives or the local parish. However, an
increasing number of online indexes can be used in conjunction with filmed records available at the
Family History Library. Examples include
• Die Maus (Bremen society) has posted extracted lists of donations for the poor collected at
weddings. This index can be used to find the actual marriage entry in the filmed parish registers.
See http://www.die-maus-bremen.de/Datenbanken/index.php
• Another database on the Web site of “Die Maus” indexes the pedigrees compiled from civil
registration records during 1933-1945. These pedigrees have been filmed.
• http://www.db-brandenburg.de/ - The Brandenburg Genealogical Society has posted indexes to
church records on this site.
• Parish register indexes for Trier and the Eifel region of the Rhineland are available on
http://www.genealogienetz.de/vereine/wgff/trier/index.html
• http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~eifel/pick/pickindex.html
• http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~pick/index.html . These indexes can be
used in conjunction with the corresponding microfilmed parish registers.
PRINTED SOURCES – INDEXES AND IMAGES
The familienkundliche Datenbank (family history database), represented by the tab “Literatur” on the
home page of genealogy.net, is an on-going project to index published family history sources, including
genealogies, town histories, and articles published in genealogical periodicals. It is found at
http://famlit.genealogy.net/fkld/maske.pl?db=fkld
Search options include:
• Author and publisher
• Title words and key words
• Book- and article titles
• Journals and series
• Publishers, places/ year published, ISBN
• Location housed
• Full-text search
• Multiple search combinations possible
Other collections on www.genealogy.net that deal with printed sources include address books, family
announcements in newspapers [mostly 1990 and later], and funeral cards.
Funeral Sermons
Popular especially in Protestant areas during the 16 th through 18 th Centuries, printed funeral sermons
document the lives of more affluent city burghers and lower nobility. New digital indexes have made this
record group much more accessible. Leader in this field is the University of Marburg, which has created

a large searchable data base, accessible at http://www.personalschriften.de/ . Several search options
are available.
Several indexes of funeral sermons compiled for specific regions are also available online, for example
the Neumark funeral sermons index at http://www.genealogy.net/reg/BRG/neumark/schrif19.htm .
THE DIGIBIB – DIGITAL LIBRARY FOR GENEALOGY
The DigiBib, part of www.genealogy.net, makes digital images of important genealogical literature,
including family histories, gazetteers, and other reference works, available online. Each month new
projects are added in various categories, including parish register inventories, local and regional
history, heraldry, and many other topics.
These are volunteer projects open for participation. In each category, the small word “mehr” (more) is
the link to the complete list of available material. Projects are at various stages of completion.
Examples shown include a gazetteer of Hessen, a 1901 church book inventory for the Kingdom of
Saxony, and a published genealogy of French Huguenot families who had settled in Berlin.
In its finished stage, a transcribed copy of each page in modern type is found on the left side of each
page, while it is possible to link to a copy of the original page on the right and enlarge it. The project
uses DjVu picture files, which require a special viewer that can be downloaded free of charge. For more
information, see the article “Using the DigiBib (Digital Library) on www.genealogy.net” on
https://wiki.familysearch.org, found under “Germany- digital resources”.
Categories listed on the DigiBib home page include
• Genealogische Literatur- genealogical literature
• Tagebűcher und Handschriften – journals and manuscripts
• Heraldik -heraldry
• Raritäten - rarities
• Adressbűcher, Staatskalender etc. – address books, state calendars etc.
• Militärisches – military resources
• Pfarr-und Kirchenbuchverzeichnisse – parish and parish register inventories
• Historische Karten – historical maps
• Ortslexika, Topografien, Statistiken etc. – gazetteers, topographical and statistical material,
etc.
• Chroniken - histories
• Sonstige Nachschlagewerke, Vermischtes – other reference works, miscellaneous
• Andere digitale Bibliotheken- other digital libraries
Each section on the portal page mentions either representative or the most recently acquired titles.
Click on "mehr..." to access the complete list of books available in this category. Among the latest
DigiBib projects is an original court record book for Dorn-Assenheim, Kreis Friedberg, Hessen, from the
17 th century.
DILIBRI.DE – DIGITAL LIBRARY FOR REINLAND-PFALZ
A new collection of digitized local history and geography material for the modern German state of
Rheinland-Pfalz is available at http://www.dilibri.de/. Of special interest to the family historian are 98

address books, 81 books of historical illustrations, and 116 historical maps (Nov 2009). All material
appears to be out of copyright and can be viewed and/or downloaded.
Contents options shown in the toolbar at left include various categories, with the number of items in
each listed in parentheses.
Inhalt - Contents
Adressbücher (131) - address books [digital images] - Can be very helpful!
Bibliographien (3) - bibliographies - These two in particular are not that interesting for family historians
Bücher (2362) – books (various histories, descriptions etc.)
Illustrationswerke (139) – pictorial works, usually with old lithographs, for different towns and regions
Karten (255) [maps], mostly from the 16th to 20th Centuries. About half are from the 18 th Century.
Schulschriften (137) – school writings (histories and historical articles grouped under various towns
from different parts of Germany) Example: Heimatkunde (local history) von Coblenz, published 1913
Zeitschriften (68) – serials, includes a lot of old local/regional history publications.
Zeitungen (38) – newspapers; more than half are special Mardi Gras newspapers, because this holiday
is celebrated with special flair in Cologne and other parts of the Rhineland; the others are mostly
satirical- so not the normal kind of newspaper- from the 19 th Century.
Examples of other history resources:
http://germanhistorydocs.ghi-dc.org/ - German History in documents and images; a web site dedicated
to explaining German history in English.
http://www.rheinische-geschichte.lvr.de/Seiten/home.aspx - Another new resource for the History of the
Rhineland that includes a section on jurisdictions under “Orte und Räume” (places and spaces). The
colored outline maps showing different time periods are especially helpful.
http://www.lagis-hessen.de/ - LAGIS is the Hessen Regional Information System.
Included are historical gazetteers for Hessen and Hessen-Nassau, listings of “Flurnamen” (field
names), a historical Atlas of Hessen, detailed plat maps that show every building and include historical
photographs and other historical topics.
© March 2012 FamilySearch International. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reprinted or reproduced in any
form for any purpose without prior written permission.

Find Your German Ancestors Now!-
Strategies for Solving German Research Problems
FamilySearch
Presented by Baerbel K. Johnson, AG ®
Johnsonbx@familysearch.org
German ancestors can get “lost” in a variety of ways. Most commonly, they can’t be found in Germany
because key information, namely the town of origin, is still unknown. Or the town is known, but it either
doesn’t exist [under that spelling], or there are lots of towns by that name all over Germany [Just try
Oberdorf or Weiler!].
So what should the savvy researcher do? Even though there are just about as many solutions as
problems, some general principles and basic resources/tools can be of great help in finding lost
ancestors.
PROBLEM #1: ALL WE KNOW IS “GERMANY”, “PRUSSIA”, OR A GERMAN STATE.
Solutions:
• Look for more clues in U.S. records. The 1900, 1910, 1920, and 1930 federal census records
list the year of immigration and whether or not the person was naturalized. This information is
helpful in locating the immigrant in naturalization records and passenger lists. Earlier census
records, especially 1860 and 1870, may list the German state or province of origin.
• Even knowing a province can be helpful. In addition to published lists of emigrants, many online
resources are available, especially for the current German states. Link collections are found at
http://www.roots-in-germany.de/ [click on the tab “German resources”” for links to lists of
emigrants], and http://germanroots.com/. Search the Internet for regional lists of emigrants,
collections of surnames, and compiled genealogies. Similar material in book form may be
available through inter-library loan or on microfilm at a local family history center.
• Over 33 million newly indexed German names are now available at
https://www.familysearch.org/. Many of these names were extracted from German records
available on microfilm.
Example:
Herman Reiprecht was born about 1857 in Silesia (Schlesien), Prussia. He and his wife Pauline came to New York in 1883.
Herman died in New York City in 1901. The family was Lutheran.
Solution:
a. Locate the family in the U.S. censuses. The widow Pauline Reiprecht was found in the 1920 census. The record confirms
1883 as year of immigration.
b. Locate the incoming passenger list: Ship Lessing, arrived in New York 28 Nov 1883: Herm Reiprich, age 25, “cegarmaker”
and Pauline Reiprich, age 25, from Prussia. The ship left from Hamburg. (Name in index: “Reipricte” – search term
“Reipr*)
c. Locate the Hamburg passenger list, which listed the last residence as “Breslau, Schlesien”
d. Check www.familysearch.org for Reiprich(t) entries from Breslau. The couple’s marriage was found, along with the
baptism of a child and other Reiprechts who may be related.

• U.S. church records of immigrants’ marriages, burials, or their children’s baptisms may list towns of
origin. Recent publications include “German Immigrants in American Church Records”, eight
volumes of Protestant church record extracts from Indiana, Nebraska, Iowa, and Wisconsin edited
by Dr. Roger Minert, available at the Family History Library [FHL 973 W23g].
• Uncommon surnames are helpful, especially when the original immigrant arrived closer to 1900.
Cheaper fares and faster, more comfortable ships encouraged travel between continents.
Immigrants may have obtained U.S. passports. Their applications may list the town of birth.
Conversely, Germans more frequently visited their American relatives. Their birth place/last
residence may be listed on the incoming passenger list.
• Check all available records for more clues! In the following example, a probate packet included a
notice that had been published in a local paper for six consecutive weeks, notifying the relatives of
Michael Unger of North Collins, Erie County, New York, who died in 1891 to appear in court.
Several relatives living in Germany were mentioned, which underscores the importance of
searching all records available for an ancestor.
Example:
The German relatives of Michael Unger, deceased, lived in:
Wolhausen Oberamt Wurtenberg
Rossburg, Hengsfell, Germany
Unteragfrach Langerien, Germany
Kincelau, Koningreich, Germany
Most likely most of these places are located within a fairly small area.
Solution:
1. Looking for hints: “Wurtenberg” is probably Wuerttemberg, which would give us a state.
2. In Wuerttemberg, which was a kingdom , or “Koenigreich” at that time, there is a town called Kuenzelsau (close match
for “Kincelau”), a county seat
3. Meyer’s gazetteer includes Hengstfeld, OA Gerabronn, which has a Lutheran parish and includes a hamlet called
Rossbuerg with 67 inhabitants. This village is four kilometers from Wallhausen (= Wolhausen?)
4. Studying the map we find Unteraspach, OA Crailsheim, a likely candidate for “Unteragfrach”. But then, what is
“Langerien”? Studying the handwritten papers in the probate file, we find the place again, written as Unteragfrach,
Landgericht, Germany”. The word “Landgericht” means “county court”. In the handwritten version the letters could
also have been “Unterazpach”, with the letters “f” and ”r” forming the “p”.
So this study provides several places where the ancestral family may have lived, all within a 20-mile radius, and now we are ready
to check original records. Having several place names that provided different clues simplified identifying the localities.
PROBLEM #2: WE HAVE FOUND A PLACE ON A FAMILY RECORD OR PASSENGER LIST, BUT
CAN’T FIND IT IN THE GAZETTEER OR ON A MAP.
Solutions:
• The place given may be a cultural area, region, nobility area, or state
Tools that can be used to learn more about a given region or cultural area include:
a. The English and German language Wikipedia
b. Internet search engines, such as www.dogpile.com, www.google.de etc.
c. Meyer’s Konversationslexikon [1888] or the Brockhaus encyclopedia,
searchable online at http://www.retrobibliothek.de/retrobib/index.html
d. Historical maps. Links to online historical atlases are found at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_atlas . F. W. Putzgers Historischer

Schul-Atlas, published 1905 and 1914, includes maps similar to
Westermann’s Historischer Atlas, which can be magnified for easier reading.
• The place is [mis-]spelled phonetically
Even beautifully written places can be misspelled. Locate other towns found on the list to see if they
have anything in common. If several are located in the same area, check that area for a phonetic or
misspelled version of “your” town.
The place name may have been scrambled, such as “Ehrenzimberg” – [Herrenzimmern], abbreviated
[Grubenhagen vs. Kirchgrubenhagen], or spelled phonetically [Kuechenbach vs. Kirchenbach].
“Reverse-sort indexes” and online gazetteers are good tools for decoding scrambled place names. For
former “West Germany”, go to www.jewishgen.org/Communities/ . Choose “Search for places by
name”. You can limit the search to Germany [1960s], using “contains”, “begins with”, or the Daitch-
Mokotoff Soundex as search criteria.
Links to various online gazetteers are found in the GenWiki at http://www.genealogy.net/genealogy
and http://www.progenealogists.com/germany/ . Many can be used like reverse-sort gazetteers by
using “Control f” to search for places with a given ending.
Sometimes an immigrant’s origin can be found by checking the surname distribution and finding areas
where the name is common. The German online telephone book www.dastelefonbuch.de and its visual
counterpart GeoGen at http://christoph.stoepel.net/geogen/en/Default.aspx are useful tools for this
approach.
Example:
Georg Heinrich Wendeln’s declaration of intention to become a U.S. citizen listed “Gardel, Germany” as his birth place and last
foreign residence. He was Catholic. Family tradition stated that he was from Western Germany.
Solution:
1. The only place called “Gardel” found in Meyer’s was a hamlet associated with Gleiwitz in Silesia, now in Poland. The records of
this town have not been filmed.
2. The surname “Wendeln” is not that common, and the tradition was that the emigrant came from the Western part of Germany,
so the current German telephone book was checked for possible concentrations of the surname. Many Wendeln listings were found
in former Southern Oldenburg, a Catholic area. The ancestor’s baptism was located in Garrel, Amt Cloppenburg, Oldenburg.
If the correct place still can’t be found, go back to the basics [check censuses, vital records, church
records, published sources etc.] and look for more clues. Investigate all potential relatives. Search
collateral lines and follow up on every new clue!
• Document every member of the family and all in-laws.
• Keep in mind possible surname changes [i.e. Schwarzenbach to Blackcreek/Blackrick/Black]
• Look for others from the same country.
• Learn about neighbors and associates.
Learn about the history of the area (settlement patterns etc.).

A misspelled locality can sometimes be identified by locating other individuals who may have come
from the same area. Check local U.S. records, passenger lists, data bases etc. for potential relatives
and neighbors from the “old country.”
Historical background can also be a very important tool. If the town was in a historical jurisdiction, such
as the Duchy of Ansbach, finding out the modern jurisdictions can help narrow down the playing field
and assist in locating helpful records.
PROBLEM #3: WE HAVE A PLACE, BUT THERE ARE OVER 40 BY THE SAME NAME.
• If the ancestral name is not too common, try using the current online German telephone
directory www.dastelefonbuch.de. Having two or more associated surnames makes the search
more effective. This website can do radius searches for 50 km or more.
Example:
Magdalena Grab was born in Rohrbach, Germany, around 1879. Her parents were Johann Grab and Friederike Eiermann, whose
mother’s was Philippine Allgeier.
Solution:
1. Meyer’s Gazetteer was checked – it lists 49 localities named Rohrbach in Germany.
2. The current online telephone book for Germany was searched for each surname +
Rohrbach [search all places by that name].
Results:
“Grab” Towns: Sinsheim, Bechhofen, Rohrbach (Stadt), Hoffenheim, Ludwigsau
“Eiermann” Towns: Sinsheim, Rohrbach (Stadt), Eppingen
“Allgeier” towns: Sinsheim, Eppingen
3. All three surnames occur in Rohrbach near Sinsheim, so the church records for this parish were checked first. Both Magdalena
Grab’s baptism and her parents’ marriage were found there.
• Check other records for additional clues, perhaps a region, court district, cultural area etc. to
narrow down the search.
• Play the “statistics” game! Search larger towns first. Your ancestor is not that likely to list a 10house
hamlet as town of origin. If he was Lutheran, check all Lutheran towns first. If he had a
distinctive occupation, such as knife maker or smoking pipe decorator, find out where these
trades flourished and check towns in those areas.
PROBLEM #4: THERE ARE SEVERAL TOWNS BY THE CORRECT NAME IN THE RIGHT AREA,
BUT MY ANCESTOR ISN’T IN ANY OF THE RECORDS I CHECKED.
• Perhaps the town name has changed or includes an additive, such as “Ober”, “Klein-, or “Kirch-“.
Use the Internet to learn all you can about each locality you can identify. Include qualifiers, such
as “near the Main river”, if you have them.
• The parish jurisdiction may have been different at the time the ancestor was in the records than
the parish listed in the gazetteer. Many gazetteers are based on a specific time period or year.
For instance, Meyer’s Gazetteer of the German empire is based on jurisdictions current in 1911-
1912, and the Prussian Gemeindelexikon on the census of 1905. Helpful historical information is
often found on the town/parish Web site or in the German Wikipedia.

• If the ancestor was born illegitimately, he may be listed in the records under a different surname
from the one he used later in life. Possibly the locality listed was last place of residence or
where the ancestor had lived for some time, but did not create records.
Example:
According to the Hamburg passenger list Friedrich Winterfeld, Maria Schmoldt, and their 9-month old baby Wilhelmine Schmoldt
had last resided in “Blűcher, Mecklenburg” when they emigrated in 1872. The goal was to find their births and marriage record.
Solution:
1. The Mecklenburg gazetteer listed four localities that included “Blűcher” in the place name. All were checked. Neither surname
was found.
2. The 1867 Census of Mecklenburg was searched for both surnames plus “Blűcher”. Winterfeld was not found, but Schmoldt
families were found in “Blűcher, Ritteramt Wredenhagen.”
3. None of the localities searched previously were associated with Wredenhagen, so “Blűcher + Wredenhagen” was entered into
a search engine. This brought up a Wikipedia article about a village called Göhren-Lebbin, which had been called Blűcher from
1843 to 1914. The Lutheran church was in Poppentin, an affiliate of Sietow parish.
4. Baby Wilhelmine’s baptism record and her parents’ subsequent marriage were found in the separate books kept for Poppentin.
PROBLEM #5: MY ANCESTOR HAS AN ENGLISH-SOUNDING NAME, BUT CENSUS RECORDS
AND OTHER DOCUMENTS SUGGEST THAT HE IS FROM GERMANY.
Surnames were frequently anglicized by clerks, census takers, and the immigrant himself, to facilitate
record keeping and “blend in.” This can take the form of literal translations [Schwarz to Black], phonetic
equivalents [Jüngling to Yingling], abbreviated or completely different names [often beginning with the
same letter as the original name], or a combination of the above. Family members may choose to
change their names in different ways, or use both German and anglicized names at the same time in
different settings.
Example:
Louis Churchbaugh’s tombstone inscription in St. Louis stated that he was born in Stuttgart on 28 Sept 1833. He also had a brother
Charles.
Solution:
1. The surname is probably anglicized. Proposed German spelling : Kirchbach[er]. The suffix „bach“ is often written as „baugh“ in
English.
2. The microfilmed church records for Stuttgart include family group sheets that cover all city parishes. A search produced one
sheet listing Ferdinand Ludwig Kirchbacher, born 28 Sep 1833 , and his older brother Franz Joseph Karl as children. Additional
notes spell their surnames “Kirchbach”.
CONCLUSION
Researchers can greatly increase their chances to successfully locate their “lost” ancestors by following
sound basic research practices und using a variety of inventive strategies.
© July 2011 FamilySearch International. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reprinted or reproduced in any
form for any purpose without prior written permission.

Using German Church Records
Baerbel K. Johnson, AG ®
Johnsonbx@familysearch.org
For research prior to 1875 church records are the primary source of family history information in
Germany. Sacramental records include baptisms, confirmations, marriages, and burials. Penance
records, pew rent lists, soul registers, and family books may also be available. Church records usually
provide the basis for compiled town genealogies known as Ortssippenbűcher or Ortsfamilienbűcher.
EXACT LOCALITY NEEDED
Parish registers are kept on the local parish level. Since very few regional and no national indexes
exist, the town of origin must be known. Detailed suggestions for finding this information are found in
the FamilySearch Wiki under https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Tracing_Immigrant_Origins.
RECORD AVAILABILITY
The early church records begin in the 1500’s. Among the earliest Protestant parish registers from
Germany are those from Baden dating back to 1531. The Catholics introduced parish registers later in
1564. However, the 30-Year War resulted in great losses of early registers. Many of the Catholic parish
registers are written in Latin.
Not all towns and villages have parishes and therefore will belong to the parish of a neighboring town.
Meyers’ Gazetteer does not provide parish jurisdictions of localities that don’t have their own parish.
Regional gazetteers and parish register inventories must be used to determine the name of the parish.
RECORD FORMATS
Registers of christening, marriages, and burials were usually kept separately. In many parts of
Germany, the death registers began later than the christening and marriage registers. However, in
some parishes all the entries were combined in one list. Church records may also include
confirmations, lists of communicants, penance registers, soul registers and family books, lists of pastors
and church officials, as well as pew lists and other financial records. Parish registers vary greatly as to
the amount of information provided. The record contents and format is greatly influenced by local laws
and customs.
GEOGRAPHY AND LANGUAGE
During its greatest expanse, the German Empire reached from its western borders with the
Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, and Austria, to the Western parts of Russia. As a result of
the two World Wars, the area east of the Oder and Neisse rivers was lost to Poland, Russia, and
Lithuania. In the West, a small section of the Rhineland called the Eupen-Malmedy region was annexed
by Belgium, and Alsace-Lorraine became part of France. The area north of Flensburg in Schleswig-
Holstein became part of Denmark.
Depending on location and time period, the records may be kept in German, Latin, French, Polish,
Russian, or other languages. Genealogical word lists for these languages are also available on
https://wiki.familysearch.org. Protestant registers are most often written in the local language, but may
be written in Latin as well during the early years.

HANDWRITING
Handwriting also varies somewhat from region to region and in each writer’s penmanship. It is often
necessary to study many samples of the writer’s style to be able to determine a particularly difficult
word or letter. Sample handwriting and printed Gothic scripts are available on various web sites. A
three-part series on reading German handwritten records is available on www.familysearch.org on the
Wiki. Lesson One is at https://www.familysearch.org/learningcenter/lesson/reading-german-handwritten-records-lesson-1-kurrentletters/69.
Another good tutorial is found at www.script.byu.edu.
RESEARCH HELPS
• A Gothic handwriting guide, genealogical word lists, a research outline, the Genealogical
Handbook for German Research” and other helps can be found at www.familysearch.org by
clicking on the word “guides”, “sorted by place”, and “G”, then scrolling down to “Germany”.
• A good web site for German genealogical reference material is www.genealogy.net/genealogy.
This is a German web site with many sections available in both German and English. It contains
many helpful links to other sites as well as reference material, such as gazetteers, listings of
town genealogies (Ortsfamilienbűcher), genealogical societies, emigration sources, and various
word lists for occupations, illnesses, weights and measures, and calendars.
• Foreign-language Web sites can be translated fairly well using http://translate.google.com .
GENERAL INFORMATION
Dates
Dates may be abbreviated or written out in longhand. Prior to 1700 Roman numerals were often used
to express the year. The months September through December may be written as “7bris, 8bris, 9bris,
and Xbris or 10bris”. Feast days may be used to date events (i.e. “Thursday after the Sunday
Misericordia”). Feat day calendars are available on the Internet. In many areas the French Republican
Calendar was used from 1792 to 1804.
Names
The general rule is: “Spelling doesn’t count! Prior to 1900 names are spelled phonetically. Women’s
surnames often include the female ending “in” to denote female gender. Both given names and
surnames may be abbreviated. Alternate surnames may be indicated by words such as “vulgo” (known
as), “oder” (or), and “genannt” (called).
Abbreviations
Recurring information, such as dates, places, titles, and occupations are often abbreviated. Symbols
may denote the day of the week. Some common abbreviations are included in the word lists. Some
knowledge of local and regional history can help the reader decode unique abbreviations.
RECORD TYPES
Baptisms or christenings
In the Roman Catholic Church, children were baptized as soon as possible after birth, often on the
same day. Lutherans often waited from one to three days, and in the Reformed Church baptism may
take place several weeks after birth. Anabaptist groups did not practice infant baptism and often kept
no baptismal registers.

Early baptismal records often contain only the ordinance date, the child’s father, the godparent(s), and
possibly the child’s name. If the child’s name is not given in the record, it is often the same as the name
of the same-gender godparent. This needs to be confirmed by consulting other records [confirmation,
marriage, burial]. Later records include the mother’s name and often the birth date. If only one date is
given, it is usually the christening date. In some areas it is customary to use the same godparents for all
the children in a family. This practice can help tie families together. House numbers, addresses, and
other identifiers should always be noted. Illegitimate children are usually clearly marked. Christening
entries may contain marginal notes, such as a cross to show the child had died. This does not
automatically mean that the child died young. Researchers should treat these notations as suggestions
until they are proven. A couple may give the same name(s) to several children who all lived to
adulthood, although it is more common to name a younger child after a deceased sibling.
Confirmations
Whenever confirmation records are available, they should be checked. Boys and girls are usually listed
separately. Father’s name and/ or birth date and-place may be included. Even if they only list the
names of the persons to be confirmed, these records document the fact that the person had survived
childhood.
Marriages
Even early marriage entries often name the bride and groom’s fathers; mothers are more commonly
included in the 19 th Century. Occasionally the engagement (Weinkauf) date is included as well. Some
registers also list parish members who had received permission to marry in another parish (dismissal).
Some registers are arranged alphabetically by last name.
Burials
Burial records vary widely in format and the information they contain. Some only list the date and the
decedent’s name; others provide a short biography. Present and former spouses may be listed. The
cause of death may be included. Living descendants may be listed.
Civil records and duplicates
From 1808 to approximately 1812 church officials also served as registrars for the newly created civil
registration office (Standesamt). This resulted in more detailed records being kept. After 1812 civil
registration was discontinued in many areas of Germany, but the pastors were asked to submit a yearly
duplicate of the baptisms, marriages, and deaths for civil purposes, such as draft registration. The
Family History Library has some of these civil duplicates for areas where the regular church records
have not yet been filmed, notably for Hannover. These records may be identified as
“Kirchenbuchduplikat”.
Indexes
When searching parish registers, the researcher may save time by using indexes, usually found at the
end of each section, when available. Most parish registers do not have indexes, however, and page by
page searching will be necessary. Also, sometimes indexes are incomplete, so it may pay to check the
record anyway, even if the desired entry was not listed in the index.
“Soul registers” and family books
Family registers (Familienregister or Familienbücher) were required in Wuerttemberg beginning in
1808, but are occasionally available in other areas as well. They are a part of the parish registers and
should be searched whenever found. Included are records of complete families, listing parents and
children together. This information can be used as a guide in searching the baptisms, marriages and
burials, as the dates are usually given in the family register. However, children who died young may not

e included in a family register created several years after their deaths. References regarding where
the family came from and moved to are often listed in this type of record. Because the information was
not recorded at the actual time the event occurred, it is still a good idea to verify the information with the
actual parish register entries.
An earlier (mostly 18 th Century) type of family book are Seelenregister [soul registers], designed to
keep track of each church member’s yearly church activity, in particular, attendance at communion
services. These registers are often kept in a family-by-family format, but only living individuals are
included. They are often a “fill-in-the-blank” format.
ORTSFAMILIENBŰCHER
These compiled town genealogy books follow a prescribed format and are easy to use. However, they
constitute a secondary source and need to be used with some caution. Whenever possible, the
information should be verified through the original church records. Many Ortsfamilienbűcher are
available at the Family History Library, cataloged under the town name with the subject heading
“genealogy”. Inventories of printed and on-line town genealogies called Ortssippenbücher or
Ortsfamilienbücher are available at www.genealogy.net/genealogy.
WRITING FOR RECORDS
The Family History Library has nearly complete collections of filmed parish registers for Baden,
Protestant Wuerttemberg, the Grand Duchy of Hessen, and Mecklenburg. About two thirds of the
Palatinate and the Prussian province of the Rhineland have been filmed. In all other areas the coverage
varies greatly.
The original church records are usually kept at the individual parishes. In recent years, many dioceses
and church districts have begun filming the parish registers within their jurisdictions, making film copies
available to researchers at the church archives. Most church archives have a web site with contact
information and possibly a list of filmed holdings.
In the areas that formerly comprised East Germany, churches did not receive any state support during
the Communist era. This resulted in the closure of many historic parishes. It is therefore best to find out
the current parish boundaries and obtain the pastor’s exact address. Several resources are available to
locate this information:
• Go to www.dastelefonbuch.de, enter “Kirchen” in the name field, and the town name in the
location field.
• If this is unsuccessful, try entering the location in a search engine such as www.dogpile.com or
www.google.de and look for an official town web site. Keep in mind that your locality may have
been incorporated in a “Verbandsgemeinde” or civil community, and no longer exist as an
independent town.
• On the town web site, look for church information or a link to a church web site.
• The Web site www.ekd.de includes links to all the Lutheran synods in Germany. The regional
web sites often provide the addresses of the various parishes. If not, one can write or e-mail
them and ask for the address of a particular parish.
• A similar Internet portal for the Roman Catholic Church is found at http://www.kath.de/.
© June 2010 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

German Archives- Full of Hidden Treasures!
Baerbel K. Johnson, AG ®
E-Mail : johnsonbx@familysearch.org
German archives hold many different record types that may include information about your ancestral
family. For instance, town guild records may include a Gesellenbrief , or journeyman’s certificate , that
allowed your ancestor to travel abroad and seek employment in his trade. Land records or marriage
contracts can shed light on his economic situation. Most of these records are not available at the Family
History Library.
WHAT IS AN ARCHIVE?
An archive is an institution that stores material that
• Was created by an organization or an individual during the normal course of business
• Is no longer needed
• Is of lasting value
Types of archives
Archives vary according to carrier organization and focus area, such as
• State/federal archives
• church archives
• Communal archives
• Nobility area, house-, and family archives
• University archives
• Archives by specific focus areas [i.e. military, economics, politics]
• Media archives
• others
German archives mostly function as independent units. They are responsible to their respective carriers
[i.e. the Bundesarchiv to the federal government]. They differ in organization and in the rules they have
for the use of materials.
ARCHIVE JURISDICTIONS
Each archive is assigned a certain area, the Archivsprengel. Details are usually found on the archive
website or in published descriptions. Records for one locality may be found in several archives,
because the jurisdictions may have changed repeatedly. Local history must be studied carefully.
Example: Meisenheim am Glan
Meyer’s Gazetteer of the German Empire provides the following snapshot of 1871 jurisdictions:
• Located in the Rhineland Province of Prussia, is a county seat, larger town
• Has Lutheran, Reformed, Catholic parishes and a synagogue
• Has its own mayor’s office and civil registration
• Court district is Koblenz
• Military conscription district: Bad Kreuznach
• Various other civil offices

Archive jurisdictions:
• Self-administration: local, town, or municipal archive.
• Church: Archiv der Evangelischen Kirche im Rheinland or Bistumsarchiv Trier.
• Early history: 12th Century: Counts of Veldenz, received town rights in 1315, 1444: Pfalz-
Zweibruecken, 1815: Hessen-Homburg, !866: Prussian Rhineland.
• State: until 1815 the State Archive of Speyer, 1815-1966: State Archives of Hessen, 1866-1918:
State Archive of Koblenz. There is some overlap.
• Military records: State Archive of Koblenz.
• Other institutions: various archives.
Topics of interest may have been under different jurisdictions than expected. Elementary education, for
instance, was largely the responsibility of the Church, so school records may be found in church
archives with other parish records.
PRINTED ARCHIVE INVENTORIES AND GUIDES
• may be found in books on microfilm available through a family history center.
• vary in format and the type of information provided.
• may include information about boundary changes and various levels of jurisdictions.
In the Family History Library Catalog (FHLC), search under
• “[locality] or [topic]: Archives and inventories”
• Check each level of jurisdiction [town, county, district, region, historical area etc…]
• Be creative.
Selected published archive inventories:
• Führer durch die Bistumsarchive der katholischen Kirche in Deutschland. Siegburg : Franz
Schmitt, 1991. (FHL 943 J54f).
• Magen, Beate , Hans Otte. Die zentralen Archive in der evangelischen Kirche. Neustadt an der
Aisch, [Deutschland] : Verlag Degener & Co., 1997 (FHL 943 K23va no. 3 1997 )
• Minerva-Handbücher. Archive: Archive im Deutschsprachigen Raum. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter,
1974 vols. 1-2. (943 - A5m).
• Pies, Eike. Aktuelle Adressen und Informationen für Familienforscher. Solingen: E. & U.
Brockhaus, 2002 (FHL 943 D24pe 2002, also available on CD-Rom #2172, available on the
FHL Patron Desktop).
• Schäfer, Bernd, Henning Hoff, Ulrich Mählert, The GDR in German Archives: a guide to primary
sources and research institutions on the history of the Soviet Zone of Occupation and the
German Democratic Republic. Washington, District of Columbia: German Historical Institute,
2002. ( FHL 943 J53g).
• Welsch, Erwin K. Archives and Libraries in a New Germany. New York: Council for European
Studies, 1994. (943 - J5w).
• Wright, Raymond S., III Ancestors in German Archives: a guide to family history sources.
Baltimore [Maryland]: Genealogical Pub. Co., 2004. (943 - J54w).

ONLINE ARCHIVE INVENTORIES
• Vary in format, content, and usability
• Require familiarity with jurisdiction terms [i.e. “Passwesen” includes passports]
• May have various indexes [topical, names, places]
• May be organized by levels of jurisdiction
• May include links to maps, historical information
• May supplement earlier printed inventories
Although published archive inventories are very useful, in many cases the Internet offers more detailed
and up-to-date information. A good portal to German archives on the Internet is maintained by the
Archive School in Marburg:
http://www.archivschule.de/content/33.html
Included are links to archive portals, state-, communal-, church-, literature-, economy-,
parliamentary/political-, university-, and media archives.
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archivportal - contains links to archive portals and inventories for Germany
and other European countries.
http://home.bawue.de/~hanacek/info/darchive.htm - list of archive addresses by Andreas Hanacek- a
good collection, but it hasn’t been updated since 2000.
http://members.cox.net/hessen/archives.htm - portal to various German archives, with some English
explanations.
http://www.findbuch.net/ - electronic inventories of various German, Austrian, Italian, and other
European archives; most of them community or smaller archives, but also including the Central
Archives of the Evangelical Church in the Pfalz and Hessen-Nassau. Church archives usually include
the historical records of various parishes, but not necessarily parish registers.
http://www.ekd.de/archive/deutsch/adressen.htm - addresses and contact information for Evangelical
church archives [Association of Church Archives].
http://deposit.ddb.de/ep/netpub/45/98/67/977679845/_data_stat/el021035ro.tar.pdf - an overview of
materials available in church archives, for archivists, historians, and genealogists; arranged
geographically; in German, as of 28 Nov 2005
[ Uwe Czubatynski, Das kirchliche Archivwesen in Deutschland
Eine Literaturübersicht für Archivare, Historiker und Genealogen
2., erweiterte Auflage (elektronische Ressource)]
http://www.ezab.de/e/ecframe.html - index of towns/villages included in records held by the
Evangelisches Zentalarchiv Berlin. This archive holds many records from the Eastern parts of the
former German Empire. Only a portion has been microfilmed by the FHL.
http://www.gsta.spk-berlin.de/ - Geheimes Staatsarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz – responsible for the
central institutions [i.e. military] of the former Prussian Empire. Click on „ Bestaende, Nachlaesse, und
Sammlungen in the navigation bar on the left. You can search the electronic inventory
[Archivdatenbank], inventories of records cataloged separately, and a locality data base [geographical
search]. The inventory also refers to other archives that hold additional records.
http://www.bundesarchiv.de – Federal Archive of Germany; includes the records of the former “Berlin
Document Center” under Section “R”.

ARCHIVE INVENTORY VOCABULARY
• Bestände- holdings
• Findbuch- finding aid
• Repertorium – listing of records, holdings
• Faszikel (Fasz.) – volume
• Band- volume
• Akte- record
• -wesen (i.e. Zunftwesen,Militärwesen)- system of …[guilds, military etc.]
• Inventar- inventory
STATE / REGIONAL ARCHIVE PORTALS
Baden-Wuerttemberg
http://www.archive-bw.de/sixcms/detail.php?template=home – portal to archives in Baden-
Wuerttemberg, arranged geographically and by type of archive, provides links, addresses, short
summary of archive holdings
http://www.landesarchiv-bw.de/ - State archive Baden-Wuerttemberg, click on “Bestaende“ for an online
inventory.
http://www.auswandererbw.de/sixcms/detail.php?template=a_artikel&id=6591&sprache=en&PHPSESSID
emigrant data base
for Baden-Wuerttemberg.
Bavaria
http://www.archive-in-bayern.de/server/index.html - portal to 941 archives in Bavaria. Many are local or
belong to former nobility areas. Click on “zu den Archiven”
One example: the Archive of the noble family Thurn und Taxis includes records for many former
“Herrschaften” within the former county of Thurn und Taxis, also a collection of compiled pedigrees for
a small area of the Oberpfalz, around Falkenstein, containing about 20,000 names. [see
http://www.worldroots.com/gene/reg/BAY/tafel-hi.htm]
Berlin
http://www.berliner-archive.de/ - provides access to over 100 archives in the Berlin area. Go to
“Archivsuche” and enter terms in search field
Brandenburg
http://www.landeshauptarchiv-brandenburg.de/ - has general overview of holdings in various
sections/offices.
Hessen
http://www.hadis.hessen.de/scripts/HADIS.DLL/home?SID=DD1D-3C5A2E1-B3B1F&PID=70BD
HADIS=Hessisches Archiv- und Informationssystem. Types of archives are listed on the left. A “quick
search“ can be done using the search field on the bottom left. For multi-term searches use “Suche” on
bottom center.
Niedersachsen
http://aidaonline.niedersachsen.de/ - online finding tool for the various state archives. Has a separate
section for searching applications for emigration.
Many community archives have listed their holdings in http://www.findbuch.net/

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
http://www.kulturwerte-mv.de/cms2/LAKD_prod/LAKD/content/de/Landesarchiv/index.jsp - main page
for the Landeshauptarchiv Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, see menu on right side for overview and specific
sections.
http://www.landesarchiv-greifswald.de/ - for Pommern, has a large map collection.
http://ariadne.uni-greifswald.de/index.html - Online finding tool for archival holdings in local and state
archives of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.
Nordrhein-Westfalen
http://www.archive.nrw.de/ - see tabs for archive type; click on “suchen” for searches.
http://www.archive.nrw.de/LandesarchivNRW/Bruehl/index.html - Personenstandsarchiv Bruehl, holds
copies of many parish registers from the Rheinland. Publishes a CD series of parish register indexes
and scanned images of records
Rheinland-Pfalz and Saarland
http://www.archiverlp.de/ - archive portal for the Southwest. Click on the map to find local, county, and
regional archives. Links to online finding tools for the Landeshauptarchiv Koblenz, Landesarchiv
Speyer, and the Landesarchiv des Saarlandes are on the top.
http://www.archivdatenbank.lha-rlp.de/ - another online finding tool for these archives.
Sachsen
http://www.archiv.sachsen.de/ - Haupstaatsarchiv Sachsen; click on „Archivbestände und Findmittel
[left]; includes online finding tools and special inventories [the latter includes a link to a data base about
Austrian Protestants [Exulanten]: http://www.exulanten.geschichte.unimuenchen.de/index.php?module=welcome
Sachsen-Anhalt
http://www.sachsen-anhalt.de/LPSA/index.php?id=4630 – currently only includes archives with contact
information.
Schleswig-Holstein
http://www.archive.schleswig-holstein.de/ -portal, includes state-, church-, and local archives. Some
archives have detailed online finding tools, such as the Nordelbisches Kirchenarchiv.
Thueringen
http://www.archive-in-thueringen.de/ - archive portal; include overview of individual archive holdings
under “ Beständeübersicht”.
SOME ARCHIVE VOCABULARY
• Akte- record
• Band- volume
• Bestände- holdings
• Faszikel (Fasz.) – volume
• Findbuch- finding aid
• Inventar- inventory
• Repertorium – listing of records, holdings
• -wesen (i.e. Zunftwesen,Militärwesen)- system of …[guilds, military etc.]

HELPFUL HINTS FOR USING GERMAN ARCHIVES EFFECTIVELY
1. Make an appointment as far ahead as possible.
Seats and equipment for researchers are often limited. You may need to order records in advance of
your visit. This can often be done by e-mail. Some records may be stored off-site and it may take
several days to get them.
Realize that an archive may not be open on every weekday. Be aware of vacation times and holidays.
It’s best to check the archive website for up-to-date information.
2. Do not expect research or reading help.
Archive users are expected to be able to read the Gothic script and find their way around the records.
In larger archives the archivists generally do not work with the public. The front desk is staffed by office
personnel who can usually guide the user to appropriate record finding tools, but often cannot read the
records.
3. Be familiar with the rules that govern access to and use of the records in each archive.
Generally, if records have been microfilmed, the originals are no longer accessible. There may be a
limit to the number of books or films you can request in one day. Have your ID with you to fill out the
user-information request; some archives will make a photocopy of your passport or write down the ID
number.
4. When filling out record requests with call numbers, be aware of the German numbers “1”
and “7”. Try writing them the German way, so that you will get the correct material.
5. Be prepared to pay for user fees and copies in cash.
Most archives will make copies, but they may need to be sent to you. Fees vary. Some copy the entire
page, some only the needed entry. Most larger archives do NOT allow digital photography. Include a
small tip [for the “Kaffeekasse”] with your payment.
6. Some archives require everyone to leave during the lunch break, especially the Catholic ones.
7. Some archives require the use of pencils only; some allow laptops.
8. Be quiet. Whisper when you need to communicate.
9. It’s generally best not to mention the Family History Library or LDS resources.
© Aug 2011 FamilySearch International. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reprinted or reproduced in any
form for any purpose without prior written permission.

GERMAN MIGRATION TO SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE AND RUSSIA
THE AUSTRO- HUNGARIAN EMPIRE
Czech Republic – “Sudeten Germans”
Baerbel K. Johnson AG ®
Johnsonbx@familysearch.org
Germans settled in areas now covered by the Czech Republic beginning in the 13 th Century, mostly in
villages separate from the Czech-speaking majority. A 1921 census showed that 3,123,000 Germans
lived in Czechoslovakia - 23.4% of the total population. After World War II over 2.2 million Germans
were expelled from the country. Many moved back to Germany, where they formed homeland
organizations.
The church records are kept in the various regional archives, where they can be accessed by
researchers. Accessibility by mail is very limited.
Helpful Web sites:
• http://www.shon.150m.com/czechhtm.htm - Czech Research Outline – full of helpful information,
including maps, record samples, archive addresses etc.
• http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/SUD/kb/ - listing of the parish registers stored in the various
Czech archives.
• http://www.ihff.at/indexstarte.htm - online gazetteer of over 70,000 places in the Austro-
Hungarian Empire.
• http://www.sudetendeutsches-archiv.de/web/de/index.htm - Archive for historical material
relating to the Sudeten Germans.
Many Czech archives are now making parish registers in their holdings available on the Internet. The
Brno archive requires users to create a log-in and password; records on the Trebon archive website are
readily accessible. Instructions for accessing each database are found at
https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Portal:Czech_Republic under “Online databases”.
Slovakia: Karpatho-Germans
Germans were living in the Carpathia region, now Slovakia, as early as the 12 th Century. By 1930, they
constituted about five per cent of the population.
Resources:
Duncan B. Gardiner, German towns in Slovakia & Upper Hungary : a genealogical gazetteer, Gazetteer
of German towns in the former kingdom of Hungary, now in Slovakia, Hungary, and Ukraine. [FHL
943.73 E5g 1991, FHL film # 1183659 Item 18 ] Includes sections on doing genealogical research on
Germans in Eastern Europe and on Czech and Slovak research.

• http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/ESE/slovak.html - general information, links to maps,
societies, lists of genealogical resources.
Galicia
The lands acquired by the Austro-Hungarian Empire as a result of the partitions of the Kingdom of
Poland in 1772, 1815, and 1846 became the crown land of Galicia. It reached from Krakow in the West
to L’viv in the East. Today, the Western half belongs to Poland, and the Eastern half to the Ukraine.
The population was mostly Polish and Ruthenian, with a small German minority. Most of the Germans
came from the South German areas and Austria, as well as the Sudetenland and other Germanspeaking
areas. Helpful Web sites for locating German villages:
• http://www.semanchuk.com/gen/maps/unterschutz.html - a good map showing the German
villages in Galicia
• http://www.semanchuk.com/gen/maps/UnterschutzIndex.html. - An index to the above map
The German villages were generally either Catholic or Lutheran; very few were mixed. Catholic settlers
tended to intermarry with the Polish majority. Lutherans did not assimilate as easily and thus
maintained their German language and culture intro the 1900’s. Lists of original German settlers in
Galicia are found in Das Kolonisationswerk Josefs II in Galizien by Ludwig Schneider [FHL INTL Q
943.86 W2sL, FHL INTL Film
1256477 Item 1]
Helpful Web sites:
• The Galizien German Descendants Society website http://www.galiziengermandescendants.org/
includes instructions for family history research, maps, village histories, pictures, and other
helpful material.
Very reasonably priced town genealogy books have been published on CD-Rom for many
German villages in Galicia. Purchase information is found here.
• www.galizien.org – includes extracted church records from German parishes in Western and
Eastern Galicia. Click on “Datenbanken”.
• http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/ESE/galicia.html - Includes addresses of archives that hold
church records for the various regions.
• http://www.eegsociety.org/Home.aspx -East European Genealogical Society
• http://www.halgal.com/index.htm - includes sections on locating the ancestral town in Galicia,
using gazetteers, finding records, and others - very informative.
• http://www.lvov.us/galician-genealogy/ - Galician genealogy resources
Bukovina
Organized migration of Germans into the Bukovina began around 1775. In 1910, the Germans were the
third largest ethnic group in Bukovina, with over 20 % of the population. German colonists came from
three distinct areas: southwest Germany; the Böhmerwald area in the Czech Republic; and the Zips
mountains, now Spis county, Slovakia. German emigration from Bukovina to the United States,

Canada, and Brazil began in the 1880s, with increased waves before, during, and after the two world
wars. Almost all the remaining ethnic Germans were re-settled in the German Empire or Germanoccupied
areas during World War II, but many had to flee from the advancing Russian armies at the
end of the war. Today most of Bukovina is part of Romania. The northern part is in the Ukraine.
Helpful Web sites
• http://www.bukovinasociety.org/ - The Bukovina Society of the Americas, includes various
historical articles and family history material in English and German. A genealogy data base is
available to members only
• http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/ESE/bukowina.html - Bukovina page of www.genealogy.net –
includes links to maps, gazetteers, archive addresses, and other reference material.
• http://www.deutsche-schutzgebiete.de/kuk_bukowina.htm - history, statistics, links to other Web
sites, historical postcards
Germans in the former Kingdom of Hungary
Germans settled in several distinct sections of Hungary: the so-called Swabian Turkey area
[Schwäbische Türkei (Komitate Baranya, Tolna und Somogy)], Budapest and Central Hungary,
Western Hungary [Komitate Gyõr,Moson, and Sopron], the area between the Danube and Theiss rivers
[Batschka and Banat], and various villages clustered here and there. By 1940 about 600,000 ethnic
Germans lived in Hungary. Some areas are now located in Romania.
Between 1711 and 1787, following the Habsburg monarchy’s conquest over the Ottoman Turks, the
Austrian government recruited predominantly German-speaking settlers from Germany and other
European countries to populate the newly-won territories. Many of the early settlers came from the
Southwestern region of Schwaben. They embarked on barges at Ulm, located in that region, and
traveled down the Danube River to Hungary. Hence they were later known as “Donauschwaben”, or
“Danube-Swabians.
The two largest settlement areas were known as the Banat and the Batschka, which became part of
Hungary, Romania, and Yugoslavia after World War II. Other areas include the Sathmar region and the
Dobrudja,
Collectively, these groups are often referred to as Donauschwaben.
Helpful Web sites:
• http://www.dvhh.org/ - Donauschwaben Villages helping hands – very informative!
• http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/ESE/dschwaben.html - provides history, lists of societies,
genealogical resources etc.
• http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/ESE/dsinfo.htm - Donauschwaben village list, currently
includes Banat, Batschka, Bosnia, Sathmar, and Slavonia, with more to come.
• http://www.genealogienetz.de/vereine/AKdFF/akdff-en.html - Work Group of Danube-Swabian
Research [the major genealogical society for this area], has various geographical sub-groups
• http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/ESE/dssum.html - history, genealogy resources, societies –
focus on the Hungarian Highlands
• http://www.genealogienetz.de/vereine/AGoFF/index.htm - Contact has extensive records and
publications.

• http://www2.genealogy.net/privat/flacker/indexe.htm - links to place lists, immigration sources,
town genealogies, and other resources
• http://www.spotlightongames.com/genealogy/backa-wel.html - Batschka village list
ROMANIA [see also HUNGARY]
Sathmar- Schwaben [Satu-Mare], Slavonia
Helpful Web sites:
• http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/ESE/vl_sath.html - Sathmar village list
• http://www.dvhh.org/sathmar/ - Sathmar section of the Donauschwaben Helping Hands,
includes a map, village histories
Siebenbuergen
The earliest German settlements were founded by the “Siebenbuergen Saxons” in the 11 th Century.
This area, also known as Transylvania, is now part of Romania. It encompassed seven autonomous
cities [Cluj (Klausenburg), Sibiu (Hermannstadt), Sigisoara (Schässburg), Brasov (Kronstadt), Medias
(Mediasch), Sebes (Mühlbach), and Bistrita (Bistritz)] and about 240 villages. Even today these cities
are referred to as the “Saxon Cities”, even though the earliest settlers came from the Rhineland. For
many years only Germans were allowed to settle within the city walls. The remaining Germans were
exiled during the 20 th Century. Many have formed “hometown societies” and are actively engaged in
documenting the history and genealogy of their former community. A number of published town
genealogies are available online and in book form.
Helpful web sites:
• A historical outline, addresses of major historical societies, and information about genealogical
source material are found at http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/ESE/7burg.html -general
information, links [English]
• http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/ESE/7burg_info.html -Transylvania Saxon village list, includes
information about location, available records, contacts etc.
• http://www.sibiweb.de/ahnen/index.html the “SibiWeb” [Siebenbuergen Web], general
information, links to other Siebenbuergen genealogy Web sites [German]
• http://www.genealogienetz.de/vereine/AKSL/download/usa%20auswanderer.pdf - a list of
emigrants and visitors to the United States from Siebenbuergen, compiled by Monika Ferrier,
using the Ellis Island Data base.
• http://www.genealogienetz.de/vereine/AKSL/ - website of the Work Group for Siebenbuergen
History [German] has helpful links.
• http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/ESE/dssyrmi.html - historical background, link to village list
for Syrmia
Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and Serbia , including Syrmia [former Yugoslavia]
Of note among the German settlements are the Gottschee area in Slovenia and Slavonia in Croatia.
Helpful web sites:

• http://www.gottschee.org/ - Gottscheer Heritage and Genealogy Association
• http://wwwu.uni-klu.ac.at/hleustik/gottschee/ - Arbeitsgemeinschaft der Gottscheer
Landsmannschaften
• http://www.geocities.com/Athens/9479/deu3.html - German minorities in former Yugoslavia;
lists of town names, links to other web sites
• http://www.maxpages.com/ourlostfamily/Yugoslavia - list of archive addresses
• http://www.genealogienetz.de/reg/ESE/dsslawon.html - general resource page for Germans in
Slavonia.
CONGRESS POLAND
This country was created at the Congress of Vienna in 1815 and referred to the Kingdom of Poland at
that time. In 1831 the area was integrated into the Russian Empire. In 1867 the name was changed to
Weichselland. U.S. records often refer to it as Russian Poland.
Helpful web sites:
• http://sggee.org/- resources include maps, village and parish lists with lists of available records
[with FHL film numbers], record indexes
• http://www.upstreamvistula.org/ Lots of historical material, pictures, maps, parish and cemetery
information
VOLHYNIA
Germans began settling in Volhynia in the late 18th Century, but most actually arrived in the 1860s and
later. Many came from Congress Poland or Western Galicia., where the available farm land had
become too crowded. By the early 1900s many Volhynian Germans emigrated back to Germany or to
North America.
Helpful web sites:
• http://www.odessa3.org/ - Odessa Digital Library
• http://www.wolhynien.de/ - family history in Volhynia, including an excellent research guide, FHL
film numbers for German speaking Lutheran parishes, and many other sources [mostly in
German]
• http://www.odessa3.org/collections/stpete/volhynia/ - links to indexed St. Petersburg Consistory
Evangelical church records of Volhynia
• http://www.mmhs.org/prussia/mmhsgen3.htm - Prussian Mennonite Genealogical Resources
RUSSIA
Germans were living in the Moscow area as early as the 15 th Century. Other early areas of German
settlement were Novgorod, Pskow, and Saint Petersburg. Most of these early settlers were integrated
into Russian society.
Catherine the Great first called for German settlers with the manifestos of 1762 and 1766. Among the
first groups who followed her invitation were Mennonites from West Prussia, who, as pacifists, valued
exemption from compulsory military service.

Black-Sea Germans
• Bessarabia
Beginning in 1814, settlers from Baden, Wuerttemberg, Bayern, Pfalz, Elsass-Lothringen, and other
areas founded new farming colonies. The “Warsaw colonists” came from the former duchy of
Warsaw and the German North East [i.e. Mecklenburg]. During the second half of the 19 th Century
German groups from Galicia settled there as well. Many of the Lutheran church records for 1833 to
1855 are included in the collection of Lutheran duplicate parish registers of the Saint Petersburg
Consistory.
• Black Sea Colonies, including the Crimean Peninsula
• Dobrudja
Helpful web sites:
• www.odessa3.org – Odessa Digital Library
• http://www.blackseagr.org/ - includes a Black Sea German database, maps, and historical
information
• http://www.bessarabien.de/ - Bessarabiendeutscher Verein e.V.
• http://www.lib.ndsu.nodak.edu/grhc/index.html - Germans from Russia Heritage collection –
North Dakota State University Libraries
• http://www.berschauer.com/Genealogy/Accounts/manifesto.html - contains the Manifesto of
Catherine the Great and a chronological list of settlements in Russia
• http://www.forums9.ch/dorfplatz/saeuliamt/Geschichte/Zuerichtal1.htm - Emigrants who settled
Zürichtal in the Krim
• http://www.timjanzen.com/pdf/russia.pdf - Resources for Mennonite research
• http://www.rollintl.com/roll/bessarabia.htm - map of South Russia –Bessarabia, and links to
other helpful information
• http://www.cgrr.com/villages.htm - Catholic Germans from Russia and Romania, includes village
information.
• http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~odcolonies/ - A History of German Families from
Catholic Colonies near Odessa, South Russia.; includes various lists of settlers.
• www.grhs.org - Germans from Russia Heritage Society, Bismark, ND
• http://www.cyndislist.com/germruss.htm - Cyndi’s List - “Germans from Russia”
Volga German Colonies
The Volga colonies are divided into Bergseite [West of the Volga River] and Wiesenseite [East of the
Volga River] villages. German settlement there began in 1766. The settlers came primarily from the
Grand Duchy of Hessen and other western German states. Most villages are either Catholic or
Lutheran/Reformed, later also Mennonite. A brief history of the Volga Germans, with links to other
information, is found at http://www.webbitt.com/volga/history.html. Church records and other archival
material concerning this area are primarily housed in the Saratov and Engels state archives, and to a
lesser extent in Volgograd. Most records have not been microfilmed.

In the 1860s and 1870s the Germans gradually lost the privileges accorded to them by the original
manifesto. As a result, the majority of families left Russia and settled in the Unites States, Canada, or
South America.
Internet resources:
• http://cvgs.cu-portland.edu/ - the Center for Volga German studies
• http://ahsgr.org/ - American Historical Society of Germans from Russia; village lists, info on
German origins, family charts, history, culture, and much more
• http://cvgs.cu-portland.edu/ - Center for Volga-German Studies. The site features a gazetteer,
village pages with bibliography and links, census references, emigration/ immigration
information for various countries
• http://www.webbitt.com/volga/home.html - General information, maps, research guidance,
indexes, links to various Web sites
• http://www.volgagerman.net/ - includes an updated list of Volga German family Genealogy
books and other source material
BALTIC STATES
Estonia
Latvia
• http://www.genealoogia.ee - Genealogical Society of Estonia, English available
• http://www.eha.ee/saaga/ - Digitized church records
• http://www.lvva-raduraksti.lv/en.html - Digitized church records from Latvia, ongoing project,
registration required [no cost] , [interface multi-lingual, including English]
Lithuania
• http://pirmojiknyga.mch.mii.lt/Leidiniai/Prusviet.en.htm#vietovardziai Klein-Litauen [Lithuania
Mibor] website with gazetteer, maps, and other information
• http://www.memelland-adm.de/kirchenbuch_memelland.html - Inventory of parish registers in
the Memelland region
• http://pirmojiknyga.mch.mii.lt/Leidiniai/Prusviet.en.htm#vietovardziai – Index of place names in
“Klein-Littauen” in Lithuanian, German, and Russian
© March 2012 FamilySearch International. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reprinted or reproduced in any
form for any purpose without prior written permission.

GETTING STARTED
Introduction to Irish Research
Presented by Daniel S. Poffenberger, AG
poffenbergerds@familysearch.org
Start with what you already know; talk with family; check previous research and compiled records
(www.familysearch.org) - check other shared databases and published family histories. Search
www.google.com or other search engines for: your ancestor’s name, place of residence, and the word
genealogy.
IMMIGRATION RECORDS
If you don’t know the place in Ireland where your ancestor was born, you will need to search in “country of
arrival” sources
To find information about your Irish ancestor, do the following:
• Create identity/handprint for ancestor – Name; Event date (birth, marriage, death); Event place (at least
county); Names of family members - Parents, Siblings, Spouses; religion, occupation
• Read “Tracing Immigrant Origins” – www.familysearch.org > Research helps > Articles
• Find everything about ancestor’s life in country of arrival; even small events contain clues
• Research forward: documents of children/grandchildren may reveal Irish origins
• Find everything for all of ancestor’s Irish associates - may have had connection in Ireland
Records to search
• Search family records such as the family Bible, obituaries, cemetery and tombstone records, death
certificates, and funeral home records
• Search church as well as civil records in North America
• Use 1900-1930 U.S. censuses to see what year ancestor immigrated and if naturalized
• Search local and county histories
• Volunteers for cemetery lookups - www.findagrave.com, www.raogk.org
• Military records may give birth country – http://wiki.familysearch.org > U.S. Military Records
• Scots-Irish help: http://scripts.ireland.com/ancestor/magazine/articles/iha_scotsus1.htm
BACKGROUND SOURCES
In order to find an ancestor in Ireland you must know the name of the civil parish where they lived. To
understand how to find the civil parish, you need to understand the levels of jurisdiction that exist in Ireland,
that there are two types of parishes and gazetteers and maps are very valuable.
Understanding Levels of Jurisdiction
• Ireland was one country until 1922 – then divided into the Republic of Ireland (southern) & Northern Ireland
- Antrim, Down, Armagh, Fermanagh, Tyrone, and Derry [Londonderry]
• Large cities – may contain several parishes
• Civil Registration districts = Poor Law Unions
• Organized from smallest to largest: townland/town, civil parish, barony, county, country
Understanding Parishes
There are two types of parishes in Ireland: civil and ecclesiastical
• Civil parishes – typically share same names & boundaries as ecclesiastical parishes of Church of Ireland
(Anglican Church) – had own diocese
• Parishes of Roman Catholic church - only ecclesiastical, often have different names & boundaries than civil
parishes in the area – had own diocese

Tools for Finding Place Names: Gazetteers/Maps
• Lewis’ Topographical Dictionary of Ireland – www.libraryireland.com/topog
• Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland – online at Google Books; use other search engines
• New Genealogical Atlas of Ireland – www.visionofbritain.org.uk/uk/descriptions
• General Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and Towns of Ireland – www.seanruad.com
• Maps and Gazetteers – www.genuki.org.uk – check under both country & county level
CIVIL REGISTRATION
The Irish government registration of all births, marriages and deaths
• April 1, 1845 -- Registration of non-Catholic marriages began
• January 1, 1864 -- Civil Registration of all births & deaths and Catholic marriages began
• Indexes to civil registration
o www.familysearch.org - Indexes 1845-1958 (no images) at Record Search Pilot
o International Genealogical Index (IGI), especially for early years
o British Vital Records Index (BVRI) - CD-ROM at local FHC or order online
o www.brsgenealogy.com - indexes & transcriptions for some counties - index free
• Registers available through Family History Library (FHL)
o Births: 1864 to March 1881; 1900-1913. Republic: 1930-1955. No.Ireland 1922-1959
o Pre-1871 marriage/death records; marriage/death for No. Ireland 1922-1959
• All registers available in Ireland - Office of Registrar General for Republic, www.groireland.ie; General
Register Office for Northern Ireland, www.groni.gov.uk.
Things to Remember
• Never trust the birth date; 1/3 parents lied about child’s birth date (avoid paying late fee) NOTE: Baptism
dates may pre-date the birth date!
• “Mc” and “O’” may be dropped off surname. Search with/without & try interchanging them
• Estimated that about 15% of events, particularly births, were not registered in early years.
• Births 1864-1876 & marriages 1845-1870 - indexed in IGI & BVRI - not complete
• More help: http://wiki.familysearch.org > Ireland > Civil Registration
CHURCH RECORDS
Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic records were not lost in 1922 fire; more lost through careless record keepers; may be in Latin
• Most parishes did not keep registers until 19th century with exceptions for urban areas
• Roman Catholic records at Family History Library (FHL):
o About 30% of Catholic parish registers on microfilm -FHLC > Place/Keyword search
o Transcripts of other Catholic parish registers
o Casey Collection - covers Upper Blackwater River—North Cork and East Kerry
• Roman Catholic records not at FHL:
o National Library of Ireland (www.nli.ie) - virtually all RC parish registers pre-1880
o Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI – www.proni.gov.uk) – Northern Ireland
o www.irishtimes.com/ancestor
o www.irish-roots.ie or www.rootsireland.ie
o Heritage Centres have indexed many RC records (see section below).
o For local custodial information - Google parish name, county & Roman Catholic – Write a letter or
telephone - be courteous & offer donation for time.
o Grenham’s - www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse/counties/rcmaps/index.htm - list of records
Church of Ireland
The established Church was the Anglican; less than half of records destroyed in 1922 fire
• These records were only ones legal in court of law until 1800’s – other religions may appear
• Church of Ireland records at FHL:

o Very little on microfilm - some published and donated transcripts, e.g. Dublin, Limerick – check
FHLC with Place/Keyword search for desired parish
o Check indexes to Marriage License Bonds – check FHLC > Place search “Ireland” > ‘Church
Records—Indexes’ (NOTE: Only indexes survive, not the actual licenses)
• Church of Ireland records not at the FHL:
o Representative Church Body Library (www.ireland.anglican.org/library) - has originals
o PRONI (www.proni.gov.uk) - holds many copies for Northern Ireland
o Many have been indexed by Heritage Centres (see section below)
o For local custodial information – Same as above for Catholic records
Presbyterian
Presbyterian records were not destroyed in the 1922 fire
• Most parishes did not keep registers until 19th century with exceptions for urban areas
• Presbyterian records at FHL:
o Few copies/transcripts; check FHLC with Keyword search > name of congregation
• Presbyterian records not at the FHL:
o PRONI (www.proni.gov.uk) - extensive collection - see bibliography
o Many have been indexed by Heritage Centres (see section below)
o For local custodial information – Same as above for Catholic records
• Kirk Session Minutes – consider these for a congregation
o Often contain notices of intention to marry, some baptism/marriage entries, information about
migration (Certificates of Transference if they survive)
Things to Remember
• Always check Church of Ireland records in area of your ancestors
• Check indexes to Marriage License Bonds of Church or Ireland – FHLC > Place search “Ireland” > ‘Church
Records—Indexes’ (Only indexes survive - not actual licenses)
Heritage Centres - Will research on commission
• Typically indexed at least Roman Catholic records for their area & many have indexed the extant Church of
Ireland & some Presbyterian records
• Valuable resource if you know county and some dates & relationships but that’s all. More valuable in
counties where FHL has no Catholic records - see for complete listing. Over half the centres have records
online pay-per-view with free indexes
Methodists, Quakers etc.
• FHL has almost all Quaker records but few for other denominations – see bibliography
CENSUS RECORDS
A statistical count of the population of the country, the census records are one of best ways to locate ancestors
at a given place and time.
• Only 1901 and 1911 survive in their entirety; both online at www.nationalarchives.ie (indexes & images)
• Check FHLC > parish/county/country > topics like Census, Land and Property, Taxation
• Check Google (or other search engines) - use key words “name of county/parish and census”
• Check for extant records in county
OTHER RECORDS – CENSUS SUBSTITUTES
Use www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse for a listing of county-by-county census substitutes
Type of
record
Tithe
Applotment
Years Description Where to Find Them
1823-1837 Tax record. Contains heads of
households only - both those who
leased land & those who owned land;
few records for cities/large towns
(contains 40% of heads of households)
Northern Ireland (only those 6
counties) on www.ancestry.com
Griffith’s 1848-1864 Tax record. Contains heads of www.askaboutireland.ie,

Valuation households only - both those who
leased land & those who owned land;
estimated coverage of 80-90% of all
heads of households
Old Age
Pension
Claims
School
Records
Freeholder
s List
Elphin
Diocesan
census
Convert
Rolls
Religious
Censuses
Spinning
Wheel
Premium
Muster
Rolls
Hearth
Money
Rolls
Check Valuation Lists (also known as
Cancel Books, Revision Books) – 1850’s
to 20 th century; lists of occupiers kept
subsequent to Primary Valuation; able to
trace a tenement held from generation
to generation
Earlier records - Field Books, Tenure
Books, House Books and Quarto Books
– at FHL
1841 & 1851 Based on searches made in 1841 &
1851 censuses (before destroyed)
Typically begin in the mid-to-late 19 th
century
18 th and 19 th
lists of people entitled to vote or who
Centuries voted at elections – 18th & 19th
centuries
1749 covered parts of Roscommon, Sligo,
and Galway
1760-1790
Taken 1740
& 1766
identified numbers of Catholics (“popish”
= rebel) Many published; covers only
parts of selected counties (mostly
Ulster)
1796 A government program;
• Anyone who planted at least one
rood of flax (¼ acre) entitled to a
spinning wheel
• Entries for every county - best is
Ulster (large industry of flax
growing/linen making)
Mainly 1630 Local militia; relate primarily to large
landed estates in Ulster
www.irishorigins.com,
www.ancestry.com,
www.failteromhat.com
www.proni.gov.uk/index/search
_the_archives/freeholders_reco
rds.htm
1740 indexed –
www.newenglandancestors.org
- Antrim, Derry and Donegal;
1766 indexed
www.ancestry.com (mostly
No.Ireland) - FHL has microfilm
on both
indexed on
www.ancestry.com
1664-1666 based on number of hearths in a home www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/br
owse/counties/index.htm for
extant records in county
Things to Remember
• Check spelling variations of surnames, use www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname
• Search for record indexes online (IGI, etc.) – points to original record – obtain a copy
• Use a computer program like Personal Ancestral File (PAF)
• Understand historical timeline; Keep a research log

ONLINE SOURCES
• FamilySearch Research Series: www.familysearch.org >Library > Education > Family History Library
Research Series Online > Ireland Research
• Record Search Pilot: www.familysearch.org > Search Records > Record Search Pilot
• FamilySearch Wiki: https://wiki.familysearch.org
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Grenham, John. Tracing your Irish Ancestors, 3 rd edition. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2006. FHL
book 941.5 D27gj 2006. Book is online www.ireland.com/ancestor/browse/.
Ireland. Census Office. General Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and Towns of Ireland.
London : H.M.S.O. Office. FHL microfilm 476999 item 2; fiche 6020345-53 - 1871 ed.
1851 ed. not on FHL microfilm. 1901 ed. - FHL film 865092.
Maxwell, Ian. Tracing your Ancestors in Northern Ireland. Edinburgh: The Stationary Office, 1997. FHL book
941.6 A3mi. Not available on FHL microfilm.
Mitchell, Brian. A New Genealogical Atlas of Ireland. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Pub.
Co., 2002. (2 nd ed.) FHL book 941.5 E7m 2002. Not available on FHL microfilm.
Ouimette, David. Finding your Irish ancestors : a beginner's guide. Provo, Utah: Ancestry Pub., 2005. FHL
book 941.5 D27od. Not available on FHL microfilm.
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. An Irish Genealogical Source Guide to Church Records,
Belfast : Ulster Historical Foundation on behalf of the Public Record Office of Northern
Ireland, 1994. FHL book 941.6 K23pr.
Radford, Dwight and Kyle Betit. Ireland: A Genealogical Guide. Salt Lake City: The Irish at Home
and Abroad, 1998. FHL book 941.5 D27bkj, FHL film 1145947 item 3.
Reid, Noel. A Table of Church of Ireland Parochial Records and Copies. Naas, Ireland: Irish Family History
Society, 1994. FHL book 941.5 K23ci (no microfilm)
Reilly, James. Richard Griffith and His Valuations of Ireland. Baltimore, Maryland : Printed
for Clearfield Co. by Genealogical Pub. Co., 2000. FHL British Ref book 941.5 R43rj.
Ryan, James. Irish Church Records : Their History, Availability and Use in Family and Local History Research.
Glenageary, Dublin, Ireland: Flyleaf Press, 2001. FHL book 941.5 K27rj 2001. Not available on FHL
microfilm.
Wight, Judith Eccles A rose by any other name: a guide to Irish Christian names. Provo, Utah: J. E.
Wight, 1985. FHL book 941.5 D4w, FHL film 1162446 Item 2.
© 2012 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this document may be reprinted, posted online, or
reproduced in any form for any purpose without the prior
written permission of the publisher. Send all requests for
such permission to:
Copyrights and Permissions Coordinator
Family History Department
50 East North Temple Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84150 USA

What do you want to find?
PATRON CLASS HANDOUT
Irish Research Online
IRISH RESOURCES (Information about Ireland and its genealogical records)
• www.wiki.familysearch.org
• www.genuki.org.uk
• www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse
• http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bifhsusa/irishlinks.html (BIFHS-USA: Irish Internet
Resources)
• www.findmypast.ie
• See the list of Ireland repositories on page 4 for more information.
COUNTY LINKS TO IRELAND RECORDS (County links to various records. May include
transcripts, indexes, or images of church, civil, census and other records)
• Google the name of the County: e.g. “County Tyrone genealogy”
• www.genuki.org.uk Links to many other Irish websites
• www.johngrenham.com County links to various Irish records
• www.irelandgenweb.com County links to various Irish records
• www.census-online.com/links/Ireland County links to various Irish records
• www.irishtimes.com/ancestor Shows what records are available or each county
• http://www.from-ireland.net/ Various records, history, customs, etc.
• www.findmypast.ie subscription website
CHURCH RECORDS (Baptisms, marriages, and burials)
• www.familysearch.org Indexes to births/baptisms, 1620-1881; marriages 1619-1898;
(Most of the church records do not go into the 1600s-1700s)
• www.rootsireland.ie ($)
• www.irishgenealogy.ie (Free) Indexes and images; Counties Carlow, Dublin, & Kerry,
more to come.
• www.proni.gov.uk (Public Record Office of Northern Ireland)
• www.Ireland.anglican.org (Representative Church Body Library)
• www.nli.ie (National Library of Ireland)
• Family History Library on microfilm

CENSUS RECORDS (Records locating families & individuals at a specific place and time)
• www.census.nationalarchives.ie Free access to the 1901 and 1911 Ireland Censuses
• www.wiki.familysearch.org Information on Irish Census records, surviving fragments,
and census substitutes.
• www.rootsireland.ie ($) Fragments as early as 1821 naming the whole family
• www.ancestry.com Fragments of the 1841 & 1851 censuses
• www.Irishorigins.com ($) Dublin City Census 1851, 1901; Census of Elphin 1749; Irish
‘strays’ in England & Wales Census 1841, 1871; William Smith O’Brien Petition
• The Family History Library has the 1901 Ireland census on microfilm and surviving
census fragments, some as early as 1821 which name the whole family.
CIVIL REGISTRATION (Births, marriages, and death certificates)
• www.familysearch.org Indexes to Ireland Civil Registration 1845-1958; Ireland Births
(beginning in 1864), Ireland marriages (beginning in 1845- Protestant; 1864 all other),
and Ireland deaths, 1864-1870.
• www.wiki.familysearch.org > Search for “Ireland Civil Registration.” The Family History
Library has many original certificates on microfilm. See the above link to see for what
years we have certificates.
• www.groireland.ie General Register Office (GRO) Republic of Ireland (to order the
certificates that are not located at the Family History Library).
• www.groni.gov.uk General Register Office (GRO) Northern Ireland (to order the
certificates that are not located at the Family History Library).
LAND / TAX RECORDS (Tax records name the head of household)
• www.askaboutireland.ie Griffiths Valuation
• www.rootsireland.ie ($) Griffiths Valuation
• www.Irishorigins.com ($) Griffiths Valuation; Tithe Defaulters 1831
• Family History Library: Griffiths Valuation & Tithe Applotment
• www.ancestry.com ($)
PASSENGER LISTS (Tracing Irish Emigrants/Immigrants)
• Irish Famine Emigrants Online (1846-1851) http://aad.archives.gov/aad/fieldedsearch.jsp?dt=180&cat=GP44&tf=F&bc=sl
• Irish Immigrants Database http://www.cimorelli.com/ireland/irishpass.htm
• www.ancestry.com ($)
o Philadelphia and Delaware passenger lists and many other passenger lists
o Those arriving to America & Canada from the British Isles & those returning

o Passport Applications
• www.ancestorsonboard.com Passenger lists of those leaving the British Isles (1890-1960)
• www.rootsireland.ie ($) Ireland Passenger Lists (1791-1897)
• www.Irishorigins.com ($) (1890 & 1891); Transatlantic migration (1858-1870)
• www.nationalarchives.ie Index to Ireland-Australia transportation records (1791-1853)
• www.Immigrantships.net 12 volumes of passenger lists arranged by year of travel, ship,
country, etc. from all over the world
• www.ellisisland.org (1892-1956) New York passenger lists
• www.castlegarden.org (1820-1913) New York passenger lists pre Ellis Island
WILLS (May name spouse, children, or other family members)
• www.proni.gov.uk (Free) Index to online Irish Wills, 1858-1919; part of 1921, 1922-1943;
Online images from 1858-1900
• www.Irishorigins.com ($) Includes Index of Irish Wills, 1484-1858; Dublin Will and Grant
books index; Phillimore & Thrift, Indexes to Irish Wills; Sir Arthur Vicars, Index to the
Prerogative Wills of Ireland
MILITARY (Finding information/records if an ancestor served in the military)
• www.familysearch.org
o Library Catalog > Keyword Search > Irish Militia records
• www.Irishorigins.com ($) Militia Attestation Index 1872-1915; Ireland Memorial records;
1798 Rebellion: Claimants and Surrenders
• www.findmypast.ie ($) Those who either fought in Irish rebellions or World War I.
DIRECTORIES (Locate ancestors at a specific location and time)
• www.census-online.com/links/Ireland County links to various Irish directories
• www.proni.gov.uk (Belfast & Northern Ireland)
• www.Irishorigins.com ($)
MAPS, GAZETTEERS, AND PLACENAMES (Helps understand where ancestor came from)
• maps.osi.ie/publicviewer Ordnance Survey of Ireland
• www.libraryireland.com/topog Topographical Dictionary of Ireland
• www.seanruad.com General Alphabetical Index to the Townlands and Towns of Ireland
• www.visionofbritain.org/uk/descriptions
• www.genuki.org.uk Links to maps, gazetteers, etc.
• Google books: Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland
• Google: “County _____ parish map.” E.g. “County Mayo parish map”

CEMETERIES & BURIALS (Find where an ancestor is buried)
• www.interment.net/ireland Ireland Cemetery records
• http://www.from-ireland.net/ Gravestone inscriptons
• www.Irishorigins.com ($) Memorials of the Dead (Galway & Mayo); Brian J. Cantwell’s
Memorials of the Dead
• www.rootsireland.ie ($) Gravestone Inscriptions
• www.raogk.com Volunteers who will do cemetery lookups for you
VALUABLE MISCELLANEOUS RECORDS
• www.ireland-genealogy.ie Ireland Old Age Pension Records
• www.infowanted.bc.edu A newspaper with information for relatives to track their Irish
family members who had immigrated earlier.
• www.Irishorigins.com ($) Electoral registers 1832-1838
• www.proni.gov.uk Those who signed the Ulster Covenant 1912, Freeholders records,
surviving fragments of the 1740 and 1766 religious census returns, 1775 dissenters
petitions, pre-1920 coroners’ inquest papers.
• http://www.failteromhat.com/ Contains a variety of records including some tithe applotments,
directories, cemeteries, etc.
IRELAND REPOSITORIES
• http://www.nationalarchives.ie/ National Archives of Ireland (census & other records)
• www.proni.gov.uk Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (records of the Church of
Ireland for those who resided in the Ulster Province; and Presbyterian Church records).
• www.Ireland.anglican.org Representative Church Body Library (records of the Church of
Ireland for those who resided in the Republic of Ireland)
• www.nli.ie National Library of Ireland (Catholic Church records in the Republic of Ireland)
• http://www.presbyterianhistoryireland.com/ (Presbyterian Church records)
• www.groireland.ie General Register Office (GRO) for the Republic of Ireland (holdings of
the birth, marriage, and death certificates)
• www.groni.gov.uk General Register Office (GRO) Northern Ireland (holdings of the birth,
marriage, and death certificates)
© October 2011 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No part of this document may be reprinted, posted online, or reproduced in
any form for any purpose without the prior written permission of the publisher. Send all requests for such permission to: Copyrights and
Permissions Coordinator
Family and Church History Department
50 East North Temple Street Salt Lake City, UT 84150-3400 USA

PATRON CLASS HANDOUT
Tracing Famine and Post-Famine Irish Immigrants
Contrary to popular belief, most of the work you will do to try to establish your immigrant’s place of
origin will be in “country of arrival” sources.
INFORMATION YOU SHOULD FIND OUT FROM US/CANADIAN RECORDS . . .
• Name
• Date
• Place (at least a county)
• Names of family members to put the immigrant into context
Any additional information such as occupations, friends and neighbors, religion etc. will also help. See
Tracing Immigrant Origins research outline available at www.familysearch.org for suggestions.
STRATEGY—LEAVE NO STONE UNTURNED
1. Find EVERYTHING about your ancestor’s life in the country they immigrated to. Even events that
seem extraneous may contain important clues.
2. Do the same for everyone they were related to.
3. Do the same for everyone you suspect they were associated with back in the old country.
4. Come forward in time. Documents of the immigrant’s children will often reveal the missing link.
Here is a flow chart that will help you decide where to start:
Does a death certificate or
tombstone inscription give a
place of birth in Ireland?
From A Genealogical Research Guide for Ireland, The Genealogical Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, Series A, no. 58, 1978, Revised 1983 (929.1 G286gs ser. A no. 58 1983).

On the above chart, even if you do have a place or if a vital event took place during the time of Irish civil
registration, you will still need the names of some family members so you can make sure you have the
right person. Many of the above sources that you would use to establish the place of origin are the same
ones you might investigate to find out about family members.
CHECKLIST—HAVE YOU LOOKED AT THESE RECORDS?
There are many sources where you might find the place of origin when you are least expecting it. Even
federal censuses occasionally give a county or town of origin. * Indicates first priority records to search,
both because of ease of finding and likelihood of containing desired information.
Banking records
Biographies*
Business /Employment records
Cemetery/Sexton records
Census (all years they were alive!)*
Church records*
Compiled collections
County histories
Court records
Family records*
Family histories
Fraternal organizations/clubs (for the Irish pay
particular attention to the Freemason and
Orange Lodges)
Funeral home records
Institutional records (i.e., hospital)
Insurance records
Land records
Military records*
Naturalization*
Newspapers—local, trade, religious, etc.
Obituaries/Anniversary notices*
Orphanage records
Passenger lists (after 1890 these deserve an *)
Pension records
Periodicals
Poorhouse/Workhouse and Poor Law records
Probate records
School/University records
Social Security applications
Tombstone Inscriptions*
Vital records (check children of immigrant, too)*
Tips for Finding Naturalization Records
Use the 1900, 1910 and 1920 U.S. Census to see what year your ancestor immigrated and if he
naturalized.
� For New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont)—
United States Immigration and Naturalization Service. Index to New England Naturalization
Petitions, 1791-1906. FHL films 1429671-1429787.
� For other states, check in FHLC under [State]-[Naturalization and Citizenship] and [State],
[County]-[Naturalization and Citizenship]
If naturalized after September 27, 1906 the records are indexed by the United States Citizenship and
Immigration Services (USCIS). Visit www.uscis.gov/g-639 for information and to download a form to
request a search for the naturalization packet of your ancestor. Provide: Full name and any aliases,
country of birth, approximate date of birth, country of origin, port of entry and date, court where
naturalized, and address at time of naturalization (at least the town). Not all of this information is
necessary, but providing as much as you can (and any additional helpful details) will decrease the chances
of getting the wrong person with the right name.
Tip for finding a cemetery transcription
Listings of volunteers for cemetery lookups- www.findagrave.com
www.raogk.org [site currently down indefinitely]
There are many more. . . .
Military Records:
� See Research Outline U.S. Military Records for many more and details on how to use them.
� National archives Microfilm Publication M860 General Index to Compiled Military Service
Records of Revolutionary War Soldiers, Sailors, and members of Army Staff Departments. FHL
US/CAN 88284-98.

� White, Virgil D. Genealogical Abstracts Of Revolutionary War Pension Files. Waynesboro,
Tennessee: National Historical Pub., c1995. FHL US/CAN 973 M28g v. 1-4.
� National Archives Microfilm Publication M602. Index to Compiled Service Records of Volunteer
Soldiers Who Served during the War of 1812. FHL US/CAN 882519-752.
� White, Virgil D., comp. Index to war of 1812 Pension Files. FHL US/CAN 973 M22i v. 1-2.
� Most of the above records are indexed between three sites: www.ancestry.com,
www.heritagequestonline.com, and www.footnote.com.
• United States Passport Applications, 1795-1924—look in FHLC using a Keyword search (Film
No. 1463566,
Item 2) - also indexed on www.ancestry.com.
Lesser-known Sources
• World War I draft registration cards (available on www.ancestry.com)
• Voter Registration (use the “Keyword” search feature of the Family History Library Catalog (FHLC)
available at www.familysearch.org. Use the keywords Voter (or Voting) Registration [State].
• St Albans Border Crossing Records, 1895-1954. This is soundexed from 1895 to 1952. To find the
entry in the FHLC, do a keyword search using St Albans Border. There is a smaller set of border
crossing records through Detroit. Do a keyword search using Detroit District manifest records.These
include mostly people who crossed the border by train or ship.
• Index of the Canada Company Remittance Books, 1843-1847. US/CAN Book 971.3 W29g v. 1-3.
• The Search for missing friends: Irish immigrant advertisements placed in the Boston Pilot, Ruth-Ann
M. Harris and Donald M. Jacobs, editors. Seven volumes cover 1831-1920. FHL US/CAN Ref
974.461 H29s (also in stacks). Indexed by name and place. There is a free online index and partial
transcription of these books at http://infowanted.bc.edu/. An every-name index and a full transcript of
these books are available on www.newenglandancestors.org ($) (the FHL has a subscription to this
Web site). Also: Irish relatives and friends: from “Information Wanted” ads in the Irish American,
1850-1871, DeGrazia, Laura Murphy. US/CAN book 974.71 B38d.
• Emigrant Savings Bank records, 1841-1945. (Search for this by title in Family History Library
catalog at www.familysearch.org) To read about how to use these records, go to
http://www.nypl.org/research/chss/spe/rbk/faids/emigrant.pdf. They are also indexed on
www.ancestry.com.
• If you suspect they may have been in St John, New Brunswick around 1861, the 1861 Canadian
census for Albert Ward (the only ward that 1861 census records survive for in St John) gives the
townland and/or parish where an immigrant was from. Most of the ward was Irish. FHL film 477,561.
• Massachusetts 1865 State census for the Irish parts of Boston often gives county of origin.
• Iowa 1925 State census often gives town of origin.
• Records for Catholic priests and religious sisters and brothers often give good biographical detail.
Contact the archdiocese in the U.S. or Canada for help in locating these records.
Records in Ireland
If you’ve exhausted your sources in the country of arrival but you do have 1) a county of birth 2) a date
and 3) a few relatives’ names, you may be able to use Irish records to help you.
� Griffith’s Valuation—1848-1864 heads of households only, generally good coverage but not
complete. Indexed in:
- www.askaboutireland.ie (free as of Mar 2009)
- www.irishorigins.com ($)
- www.ancestry.com ($ but free at the FHL)
- www.failteromhat.com (mostly complete and free)
- FHL CD series 9 part 188
- Grenham’s Irish Record Finder, available on FHL B2 computers 39, or 40—maps surname
distribution to the parish level based on Griffith’s Valuation. (You can use this source online
for a fee at www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname/.)
- Householders Index—FHL British Book 941.5 R22i v. 1-14, FHL film 919001-919007.

� Tithe Applotment—1823-1837 heads of households only, it has been estimated that it only
includes approximately 40% of heads of households. Cities and large towns were excluded.
Indexed in:
- FHL CD series 9 part 262 (this indexes only Northern Ireland, also available on
www.ancestry.com)
- PRONI index to Tithe Applotment, do author search for PRONI and then title Tithe
applotment books and indexes, for Northern Ireland, ca. 1822-1837
- Householders Index—FHL British Book 941.5 R22i v. 1-14, FHL film 919001-919007.
� Flax Growers Bounty—1796 Heads of households only, very incomplete coverage, coverage the
best for Northern Ireland. Indexed in: FHL CD series 9 part 271a, and on www.ancestry.com
Heritage Centres. You may be able to use the services of a heritage centre (see www.irish-roots.ie for a
complete listing). They have typically indexed the extant Roman Catholic records (and sometimes other
records) for their area. They can search their indexes (for a fee) for matching entries, but again, you must
have more than just a name and a date. Remember that for an ancestor who was born before the mid-19 th
century, the parish he/she was born in may not have even been keeping church records yet. This means
that the heritage centre indexes are not a complete record for a given time period. See
http://globalgenealogy.com/globalgazette/gazkb/gazkb62.htm for an article on how to get the most from
your interaction with a heritage centre. Many heritage centres have now posted their records online.
CAST A WIDER NET STRATEGY
Most people moved to a place where they already knew someone. Catholics practiced chain migration,
and Presbyterian Scots-Irish often came over in groups. Trace family, friends, and associates that you
believe your ancestor may have known in the old country. Reconstructing their Irish community in the
U.S. or Canada may lead to the community they came from in Ireland. With these new people to look for,
you can go back to the sources mentioned on the previous pages, and one of their records may give you a
place of origin. Also, you can use their surnames in the Surname Distribution Strategy.
SOURCES ESPECIALLY FOR ULSTER IMMIGRATION
Guides to previously compiled genealogies:
� Check the FHLC using the Surname search and under [State]-Genealogy or [State], [County]-
Genealogy.
� Check PERiodical Source Index (PERSI) on www.ancestry.com
� DAR Patriot Index Centennial Edition DAR patriot index FHL US/CAN 973 C42da 1990
Scots-Irish Goodies:
� Hanna, Charles A. The Scotch-Irish or The Scot in North Britain, North Ireland, and North
America. FHL US/CAN 973 F2sh vol. 1-2. Volume 2 p. 94 begins Chapter V “The Settlements
Enumerated” which gives the locations of early Presbyterian settlements and congregations in the
Colonies by geographic region.
� Revill, Janie. A Compilation of the Original Lists of Protestant Immigrants to South Carolina,
1763-1773. Columbia, S.C. : The State Co., 1939 FHL US/CAN 975.7 W2r, FHL US/CAN
Film 22819
� Ford, Gary J. “On the First Fair Wind,” Familia 1992 vol. 2 no. 8, pp. 112-124. FHL British
941.6 D25uL. An article about using the South Carolina Council Journals.
� “Home towns of Ulster Families 1691-1718” Appendix VI of Scotch-Irish Pioneers by Charles
Knowles Bolton FHL US/CAN 973 F2sb 1977, film 847631 is an alphabetized list of early
American Elders, Commissioners etc in the Presbyterian church giving their county and or town
of origin in Ireland. Sources: early American synod records, Cathedral records of Londonderry
(New Hampshire) from Mr. Morrison’s History of Windham, Journal of the Association for the
Preservation of Memorials of the Dead in Ireland, Ulster Journal of Archaeology. 199950

Guides to the Draper Collection:
� Harper, Josephine L. Guide to the Draper Manuscripts. The State Historical Society of
Wisconsin: Madison, 1983. FHL US/CAN 977.583/M1 A3h
� Wolfe, Barbara S. Index to Lyman C. Draper Manuscripts. [n.p., nd.] US/CAN 977.583/M1
A3w
� There are calendars to the Draper collection for Kentucky, Tennessee, South Carolina, Virginia
and other parts of the collection. Look for these in the FHLC by doing an “author search” for
Draper, Lyman Copeland.
Finding manuscript materials:
� Search the Family History Library Catalog under:
[State]-Genealogy [State]-Archives and Libraries
[State], [County]-Genealogy [State]-Archives and Libraries-Inventories,
registers and catalogs
[State], [County], [Town]- Genealogy
Search www.google.com & other search engines
Search the National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections http://www.loc.gov/coll/nucmc/nucmc.html
(includes manuscript portions of OCLC and RLG for free)
Finding Early Presbyterian Ministers and their possible origins in Ireland:
� Addison, W. Innes. The matriculation albums of the University of Glasgow from 1728-1858.
FHL 941.43/G1 J2a. Also by the same author, A roll of the graduates of the University of
Glasgow from 31st December, 1727 to 31st December, 1897 : with short biographical notes FHL
British 941.43/G1 J2g.
� McConnell, James, comp., revised by Samuel G. McConnell. Fasti of the Irish Presbyterian
Church, 1613-1840. Belfast: The Presbyterian Historical Society, [1951?]. FHL British 941.5
K24f, film 994080 item 5.
Sources in Ireland
• Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. Card index of names, 1990 edition also Card index to
wills in the several collections held at the Public Record Office, Belfast, 1536-1920. To find
these, do an “author” search in the FHLC for the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. Then
go to the title as listed.
• Transcripts of many graveyards in Northern Ireland: www.historyfromheadstones.com (pay per
transcript)
• Belfast Newsletter Index: www.ucs.louisiana.edu/bnl
• Registry of Deeds, 1708-1929. Grantor Index FHL films 100251
• Deputy Keeper Reports—See FHLC keyword search “Deputy Keeper Reports Northern Ireland,”
these are partially indexed on www.nra.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra.
To discover what sources exist for your county or parish once you’ve narrowed it down to a county or
parish:
Grenham, John. Tracing your Irish Ancestors, 3 rd edition. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2006.
FHL 941.5 D27gj 2006. Much of this book is on-line at www.irishtimes.com/ancestor. More of
it is available as Grenham’s Irish Record Finder computer program located on the B2 floor.
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland. An Irish Genealogical Source Guide to Church Records FHL
British Q Ref 941.6 K23pr.
For a great bibliography and more help:
http://scripts.ireland.com/ancestor/magazine/articles/iha_scotsus1.htm The Irish At Home and Abroad
journal of Irish genealogy and heritage (volume 2 #1, 1994/1995)

Remember, you want to build your case first in the country they came to, you will then have an easier
time identifying the right family in Ireland.
ONCE YOU THINK YOU’VE FOUND WHERE THEY CAME FROM . . .
Try to disprove the connection. For example, you find a birth in Ireland of someone who you think is
“your immigrant”. You know your immigrant was in the 1850 U.S. census. You search more in the Irish
records and discover “your immigrant” died in Ireland in 1845.
• Look in Griffith’s Valuation, subsequent Valuation Revision Lists, the 1901 Irish census or other
pertinent sources to make sure the potential family is not still in Ireland.
• Make sure the puzzle pieces fit together.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION IS IMPORTANT!
� Does your family fit larger patterns that might help you?
� Watch for spelling variations of surname and given names, also beware of nicknames!
� Passenger lists don’t begin in US until 1820, and in Great Britain until 1890. U.S. lists rarely give
town of origin until 1890s.
Surname Distribution Strategy. You may be able to use surname distribution to pinpoint a location to
begin searching, particularly if you have 1) an uncommon surname or 2) surnames of two or more people
that you know (or suspect) knew each other in Ireland. For example, if you know the surnames of the
immigrant’s parents (you must know the mother’s maiden name), the assumption is that they likely lived
near each other to have met and married. This can help you narrow down from the county to a parish they
were potentially from. (You can try this strategy even if you don’t have a county, but without the county
it often yields too many results to be helpful.) However, you must then search other records to confirm if
that parish really is where they were from. Griffith’s Valuation is an excellent tool for this. Sources for
the Tithe and Flax Growers are also listed below.
© 2011 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this document may be reprinted, posted online, or
reproduced in any form for any purpose without the prior
written permission of the publisher. Send all requests for
such permission to:
Copyrights and Permissions Coordinator
Family History Department
50 East North Temple Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84150-3400
USA

FAMILY HISTORY PATRON CLASS HANDOUT
LIBRARY Irish Land and Property Records
Among Irish records, Irish land and property records are some with the best survival rate. In this class
we will discuss some of the major types of Irish land and property records, what they contain, and how
to access them.
TITHE APPLOTMENT
• Tithe Applotment, 1823-1837 tax record. Contains heads of households only, covers both those who
leased land as well as those who owned land. Because it was based on land holding, the Tithe has
few records for cities or large towns. It has been estimated that it contains only 40% of all heads of
households.
• Found in the Family History Library Catalog (FHLC) under Ireland—Land and Property Tithe
Applotment Books and Indexes, for Northern Ireland, 1822-1837 or Applotment Books, abt. 1824-
1840 for the Republic. At the FHL use the register in the reference area (currently being placed on
the Family Search Research Wiki). CD series 9 part 262 (available at the Library Attendant window
on the B2 floor) indexes Northern Ireland only. The database on this CD is also available on
www.ancestry.com.
• Also indexed in the Householder’s Index, FHL 941.5 R22i v. 1-14, films 919001-919007.
GRIFFITH’S VALUATION AND SUPPORTING WORKS
Griffith’s Primary Valuation
• Griffith’s Primary General Valuation, 1848-1864 tax record. Contains heads of households only,
covers both those who leased land as well as those who owned land. It has an estimated coverage of
80-90% of all heads of households.
• Found in the FHLC under Ireland—Land and Property General Valuation of Rateable Property in
Northern Ireland, 1858-1864 or General Valuation of Rateable Property, 1847-1861 for the
Republic. Or use the register in the reference area. FHL CD series 9 part 188 indexes all of Ireland,
with some accidental omissions. John Grenham’s Irish Record Finder, FHL CD 1801 (easier to use
on FHL B2 computers CD-1 and CD-2) maps surname distribution to the parish level based on
Griffith’s. Also, Griffith’s is indexed complete with scanned images at www.irishorigins.com ($ -
this site also has some of the Griffith’s maps). A 90% complete index of Griffith’s with images is
available for free at www.askaboutireland.ie. A complete (with accidental omissions) index is
available on www.ancestry.com ($ but free at FHL).
• Also indexed in the Householder’s Index FHL 941.5 R22i v. 1-14, films 919001-919007.
Ancestors that eluded Griffith’s Valuation may sometimes be found in other valuation records from both
before and after the Primary Valuation.
Revision Lists, Cancel Books, or Cancellation Books
• These are Valuation Lists covering from the 1850s into the 20 th century. They are lists of occupiers
kept after the Primary Valuation. You may be able to trace who held a tenement from generation to
generation in these books. One note on using the Valuation Lists is they are arranged backwards.
That is, the beginning of the film has the newest books, and the books get older as you continue in
the film.
• The FHL has filmed these for the Republic of Ireland only. The film numbers for each parish are in
the process of being listed on the FamilySearch Research Wiki. In the FHLC, they are cataloged
under the county and then “Land and Property” and then by Poor Law Union (PLU) and then by
District Electoral Division (DED). If not in the Research Wiki yet, use www.seanruad.com to

ascertain the PLU. Use the FHL Catalog record for the townland in the 1911 census to find the
DED. Locate the 1911 census FHLC record by doing a ‘Keyword’ search for the townland.
Other Valuation Records
• There were several surveys taken under the direction of Richard Griffith in preparation for the
Primary Valuation. Among these are Field Books, Tenure Books, House Books and Quarto Books.
• Find in the FHLC using a keyword search with the words Ireland Tenure Quarto. They may also
be found in the FHLC under Ireland and then the topic “Land and Property,” then look for the title
“Valuation Books” with the author “Ireland. General Valuation Office.”
• The FHL has filmed the House books, Field books, Tenure books, and Quarto books. Although it
was filmed at the National Archives in Dublin, it does contain much material for Northern Ireland.
House Books
• There was a stipulation that a house only be valued if it was worth £3 and later £5. However in
many counties they valued homes that were way under that limit. The names of the occupiers of
each house are listed. However, in a parish in Donegal, only two people listed, the richest two people
in the parish, no doubt, the landlord and the Anglican minister.
• These books cover the late 1820s to the early 1850s.
• According to Reilly (see below) Quarto books are for House books for large towns.
• The house books describe the size and quality of the house. Here is what the letters meant (from
Reilly, p. 18, see below):
New or Nearly New
A+ Built or ornamented with cut stone, and of superior solidity, and finish.
A Very substantial building, and finish, without cut stone ornament
A- Ordinary building and finish or either of the above when built 20 or 25 years.
Medium
B+ Medium (not new) but in sound order, and good repair
B Medium, slightly decayed, but in good repair
B- medium, deteriorated by age, and not in perfect repair
Old
C+ Old, but in repair
C Old and out of repair
C- Old, and dilapidated, scarcely habitable
Each letter was further qualified with the number 1, 2 or 3:
1 Slated roof house of stone or brick with lime mortar
2 Thatched roof house of stone or brick with lime mortar
3 Thatched house of stone walls with mud mortar or mud walls of the best kind
4 Basement stories of slated houses used as dwellings
Field Books
• The field books were created by the valuators looking at the soil in every parish in all of Ireland. A
description of the soils and its worth is given.
• The content varies. In some areas, the valuators added the names of the occupiers to the field books.
David Ouimette states that the Field books for counties Cork, Dublin, Kerry and Limerick give
occupiers’ names for all parishes, and the books for Carlow, Westmeath, Wexford, and Wicklow
give occupiers names for most parishes. Other counties only give occupiers names for a few
parishes.
Tenure Books
• Tenure books describe the type of lease each tenement was held under. Includes names of all of the
tenement holders.

Quarto Books
• According to Reilly (see below) Quarto books are House books for large towns.
For background information on both of these sources, please refer to James Reilly, Richard Griffith and
His Valuations of Ireland (Baltimore, Maryland : Printed for Clearfield Co. by Genealogical Pub. Co.,
2000), FHL Brit Ref 941.5 R43rj).
For a good overview and historical background on these books, see David Ouimette, “Irish Townland
and Tenement Valuation Manuscripts,” The Septs, v. 27 no. 1 (Jan 2006), FHL British book 941.5 D25s
v.27, no.1.
LANDED ESTATE RECORDS
These records vary greatly in content, coverage, quality, and availability. They are one of few sources
that may help extend a pedigree to the time before church records. Generally, they are un-indexed and
available only in Ireland or the United Kingdom. To use them, you must know who your people were
leasing their property from, and then how to find the records. Among the most valuable contents
(genealogically speaking) are:
Lists of tenants
Maps of estates
Details of leases (rentals)
Lease of lives—three people named on lease. Terms of lease could not be changed until all three
of the people named have passed away. Often times therefore the youngest living family members are
named. (Sometimes people would name the youngest member of the royal family.) The overseer of the
estate was responsible to track the deaths of the people named on the lease, even if those people were no
longer in Ireland. Consequently, there is some correspondence connected with estates where the
overseer is writing to people in America etc. who he knows know the person in question. Therefore,
neighbors of an Irish immigrant may prove important.
One life and 21 years—twenty-one years after the death of the person named on the lease
Tenant at will—these could be evicted at any time and had no lease. Many of the evictions that
occurred during the Famine were of tenants at will. These people were so poor that they probably could
not afford to emigrate, unless they were assisted by the landlord or the poor law union.
Overseer accounts—On the left hand side of the page you will find what the landlord wants done. On
the right hand of the page you will find the response from the overseer as to what was done.
Correspondence, evictions, and emigration—One reason for correspondence is mentioned above.
Lists of tenants that the landlord “assisted” to emigrate can sometimes be found. (A few of these are in
the Ordnance Survey Memoirs. These were indexed in William Filby’s Passenger and Immigration
Lists Index, www.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=7486.)
Encumbered Estates–During the Famine, many landlords had to forfeit their mortgaged estates due to a
decrease in rental income. The Encumbered Estates Court was created to handle these cases. These
contain lists of tenants and other items. The PRONI has volumes of Rentals of Encumbered Estates.
The FHL has these on microfilms 258793-258850.
Some of these are indexed in: Parsons, Joyce and Jeanne Jensen. Index to Irish films at the Family
History Library: includes names from wills, land and court documents, genealogies, pedigrees, and
special collections. [Salt Lake City: J & J Ltd., 1995-1999] FHL Ref 941.5 D22pj v. 1-5, films

1559440 it 11, 1696675 it 9, 1145946 it 2, 1145974 It 8, and 1162455 It 6 respectively, also FHL CD
ROM 601 on the FHL patron desktop.
*One problem is many tenants sublet, making it difficult to find rentals and other estate records for
them.
HOW TO FIND THE LANDLORD
• Landed Estates database—if your ancestor was in Connaught or Munster provinces (basically,
Clare, Cork, Donegal, Galway, Kerry, Leitrim, Limerick, Mayo, Roscommon, Sligo, Tipperary, or
Waterford), you have a variety of search types available online at www.landedestates.ie.
• Griffith’s Valuation—the “immediate lessor” column. Look for the lessor’s name in the lessee’s
column to verify if they were a freeholder (“in fee”) or just subletting. Identify not only who your
people rented from, but also the major landowner in the area. See www.askaboutireland.ie or
www.irishorigins.com ($) for Griffith’s Valuation.
• Registry of Deeds—Lands Index to see how the townland changed hands through the years—
especially at critical junctures such as deaths.
• Land owners in Ireland to which is added a summary for each province and for all Ireland: return of
owners of land of one acre and upwards. . . 1876 (FHL 941.5 R2ir)
• Lewis’s Topographical Dictionary of Ireland http://www.libraryireland.com/topog/
• Parliamentary Gazetteer of Ireland (FHL Brit Ref 941.5 E5p, film 824043-5, fiche 6020358-82)
• The Landowners of Ireland. An Alphabetical List of the owners of Estates of 500 Acres of 500£
valuation and upwards, in Ireland. . . . (FHL film#526490)
• Taylor and Skinner's maps of the roads of Ireland, surveyed 1777 (FHL Brit 941.5 E7ts)
• Local history/Heritage Centre (www.rootsireland.ie)
• Burke’s peerage and landed gentry books to see where all of their estates were located. Often
absentee landlords were from England so their papers have ended up in English repositories.
• Directories -
• Freeholder’s Lists—sometimes give details of the lease (see below)
HOW TO FIND THE LANDLORD’S ESTATE RECORDS
The FHL has very few (one notable exception being the Abercorn papers, which cover estates that the
Abercorn family owned in Tyrone and Donegal).
To locate the records at the FHL:
• Try a keyword search using the landlord’s surname and the county the estate was located in.
• Browse the FHLC under Ireland—Land and Property or Ireland—Manors. Check under the
same topics on the county and parish level as well.
• Check Smith’s Inventory of Genealogical Sources: Ireland (FHL 941.5 D23s v.1-32; FHL fiche
6110527, 18 fiche) for records available at the FHL.
To locate the records in Ireland:
• Sources: A National Library of Ireland database for Irish research, [online database] National
Library of Ireland, 2011. http://sources.nli.ie. Fully searchable catalogue/list of source manuscripts and
periodical articles. Contains all 23 volumes of Hayes’ publications (for a description of Hayes by
volume, see
www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Hayes_Manuscript_and_Periodical_Sources_for_Irish_Research)
.

• “Collections in Private Keeping.” Analecta Hibernica. Vol 20, pg. 311. (FHL Brit 941.5 B2ah v.
20)
• PRONI Guide to Landed Estate Records (FHL Ref Q 941.6 R23ni v.1-2)
• County Libraries—use the Directory of Irish Archives (FHL 941.5 A34h)
• Heritage Centres (www.rootsireland.ie)
• The Irish Genealogical Society and National Library of Ireland have combined to produce some
indexes to Estate records in Ireland. These exist for Armagh, Cavan, Cork, Donegal, Fermanagh,
Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Monaghan, Roscommon, Sligo, Tyrone, Waterford and Lismore Estate.
These are available if one becomes a member of the St Paul, Minnesota based society.
• Deputy Keepers Reports (for both Dublin and Belfast).
• National Register of Archives www.nationalarchives.gov.uk (under “Search other archives”).
ARCHON has indexed much of what are in the Deputy Keeper’s Reports and what is at the National
Library of Ireland, plus new material.
• Check Irish repository websites
o Public Record Office of Northern Ireland, Belfast, www.proni.gov.uk
o National Archive of Ireland, Dublin, www.natinalarchives.ie
o National Library of Ireland, Dublin, www.nli.ie
To locate records in England (often absentee landlords were English, so their papers ended up in English
repositories):
• National Register of Archives www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra makes available on-line the
contents of 44,000 unpublished catalogs to manuscripts and historical records. The private papers
(including estate records) of many families may be found in this collection. You can search the
register by organization, business, personal name, family name, and place-name (the “seat” of a
family, or estates they may have owned).
• Access to Archives (a2a) www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/
• National Inventory of Documentary Sources (NIDS,
www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~bifhsusa/nids/index.html) and
• Guides to English County Record Offices (FHL catalog under [County] – Archives and Libraries –
handbooks, etc.
For more information on Estate records and what they contain, see
www.proni.gov.uk/records/landed.htm
REGISTRY OF DEEDS
The Registry of Deeds was established in 1708 to protect Protestant landowning interest. A deed was
registered so there could be no dispute in court at a later date. By the 19 th century, many Catholics and
Presbyterians were also registering deeds. The office was called the Registry of Deeds, now located in
Henrietta St, Dublin 1. A written transcript of each deed was made, called a memorial. The FHL has
microfilmed the transcripts of these memorials from 1708 to 1929. Indexes are by surname (of grantor
only) or by place (townland or barony). The index by place is called county index.
It is good to check for deeds even though a very small number of people actually filed a deed. Mostly
those who filed did so because they wanted to protect themselves against litigation.
The term deed was loosely interpreted and so there are various kinds of documents that are included in
the deeds. The following are the types of documents you will find:
o Leases
o Marriage Settlements
o Mortgages
o Bills of Discovery

o Wills
o Sales, Assignments or Conveyances
o Rent Charges
Before searching, you must know:
• The time period in which you want to find a deed.
• The names of the people you want to look for.
• It is helpful but not necessary to know a barony, parish, or county where the people lived or
owned property.
• To search the County Index, you need to know the name of the townland.
A three step process is used to locate the Memorial or abstract of Deed.
Step 1. Search the Surname Index and/or the County Index to the Registry of Deeds.
• The Surname Index is really a grantor index. It only lists those people who are disposing of the
property.
• The County index is an index by the name of the townland. It is arranged by county and then
alphabetically by the first letter in the name of the townland. After 1828 it is arranged first by
county, then barony, and then townland (townlands where the barony was not identified are in
their own index).
• There is a volunteer project to index these records, available at
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~registryofdeeds/by_number/indexed.htm .
The project is not yet complete, so if not found on this website, you will need to use the microfilm
indexes.
• To find film numbers, search the FHLC using a “title” search and the words Transcripts of
memorials of deeds, conveyances and wills, 1708-1929.
• Search the index by time period and by name or by county and townland name.
• Obtain the volume and page number from the index.
Step 2. Search for the Memorial or Abstracts of Deeds.
• To find film numbers, search the FHLC using a “title” search and the words Transcripts of
memorials of deeds, conveyances and wills, 1708-1929.
• Obtain the microfilm number for the volume you need.
• Look up the abstract by volume and page number. The page numbers are often wrong, but the
deed numbers are not. Deed numbers may skip but they are in order.
Step 3. Locate records not available at the Family History Library.
• The original records are kept at the Registry of Deeds, Henrietta St, Dublin 1, Ireland.
FREEHOLDERS REGISTERS
A freeholder held his property either in fee (owns it), or by lease for one or more lives (such as the term of
his life or the term of three lives named in the lease). A tenant who held land for a defined period such as 31
years or 300 years was not considered a freeholder. The value of the freehold (amount varied over time)
entitled the freeholder to vote. Books recording freeholders who registered to vote are called freeholders
registers, while records of voters and who they voted for are called Poll Books.
These records start in 1727, but excluded Catholics until 1793. Freeholders registers are arranged by the
county and sometimes the barony. A freeholders register may contain information about each freeholder and
freehold:
1. Name of freeholder 2. Abode (address) of freeholder

3. Occupation and religion of freeholder
4. Location of the freehold
5. the value of the freehold
6. Names of other lives in lease
7. Landlord ‘s name and address
8. Date and place registered
A freeholders register can help pinpoint where an ancestor was living within a county, which is vitally
important if the church records were destroyed. People named as "lives" in leases were often related to the
leaseholder, so family relationships may be suggested by the freeholders list. PRONI has digitized and indexed
over 5,500 pre-1840 freeholders registers and poll books for Northern Ireland, found online at
http://applications.proni.gov.uk/Freeholders/default.aspx.
Unfortunately, many original manuscript freeholders registers were destroyed in the Public Record Office fire
of 1922. However, some freeholders registers were published prior to the fire, such as in newspapers. The
County Roscommon Family History Society has, for example, published some County Roscommon freeholders
lists found in 1830’s newspapers. Copies of freeholders registers were sometimes kept by private individuals,
such as landowners who wanted to know what voting freeholders lived on their estates. For this reason, copies
of freeholders lists are found among the papers of landed estate owners. The National Archives of Ireland, the
National Library of Ireland, and PRONI each have valuable collections of both freeholders registers and landed
estate records.
Kyle J. Betit's article "Freeholders, Freemen and Voting Registers" in The Irish At Home and Abroad lists
known surviving freeholders records for every county in Ireland (Back issues of The Irish At Home and Abroad
are available from GlobalGenealogy.com). Other freeholders records not listed in that article may be found in
some other inventories, such as (1) http://sources.nli.ie, which has over 180,000 references, including the card
catalog of the NLI; (2) James G. Ryan's book Irish Records; and (3) John Grenham's book Tracing Your Irish
Ancestors, which lists many records at the NLI.
SOURCES AND SUGGESTED READING
Betit, Kyle J. “Land, Estate and Freeholders Records in Ireland”, found online at
www.bifhsgo.ca/upload/files/Articles/LandEstateAndFreeholdersRecordsInIreland.pdf
Betit, Kyle J. “Irish Land Records” 2-part article published 31 Jul 2001. Online at
http://globalgenealogy.com/globalgazette/gazkb/gazkb68.htm.
Falley, Margaret Dickson, B. S. Irish and Scotch-Irish Ancestral Research.Privately Printed, 1962. (FHL
book Ref 941.5 D27f 2 volumes)
Grenham, John. Tracing your Irish Ancestors, 3rd edition. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 2006.
FHL 941.5 D27gj 2006. Much of this book is on-line at www.ireland.com/ancestor/browse/.
Maxwell, Ian. Tracing your Ancestors in Northern Ireland. Edinburgh: The Stationary Office, 1997. FHL
941.6 A3mi
Ouimette, David. Finding your Irish ancestors : a beginner's guide. Provo, Utah: Ancestry Pub., 2005.
FHL Rf 941.5 D27od
Radford, Dwight and Kyle Betit. Ireland: A Genealogical Guide. Salt Lake City: The Irish at Home and
Abroad, 1998. FHL British Ref 941.5D27bkj, FHL film 1145947 item 3
Radford, Dwight and Kyle Betit. A Genealogist’s Guide to Discovering your Irish Ancestors. Cincinnati,
Ohio: Betterway Books, 2001. FHL US/CAN 941.5 D27gg
Ryan, James. Irish Records: Sources for Family and Local History. Provo, UT: Ancestry Inc., 1997. (now
in 2nd ed.) FHL British 941.5 D23r 1997
ffolliott , Rosemary. “The Registry of Deeds for Genealogical Purposes,” in Irish Genealogy—A Record
Finder (Dublin: Heraldic Artists Ltd., 1981)
© 2012 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

CENSUS RECORDS
PATRON CLASS HANDOUT
Ireland Census and Civil Registration
Census records are one of best ways to locate ancestors at a given place and time
• Only 1901 and 1911 survive in their entirety; 1911 images at www.nationalarchives.ie
• Fragments exist of the 1821-1851 Censuses:
o Wiki.familysearch.org: > Ireland Census Fragments
o Ancestry.com: > Search > Search All Records > UK & Ireland > Click either Northern
Ireland or the Republic of Ireland > 1841/1851 Census Abstracts
o www.irishtimes.com/ancestor > Browse > The Records > Census Returns
o Irish Genealogy Toolkit > http://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/population-census.html
• Check FHLC > parish/county/country > topics like Census, Land and Property, Taxation
• Check Google (or other search engine) - use key words “name of county/parish and census”
• Check www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse/counties/index.htm for extant records in county.
OTHER RECORDS – CENSUS SUBSTITUTES
Use www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/browse for a listing of county-by-county census substitutes
Type of record Years Description Where to Find Them
Tithe Applotment 1823-1837 Tax record. Contains heads of households only -
both those who leased land & those who owned
land; few records for cities/large towns (contains
Griffith’s
Valuation
only 40% of all heads of households)
1848-1864 Tax record. Contains heads of households only -
both those who leased land & those who owned
land; estimated coverage of 80-90% of all heads
of households
Check Valuation Lists (also known as Cancel
Books, Revision Books) – 1850’s to 20 th century;
lists of occupiers kept subsequent to Primary
Valuation; able to trace a tenement held from
generation to generation
Northern Ireland (only those 6
counties) on www.ancestry.com
www.askaboutireland.ie,
www.irishorigins.com,
www.ancestry.com,
www.failteromhat.com
Old Age Pension 1841 & 1851
Earlier records - Field Books, Tenure Books,
House Books and Quarto Books – at FHL
Based on searches made in 1841 & 1851 www.ireland-genealogy.com
Claims
censuses (before destroyed)
School Records 1831-1921 Typically begin in the mid-to-late 19 th century www.Proni.gov.uk for NI
Freeholders List 18 th and 19 th
lists of people entitled to vote or who voted at http://www.proni.gov.uk/index/sear
Centuries elections – 18th & 19th centuries
ch_the_archives/
freeholders_records.htm
Elphin Diocesan
census
1749 covered parts of Roscommon, Sligo, and Galway www.originsnetwork.com
Convert Rolls 1760-1790 Those who converted to the Church of Ireland
Religious Taken 1740 & identified numbers of Catholics (“popish” = rebel) 1740 indexed
Censuses 1766
Many published; covers only parts of selected www.newenglandancestors.org -
counties (mostly Ulster)
Antrim, Derry and Donegal;
1766 indexed www.ancestry.com
(mostly Northern Ireland) - FHL
has microfilm on both
Spinning Wheel 1796 A government program;
indexed on www.ancestry.com
Premium
• Anyone who planted at least one rood of flax
(¼ acre) entitled to a spinning wheel
• Entries for every county - best is Ulster (large

industry of flax growing/linen making)
Muster Rolls Mainly 1630 Local militia; relate primarily to large landed
Hearth Money
Rolls
estates in Ulster
1664-1666 based on number of hearths in a home www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/bro
wse/counties/index.htm for extant
records in county
Things to Remember
• Check spelling variations of surnames, use www.irishtimes.com/ancestor/surname
• Search for record indexes online (IGI, etc.) – points to original record – obtain a copy.
• Use a computer program like Personal Ancestral File (PAF).
• Understand historical timeline; Keep a research log.
CIVIL REGISTRATION
The Irish government registration of all births, marriages and deaths
• April 1, 1845 -- Registration of non-Catholic marriages began
• January 1, 1864 -- Civil Registration of all births & deaths and Catholic marriages began.
• Indexes to civil registration
o www.familysearch.org - Indexes 1845-1958 (no images)
o British Vital Records Index (BVRI) - CD-ROM at local FHC or order online.
o rootsireland.ie - indexes & transcriptions for some counties - index free.
• Certificates available at the Family History Library (FHL)
o Births: 1864 to March 1881; 1900-1913. Republic: 1930-1955. No.Ireland 1922-1959
o Pre-1871 marriage/death records; marriage/death for No. Ireland 1922-1959
• All registers available in Ireland - Office of Registrar General for Republic, www.groireland.ie;
General Register Office for Northern Ireland, www.groni.gov.uk
• For Information on Ireland Civil Registration see Wiki.familysearch.org and type Ireland Civil
Registration on the search box.
Things to Remember
• Never trust the birth date; 1/3 parents lied about child’s birth date (avoid paying late fee) NOTE:
Baptism dates may pre-date the birth date!
• “Mc” and “O’” may be dropped off surname. Search with/without & try interchanging them.
• Estimated that about 15% of events, particularly births, were not registered in early years.
• More help: https://wiki.familysearch.org > Ireland > Civil Registration.
• FamilySearch Research Series: www.familysearch.org >Learn > View the Courses (at bottom of
page) > Ireland Research.
• www.familysearch.org > Browse by Collection – British Isles > Ireland.
• FamilySearch Wiki: https://wiki.familysearch.org – Ireland.
© March 2012 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No part of this document may be reprinted, posted online, or
reproduced in any form for any purpose without the prior written permission of the publisher. Send all requests for such permission to:
Copyrights and Permissions Coordinator
Family and Church History Department
50 East North Temple Street Salt Lake City, UT 84150-3400 USA

INTRODUCTION
PATRON CLASS HANDOUT
“Aye, it’s a well known fact Sonny Jim”:
Getting the most out of ScotlandsPeople.gov.uk
ScotlandsPeople.gov.uk is, with FamilySearch, one of the two most valuable resources for Scottish research on
the internet. It has changed the face of Scottish research by bringing together almost 80 million records in to
one location. It is a government website managed by the General Register Office of Scotland (GROS). You can
access it be going to www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk.
COST & METHOD OF PAYMENT
ScotlandsPeople.gov.uk is a pay site. The cost depends on which records you access.
Old Parish Registers (OPR’s), Statutory Registers (Civil Registration) and Census
The cost is similar as follows:
• To search the indexes and view images you must buy page credits and time in increments of 30 credits
and 90 days. The cost is £6 or about $10.00 US.
• To view the results of an index search will cost 1 credit per page. As many as 25 records will be listed
on one index page. Your search results will indicate how many hits and how many pages resulted.
• To view a document, such as a birth, marriage or death certificate, census page or OPR page from your
list of index search results will cost 5 credits.
• When you run out of credits or time, you have to buy 30 more credits and 90 more days. If your 90
days run out and you have 10 credits left, for example, you will not be able to use those credits until
you buy 30 more credits and 90 more days.
• You can view an 1881 Census transcription, not the actual image, for only 1 credit.
Once you have paid credits for the results of an index search or to view an image, you can access them for
free by logging on to the website. You can keep them as long as you want so long as you don’t delete them.
Wills & Testaments and Coats of Arms
• Searching the wills & testaments index and the Coats of Arms index is free. However, it costs £5 or
about $8.50 US to view a document. You do not use your credits for these but pay for them separately.
Payment
You pay for your credits by using a debit or credit card. Acceptable cards include: Visa, Mastercard, Visa
Debit, Switch, Solo, Delta and JCB. Though there is always a risk in submitting credit or debit card
information via the internet, this is a government website rather than a private company and considered very
secure.
GETTING STARTED
Register
If you are a new user, register by clicking on “Register now” on the top right side of the screen.

You will be asked the typical registration questions: Given name, Surname, Address, and Email Address. You
are also asked for a user name (that you choose) and for an image viewer.
When you are done registering, your password will be emailed to your email address. You can then change it
after you log in by clicking on “My Details” on the home page.
Choosing and image view is the trickiest part of the registration process. The best viewer to choose will
depend on how you access the internet. For complete details, go to the following link:
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/content/help/index.aspx?r=551&458
To summarize, if you are a:
PC User using Internet Explorer – Choose “Active X Control” for your viewer
PC User using Mozilla Firefox or another browser – Choose the “Java Viewer” or “Direct
Download” option.
Apple Mac users – Choose the “Java Viewer” or “Direct Download” option.
If you choose the “Direct Download” option, you will need to download the image and then open it with a
viewing program such as Adobe Acrobat or Irfanview.
THE RECORDS
Statutory Registers (Civil Registration aka Vital Records)
Civil registration of births, marriages and deaths began on 1 January 1855 in Scotland. ScotlandsPeople
has the following available online:
Indexes Records
Coverage Information Coverage Information
Births 1855 – Year of registration, surname, given 1855 – Name, surname and baptismal
2009 name(s) and sex of the child, district
and county of registration and the
1911 name if different, when and where
born, sex, name and occupation of
General Register of Scotland (GROS)
father, name and maiden surname
references.
of mother, signature, qualification
and residence of informant, when
and where registered.
Marriages 1855 –
2009
Index entries do not show the full date
of an event or parents’ names. These
are present on register entries.
Year of registration, surname and
given name(s) of the male, surname
and given name(s) of the female,
district and county where the
marriage was registered and the
GROS references.
1855 –
1936
Additional details in 1855 births:
When & where parents were
married, # of children the parents
have had (living and deceased),
age & birthplace of parents.
Additional details in post-1861
births:
When & where parents were
married.
Names of bride and groom, when,
where & how married (banns, etc.),
age, occupation, marital status,
usual residence and relationship (if
any), name and occupation of
fathers, name and maiden surname

Deaths 1855 –
2009
Indexes Records
Coverage Information Coverage Information
of mothers, when and where
registered, names of witnesses
Index entries do not show the full date
of an event. These are present on
register entries.
Year of registration, surname, given
name(s), sex and age (see Note 2
below) of the deceased, the maiden
surname of the deceased, the
surname of the deceased’s mother
(see Note 1 below), district and
county in which the death was
registered and the GROS references.
Index entries do not show the full date
of an event. These are present on
register entries.
Note 1: The maiden name of the
deceased’s mother was not captured
on the deaths index until 1974.
Note 2: Age at death is not recorded
in some of the indexes for deaths
occurring between 1855 and 1865.
The missing ages are gradually being
added to the indexes by GROS.
1855 -
1961
Additional details in 1855
marriages:
Date & place of couple’s births,
number of previous marriages for
the bride & groom
Name of the deceased, when &
where died & cause of death, sex,
age, occupation & marital status,
name and occupation of father,
name and maiden surname of
mother, signature, qualification and
residence of the informant, when
and where registered
Additional details in 1855 deaths:
Place of birth, name of spouse, how
long the person has lived in district
where the death took place, names
& ages of children (in order of birth),
burial place
They have also added the certificates found the Register of Corrected Entries (RCE). RCE’s are corrections to
the record typically existing when someone needed a copy of their own record and found mistakes on it. If
there is an RCE attached to the record, a red “View RCE” button will appear. Click “View RCE” to view the
relevant RCE. This will cost you 2 credits. Also, the RCE is attached to the page, not the record, so if there is
more than one on a page, the first one you click on may not be the one you want so click on “View Page After”
(free of charge) to go to the next one.
The Family History Library has indexes for the years 1855 – 1955 and certificates for the years 1855-1875, 1881
& 1891.
Old Parish (Parochial) Registers (OPR)
When Civil Registration began in 1855, Scottish churches were required to turn in their existing “Old Parish
Registers” into the Registrar General. The OPR births & baptisms and marriages index is compiled from the
surviving registers of some 900 parishes of the established church (Church of Scotland), which recorded births
& baptisms until 1854. The original registers are held by the General Register Office for Scotland in Edinburgh.
As a result, digital images and microfilm copies of Church of Scotland records extend to 1854 only. Virtually
all of the church records available digitally through ScotlandsPeople are also available on microfilm
through your Family History Center.
The digital image of the OPR is a scan of the microfilm copy of the original parish church register page. There
will typically be other entries on the page and the writing may be easy or difficult to decipher.

As with births, marriages and deaths, the cost to see the results of an index search is 1 credit and to view the
actual church register image is 5 credits. The details of the page including the search name, image type and
reference number are shown at the top of each image.
If you want to view the page before or after, it will cost 5 more credits. Again, once you have paid the 5 credits
to view a page, you can always view it again in the “viewed images” section of the web site.
You can also click on “View Free Header” and you will see the microfilm title plate describing the source of
the record you are viewing.
The amount of information in on OPR record varies but is not as detailed as the births, marriages and
deaths. It may not have much more information than the index entry.
Births/
Christenings
Marriages 1538 -
1854
Indexes Records
Coverage Information Information
1538 – Entry may be a birth, baptism or both. At best, you may find the following: name of
1854 The full date of the event, surname, the child, whether legitimate or not, date of
given name(s) and sex of the child, birth and/or date of baptism, father's name,
parents’ names (often, but not always mother's name and maiden surname, place
including mother’s maiden name), or parish of residence, occupation of the
parish in which the birth or christening father and names (and sometimes
was registered, and the GROS
occupations) of witnesses. Occasionally, as
references. A frame number may in, for example, Dundee, witnesses'
sometimes be included beside the relationship to the child (if any) may be
parents’ names, e.g. FR300. This recorded. At worst, you may find that the
frame number matches the FHL mother's name is not recorded at all between
microfilm for the register.
certain years (as in Alyth parish between
1742 and 1786), or that the entry does not
If the sex of the child was unclear from record the sex of the child and the name is
the original entry, a “U” was used to
indicate the sex. A “U” entry will show
up in both the male and female
searches.
ambiguous.
The Scottish Church Records database
at your Family History Center is also an
excellent index to these same records.
Each index entry includes: full date of
the event, the surname, given name(s)
and sex, the name of the spouse, the
parish where the proclamation of the
banns or the marriage itself was
registered, and the GROS references.
A frame number may sometimes be
included, as noted above.
Note: If a couple resided in different
parishes, the banns may have been
proclaimed in both parishes and two
entries will be found in the index for
that couple under different GROS
reference numbers. The dates may
also vary if the banns were proclaimed
on different days in each parish, or one
may record the date of the banns and
one the date of marriage.
The minimum information will be the names
of the bride and groom, and perhaps a fee
paid.
You may also find the following: date(s) of
the proclamation of intended marriage
and/or date of marriage, parish of residence
of the bride and groom, sometimes the
occupation of the groom and occasionally
the name of the bride's father.

Deaths/
Burials
Indexes Records
Coverage Information Information
The Scottish Church Records database
at your Family History Center is also an
1538 –
1854
Though
few exist
excellent index to these same records.
Burials were not considered a “sacrament”
in the Church of Scotland so many death or
burial records simply do not exist. Some do,
however, so you need to check the records
for the parish you are searching. The best
place to do this is at
http://www.scotlandspeoplehub.gov.uk/rese
arch/list-of-oprs.html. You can also check
the Family History Library Catalog at
www.familysearch.org.
Besides the name of the person who has
died, the date of death and/or date of burial,
you may find the name of a relative, the
place or parish of residence, and sometimes
the occupation of the person/father/spouse.
A few registers will give cause of death and
some age at death and there may be more
detail recorded for the “important” of the
parish.
The collection also includes the Register of Neglected Entries (RNE) for each parish. These are events which
occurred from 1801-1854 not found in the original parish registers which were added out of some legal
necessity afterwards.
It helps to know that each Church of Scotland parish is numbered. Knowing the parish number is as
important as knowing the name of the parish. The parish number is found in the reference for the parish
register entry you view and also in the microfilm header described above. For example, 685/01 0066 where:
- 685 is the parish code, equivalent to the parish name shown in the index record
- 01 is the parish suffix, an additional index term for locating the relevant register within a parish. The
parish suffix is not always present and may be denoted 00.
- 0066 identifies the volume in which the entry can be located.
Catholic Parish Registers and Records
ScotlandsPeople has a complete indexed and digitized collection of Catholic parish register births/christenings
from 1703-1855. It includes all records known to exist though not necessarily all records that ever existed there
for that time. It has also digitized and indexed Catholic parish register births/christenings from 1855-1908 if
they were available to the Scottish Catholic Archives. This latter part of the collection is far from complete.
Catholic marriages are also available on the website though the coverage is not clearly stated. One important
note, however, is that it is possible, based on Scottish law, for a couple to have banns read in the Church of
Scotland yet for the couple to be married before a Catholic priest. This is because of the legal requirement that
banns be read in the Church of Scotland.
Very limited death and burial records exist but those that are known to exist have been indexed and digitized.
To supplement the collection, records of two Catholic cemeteries in Edinburgh are included in the records.

Census
Census records are available to be searched for the years 1841-1901 in Scotland. The information contained in
each census varies somewhat as shown in the following table (searchable items in bold):
Surname
Forename
Sex
Age
County &
District
Address
Rank/ Profession\
Occupation
1841 Note 1 Note 2
1851
1861
1871
1881
1891
1901
Where born
Relation to head
of fam.
Condition as to
marriage
Blind/deaf/
dumb
Children 5-13 in
school
# rooms with
1+ windows
Houses inhabited,
uninhab., building
Employer,
employed, own
account
Note 1: In 1841, all ages above the age of 15 were supposed to be rounded down to the nearest 5. For example,
someone aged 32 would be recorded as 30 years of age and someone aged 38 would be recorded as 35 years of
age.
Note 2: In 1841, the question of “Where born” only asked to know if someone was born in the county in which
they were living “Y”, another Scottish County “N”, England “E”, Ireland “I” or of Foreign birth “F”.
Indexes
All of the censuses have been every name indexed and imaged and is available at ScotlandsPeople. To view
the results of an index search costs 1 credit. The indexed information includes: surname, given name, sex, age,
registration district and county and the GROS reference number. Ancestry.com only has an index to the
censuses. Scattered indexes in book form are available at the FHL and some may be microfilmed.
Images
The 1841 Census image consists of two pages whereas the rest are of one census page. The images for the
remaining censuses consist of one page. The cost to view a page is 5 credits. If a family starts on one page and
ends on the next, you will want to click the “View Page After (5 Credits)” button.
Census 1881(LDS)
Please note that the viewed data for the 1881 (LDS) version of the census is a transcription of a
household and not an actual image. Viewing a transcription will cost 1 credit unless it has been
previously viewed. It can be searched at your local Family History Center for free.
The transcription includes (searchable items are in bold): Surname, Forename(s), Address, Sex, Age,
Census Place, Birthplace, Condition as to marriage, Relation to Head, Handicap, Occupation
The FHL has the 1841 – 1891 Censuses available on microfilm.
Gaelic/English
speaker

Wills & Testaments
Indexes Records
The free index contains over 611,000 entries to
Scottish wills and testaments from the several courts
with jurisdiction covering the years 1513 – 1901.
There may be more than one entry if there is an eik
(similar to a codicil in English wills)
Each index entry includes: surname, given name,
title, occupation and place of residence (where these
are given) of the deceased person, the court in which
the testament was recorded, and the date on which
the testament was recorded.
They do not include names of executors, trustees or
heirs to the estate, the deceased’s date of death, or
the value of the estate.
Full color images of the actual testaments are
available. They are large and may take some time
to download. The cost is £5 or about $8.50 and
must be paid separately. This is regardless of the
length of the will and the credits you use for
statutory, parish and census records cannot be
used.
There are three types of probate documents indexed. The testament testamentar is the most useful because it
includes the will. Executors are usually family members and other family names might appear as beneficiaries,
although not necessarily the spouse or children. Unlike English custom, the spouse and children may already
be cared for under the “widow’s part” and the “bairns’ part” of the moveable estate. The spouse or children
might only be named in the will if they are to benefit from the “dead’s part” in addition to their lawful share of
the estate.
The second type of document indexed is a testament dative, indicated by a “TD” in the type column in the
index. There is no will, but the court often named a close family member as executor. If the deceased died in
debt, the court might appoint a creditor as executor instead. In this case, it is less likely that family names will
be included.
The third type of document indexes is an inventory, usually indicated by the word “Inventory” in the type
column. It will list the moveable property belonging to the deceased at the time of his or her death. It can
include household furnishings, clothes, and other personal items including tools of trade, crops, monies as
well as debts owed and money loaned.
Coats of Arms
Indexes Records
The index contains entries from the Public Register
of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland from 1672 –
1907.
Each index entry includes surname, given name(s),
date when the coat of arms was granted, the volume
and page reference. It may also include a title and
place of the person granted the coat of arms.
The images are full color copies of original
documents held by the Court of the Lord Lyon of
Edinburgh. The file sizes can be very large and
take a while to download. They cost £10 or about
$17.00 regardless of the number of pages.
Entries from 1672 – 1804 are usually very brief
with little genealogical information and few
illuminations of the coats of arms.
Entries from the mid-19 th century often contain
information on the person’s descent from his

Help & Other Resources
grandfather or earlier. If Arms are being rerecorded,
several generations may be included.
Remember that you can learn a lot by exploring the “Help & Other Resources tab. By clicking on the Blue
words there, you can link into the various subjects. The following table summarizes some of the information
there:
Subject Description
Customer Information Contains a step by step guide to the website including how to register,
cost, changing your account, password issues and how to view images.
Getting Started A beginner’s guide to Scottish research
Help With Searching An extremely useful guide on how to get the most out of your searches
including using wildcards, the impact of Scottish name variations and
illegitimacy.
Extant OPRs Find out what church records actually exist for any Church of Scotland
parish.
Extant CPRs Find out what church records actually exist for any Catholic parish in
Scotland.
About The Courts This will help you understand the Probate Jurisdictions in Scotland. It
includes links to a list of Courts and records and a map showing court
jurisdictions.
List of Parishes & Registration You can download a complete list of parishes (usually equivalent to
Districts
registration districts) in Excel or PDF format
Counties Map After clicking on the link, you have to click on “Genuki” to see a map of
pre-1974 Scotland counties. This map may not print very well.
Courts Map This takes you to a clickable county map of Scotland. You can click on
each county and get a list of courts with time period of available records.
The counties are not labeled however so you will want to know where
your county is before using this.
Counties and Commissariots This list shows you the names of the Commissariots (courts) by county
List
Counties and Sheriff Courts
List
This list shows you the Sherriff Courts by county. This is important
because in 1824, the Sheriff’s Courts became the primary court for
probate records.
Parish Descriptions Click on the “EDINA” link on this page to find out more about the
geography, history, economic, social and religious life of individual
Scottish parishes in the 1790's and the 1830's/40's. After clicking the
“EDINA” link, go to “For non-subscribers” and click on “Browse scanned
pages”. You can then type in the name of your parish in the “Search by
name box”. This will bring up a list of available reports which you can
then click on and review. Written mainly by the incumbent parish
ministers, Statistical accounts exist for each of the 938 parishes in
Scotland. Although they vary in the amount of detail, they all give a
fascinating, contemporary insight into how your ancestors lived and
worked, and start to bring them alive in a way that the genealogy alone
cannot do.

Help With Results This brings up a list of record types in a column on the left side of the
screen. By clicking on a record type, reasons for not finding a record are
listed as well as possible next steps to take.
Technical Information Information on computer system requirements, browser (i.e. Internet
Explorer or Mozilla Firefox) capability and viewing and printing images
is available here.
Research Tools Contains great information on a wide variety of subjects, including:
handwriting help, form of testaments, sums of money, produce, weights
& measures and what to do if you can’t read a word or a letter. It also
contains a glossary of terms such as: occupations, unusual words,
common word abbreviations, and medical terms. You can also find
historical information on the way people lived including: hearth & home,
the clothes they wore, their working lives and other curiosities.
STRATEGIES
An “Other Resources” tab contains links websites with information on:
societies, statistics, records, military records, heritage, genealogical
information sites, immigration/emigration and maps and gazetteers.
The “Discussion Groups” section can allow you to connect with people
researching all over the world, including in Scotland.
1. Before using any of your credits on index searches, experiment with your search variables. Try different
spelling variations of surname. The name may not be recorded the way you think. Keep track of the
variables you try.
2. Never forget spelling variations. 99.9% of the time your ancestor is not writing down their own name in a
record. It will be written however the scribe or clerk felt it should be written. The default searches work as
follows:
a. The default surname search will return all entries with that surname (example: a search for the
surname Gillie will give you the Brown-Gillie and Gillie-Stewarts.
b. The default given name search will also give you all entries with that given name (example: a search for
Ann will give you Ann, Mary Ann, Ann Eliza etc.)
c. Variations in given name or surname will not be automatically included in your search results unless
you check the “Use Soundex” box or the “Return all forenames that begin with these characters” box.
3. Use “Soundex” and/or “Wildcards” in your searches (you can’t use both at the same time). The following
wildcards can be used at ScotlandsPeople:
a. Use * (asterisk) or % (percent) for zero or more characters (example: Bro* for Brown, Browning, Brough
or Mar* for Mary, Margaret, Maria, Mary Ann
b. Using * is excellent for Mc or Mac. By searching for M*cDonald, you will get both McDonald and
MacDonald. For numerous spelling variations, you can use two or more wildcards (Example:
M*cGil*v?r*y will give you McGilvery, McGillvery, McGilivary, McGillivery, McGilleveray etc.)
c. Use ? or _ for substituting one character only (example: Johns?n for Johnson or Johnsen)
d. Searches in the surname field must include 2 or more letters (example: you cannot search for M* but
can search for M*c or Ma*).

e. On the given name search, putting only a “J” will act like a “J*” and all names beginning with the letter
“J” will be returned.
Pay attention to the different searches and variables you are using so that you understand what you have
searched and what you haven’t searched. If you’re not careful with your wildcards, you might get many
more search results than you want.
4. It was common for a widow to revert to her maiden name. If you are looking for a possible second
marriage, remember that the maiden name was likely used.
5. If you are unable to find a child in civil registration that you believe existed from the census, try using the
mother’s maiden name. The child may be illegitimate.
6. Research everyone in a family in each generation. As parents get older, they will often live with one of
their children. This can tie one generation to the next.
7. Always look at the original record. You never know what clues will be found in the original that aren’t in
the index. You may miss something extremely valuable as well as get a sense of record such as how
complete it is and how legible it would have been to an indexer.
8. The Scottish were often big on the following naming pattern:
a. First son named after the father’s father
b. Second son named after the mother’s father
c. Third son after the father
d. First daughter after the mother’s mother
e. Second daughter after the father’s mother
f. Third daughter after the mother
Some families followed the pattern religiously, others not at all. Paying attention to this however may help
determine which ancestor is yours when there is more than one possibility. It can get a little tricky when,
say, both fathers share the same given name.
9. Always evaluate your information. Consider the following:
o Did the person providing the information witness the event?
o Was the information recorded at or near the time of the event?
o Is the information consistent and logical?
o Does it suggest a place to go next?
For example, we were all at our births but we are not the primary source of information for when and
where we were born. Someone had to tell us because we couldn’t have cared less at the time☺. It is
similar at the time of our deaths, the birth information is usually provided by someone who wasn’t there.
10. Don’t forget to return to indexes such as the Scottish Church Records index available at your Family History
Center or the International Genealogical Index (IGI) when moving to a new generation.
11. Make sure and learn something about the place you are researching. Knowing more about where an
ancestor lived will help you understand them better and may help you determine family relationships
when there are potential conflicts. For Scotland, consider the following:
o A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, Samuel Lewis, 1851, British Reference 941 E5L 1989
o The Gazetteer of Scotland, John Wilson, 1882, British Reference 941 E5j
o Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland, Francis H. Groome, ca. 1894, British Reference 941 E5g 1894

o The Imperial Gazetteer of Scotland, John Marius Wilson, ca. 1900, British Reference 941 E5w
Also note the section on parish descriptions above in the section on help and other resources.
12. Find a good map of the locality. Try using:
o Parish Maps of Scotland, British Reference 941 E7ch 1991 & fiche number 6036350
o The Phillimore Atlas & Index of Parish Registers, British Reference 942 E7pa 1995
o www.getamap.ordnancesurvey.co.uk
o www.multimap.com
o www.old-maps.co.uk
o Use a search engine like www.google.com to search for your parish
Remember, there are no magic fences separating parishes or counties. If your location is at the edge of a
county make sure it’s nearby. Geographic features such as rivers, mountains or valleys would have had a
greater impact on an ancestor’s movement than a line on a map.
13. People sometimes moved around. If you don’t find someone in the district you expect to find them in,
search nearby registration districts or broaden the search to the whole county. It’s also possible that an
ancestor moved out of Scotland to England or America for example.
14. Become familiar with the jurisdictions of the locality, both church and civil such as the:
o Village
o Parish (parish numbers)
o District (often the same as the parish)
o County
o Probate jurisdiction
15. It is possible to include too much information in your search. If put more information on an ancestor than
the record itself may contain, you may not find your ancestor. (Example: a search for John William
McDonald may be unsuccessful if the index or original did not include the middle name). If you fail to
find an entry you are looking for, try being less specific.
16. Analyze and use information from several record types together. For example:
a. Birthplaces and ages recorded in census records can be used to look for their births or baptisms in the
Old Parish Registers.
b. The names of parents found in a civil registration birth certificate or marriage can be looked up in the
civil registration marriage index or the OPR index.
c. The disappearance of an elderly relative or a young child between census years might indicate a death
to be pursued.
d. A woman might return to her family home for her first the birth of her first child, therefore the
birthplace of the eldest child might be an indication of where her parents are living.
17. More important than anything, keep trying. Try different searches when you need to. If you always
search for things the same way you will get the same results.
© 2012 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this document may be reprinted, posted online, or
reproduced in any form for any purpose without the prior
written permission of the publisher. Send all requests for
such permission to:

INTRODUCTION
PATRON CLASS HANDOUT
Best Websites for Scottish Research
Scotland has indexed all of its major genealogical record collections and made the indexes – and
images of the records – available online at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk. This is a fee-based web
site, costing £8 (about $12) for 30 page credits and accessible for 365 consecutive days. For the
amount of information you can obtain, it is a great savings over sending to Scotland for records.
The major genealogical record types for Scotland are:
• Civil registration (government vital records)
• Census records
• Church records
• Land and probate records.
These are the records most likely to provide names, dates, places, and relationships.
STEPS FOR USING SCOTLANDSPEOPLE
1. First, click on ‘Register’ and do so; you must have an email account.
2. As part of registration, create yourself a ‘username,’ and ScotlandsPeople will assign you a
password and send it to your email account.
3. Log in to the web site with your username and password. (Through ‘My Details,’ you may
change the password to something easier to remember.)
4. Select the type of record you wish to search.
5. Enter a name to search for and a time period.
6. Narrow the search to a particular county and/or parish/town if you wish. [Note: This site allows
you to search up to five (only) counties/parishes at a time.]
7. Click on Search. If the search finds too many matches, narrow the search further until you have
one page of matches.
8. Click the ‘View’ button. Each page of matches will cost you 1 page credit to view.
9. Now you will be asked to buy page credits. You can buy as few as 30 for £6 or as many as 300
for £60. Payment is by credit card. Click on the ‘Purchase’ button.
10. Once you have paid to view the search matches, you can pick the record image you want to
view. This will cost you 5 page credits per image.
11. Once you have viewed an image, you may print a copy.
12. Once you have viewed a page of search matches or an image, they are stored in your account
and you never have to pay to view them again. You can view them again by clicking on
‘Viewed Images’ or ‘Previous Searches.’
CIVIL REGISTRATION RECORDS
Scottish government registration of births, marriages, and deaths began in 1855.
Indexes and printable images of records are available on ScotlandsPeople (100-yr restriction on
images of births, 75 of marriages, and 50 of deaths). The Family History Library (FHL) has the
indexes to 1956 and some records (1855-1875, 1881, and 1891) on microfilm. But if you are used to
ordering microfilms through a family history center, the web site might be the more economic way to
obtain copies of the records. However, as far as an index from 1855-1875 for births and deaths the
Historical Records database on www.familysearch.org is free and cannot be beat.
Scottish civil records supply the most information of any in the British Isles:
• Birth records can give the parents’ wedding date and place in additional to the traditional
information you would expect to find in the records.

• Marriage records can give the bride and groom’s parents’ names including mothers’ maiden
names, and identify whether the parents are alive or deceased.
• Death records can give the deceased’s parents’ names.
CENSUS
The British government began taking censuses of the population of Scotland in 1801, but the early
records were merely statistical. The first census naming members of a household was taken in 1841.
There is a one-hundred year restriction on the release of census records. The 1841-1901 censuses
are available to the public.
The 1841 through 1901 census indexes and images are available at www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk for the fee.
www.ancestry.com has the 1841 through 1901 censuses without images for a subscription. The FHL has the
1881 census and a complete index to it. However, it is not available at www.familysearch.org. The library also
has the 1841-1871 and 1891 censuses. There are some indexes available, mostly for the 1851 census, mostly
in booklet form. Some indexes are available online. The library does not have the 1901 census.
Census records provide names, ages, relationships, birth places, occupations and residences and are very
valuable for showing the make-up of a household and for providing clues for further research.
CHURCH RECORDS
The records of the Established Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) have been microfilmed and indexed by the
Genealogical Society of Utah and are available through the FHL. The ‘Scottish Church Records’ index is
available on library computers, both at the FHL and at Family History Centers. The index is not available at
www.familysearch.org. However, it is available on ScotlandsPeople for the fee. Many (but not all) of the
entries in the Scottish Church Records index can be found in the Historical Records database, available at
www.familysearch.org.
The library has few records of other church denominations in Scotland, including the seceding Presbyterian
groups. The Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) of the National Archives of Scotland at
www.nas.gov.uk/catalogues/, lists those known to survive.
1. Click on the link to the Online Public Access Catalogue
2. Click on ‘Search’
3. Enter a place name in the ‘AnyText’ field and ‘CH*’ in the ‘RefNo’ field and it should bring up a list of
church records for that place including those for ‘nonconformist’ denominations.
Church of Scotland birth/baptismal records usually give the mother’s maiden name in addition to the name of
the child and father, and may name witnesses. Few burial records were kept or survive, but have now been
added.
For a wonderful inventory of what church records exist for a parish, including Church of Scotland, Kirk Session,
and Nonconformists, go to https://wiki.familysearch.org and type in the name of your parish and Scotland.
PROBATE RECORDS
In Scotland, all immovable property, such as lands and buildings, passed directly to the eldest son and were
not bequeathed through a will. Movable property, such as household goods, personal effects, tools and farm
machinery, were bequeathed through a document called a ‘testament.’ Probate records are completely
indexed online at ScotlandsPeople. The web site provides free use of a fully searchable index to over 611,000
Scottish wills and testaments dating from 1513 to 1901. It also provides high quality images for £5 per
document, regardless of length, which you can then print. The Family History Library has a good collection of
testaments up to about 1823, but few after, and few other types of probate documents such as inventories.

COATS OF ARMS 1672-1907
The Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland contains all recordings of Coats of Arms in Scotland
from 1672 to the present day and is added to daily. Coats of Arms cannot be used legally in Scotland unless
they are recorded in that Register. The Register is maintained by the Court of the Lord Lyon, the office
responsible for heraldic matters in Scotland.
MILITARY RECORDS
ScotlandsPeople isn’t the only source of Scottish records online. Records of the Scottish regiments of the
British army are held at the National Archives of the UK in London and are indexed through the Archives’ web
site. British army records include various types of service records and pension records. The pension records,
known as ‘Soldiers’ Documents,’ are indexed in the online catalogue of the Archives. Search it at:
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/search.asp.
1. In the ‘Word or phrase’ field, enter the name of the soldier
2. In the ‘Department or Series Code’ field, enter WO 97
3. Click on ‘Search’
The pension records can give age at enlistment and discharge, years of service, birth place, physical
description, regiment name, and some history of service. The FHL has the Soldiers’ Documents on film and
once you have the regiment name, you can find the right film number in the collection. The documents are
filed in alphabetical order by the soldier’s name.
OTHER ONLINE RESOURCES
The ScotlandsPeople web site provides links to other online resources for Scotland.
1. Click on the tab for ‘Help & Other Resources’
2. In the list to the left, select ‘Other Resources’
3. In the green box to the left, click on your choice of topic, such as ‘Records’
4. A number of web sites for records are described and links to their web sites are provided
5. Check out each link and web site to see what there is to help you
6. Also check out the ‘Research Tools’
For links to other Scottish archives and their web site and email addresses, go to the Scottish Archive Network
at www.scan.org.uk and click on ‘Directory.’ SCAN holds catalogs of many record offices and also includes
some nice research tools such as a glossary of uniquely Scottish terms and “how to” articles.
MAPS AND GAZETTEERS ONLINE
The Web site www.scotlandsfamily.com provides parish maps for every county in Scotland. The site
www.visionofbritain.org.uk provides access to Wilson’s Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland.
ANCESTRY.COM
Ancestry.co.uk has a large collection of records for anyone doing research in England and Scotland. While
some of their records are only indexes, they are a stepping stone into the original records located at Scotland
Peoples. Together these two sites make Scottish research a lot easier.
NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF SCOTLAND
The National Archives of Scotland www.nas.gov.uk has some searchable sources such as the National
Register of Archives that may help you locate estate records. Their catalogue is also available on their site.
HANDWRITING
The Web site www.scottishhandwriting.com has some helpful tutorials on reading old Scottish handwriting.

FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETIES
Every county in Scotland is included in the interest area of a family history society, which is like a county
genealogical society in the U.S., and is made up of paying members, mostly amateur family historians, who
often volunteer to index records of genealogical value. Many societies publish monthly newsletters and
sometimes quarterly journals. They all have web sites on the Internet where they list their publications and
provide other research helps such as look-up exchanges and message boards. Some provide limited research
assistance for a fee. Check them out at: www.safhs.org.uk. You can also click on ‘Societies’ under ‘Other
Resources.’
© 2011 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this document may be reprinted, posted online, or
reproduced in any form for any purpose without the prior
written permission of the publisher. Send all requests for
such permission to:
Copyrights and Permissions Coordinator
Family and Church History Department
50 East North Temple Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84150-3400
USA

FAMILY HISTORY LIBRARY CLASS HANDOUT
Scotland: Records of Property & Inheritance
Property records are often neglected supposing that “my ancestor was too poor.” We should never put
limits on our ancestors. While property records contain more for the upper to middle classes, some
include the lower class.
The records dealing with property include services of heirs, deeds, sasines, notarial protocol books, the
Great Seal, estate records, and valuation rolls. FamilySearch Wiki at http://wiki.familysearch.org and
the National Archives of Scotland at http://www.nas.gov.uk can provide valuable information on all of
these records.
JURISDICTIONS: PROPERTY
Many courts were involved in actions regarding land. Some of the most important courts were:
Chancery Court, Court of Session, Sheriff Courts, Burgh Courts, Commissary Courts and Regality
Courts.
RETOURS AND SERVICES OF HEIRS
Heritable (real) or immovable property included land, buildings and mineral rights. “Expanded on p.
4-5”
DEEDS
Any document someone wanted to be legally binding could be registered in a Register of Deeds.
Deeds contain marriage settlements, marriage contracts, partnerships, trust dispositions, transfers of
property, etc.
SASINES
The term ‘sasine’ comes from the action ‘to seize.’ A ‘sasine’ documented the act of taking possession
of a piece of land, building or minerals in the ground, and sometimes involved the seller literally taking
a handful of soil from the land and placing it in the hand of the buyer. Sasines were for any transfer of
land and immovable property, including heritable land and Crown grants of land. These acts were
recorded in the Register of Sasines and are a primary source for information on ownership of land and
property. The register began in 1617 and continues to today, but earlier sasines do survive.
There are actually several divisions of the Register of Sasines:
• A general register (centralized in Edinburgh—containing sasines for anywhere in the country)
• Particular registers (for each county)
• Burgh registers
The Register of Sasines is indexed from 1781 and easy to use. Prior to that year, there are partial
indexes. The registers are currently being digitized. Here is a list of records available at the National
Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh (NAS) and the Family History Library (FHL).

Time Period
Before 1540
1600-1609
1617-1867
1868-
1681-
Kept by
Notary
Public
Secretary of
State
Court of
Session
Court of
Session
Burghs
Records
Notarial Protocol Books include early sasines (in
abbreviated Latin; best to have an expert examine)
Secretary’s Registers (only 7 of 17 districts survive)
Indexes 1599-1609
General Register (whole country)
Indexes
Minute books
Particular Registers (by county)
Indexes
Minute Books
Abridgements w/ indexes 1781-1868
General Register—Minute books
No more Particular Registers
Burgh Registers
Availability
NAS; FHL (FHLC Keyword Search
“Notarial Protocol”)
NAS
NAS; FHL book Q 941 B4sp or films
0896584-0896606.
NAS
NAS; FHL 1616-1720
NAS; FHL 1717-1782 (films 0216877-
979), 1805-1867 (FHL book 941 P2sc)
NAS
NAS; FHL some (Q 941 B4sp)
NAS; FHL
NAS; FHL 1781-1830, films 0217075-
0217087
NAS; FHL book 941 P2sc (1868-1955)
NAS; FHL has a few
For further information, see the NAS guide on Sasines at http://www.nas.gov.uk/guides/sasines.asp.
For records at the FHL, search the library’s online catalog at www.familysearch.org (do a Place search)
for a burgh or county of interest, or for ‘Scotland,’ and the topic of ‘Land and property.’
ESTATE PAPERS
Most of our Scottish ancestors never owned land but rather lived and farmed on the land of someone
else. That someone else likely kept records of their tenants and the management of their lands or
estates. Many—though not all— estate papers have survived. Some are deposited at the NAS in their
Gifts & Deposits section (GD), and some are still in the hands of the current estate holders. Some large
estates, such as Inveraray Castle, ancestral home of the Duke of Argyll and Clan Campbell, have their
own archives on-site.
Estate papers can include rentals or leases, lists of tenants, and records of tenants who may have been
in some trouble. A lease was called a ‘tack.’ Someone who held a lease was called a ‘tacksman’ or a
‘tackswoman.’
Some tacksmen held leases on large pieces of land which they then sublet for smaller farms and to
crofters. Read more about them in the NAS online guide at
http://www.nas.gov.uk/guides/estateRecords.asp.
In order to search Estate records you need to know who owned the estate. To find this information
search these sources available online and at the FHL:
• Parish histories and gazetteers
• The Old & New Statistical Accounts of Scotland at the FHL and online at www.edina.ac.uk/stat-accscot/
• Findlay, James. Directory of Gentlemen’s’ Seats, villages, &c. in Scotland… [1843] (FHL book Ref 941
E4d; film 599347 item 3; fiche 6026392): Available online at Archives.org at
http://www.archive.org/details/directorytogentl00find

• Register of the Great Seal 1306-1668, 11 vols. (FHL book 941 N2sc): 1306-1651 are available on
Ancestry at http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=34544
• Statistics of the annexed estates, 1755-1756: from the records of the forfeited estates preserved in the Scottish
Record Office [NAS]. FHL Q book 941 R2sa. Lists tenants on the estates forfeited as a result of the
1745 Rebellion.
• Index of Place Names to the Abridgements of Sasines (see that section)
• Timperley, Loretta R. Directory of Landownership in Scotland circa 1770. (FHL book 941 B4sr n.s. v. 5)
• Return of Owners of Land and Heritages in Scotland 1872-73 (FHL Q book 941 R25i)
• National Register of Archives (searchable online) www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/nra/
Once you have determined the owner of land where your ancestor may have lived, search the NAS
online catalogue for the owner’s name or the property name and the references of E, GD, or RH. Also
look in the FHL catalog for the county where the property was located and the topic of Land and
Property.
VALUATION ROLLS
Valuation rolls are tax records based on land value. Valuation rolls exist sporadically before 1855 (the
Directory of Landownership in Scotland circa 1770 is based in part on the rolls for that year). The Inland
Revenue Service records (NAS catalogue reference IRS) include pre-1855 records for the counties of
Aberdeen, Ayr, Banff, Dumfries, Fife, Lanark, Midlothian and Edinburgh, Roxburgh and Stirling.
Beginning in 1855 the records are complete (except they do not include the burghs) and are listed in the
NAS online catalog with the reference of VR. Learn more about them at
http://www.nas.gov.uk/guides/valuationRolls.asp. The FHL has only a few records. Look in the FHL
catalog for a place of interest and the topic of Taxation.
JURISDICTIONS: INHERITANCE
Before 1824, probate of the estates of deceased persons was handled by twenty-two county
Commissary Courts. You may see a list of the counties and the commissary courts that had jurisdiction
over them by going to: http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/content/help/index.aspx?r=551&572.
Jurisdiction changed to Sherriff courts in 1824.
INHERITANCE RECORDS
Property was divided into two types: movable and immovable (or heritable). Movable property was a
person’s personal goods. Heritable (real) property included land, buildings and mineral rights.
Heritable property could not be bequeathed through a will until after 1868, so there was a court process
for determining who was the rightful heir to the property.
The Scottish records dealing with inheritance are testaments and wills, retours and services of heirs,
inquests, tailzies (entailments), and others. Collectively they are referred to as probate records.
Additional information about these records can be found on the National Archives of Scotland website
at http://www.nas.gov.uk/guides/default.asp and in the FamilySearch Wiki at
http://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Scotland_Probate_Records.
RETOURS AND SERVICES OF HEIRS
When a subject of the Crown (who held land and other immoveable property) died, the Chancery
Court sent out a document called a ‘brieve,’ which summoned the local sheriff to hold a jury trial or
inquest to determine the heir to the property (sometimes a mere formality). Inquests were also held to
determine a tutor to administer the affairs of minor heirs. The verdict of the jury was returned

(‘retoured’) to Chancery. Chancery then commissioned the Sheriff to grant possession of the land to
the heir (‘service of heir’) and to collect the fee payable to the Crown. Beginning 15 November 1847,
heirs could also petition for service.
There were two main types of services:
• A Special service of heir dealt with specifically mentioned land to be inherited.
• A General service of heir mentioned inheritance but not specific land.
Here is a chart showing Chancery records of retours or services of heirs and their availability both at
the National Archives in Edinburgh (NAS) and the Family History Library in Salt Lake City (FHL).
Time Period
1530, 1544—
1700
1530, 1544—
1912
1700—1959
Records
Summaries & Index of Retours;
Printed Abstracts (in Latin), called—
Inquisitionum ad Capellum Regis Retornatarum
Abbreviato (volume 3 contains the index to
volumes 1 & 2)
Abridgements, original and registered retours
(in Latin until 1848, but indexed)
Decennial indexes (usually give the death date
of the defunct)
1701—1886 Index of appointments of tutors for minor heirs NAS only
1847—1955 Abstracts of Petitions for Services of Heirs
(generally give more info than the indexes, but
are filed by the original petition date rather
than the final court date. A study shows that
the time period between the petitions and
grants of service was usually within a year).
Availability
NAS;
FHL book Q 941 A2i, 3 vols. & film 0908847
Also available for purchase on CD from
www.scotsgenealogy.com (Scotland
Genealogical Society (SGS)
NAS (C22, 23, 24, 25);
FHL films 0231260—0231562
(Registered retours, 1700—1901)
NAS;
FHL book Q 941 R2ch, 14 vols.
(1700-1859 also on film 0990340)
(Also available for purchase on CD from
www.scotsgenealogy.com) (SGS)
NAS (CS345); FHL book 941 P2scs, vols. 31-
130 (1855-1955), films 1441082—1441099
1860—1929 Indexes 1860—1929 NAS; FHL fiche 6068606 (102 fiche)
Retours could have been recorded many years after the fact, so you should search accordingly.
Before 1848, retours and services of heirs are also found in sheriff, burgh, and regality court records.
Sometimes their verdicts were not ‘retoured’ to Chancery, so the records of these other courts should
also be searched. Beginning in November 1847, services of heirs were granted from the Chancery
Court only, though local courts continued to hold inquests and issue retours.
The records of the inquests of the local courts sometimes survive and may contain more information. You
will need to contact the county archive to see what survives. You can find a list of local archives, with
links to their websites, by going to http://www.scan.org.uk/directory/contactdetails.htm. There are
indexes for both the Inquests and the Services of Heirs.
For more information, see the National Archives of Scotland (NAS) guide to ‘Inheriting Land and
Buildings’ at http://www.nas.gov.uk/guides/inheriting.asp.

ULTIMUS HAERES
If a person died ‘intestate’ (without leaving a document for probate) and had no known heirs, the
Crown was the ‘last heir’ or ‘ultimus haeres.’ It is interesting to note that there was no succession to or
through the mother for either heritable or moveable property. If the deceased had only relatives on his
mother’s side of the family, including half-brothers and sisters, they could not directly inherit.
However, relatives could petition the Crown to inherit a portion of an estate.
• Grants of petitions for moveable property before 1834 were recorded under the Privy Seal.
Indexes survive in various forms including minute books.
• Grants of petitions for heritable property before 1834 are sporadic and unindexed.
• Records since 1834 are more consistent and complete and are indexed by the name of the
deceased.
• The petitions are part of the collection of the Exchequer (NAS online catalogue reference E).
• The Family History Library does not have the petitions on microfilm.
TESTATMENTS
Before 1868, personal or ‘movable’ property was bequeathed to one’s heirs through a document known
as a ‘testament.’ In addition, an inventory of the property was usually compiled following a person’s
death. There were two types of testaments:
1. Testament Testamentar (died testate) 2.Testament Dative (died intestate)
The earliest testaments date from the early 1500s. However, since a person might distribute their
personal property to their heirs before their death, testaments were not always necessary.
Before 1823, testaments were processed through the Commissariat Courts. The highest court, that of
Edinburgh, was responsible for processing testaments from anywhere in the country (as necessary) and
for subjects living abroad. After 1823, responsibility for testaments was turned over to the county
Sheriff’s courts. To see a list of counties and their sheriff’s courts go to:
http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/content/help/index.aspx?r=551&571.
Online Index and Records
A free index to 520,000 testaments and inventories, 1500-1901, is available online at:
www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk. You must register to use the site. Images of the records can be
purchased online for a flat £5 fee (about $ 6.50), regardless of the numbers of images.
Records at the Family History Library
Microfilmed copies of the testaments to 1823 (and some later) are available at the Family History
Library. To find the film numbers listed in the Family History Library Catalog (FHLC), search for a
county of interest and the topic of Probate Records (or see FHL register 941 P2gs). Registers of
testaments and inventories for 1824-1875 are mostly unfilmed. Those that are filmed will be listed in
the FHLC in the same manner. The FHL has only published indexes for testaments 1876-1936 (FHL Q
book 941 Ps).
Search testament records especially when—
• you don’t know who the father or parents are to ancestor with a common name
• there is no known specific place or parish to search next in order to find birth information; may
provide clues where to search next
• you don’t know the names of your ancestor’s siblings
• you don’t know your ancestor’s mother’s name or maiden name (sometimes given)

In order to interpret what you find in these records, you may need to use some of the following
sources.
• Burness, Lawrence. A Scottish Genealogist’s Glossary. Aberdeen: Aberdeen & North East
Scotland Family History Society, c1990. (FHL British Ref 941 D27bL)
• _______. A Scottish Historian’s Glossary. [Scotland]: Scottish Association of Family History
Societies, c1997. (FHL British book 941 H26b)
• Encyclopedia of the Laws of Scotland. 16 vols and 2 supps. Edinburgh: W. Green & Son, Ltd., 1926.
(FHL British book 941 P36e)
• Gibb, Andrew Dewar. Student’s Glossary of Scottish Legal Terms. Edinburgh: W. Green & Son,
Ltd., 1946 (FHL British book 941 P36g)
• Gouldesbrough, Peter. Formulary of Old Scots Legal Documents. Vol. 36 Edinburgh: The Stair
Society, 1985. (FHL British book 941 B4st v. 36)
READING THE RECORDS
Some records are in Latin or are difficult to read. In order to interpret what you find, you may need to
use some of the following sources.
• Scottish Handwriting website http://www.scottishhandwriting.com with tutorials
• ScotlandsPeople online resources at http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk. Click on the link for
the “Site Map” at the very bottom of the webpage.
• Burness, Lawrence. A Scottish Genealogist’s Glossary. Aberdeen: Aberdeen & North East
Scotland Family History Society, c1990. (FHL British Ref 941 D27bL)
• A Scottish Historian’s Glossary. [Scotland]: Scottish Association of Family History Societies,
c1997.
(FHL British book 941 H26b)
• Encyclopedia of the Laws of Scotland. 16 vols and 2 supps. Edinburgh: W. Green & Son, Ltd.,
1926. (FHL British book 941 P36e)
• Gibb, Andrew Dewar. Student’s Glossary of Scottish Legal Terms. Edinburgh: W. Green &
Son, Ltd., 1946. (FHL British book 941 P36g)
• Gouldesbrough, Peter. Formulary of Old Scots Legal Documents. Vol. 36 Edinburgh: The Stair
Society, 1985. (FHL British book 941 B4st v. 36)
BIBLIOGRAPHY
• The National Archives of Scotland, guides to records at
http://www.nas.gov.uk/guides/default.asp.
• Scottish Genealogy. Druie, Bruce. Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press, 2009. (FHL book
941 D27 db)
• Scottish Family History. Moody, David. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1998. (FHL Book
# 941 D27md)
• Scottish Local History, Moody, David. Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1990. (FHL Book #
941 D27m)
• Tracing Your Scottish Ancestors: the official guide, 5 th ed. The National Archives of Scotland and
Birlinn Ltd: Edinburgh, 2009. (FHL book 941 D27s)
• Tracing Your Scottish Ancestors, Maxwell, Ian. South Yorkshire: Pen and Sword Family History,
2009 (FHL Book # 941 D27mi)
© 2011 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this document may be reprinted, posted online, or reproduced in any form for any purpose without the prior written permission of the
publisher

FAMILY HISTORY PATRON HANDOUT – RESEARCH SERIES
LIBRARY Scottish Nonconformist Church Records
Not all the citizens of Scotland belonged to the Established Church. Those who did not are known as
nonconformists. Various nonconformist churches existed and many kept records of value.
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
• Prior to the 1500s, Scotland was Catholic, as was all of Europe.
• In the 1500s, John Knox spread Protestantism and came into conflict with Queen Mary. She was
forced to abdicate in 1568 and was imprisoned in England where she was later executed.
• In 1552, the General Provincial Council ordered each parish to keep a register of baptisms and
banns of marriage. The earliest registers date from 1553.
• In 1560, the Catholic Church was abolished and Presbyterianism grew in strength.
• In 1603, James VI of Scotland (son of Queen Mary) became James I of England.
• In 1606, Episcopacy was established in Scotland by James I.
• In 1616, 1636, and again in 1699, laws were passed requiring ministers to keep registers.
• In 1638, Episcopacy was abolished, but was restored again in 1661.
• The Church of Scotland (Presbyterian) was established permanently in 1690.
• Between 1733 and 1843 there were many secessions from the Established Church, affecting
records.
WHEN YOUR ANCESTORS ARE NOT IN SCRI
When you do not find your ancestors in the Scottish Church Records Index, it could indicate:
• They were members of the Established Church but did not get registered.
• They were registered but the records were lost over time.
• They were nonconformists - members of any church other than the Established church.
• They were a nonconformist family if you find a marriage in the SCRI but no children for the
couple.
HISTORY OF SCOTTISH NONCONFORMITY
• Church of Scotland was established permanently in 1690. The first group of Presbyterian
nonconformists, formed about then, were the Cameronians, later called the Reformed
Presbyterian Church.
• The first great secession from the Established Church of Scotland occurred in 1733 and the
resulting Secession Church was also called the Associate Presbyterian Church.
• In 1747, a breach occurred in the Associate Presbyterian Church. The resulting churches were
the Associate (Burgher) and General Associate (Anti-Burgher) churches.
• In 1761, another group of people seceded and formed the Relief Presbyterian Church.
• In 1820, the majority of the Burgher and Anti-Burgher congregations merged to form the
United Secession Church. The minorities formed the Original Secession Church.

• In 1843, the largest secession of all occurred. 451 ministers of the Established Church (over a
third of the total) and most of their congregations, with others, seceded and formed the Free
Presbyterian Church.
• In 1846, the United Secession Church and Relief Church merged to form the United Presbyterian
Church.
• In 1852, most Original Secession Church congregations united with the Free Church.
• By 1855, nearly two-thirds of population no longer belonged to the Established Church.
• In 1876, most Reformed Presbyterian Church congregations united with the Free Church.
• In 1900, the UP Church and the Free Church joined to form United Free Presbyterian.
• In 1929, most United Free Church congregations rejoined the Established Church.
• All of these groups are historically referred to as seceders.
SO WHY ALL THE SECESSIONS?
The major reason was the issue of patronage, which was the right of a layman to appoint a minister
even against the wishes of the Kirk session or congregation. (Finally abolished for good in 1874.)
OTHER NONCONFORMIST CHURCH GROUPS
Several other nonconformist church groups have had a historical presence in Scotland. Being non-
Presbyterian in form, they are referred to as dissenting churches or dissenters. They include:
• Independents – including Glasites, Daleites, Congregationalists and the Evangelical Union –
not known for their record keeping.
• Baptists – don’t believe in infant baptism; never large in number.
• Episcopalians – strongest in Angus, Kincardine, Aberdeen, Moray, and the Western Highlands.
• Roman Catholics – strongest in the Highlands and the Islands.
• Wesleyan Methodists – never large in number.
• Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
• Society of Friends (Quakers).
• Unitarians (illegal until 1813).
• Jews.
• Various other Protestant denominations.
HOW COMMON WAS NONCONFORMITY?
In 1851 there were 1183 Established Church congregations and 2202 nonconformist congregations.
CONTENT OF NONCONFORMIST RECORDS
Secession and Dissenter churches may or may not have kept their own registers of baptisms,
marriages, and burials. Records may also include minutes of meetings; lists of members; accounts
of the poor; etc.

WHAT GROUPS EXISTED AND WHERE?
To determine what nonconformist churches existed in any given place, look in:
• Gazetteers such as Lewis’ Topographical Dictionary of Scotland (FHL 941 E5L, 1851).
• The New Statistical Account of Scotland (FHL 941 B4sa or http://edina.ac.uk/StatAcc/)
NONCONFORMIST RECORDS AT THE FHL
To determine what nonconformist records are available at the Family History Library, look in:
• The Scottish Church Records Index on computer on Family Search DOS and OPR index on
microfiche.
• The Family History Library Catalog under your locality of interest.
• The International Genealogical Index for any included there. Batch Number can help. See
Parish and Vital Records List.
• The Scottish Church Records Union List – http://wiki.familysearch.org
SCOTTISH CHURCH RECORDS UNION LIST
• Multiple volumes found on the register table in the British Reference area of the FHL.
• Arranged by county and by parish.
• Lists all known denominations and their congregations, gives their histories, and lists known
records and where they are located.
• Compiled from sources available in the library, whether or not the FHL has the records.
���
The list has not yet been microfilmed. However, it is on http://wiki.familysearch.org
OBTAINING RECORDS NOT AVAILBLE AT FAMILY HISTORY LIBRARY
• If the records are available at the National Archives of Scotland in Edinburgh, visit the archives
or hire someone to search the records for you for a fee. The archives has daily user fees.
• Write to the repository or church with the records and have them searched for a fee. For
addresses, check the Scottish Church Records Union List in the library.
NOTE: Not all records survive; and nonconformists did not always register either.
Scotlandspeople.com
www.scotlandspeople.com have put on their website the pre-1855 Presbyterian Church records of
births, baptisms, marriages, and deaths. The Catholic Church records pre-1955 have also been
added to their website. It is worth your time to look at this website!
8 2010 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this document may be reprinted, posted online, or
reproduced in any form for any purpose without the prior
written permission of the publisher. Send all requests for
such permission to:
Copyrights and Permissions Coordinator
Family and Church History Department
50 East North Temple Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84150-3400 USA

OVERVIEW
The Parish Chest:
Beyond the Christening, Marriage and Burial Registers
Dan Poffenberger, AG ® – poffenbergerds@familysearch.org
The casual English genealogist will no doubt search the Church of England parish registers
of christenings, marriages and burials for the parishes in which their ancestors lived.
However, depending on the parish, there can be a wealth of information in other records
kept in the parish chest.
Parishes were not only the center of worship for town inhabitants but often the civic and
social center as well. Historically, parishes were formed where ministers would serve groups
of people who lived near each other for economic reasons. For almost all parishes,
especially away from large cities, parish boundaries were formed out of long time custom
and geographic practicality, not because of government decree.
The importance of this cannot be overstated. As a result, while church and civic laws and
conventions were passed down from higher authorities, the execution of them can vary
widely from parish to parish. 1
In fact, the lack of direct government involvement in the
formation of parishes as recent as 1835 led to the statement from the 1 st
Annual Report of
the Poor Law Commission that there were no fewer than “15,635 parishes or places
separately relieving their own paupers.” 2
Relief of the poor always generated records, most
often at the parish level.
The big question is whether or not they have survived and how they may be of use to
genealogists. The story is told of an overseer in Warlingham, Surrey named Simon Baker
who “had the chest in his private possession. He [immigrated] to America, and neither the
chest nor its contents was ever heard of again. To make matters worse, the vicar informed
the council that the previous day he had turned out another old chest in the church, and
destroyed its contents of ‘worthless papers’.” 3
In most cases, the records have now been
deposited at the appropriate County Record Office though many may still reside at the
parish church. Many counties have published lists of the existing parish chest records and
their location.
Poor relief was not the only (typical) civil function performed by the parish. Sidney Webb
states “By custom, the right and power of the parish to provide for its inhabitants whatever
1
Webb, Sidney. The parish and the county. (London: Frank Cass & Co., 1963). FHL# 942 B4w vol. 1 page 5.
2
Ibid. Page 3.
3
Tate, W. E. The parish chest: a study of the records of parochial administration in England. (Chichester,
England: Phillimore, 1969). Page 84. FHL# 942 K2t. page 283, note 2.

services or regulative ordinances were deemed locally expedient was so vaguely extensive as
to be practically without ascertained limits.” 4
Parish activities also included:
• Maintenance of the Church and its services
• Keeping of the peace
• Repression of vagrancy
• Mending of roads
• Suppression of nuisance
• Destruction of vermin
• Furnishing of soldiers and sailors
• Enforcing religious and moral discipline
As of the early nineteenth century, it is estimated that combined parish expenditures were
equal to 1/5 th
of the budget of the national government. 5
And where there are income and
expenditures, records are kept.
PARISH OFFICERS, THEIR DUTIES AND RECORDS
Incumbent Incumbent or or or minister minister (rector, (rector, vicar, vicar, curate)
curate)
Traditionally, the minister received a tithe and a “living” from the parish. The living
consisted mainly of land set aside to be used for the benefit of the minister.
• Entrusted with the registration of baptisms, marriages and burials of his parishioners
• When present, he is chairman of the vestry meeting
• May decline temporal duties such as bailiff, reeve, or constable
• Not bound to serve in war
There were four principal unpaid offices in the parish as noted below. They were chosen in
a variety of ways, depending on the parish custom. When selected, the person was bound
for duty and required to perform it, typically for one year. It was often possible for the
wealthy to buy their way out of the duty, especially the less pleasant ones. It is also possible
for a person to serve 2 or 3 years until he could find a replacement for himself.
Records for which primarily responsible
Along with the parish clerk, register books of christenings, marriages and burials.
The Vestry Vestry
The Vestry was a kind of parochial parliament. It has also been called “a parochial social
welfare committee.” 6
It may also be thought of as a parish council made up of residents of
the parish with meetings generally chaired by the parish minister.
The duties of the Vestry were wide and varied, often depending on the customs of an area
and often growing in scope until reforms in the 1830s. Tate states that “Strictly speaking, the
4 Webb. Page 4.
5 Ibid. Page 4.
6 Tate. Page 15.

vestry, as representing the inhabitants generally, had the power to administer common
property and to make by-laws on all matters of public concern.” 7
The Vestry literally dealt
with any issue any of the parish officers dealt with. Examples can be found in Vestry
minutes of dealing with Sabbath observance, fees for burial in church, agreements with the
Overseers concerning care of the poor, bastardy agreements, providing of psalm singers, the
prosecution of felons and providing of beer; literally everything.
Perhaps the most powerful of duties was to require the four key offices of parish service –
Churchwardens, Petty Constable, Surveyor of Highways and Overseers of the Poor – to have
their expenditures brought before the Vestry for approval.
Because of the broad ranging power, many vestries which began as “open” or including
virtually any resident of the parish, evolved into “select” vestries, which kept the power within
the offices noted above as well as the minister, parish clerk and wealthy land holders. In
fact, Webb gives a fascinating description of Vestries and how the often “represented” the
people. He states:
The so-called “Vestry” was, in fact, in no sense a body representative of the
population as a whole. It raised its revenues by direct taxation of its own
members, and exercised by its expenditure autocratic power in the details of
parish government, but it was, in its turn, subject to a very real, if somewhat
spasmodic control at the hands of the squire, the parson, or other
neighboring Justices of the Peace. Moreover, the official relationships
between the parties were inextricably woven into the economic relationships
that existed between the same individuals in their private capacities.
The Justice of the Peace was probably the landlord of the whole of the
parish officers; the officers were the employers of the paupers; and even the
clergyman, who was in many respects the most independent person in the
village, often owed his position to the squire, let his glebe to the
Churchwarden, bargained with the Overseer as to the rates on his tithes,
and drew these tithes from every occupier of land in the parish. 8
The effect this had on records is that often “there were no minutes, no printed accounts and
no reporters for the newspapers, the persons who paid the rates themselves controlled every
item of expenditure and knew everything that was going on.” 9
As for the records kept, it was
often the case (and you will notice as you search them) that “parish account books, kept by
successive Churchwardens or Overseers, and often containing the entries for a whole
century, reveal, in inextricable confusion, the multifarious duties of the parish organization.
7 ibid. Page 16
8 Webb. Page 48.
9 ibid. Pages 48-49.

Items relating to all the different parish functions often appear in one and the same rude
account.” 10
Records for which primarily responsible
The Vestry kept minutes which “may contain orders upon almost any subject under the
sun.” 11
Records can be found usually from the mid-1700’s well into the 1800's.
Churchwarden
Churchwarden
Churchwardens were considered “the proper guardians or keepers of the parish church.” 12
Their work was primarily related to duties related to ecclesiastical or “church” duties but
sometimes involved civil functions as well. Of the four unpaid offices, the Churchwarden
was “one of dignity and importance, without very onerous duties, and was therefore little
objected to.” 13
Churchwardens paid for necessary expenses using a variety of income sources. Hopefully
the funds that came from “church stock or other property, customary fees for lights and
particular church services, the voluntary offerings of the faithful, and the profits of ‘church
ales,’ public games and other village sports and feasts were enough to cover expenses. If not,
the churchwardens could levy the “Church Rate”, temporary tax to cover their expenses.
The churchwardens were required to account for rate monies, which resulted in the creation
of records.
“When we remember the financial responsibilities of the Churchwardens’ office, and the
distinctly ecclesiastical and disciplinary character of some of their functions, this absence of
all test of fitness was remarkable, and led, as we shall see, to some strange results.” 14
Duties 15
• Maintenance & repair of the church fabric (edifice, building).
• Provision of materials necessary for church service.
• Allocation of the seats in church.
o Pew Rents
• Keeping up of “churchways” (paths leading to the church).
• Administration of the churchyard.
• Report to the Archdeacon or Bishop on the:
o Performance of the incumbent
o Condition of the church
o Moral and religious delinquency of the parishioners.
• Levying church rates as needed.
10 ibid. Page 43.
11 Tate. Page 162.
12 ibid. Page 84..
13 Webb. Page 18.
14 ibid. Page 23.
15 ibid. Page 20.

Records for which primarily responsible
Churchwarden’s Accounts
Church Rates
Overseers Overseers of of the the Poor
Poor
There were at least two and sometimes three or four chosen by the Justices of the Peace.
This role often “involved unpleasant relations with one’s neighbors, besides considerable
work & responsibility.” 16
The overseers’ primary responsibilities were to:
• Assist a destitute person.
• Appear at Petty and Quarter Sessions to resolve issues of removal of paupers,
settlement of paupers, bastardy questions and destitute children apprenticed.
An overseer could “be indicted for manslaughter if a destitute inhabitant died of starvation,
after having been refused relief.” 17
Therefore, they could legally insist on the poor rate (tax
to support the poor).
Overseers submitted both their payments (outgo) for the poor and also their proposed poor
rate (poor tax) for the upcoming year to the Justices of the Peace.
Records for which primarily responsible
Poor Rates and most records dealing with the poor up to 1834
Overseers Accounts
Settlement Certificates
Removal Orders
Bastardy Bonds and most records dealing with illegitimacy
Surveyor Surveyor of of Highways
Highways
The survey was chosen by and reported to the town Justices of the Peace. He was chosen
from among the parish land holders. This role was also considered unpleasant. Typically,
he would organize the more prosperous members of the parish to put together teams of
workers to perform six days work a year on the dates and parts of the road that he chose. 18
It
was a statute (legal) duty to be performed by all eligible members of the parish. Some were
able to pay a fine to avoid the duty. The Justices could raise money for road work by
assessing a “highway rate”.
Records for which primarily responsible
Surveyors rates and accounts
16 ibid. Page 18.
17 ibid. Page 32
18 ibid. Page 30.

Petty Petty Constable
Constable
The petty constable worked under the high constable of the county to keep the peace in the
parish although Tate states that “In many places the duties, and therefore the accounts of
constables, wardens and overseers, were mixed together in a condition of indescribable
confusion.” 19
The Constable’s primary duty “was to take charge of arrangements for keeping watch and
ward in the parish.” 20
He was to “apprehend any person who had committed a felony, but
also if he saw any minor offence committed, or even a breach of the peace about to take
place, to apprehend the offender.” 21
He could hold “petty sessions” (or court) in his own parish and was often required to attend
quarter sessions for the county. This job was the “most objected to” and “either abandoned
to humble folk, attracted by its perquisites, or else invariably filled by a substitute.” 22
He also
assisted the county in raising a militia. In some places in England, he was allowed to levy a
“Constable’s Rate” for his expenses. It’s also possible his expenses came from poor
accounts when dealing with vagrancy or even the churchwarden’s accounts depending on
local practice.
Lastly, he had the duty of providing and maintaining the parish butts (for archery), stocks
and whipping post and taking charge of the parish armor.
Records for which primarily responsible
Constables Orders and Constables Rates
FINDING FINDING THE THE RECORDS
RECORDS
• Search the Family History Library Catalog for your parish and check for the subjects
of “poor law” and also “church records”
• Search the Family History Library Catalog for the county in which your parish is
found for a guide to existing parish records
• Search the catalog of the relevant county record office online for the parish and
possible deposited records
• Search “Access2Archives” at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
Remember to search all available records for a parish because the roles and records are not
usually clearly defined.
19 Tate. Page 179.
20 ibid. Page 179.
21 Webb. Page 26.
22 ibid. Page 18.

BIBLIOGRAPHY
BIBLIOGRAPHY/FURTHER BIBLIOGRAPHY /FURTHER READING
READING
Cole, Anne E. Poor law documents before 1834. (Birmingham [England]: Federation of
Family History Societies, c1993). FHL# 942 P37c
The Compleat parish officer. (Devizes, England : Wiltshire Family History Society, 1996).
Originally published from the original seventh edition of 1734. FHL# 942 P3c 1996.
Cox, J. Charles. Churchwardens' accounts from the fourteenth century to the close of the
seventeenth century. (London: Methuen & Co., 1913). FHL# 942 K2c.
Tate, W. E. The parish chest: a study of the records of parochial administration in England.
(Chichester, England: Phillimore, 1969). Page 84. FHL# 942 K2t. Also available online
through Google Books.
Webb, Cliff. A preliminary guide to Middlesex parish documents. ([S.l.] : West Surrey
Family History Society, c1992). FHL# 942.21 H25w no. 33
Webb, Sidney. The parish and the county. (London: Frank Cass & Co., 1963). FHL# 942
B4w vol. 1.
Salop County Council. Shropshire parish documents. (Shrewsbury, Shropshire: W.B.
Walker, [19--]). FHL# 942.45 K2s
© 2012 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this document may be reprinted, posted online, or
reproduced in any form for any purpose without the prior
written permission of the publisher. Send all requests for
such permission to:
Copyrights and Permissions Coordinator
Family and Church History Department
50 East North Temple Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84150-3400
USA

England and Wales - Probate Records & Indexes
Probate records can contain a wealth of genealogical information, but finding the records may
be a bit confusing without some help. In 1858, the Principal Probate Registry was formed,
transferring responsibility for probate proceedings from the church to the civil government and
to consolidate all probates into one system. Before 1858, there were over 300 jurisdictions in
which your ancestor’s will may have been probated.
PRE-1858 PROBATE JURISDICTIONS
Wills were probated by the Church of England in one of over 300 ecclesiastical courts. Note
that:
• Courts not equal in importance and jurisdiction
• A will was usually probated where testator owned property
• If testator owned property in more than one jurisdiction, will is probated in the next higher
court with jurisdiction over both places.
• May have to search more than one court to locate an ancestor’s will
• Court with highest jurisdiction was Prerogative Court of Canterbury (PCC)
• If either death or property was overseas, probate should have been handled by the PCC
• Exceptions to usual ecclesiastical jurisdictions were peculiar courts. Peculiar courts in the
Church of England were exempt from (not subject to) the jurisdiction of bishop of diocese.
FIND PRE-1858 PROBATE RECORDS
Two ways to find probate jurisdictions for parish:
1. Go online to http://wiki.familysearch.org and type in the county name followed by Probate
records e.g., Hampshire Probate Records. Follow the instructions on that page or
2. Go online to http://maps.familysearch.org and enter the name of the parish. Click on the
parish name in the search results, then select the jurisdictions tab.
Online Indexes:
• Will be linked in the wiki page for each county
• Try Your Archives wiki at TNA
http://yourarchives.nationalarchives.gov.uk/index.php?title=Online_Probate_Indexes
• National Wills Index at Origins.net (free @ FHL)
http://www.origins.net/NationalWills/Users/NWIUserHome.aspx
• www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/will.asp (PCC 1354-1858 Wills only)
• www.genuki.org.uk - look under county then topic probate records
• www.findmypast.com - Index to death duty registers 1796-1903
• Use FHL favorites – use Wiki or www.fhlfavorites.com
• Use a search engine (google, dogpile, altavista etc.) to find online indexes. Use keywords
such as [county] wills index to find online indexes. Try other combinations to discover
databases.

Finding Other Indexes - Using FHLC:
To find published probate indexes
• Do a ‘place search’ for county
• In topics, choose ‘probate records - indexes’
To find the wills of a particular court
• Use Keyword Search and name of court
ESTATE DUTY DEATH INDEXES – 1796-1903
• Indexes cover all courts in England and Wales.
• List of years and coverage in these records:
o 1796-1805 covered 25%
o 1805-1815 covered 75%
o 1815-1858 covered almost 100%
• FHL has both indexes for 1796-1903 and documents for 1796-1857
• Search online at www.findmypast.com
Estate Duty Registers contain:
• the date and place of the testator's death
• details about the deceased including what their personal estate was worth
• details of those named to carry out the instructions
• details of those named to inherit something and how they were related to the deceased
• any special arrangements
• the amount of tax that was paid
DEFINITIONS OF PROBATE TERMS
Testator/Testatrix: - Person who made will
Intestate - Person who died without a valid will
Executor/Executrix - Person named in a will by testator; authorized to administer terms of will
Codicil - Addition to will made after it is signed
Admon - Short for ‘letters of administration’, a grant to next-of-kin (or another) who applied to
administer property of intestate
Act Book - Day-by-day account of official grants of probate proceedings
Inventory - List of testator’s personal and household goods, with appraised value.
Probate Account – Details of the distribution of personal estate and executor’s or
administrator’s expenses. These are rarely kept.
POST-1858 PROBATE RECORDS
• After 1858, all wills and administrations were recorded by Principal Probate Registry
• Two groupings - Principal & District Courts
FINDING POST-1858 PROBATE RECORDS AT THE FAMILY HISTORY LIBRARY
1. If between 1861 and 1941, use the Principal Probate Registry Calendar online at
www.ancestry.com

2. If not between 1861 and 1941, find the FHL film number of the probate calendars using the
FHL Catalog or PPR binder at the register table.
3. Search general index (called calendar) for years following ancestor’s death (at least ten years
after). FHL has indexes from 1858-1957.
4. Note film number(s) to search.
5. If ancestral entry found, note month, year, court and whether will or administration.
6. If it is a will, return to Principal Probate Registry binder and look up either the Principal
Court section (London) or the District Court section according to court name given in index.
FHL has wills only from 1858-1925.
7. To locate the actual will:
a. Go to FamilySearch Research Wiki article Principal Probate Registry (or use register)
b. Find the Library catalog listing of PPR wills films (or turn to section in register)
c. Determine right film number in this order:
1. Year 3. Month
2. 1 st letter of surname 4. District
8. If a will is from 1926-2005 or an administration from 1858-2005, FHL does not have these
records.
9. To obtain post-1925 records, write to the Probate Registry:
1. The Postal Searches & Copies Department
York Probate Sub-Registry, 1 st Floor
Castle Chambers, Clifford Street
York YO1 9RG England
BEFORE YOU WRITE:
• Check online :
www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk/cms/1226.htm
• District Courts: Look in the FHLC at www.familysearch.org. Do ‘place search’. Type in
county name. From topics, click on ‘probate records’ or ‘probate records indexes’. (e.g.,
FHLC > Cheshire > Probate Records Indexes).
PROBATE SEARCH STRATEGIES
• Search all courts which may have had jurisdiction over the place of death or where the
deceased’s property was located.
• Use all indexes, including online, printed, and act books.
• Consider searching all wills for the surname in the court. An uncle’s, grandparent’s or other
relative’s will might give the answer needed.
• Consider searching all wills where the testator lived in the ancestor’s parish. Sister’s
husbands and maternal relatives probably had a different surname. Even a non-relative’s
will may solve your research problem.
© 2009-12 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this document may be reprinted, posted online, or
reproduced in any form for any purpose without the prior
written permission of the publisher. Send all requests for
such permission to:
Copyrights and Permissions Coordinator
Family and Church History Department
50 East North Temple Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84150-3400 USA

FAMILY HISTORY PATRON CLASS HANDOUT
LIBRARY England and Wales: Military Records
BRITISH ARMY RECORDS
Only about 15% of the male population served in the army but families that were affected by having husband,
brother or uncle in the service were close to 50%. By far the vast majority of those who served did so as “foot
soldiers”. The major challenge to finding records of soldiers (especially non-officers and non-commissioned
officers) is to ascertain their regiment name or number.
Commissioned Officers – the few:
- Ensign
- Lieutenant
- Captain
- Major
- Lieutenant Colonel
- Colonel
- General
Militia Records
Don’t forget militia units! Check in the FHLC under
your county and the topic “Military Records” for
individual militia lists, muster rolls, and other records
for your county. Militia lists also make great census
substitutes!
Family Memorabilia
Oral Traditions
Badges and Medals
Photos/Uniforms
Letters
Other
Civilian Records
Civil Registration
(occupation)
Census (pensioner,
regiment)
Newspapers
(“gazetted”)
BRITISH MILITARY
ANCESTRY?
Church Records
Parish Registers
Bishop’s/
Transcripts
Archdeacon
Transcripts
Monuments
Non-commissioned Officers:
- Corporal
- Serjeant
- Master-serjeant
Foot Soldiers – the ‘regular’ army (the many)
Pensioners:
The Pensioned—(before 1880 only about 10% of men)
- Pension due to tenured stay of duty (usually 21+ yrs)
- Discharge to pension due to injury or casualty–
1) Chelsea Out-pensioners
2) Chelsea In-pensioners
Non-pensioned
Printed Sources/Micro
War Office Records
How-To Books
Military History
Regimental Histories
Medal Books
Uniform Books
Hue and Cry
Websites, Databases
TNA
Artillery Museum
Regimental Museums
Regimental Histories
County Record Offices
Ministry of Defense
(MOD)

Clues to Names of Units may be found in:
Family Tradition – “in the battle of”… “stationed at”
Family records Old letters Diaries
Medals Obituaries Death Certificates
Monumental Inscriptions Birth & Marriage Certificates Census
Pension Certificates Parish Registers
Officers (gentlemen):
1. Search War Office (W.O.) 65—Army Lists 1754-1915 to determine what regiments and what years he
served. (FHL)
2. Search W.O. 25—Services of Officers on Full Pay – 1828 (FHL)
3. Search W.O. 76 & W.O. 77—Records of Officers’ Services 1771-1919 (FHL)
4. Search W.O. 42 –Applications for Pensions for Widows and Children of Officers 1755-1908 (FHL)
Enlisted “men” (soldiers):
1. You must first ascertain his regiment because the majority of records are arranged by regiment and are not
indexed by individual soldier. The regiment may be found in a variety of records:
a. Prior to 1880, approximately only 10% of soldiers were discharged with a pension. Those who were
discharged to a pension are in the “Soldier’s Documents” (W.O. 97). Between 1760-1854 W.O. 97
records are indexed at www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/search.asp. (This online tool also
indexes W.O. 121, another good place to look for pensioners.) If you find a record for your man in
W.O. 97 (or W.O. 121), the FHL has copies of these. After 1872, W.O. 97 records are arranged by
type of soldier and then alphabetically by name, and strictly alphabetical after 1882, making it so
that you may not have to know the regiment, however, the FHL does not have any W.O. 97 records
after 1854.
b. His marriage record
c. Census records
d. Did he have children while in the Army? Check the Index to entries in the army regimental registers of
births and baptisms, 1761-1924, FHL fiche 6137402-3 (does not circulate to FHCs).
e. Chaplains returns of births 1796-1880, FHL fiche 6137330; and marriages 1796-1955, FHL fiche
6137413-28 (these do not circulate to FHCs).
f. Family papers of his discharge? Photos of him in uniform? War medals?
g. Search the Regimental registers of soldiers’ births, baptisms, marriages index on fiche #6137402-3
h. Explore other web sites such as www.findmypast.com for other military databases.
i. Explore the FH Library’s computers Patron Desktop for a large list of “Favorites” links
The FHL has a number of other W.O. records. To see what is available, do an ‘author’ search in the FHL
Catalog for Great Britain War Office. One collection of particular interest is the World War I service records,
commonly known as the “Burnt Documents” and the “Unburnt Documents” (in the FHLC they are titled
“Military records of the British Army, 1914-1920”). Also check Military Records binder in reference area.
The National Archives (TNA) has many more W.O. records, such as muster rolls, pay lists, etc. where you will
find regular soldiers who do not turn up in W.O. 97 or other records mentioned above. You may hire a
researcher to search records at TNA for you (go to http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/irlist/ to find a list of
researchers by specialty), however you will still want to do whatever you can to ascertain the regiment before
you hire someone.

For a good listing of available army records and what they will tell you about your ancestor, go to
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/researchguidesindex.asp#b and look under “British Army.” Also,
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/militaryhistory/army/ provides step-by-step guidance to army records.
SOURCES
• In Search of the “Forlorn Hope”: a comprehensive guide to locating British regiments and their records (1640-WWI).
John M. Kitzmiller. FHL British Ref 942 M2kj v. 1 & 2
• Ancestral Trails. Mark Herber, FHL British Ref 942 D27 hm, (Chapter 19 “Records of Military”)
• England Research Outline - www.familysearch.org>Search> Research Helps
ROYAL NAVY RECORDS
Officers
1. Look in David Syrett and R.L DiNardo, The commissioned sea officers of the Royal Navy 1660-1815, FHL British
Book 942 M32c.
2. Look in William R. O’Byrne, A naval biographical dictionary : comprising the life and services of every living
officer in her majesty's navy, from the rank of admiral of the fleet to that of lieutenant, inclusive, FHL British Book
942 D3ob 1990.
3. Look in Bruno Pappalardo, Royal navy lieutenants' passing certificates 1691-1902, FHL British Book 942 B4pro
v. 289-290.
Ratings – If your ancestor served:
1. Prior to 1853, you must know the name of the ship he served on.
2. Between 1853-1891, you can trace him more easily through the continuous service engagement books. Do
a title search in the FHLC for Continuous service engagement books (Adm. 139), 1853-1896.
3. Between 1853-1923, also try http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documentsonline/royal-navy-service.asp.
© 2009 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this document may be reprinted, posted online, or
reproduced in any form for any purpose without the prior
written permission of the publisher. Send all requests for
such permission to:
Copyrights and Permissions Coordinator
Family and Church History Department
50 East North Temple Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84150-3400
USA

FAMILY HISTORY LIBRARY CLASS
Church of England Records & Indexes
The best wealth of genealogical records in England are the church records. Church Records in
England can be used from the 1500’s to the present. Some difficulties are locating and reading
the records. Many have been indexed and are available in various ways. This handout is to
help you identify these records and learn how to prepare for future research of these records.
THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND
The church in England is the Anglican Church. These records are the most complete and
available church records. They can be found in many ways: as original records in microfilm or
digital formats. Many have been transcribed into book form by Family History Societies. The
Family History Library has these records in book, fiche, computer and compact disc, and digital
records (more frequently added to www.familysearch.org). Many indexes have been produced.
CHURCH RECORDS POST-1813
The Church of England records are very good and were recorded on a form. These forms had
specific columns to help gather information.
• Three possible record books are Parish Registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, and
Archdeacon’s Transcripts.
• Baptism record shows: Place, date, child names, parent’s names, occupation of the
father, and residence. Sometimes a birth date and a mother’s maiden name were
recorded.
• Marriage records from 1813-June 1837: Place, date, the bride and groom, witnesses,
signatures of the couples. Record can show bachelor, spinster, widow, widower.
Whether by Banns or License.
• Marriage records from July-1837-present: (the same as 1813-June 1837) and adds
father’s name of bride and groom with residence at the time of marriages. Occupations
of the bride and groom and their father’s occupation
• Burials: Name, age, residence
• Other: See below under Other Church Records
CHURCH RECORDS PRE-1813
The Church of England records are very good and were recorded on a form. These forms had
specific columns to help gather information.
• Three possible record books are Parish Registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, and
Archdeacon’s Transcripts.
• Baptism: name of child, names of father and mother. Date and place. Sometimes
occupation of the father, residence, birth date.
• Marriage 1754-1812: on a preprinted form or written in a book. Place, date, names of
the bride and groom, witnesses, signatures of the couples. Can have marital status
listed as a bachelor, spinster, widow, widower. Whether marriage was by Banns or
License. Sometimes groom’s occupation.
• Marriage pre-1754: Place, date, names of the bride and groom. Can have marital status
listed as a bachelor, spinster, widow, widower. Whether marriage was by Banns or
License. Sometimes groom’s occupation.

• Burials: Place, date, name of buried. Sometimes a relationship to parents or spouse,
residence, age.
CHURCH RECORDS – INDEXES
Indexes are a very helpful listing to help us locate ancestors
• Family History Society Publications
• International Genealogical Index at http://familysearch.org/eng/default.asp
• www.familysearch.org
• British Isles Vital Records Index (on CD and being added to www.familysearch.org)
• www.freereg.org.uk
• Desktop at the Family History Library
• Online Parish Clerks http://www.onlineparishclerks.org.uk/
• www.ukbmd.co.uk
• www.thegenealogist.co.uk $
• www.ancestryinstitution.com (or www.ancestry.co.uk) $
• www.findmypast.co.uk $
• www.origins.net $
• www.parishregister.com $
• www.bmdregisters.co.uk $
• www.google.com
• www.genuki.org.uk
• Local baptism, marriage, and burial indexes (also county-wide marriage indexes)
$ = Subscription websites. Check the Patron Desktop at the Family History Library as you can
use many for free while working in the FHL.
CHURCH RECORDS – DIGITAL
The new technological advances have been applied to the digitization of many parish registers.
Those records available at www.familysearch.org include indexes and images for a few counties
in England (some are browse-only images). Many London parish registers have been indexed
and digitized at www.ancestry.com.
OTHER CHURCH RECORDS
These records are not as often used, but can have rich information in them and give you some
historical background on your ancestor. They are known as parish chest records. They include:
• Church Warden Accounts
• Vestry Minutes
• Poor Rates
• Settlement Certificates and Removal Orders
Contact parish minister or record office for location of the records. This can be done through
Google or Crockford’s Clerical Directory and www.familysearch.org under place search, parish,
church records. (See below: Writing to England)
New information on Church records
The Genealogical Community can update and provide information on English Church records
at:

https://wiki.familysearch.org/ or www.familysearch.org and click “Learn.”
MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTIONS
These records can be very helpful in giving relationships with birth and death dates. Family
members can be buried close together and these tombstones can provide much family
information.
Things to remember about tombstones
• Weather and removal
• Online tombstone pictures: www.google.com
• Location of records and place: Cemetery, church, or non-conformist burial grounds
• Transcriptions: Family History Societies
• Visiting—Prepare for changes in ground, foliage, age and weathering. Obtain
permission from minister or sexton
WRITING TO ENGLAND
The county record offices and local minister can have the original or copies of these documents.
They can usually be e-mailed and they will reply with how they can help you in finding and using
Church records. Most have a fee associated with searching records.
Crockford’s Clerical Directory lists the clergy for the Church of England, the Church in Wales,
the Scottish Episcopal Church [and] the Church of Ireland. See FHL British Ref Area 942 E4c.
This yearly published book can help with providing recent information, but can also help with
early ministers and their genealogical information.
Local libraries may have historical information on the town or parish or family histories. This
could help in locating family in church records.
www.google.co.uk can provide websites and information about parishes and their histories.
http://Wiki.familysearch.org is a genealogical community tool for genealogical and historical
information to parishes. The community can add church record information.
HANDWRITING
Church records from the 1500’s to the present day can have all different types of Handwriting.
There are online helps for handwriting:
• www.familysearch.org (Learn→Research Courses)
• www.nationalarchives.gov.uk (Search box: type “Handwriting”)
The Family History Library has good books:
• N. Denholm-Young, Handwriting in England and Wales, FHL Book 652.1 D414h
• John Barrett and David Iredale, Discovering Old Handwriting, FHL Book942 G3bj
• Hilary Marshall Palaeography for Family and Local Historians, FHL Book 942 G37m
• Frank Smith and David E. Gardner Genealogical Research in England and Wales V.3
FHL Book 929.142 G172g v. 3
NON-CONFORMIST CHURCH RECORDS
Non Church of England denominations often kept their own records and were often referred to
as Non-conformists. Please visit the FamilySearch Research Wiki for articles with more

information on Non-Conformist records (wiki.familysearch.org or www.familysearch.org and click
“Learn”).
© 2011 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this document may be reprinted, posted online, or reproduced in
any form for any purpose without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Send all requests for such permission to:
Copyrights and Permissions Coordinator
Family and Church History Department
50 East North Temple Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84150-3400
USA

FAMILY HISTORY LIBRARY CLASS HANDOUT
England & Wales Census Records
1841-1911 & Indexes
Census records are one of the best ways to locate your ancestors at a given place and time. By following
ancestors through every available census, you can learn about their parents and siblings, their spouse and
children, occupational changes, where they lived and when they died. Census records are the backbone
of 19 th century England and Wales research.
BACKGROUND
A census is the statistical count of a country’s population taken for the purpose of:
• Accurate government representation.
• Tax collection.
• Military purposes.
The first government census was taken in 1801. Census records from 1801-1831 contain mostly
statistical information. A few include names; see Colin Chapman’s book ‘Pre-1841 Censuses and
Population listings’ - FHL 942 X27cc
The 1841 census was first to list people by name. A census was then taken every ten years since, except
for 1941 (due to WWII). Census records are released 100 years after taken. Knowing when a census
was taken is important as it will reflect a person’s age as reported in the census. Following are dates of
those taken 1841 – 1911:
1841 – June 7 1851 – March 31 1861 – April 8 1871 – April 3
1881 – April 4 1891 – April 6 1901 – April 1 1911 – April 2
WHAT WILL YOU FIND ON A CENSUS
1841 Census:
• Names
• Ages (rounded down to nearest 5 years
for those over age 15)
• Gender
• Occupations
• Whether or not born in same county as
residence at time of census
• Residence address
1851-1901 Censuses:
• Name
• Age
• Gender
• Relationship to head of household
• Marital status
• Occupation
• Birth place (parish!)
• Residence address
1911 Census:
• Name
• Age
• Gender
• Relationship to head of household
• Marital status
• Children born alive to present marriage
• Children still living
• Children who have died
• Occupation
• Birth place (parish!)
• Residence address
• Nationality

FINDING A CENSUS
1. Pick a Web site which contains census records for the British Isles
2. Search online index
3. View original images
Online Census Web sites:
www.familysearch.org 1841 - 1901 Indexes (free)
www.ancestry.co.uk 1841-1901 Indexes & Images ($)
www.findmypast.co.uk 1841-1911 Indexes & Images ($)
www.theGenealogist.co.uk 1841-1901 Indexes & Images ($)
www.originsnetwork.com 1841, 1861-1871 Indexes & Images ($)
www.1911census.co.uk 1911 Index (free) & Images ($)
• FamilySearch is accessible from home without a subscription
• With Ancestry.com you can search censuses using parents
• In Ancestry.com and Findmypast.co.uk one can browse the census by parish.
• The Genealogist.co.uk is a great web site for searching by using multiple family members.
• The Genealogist.co.uk and Findmypast.co.uk can be searched using a street address.
• Remember - subscription web sites mentioned above are free at the Family History Library.
Other Useful Websites
� The "official" 1901 census site www.1901census.nationalarchives.gov.uk (index free, images $)
� Try www.freecen.org.uk for free census transcriptions.
� Check www.censusfinder.com for your country and county to see what is available in the way
of individual transcriptions and indexes.
� Try a Google search on the Internet. Use keywords like [Parish] or [County] [Census Year]
Census, for example-- Cambridgeshire 1841 Census.
� Many census indexes and some with images of the census can be purchased through family
history societies or genealogical companies. Use www.genuki.org.uk and go to your country
and then county and then the topic “Societies” to find the Web site for the family history
society in your ancestral area.
SEARCH TIPS
� Names may be misspelled.
� Relationships may not be expressed in terms we understand today.
� Ages and birth places may not be accurate.
� Jurisdictions changed.
� People may not be where expected.
� Pages may be unreadable.
� If you don’t find your ancestors using one Web site than try searching another one.
� Remember different people indexed the different Web sites. One surname may be misspelled on
one site and spelled correctly on another.

� If you still can’t find your ancestor then try searching the available census street indexes in the
Family History Library (purple folders against wall in the reference area).
� When all else fails, try searching the census microfilm at the Family History Library which
includes indexes from 1841-1891.
SEARCH GUIDELINES
Searching for an ancestor in a census on is an art and science. There is no one right way to search,
but a few general guidelines may help:
� First try searching with the given name, surname, and county of residence. If this returns too
many matches, narrow it down by age. Remember that ages as reported in the census are not
always reliable, so search for a range of years instead of an exact year. Children’s ages tend
to be more reliable than adult’s ages.
� If needed, further narrow the search by listing the exact parish of residence, if known (be
careful, the spelling may be different than you anticipate). As a last resort, narrow it down
further by place of birth (if known) understanding that the place of birth is often indexed
incorrectly or not as you expect.
� If you haven’t found your person yet, perhaps it is because their name was misspelled in the
indexing process. Be creative! Try looking at everyone with that surname in the parish of
residence.
� Search for everyone with that given name (leave the surname field blank) in the parish of
residence who is near the age you are expecting. You can scroll through the results and will
likely spot the person whose name has been misspelled or incorrectly indexed.
� If you can’t find what you want using a “Ranked search”, try using the “Exact search”, and
vice versa. (Some people feel that “Exact search” is easier to use and produces better results.)
FREE ONLINE HELP TOOLS
� View the online England Census training video on FamilySearch.org (Click Free Online
Classes from the homepage).
� For articles on census research go to Wiki.familysearch.org (In the search box type England
Census or Wales Census)
� To ask a research question go to forums.familysearch.org
© 2011 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
Version 9/2011
No part of this document may be reprinted, posted online, or
reproduced in any form for any purpose without the prior
written permission of the publisher. Send all requests for
such permission to:
Copyrights and Permissions Coordinator
Family History Department
50 East North Temple Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84150-3400
USA

FAMILY HISTORY PATRON CLASS HANDOUT
LIBRARY INTRODUCTION TO BASIC ENGLISH
RECORDS—CIVIL REGISTRATION
Registration of births, marriages, and deaths with the English government began 1 July 1837. In
theory, every vital event that occurred was to be reported to the local registrars. From 1837-
1875, many births-perhaps as high as 15%-were not reported. After 1875 registration was nearly
complete, although there is some debate that in large cities some events went unregistered.
Events were recorded within registration districts. Registration districts were typically smaller
than counties but larger than parishes. A registration district in a rural area might include 30
parishes, whereas a district in an urban area might only cover part of a parish. To find which
registration district your parish or town belongs to, you can look in an online gazetteer. Go to
www.visionofbritain.org.uk, click on “Expert Search” then scroll down and click on “Descriptive
Gazetteer Search.” Fill in the place name, and when the results come back click on the place
name with “Imperial” as the source. The first line or so of the entry will tell you the district. If
the place is a hamlet, village or chapelry within a parish of a different name, you will have to
look up that parish in order to find the district.
To find all of the parishes in a registration district, go to www.ukbmd.org.uk/genuki/reg/, click
on your county, and then the name of the district. This will show you all the parishes within that
district.
There are two sets of civil registration records—the local copies and the national copies that
were transcribed by hand from the local copies.
WHAT CAN I LEARN FROM CIVIL REGISTRATION CERTIFICATES?
Civil registration is a main source for learning about family history in the 19 th century. It can
also be helpful for the late 18 th century--someone born well before civil registration began may
have had a second marriage or died during the civil registration time period.
Birth Certificates
� Name and sex of child
� When and where born
� Name, surname, and occupation of father
� Name and maiden surname of mother (indicated by “formerly”)
� When and by whom registered
� Signature, description, and residence of informant
� Father, mother, neighbor, or other person present at the birth was supposed to register the
birth within 42 days
Marriage Certificates
� Names and surnames of bride and groom
� When and where married
� Ages
� Occupations and marital status
� Residences at time of marriage

� Fathers’ names and occupations
� Signatures of bride and groom and witnesses
� All marriages were to be recorded in a civil register immediately after the ceremony by the
officiating minister
Death Certificates
� Name and surname of deceased
� When and where died
� Age
� Sex
� Cause of death
� Signature, description, and residence of informant
� When and by whom registered
SEARCHING THE INDEXES
Indexes to civil registration include all of England and Wales. The indexes are quarterly, e.g. if
you’re searching for an ancestor born in 1842 you must search four indexes—March quarter,
June quarter, September quarter, and December quarter.
If is helpful to remember that the indexes reflect the date the event was registered, not
necessarily the date the event took place.
Indexes contain:
� Full name
� District name
� Volume number
� Page number
Over the years, the indexes evolved to contain more information:
� Age added to death indexes in 1866
� Mother’s maiden name added to birth indexes in 1911
� Spouse’s surname added to marriage indexes in 1912
� Birth date added to death indexes in 1969
Strategy
Here is a prioritized search strategy to find an ancestor in the civil registration indexes. If the
first doesn’t work, try the second, and so forth.
1. FreeBMD www.freebmd.org.uk
2. UKBMD www.ukbmd.org.uk
3. Index images at www.findmypast.com ($) or www.ancestry.com ($) – both of these
available at the FHL for FREE.
4. Microfiche Indexes at FHL
Then order the certificate from England!

1. FreeBMD
FreeBMD is a computerized fully searchable index made from the national civil registration
indexes. You can search all of England and Wales for entries from July 1837-1929 (although
currently not much after WWI has been transcribed).
NOTE: All data for these dates are not yet extracted and put in FreeBMD. Coverage charts
are available on FreeBMD. Even for years that are covered “100%”, I have found obvious
omissions, e.g. where three men and only two women have the same page reference. This would
seem to indicate that there are three marriages on the same register page but only two of the
brides are in the index. This could imply that the index is incomplete, or an error was made.
a) Open the Internet.
b) In the address bar, type in www.freebmd.org.uk and hit enter.
c) Scroll to, and Click on Search.
d) Select Births, Deaths, or Marriages.
e) Type in Name and Date information. (Use the ‘spouse’ fields on marriage searches
only. The mother’s maiden name applies only to births after 1910.)
f) Optional— Select County and or District. (I recommend leaving this blank, at least for
your initial search.)
g) Click Find. If "No Matches" is indicated, expand the search or check the coverage
charts to see if your year has been indexed.
h) If you click on the name of the district and then on “more information about it can be
found here” you can see the county the district was in and the parishes within that
district.
i) If you click on the page number of a marriage you can see the other names on that
page—the spouse should be one of them. Where possible verify a marriage search using
www.ukbmd.org.uk.
2. UKBMD
While FREEBMD is an index of the national registers, UKBMD is an index of the local civil
registration registers. Most of the time they are the same, but not always.
UKBMD is particularly valuable for marriages, as it will identify for certain the spouse as well
as the exact location of marriage. Once the place of marriage is known, the FHL Catalog can be
searched to determine if a copy of the marriage can be found in the parish registers. Steps:
1. Open the Internet.
2. In the address bar, type in www.ukbmd.org.uk.
3. On the left-hand side of the page, choose a county and click the “County” button.
4. Look down the page for “Local BMD” links, click on the link.
5. Follow the instructions!
3. Index images at www.ancestry.com Ancestry has images of the national civil registration
index books. You can use these to verify information found on FreeBMD, or look up names in
cases where FreeBMD has not indexed the year you need (or they missed your entry!).
Steps:
1. Go to www.Ancestry.com
2. Click on the “Search” tab at the top
3. Scroll down to “Browse by location” select region “UK & Ireland,” then
“England.”

4. Scroll down to “England Birth, marriage, & death” and click on “view all
England birth marriage and death.”
5. The civil registration index images are called:
England & Wales, Birth Index: 1837-1983
England & Wales, Marriage Index: 1837-1983
England & Wales, Death Index: 1837-1983
4. Microfiche indexes at the FHL (1837-1983)
If you wish to confirm data found in FreeBMD or UKBMD, or to search a year not yet online,
search the fiche.
If the fiche is hard to read, use the microfilm copy instead. (See Civil Registration Indexes, REG
942 V2ic 1997 for the film #)
Procedure Using the Civil Registration Index on Microfiche or Microfilm.
o Fiche is sorted by: Event type (B, M or D); Year, Quarter of year; Name (alpha).
o Marriages - grooms and brides each under their own name, references should match
exactly.
Deaths indexes beginning in 1866 include age at death.
CIVIL REGISTRATION ENGLAND-WALES – ORDERING CERTIFICATES
From the indexes you should have noted the
• event type
• year
• quarter (List the quarter by the last month in that quarter, e.g. March, June, September, or
December)
• district name
• volume
• page number
Go to the Web site www.gro.gov.uk and click on “Order online” under “Order Certificates” on
the right-hand side of the page. Next, click on “Order a certificate online now” or on the
“Register/Login” link on the right-hand side of the page. The next screen is for Login. The first
time you use the web site, you will need to register. Thereafter you can log in anytime you want
to order certificates. After the registration page is the “Certificate choice” page The only tricky
part is the question “Is the GRO Index reference known?” The default answer is no, but you
want to change it to “yes,” because you have already found your person in the indexes. I
recommend only filling in the starred fields.
The cost is £9.25 per certificate including delivery. Time for a standard delivery is about two
weeks.
© 2011 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
No part of this document may be reprinted, posted online, or reproduced in any form for any purpose without the prior written permission of the
publisher. Send all requests for such permission to:
Copyrights and Permissions Coordinator
Family History Department
50 East North Temple Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84150-3400

INTRODUCTION
“Is That English?”
Reading Old English Handwriting
By Daniel S. Poffenberger
Contributor Relationships Manager
Patron Services Division
Family History Department
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
poffenbergerds@familysearch.org
When doing research in the British Isles, it is vitally important to be able to read the
handwriting in the records. Before 1750, the most common style of handwriting was
the Secretary Hand. Once you become familiar with reading the Secretary Hand, you
will be able to read the handwriting in most of the records you will use while searching
your British ancestors.
HANDWRITING
Handwriting itself is not the only reason the early records are difficult to read. The
following list gives some of the reasons the records are hard to read:
• The records themselves are often not in good condition because of age and
improper storage over the centuries.
• Most of the time the record you are reading is not the original but a microform
copy of the original which is often not as clear as the original might be.
• Sometimes ink has fallen off the page or parts of the letter is missing because the
pen did not touch the paper where it was supposed to or the pen touched the
paper where it should not have.
• Often time the writing might be scrunched or there might be bleed-through from
the page behind.
HELPS IN READING
The following are some helps in reading the very difficult:
• Know what the record is that you are reading and be familiar with the wording
used in that record.
• Know the date of the record.
• Study the page as a whole for a minute or two before actually trying to read it.
• When reading a document such as a will, read it over quickly at first, only
reading those words that come to your mind immediately. Then go back to the
beginning and read word for word.
• Start with later years (closer to the present) and work to the earlier years.
• Read for logic. Ask yourself the question, “What should it be?”
• Find the same letter or word written again.

• Read on a few pages then come back.
• In parish registers, look for another entry involving the same people.
• Change machines, ask someone else to look at it, lay a bright-colored paper on it,
or lay a paper over it and try tracing it. Write the letters you can read on another
piece of paper.
• Use reference materials such as surname books, gazetteers, place name books,
etc.
• Find the letters of the alphabet throughout the author’s handwriting.
• If the word is not vital to your understanding of the document, do not waste time
trying to figure it out.
• Read printed or translated versions of the document.
• Find another copy of the record (such as a registered will vs. an original will)
OLD ENGLISH SECRETARY HAND
A, a –
B, b –
C, c –
D,d –
E,e –
F,f –
G,g –
H,h –
I, I – double ii –
J,j –

K, k –
L, l – double ll –
M, m –
N, n - final n -
O, o –
P, p –
Q, q –
R, r – final r -
S, s – double ss - final s -
T, t –
U, u –
V, v –
W, w –
X, x – three lower case xxx -
Y, y –
Z, z –

ABBREVIATIONS
Abbreviations are used often and indicated in many different ways. Some of the
indications of abbreviation are:
• raised letters
• colon, semi-colon, period
• straight line drawn above the word, a line through the ascender of a letter
• a curvy line above the word or at the end of the word
• almost any word starting with the letter “p”
raised letter “th” curl back line on top “pf”
DATES
It is important to remember the following as you deal with dates in the records:
• Before 1752 the calendar year was from March 25 th to March 24 th . In 1752 the
beginning of the year was changed to January 1 st .
• Sometimes you will find dates written as follows: 7 ber or 7 br , 8 ber , 9 ber , 10 ber .
These are abbreviations for the months of the year of September (7ber), October
(8ber), November (9ber), and December (10ber).
• Dates in the records are often written in Roman Numerals: I (1), II (2), V (5), VI
(6), X (10), L (50), C (100), D (500), M (1000).
• A “j” is used to represent the end of a series of numbers. It is a “1” and
sometimes the series of numbers is just a “1”.
• At times the date will be given as a Saint Day such as Michaelmas, rather than a
month and day. A good British research reference book or a “Google” search can
be used to locate the Saint’s Days.
• The year might be given as the year of the reign of a king or queen such as in the
10 th year of the reign of Queen Elizabeth.
LATIN
Before 1733 many of the records are in Latin.
• It is possible by learning a few basic genealogical terms in Latin to read the
records enough to get the genealogical information from them.

• Every word in Latin has an ending according to how it is used in the sentence.
• There are many lists of common Latin words found in the records giving the
meaning in English. Some of these lists are:
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/latin/beginners/, Genealogical Research in England
and Wales volume 3 by David Gardner and Frank Smith (FHL book 929.142
G172g Vol.3), Latin for Local History by Eileen A. Gooder (FHL book 478 G6151
1979), and Latin Word-list for Family Historians by Elizabeth Simpson (FHL book
478.1 S581).
• Latin dictionaries online:
� Latin Genealogical Word list:
https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Latin_Genealogical_Word_List
� Google: “Translate Latin to English” for dictionaries
� http://lysy2.archives.nd.edu/cgi-bin/words.exe William Whitaker’s Words
• Helps to learn Latin:
� Gandy, Michael. Latin for Family Historians. Birmingham [England],
Federation of Family History Societies (Publications) Ltd., 1995. (FHL
book 942 D27gm)
� Gooder, Eileen A. Latin for Local History: an Introduction. London
[England]; New York [New York]: Longman, 1979. (FHL book 478.045
G6l5L 1979)
� McLaughlin, Eve. Simple Latin for Family Historians. Birmingham
[England], Federation of Family History Societies (Publications) Ltd., 1986.
(FHL book 471.1 M273)
� Stuart, Denis. Latin for Local and Family Historians: a Beginner’s Guide.
Chichester, England: Phillimore & Company Ltd, c1995. (FHL book 942
G2s)
PRACTICE
Nothing takes the place of practice. Practice, practice, practice. The following provide
practice opportunities:
• www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/palaeography = a tutorial in how to read the
handwriting
• http://www.cyndislist.com/handwrit.htm = Links to other handwriting websites
• http://paleo.anglo-norman.org/ = a tutorial in how to read the handwriting
• http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/ceres/ehoc/ = helps for learning the handwriting
• Google: “reading old English handwriting”
• Write a line of each letter of the secretary-hand alphabet yourself and then begin
to write entire words and sentences. Forming the letters yourself will help you
to recognize and read them.

• How to Read Local Archives 1550-1700 by F. G. Emmison 942 G3em Page 12 is a
will that is good for learning to read the handwriting. There is a translation with
it.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Dawson, Giles E. and Kennedy-Skipton, Laetitia. Elizabethan Handwriting 1500-1650
(Faber and Faber, London, 1968). FHL book 942 A8eh.
Emmison, F. G. How to Read Local Archives 1550-1700 (The Historical Association 1967).
FHL book 942 G3em.
Gardner, David and Frank Smith. Genealogical Research in England and Wales (Bookcraft,
Salt Lake City, 1964) Volume III. FHL book 929.142 G172g Vol. 3.
Hector, L. C. The Handwriting of English Documents (Edward Arnold, London, 1958).
FHL book 942 G3h.
Hoskin, P. M., Slinn, S. L., Webb, C. C. Reading the past: sixteenth and seventeenth century
English handwriting : facsimilies, transcripts & reading notes. (Peasholme Green,
York : University of York, Borthwick Institute of Historical Research, c2001).
FHL book 942 G3hpm
Ison, Alf. A Secretary Hand ABC Book (Author, Reading, 1982). FHL book 942 G3i
Munby, Lionel. Reading Tudor and Stuart Handwriting (Phillimore & Co. Ltd. for the
British Association for Local History, Chichester, Sussex, 1988). FHL book 942
G3ml
Preston, Jean F. and Laetitia Yeandle. English Handwriting 1400-1650: An Introductory
Manual (Pegasus Press, Ashville, North Carolina, 1999). FHL book 942 G37p
1999.
You can buy some of these online. Try www.genfair.co.uk or www.amazon.co.uk.
© 2011 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
No part of this document may be reprinted, posted online, or
reproduced in any form for any purpose without the prior
written permission of the publisher. Send all requests for
such permission to:
Copyrights and Permissions Coordinator
Family and Church History Department
50 East North Temple Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84150-3400
USA

1. Where to Begin?
a. Who are you looking for?
b. Where were they living?
c. When were they alive?
Carry Me Back to Old Virginny
Carol Swensen AG®
swensengen@hotmail.com
May 5 th 2012
2. Locate family on Census – Websites for Census:
a. Ancestry.com [FHC or Subscription]
b. Heritage Quest [FHC or Public Library Account]
c. familysearch.org
d. Censusfinder.com
e. Census-online.com
f. Virginia Tax Lists 1790 & 1800 Census Substitute
http://www.binnsgenealogy.com/VirginiaTaxListCensuses/
3. Maps
a. State Map
b. Which county? When was it created?
c. Did the boarder change?
i. Census Map Book – Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920, William
Thorndale and William Dollarhide
ii. Virginia County Maps and Atlases http://www.n2genealogy.com/virginia/vamaps.html
iii. Randy Majors – Atlas of Historical Boundaries
http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/statepages/Virginia.html
d. Handybook for Genealogist
e. Redbook by Ancestry
4. Research Guides and Resources
a. FamilySearch Wiki - https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Virginia
b. BYU Research Outline - http://net.lib.byu.edu/fslab/researchoutlines/US/Virginia.pdf
c. FamilySearch Catalog - https://familysearch.org/#form=catalog
d. Linkpendium - http://www.linkpendium.com/
e. Virginia GenWeb Project - http://www.vagenweb.org
f. Time Line of Virginia -
http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/namerica/usstates/vatimeln.htm
g. Virginia History and Review - http://familytreemagazine.com/article/Virginia-historyresearch-overview
5. Major Repositories
a. FamilySearch Historical Records - https://familysearch.org/
b. Library of Virginia - http://www.lva.virginia.gov/

c. Virginia Historical Society - http://www.vahistorical.org/index.htm
d. University of Virginia - http://www2.lib.virginia.edu/genealogy/
e. College of William and Mary [Earl Gregg Swem Library]
http://guides.swem.wm.edu/genealogy
f. Colonial Williamsburg Library - http://research.history.org/DigitalLibrary.cfm
g. Jones Memorial Library - http://www.jmlibrary.org/
h. National Archives - http://www.archives.gov/genealogy/
i. Library of Congress - http://www.loc.gov/index.html
j. Virginia Theological Seminary [Bishop Payne Library] - www.vts.edu
6. Burned Counties
FamilySearchWiki -
https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Burned_Counties_Research
1. A positive “track ‘em down” attitude is important.
2. Research Logs are a must.
3. A well documented family group records is your research road map.
4. A commitment to document AS YOU GO!
5. Write out a thoughtful master research plan.
Strategies – Burned County
A. Background Information
� When did the courthouse burn?
� How much of the courthouse burned?
� What records were lost?
� Was there more than one courthouse for the county?
B. Inventory of Courthouse records
� Check for published inventories of holdings
� WPA inventoried many courthouses
� Historical, Genealogical Societies or Other groups may have done an inventory of
courthouse records.
**Most jurisdictions reconstructed or re-recorded many records. Deeds handed
down in the family may not have been recorded for years after a transfer.
C. Substitute Records
� Newspapers
� Cemetery Records/Funeral Home Records
� City Directories
� Religious Records
� Title and Abstract Companies
� School Records
� Published Records – County, Town and City Histories
D. Check Other Courthouses
� Neighboring counties for deeds, probate & tax records and marriage records.
� Look in parent county might have the records you seek.
� Consult the courthouse in the county of their previous residence and the county
they lived in after the “burned county”.

Societies
Webinars
E. Check Other Records Repositories in the County
� Local Libraries
� Private Libraries
� Local Historical Societies & Archives
� Museums
� Township Library
F. Check Other Record Repositories in the State
� State Archives
� State Library
� University Libraries
� Any Unique repositories or special collections.
G. Check Other Jurisdictions
� Federal Land Grants and Homesteads
� Immigration & Naturalization
� Federal Court Records
� States Census
� State Militia and Pension Records
� Land Lotteries and Land Grants
� City, Town or Village Records
� Jamestowne Society - www.jamestowne.org
� American Descendants of the House of Burgesses 1619-1699
� The Colonial Dames - http://cdany.org
� First Settlers of the Shenandoah Valley - http://www.firstsettlersshenandoahvalley.com/
� Guild of Colonial Artisans and Tradesmen 1607-1783 -
http://www.guildcolonialartsandtrades.org/
� Huguenot Society Founders of Manakin - http://huguenot-manakin.org/
� Antebellum Planters - http://www.antebellumplanters.com/ancestors/
� Colonial Land - https://www.familysearch.org/learningcenter/lesson/colonial-land/247
� Inferential Genealogy – https://www.familysearch.org/learningcenter/lesson/inferentialgenealogy/251
� Revolutionary War - https://www.familysearch.org/learningcenter/lesson/militaryrecords-revolutionary-war/146
� Library of Congress - https://www.familysearch.org/learningcenter/lesson/the-library-ofcongress-pursuing-your-family-in-the-national-library/64
� Courthouse Research - https://www.familysearch.org/learningcenter/lesson/u-scourthouse-research/168

Census Information and Forms
It’s All About the Numbers –
Finding Your Family in the 1790-1840
U.S. Census
Presented by Carol Cofrank Swensen AG®
May 5 th 2012
swensengen@hotmail.net
The Census Book by William Dollarhide [online]
Local Library may have Heritage Quest available online.
You will need a Library Card to access site.
Click on Search Census.
Click on Browse near the top in the middle.
On left side at the top select: What you should know about the census.
Census Maps [Maps made the AniMap Plus County Boundary Historical Maps]
http://www.familyhistory101.com/maps.html
Pre – 1850 Census Form
http://www.wvc.edu/library/research/gen/censuscountguide.htm
General Information on U.S. Census
https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/United_States_Census
Book - Reference
The Map Guide to the U.S. Federal Censuses, 1790-1920, by William Thorndale and William Dollarhide
(Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1987)
Locate FREE Census Record Lookups
FamilySearch Historical Records https://www.familysearch.org/#form=historical_records
Heritage Quest Local Public Library - may have access to this website online [not all years]
Census Finder http://www.censusfinder.com not all states and not all years
Census Online http://www.census-online.com not all states and not all years
Census Links http://www.censuslinks.com not all states and not all years
The USGenWeb Census Project http://www.us-census.org not all states and not all years
1840 Census of Pensioners http://www.usgennet.org/usa/topic/colonial/census/1840/
Fee Based Census Sites
Ancestry.com http://www.ancestry.com - 1790-1930 every name index for all census years online
Genealogy.com http://www.genealogy.com - 1790-1930 not all indexed
Footnote http://www.footnote.com - not a large selection at present
World Vital Records http://www.worldvitalrecords.com - not a complete collection

Birth Calculator
http://www.wdbj.net/gen/birthyear/cenindx.html
Map Locator
Geographic Names Information System [GNIS]
http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic
United States Federal Census:
1790-1840 Census
The US census records from 1790 to 1840 only name the head of each family. Other household
members are grouped together by age and gender, but names are not given. When researching in
this time frame it is essential to locate other records, particularly probate records [which often
name the spouse and children] church records, land and property records, etc. These early census
records are still useful for locating families in a specific place.
1790 Census was taken 2 August 1790 – count was to be completed in nine months. Congress
extended the count until 1 March 1792 [11 states]
� MISSING: Delaware, Georgia, Kentucky, New Jersey, Tennessee and Virginia. Maine is part
of Massachusetts and Kentucky is part of Virginia.
� Virginia [reconstruction for 1790 & 1800 Census taken from tax lists]
http://www.binnsgenealogy.com/VirginiaTaxListCensuses
1800 Census was taken on 4 August 1800 – count completed in nine months [14 States]
1810 Census taken on 6 August 1810 – count due in nine months but was extended to ten months
[16 States and Territories]
1820 Census taken on 7 August 1820 – count due in six months but extended to thirteen months [22
States and Territories]
Interesting Tidbit on 1820
If you have a free white male ancestor born between 1802 and 1804, you’ll be able to narrow that
age down to those three years. There are columns for males “between 16 and 18” (born between
1802 and 1804) and again for males “of 16 and under 26” (born between 1795 and 1804). It’s also
important to be aware that he’ll be counted twice, once under each category, so be careful not to
add an extra teenager. Also, you can estimate that any males counted in the 16-25 range who are
not in the 16-18 field, will have been born roughly between 1795 and 1801.
1830 Census taken on 1 June 1830 – count due in six months but extended to twelve months [28
States and Territories]
1840 Census taken on 1 June 1840 – count due in nine months but extended to eighteen months
[30 States and Territories]
NOTE: Men of the same name referred to as Sr. or Jr. were not necessarily father and son. These
designations were often used to distinguish between two different people of the same name in the
area – Sr. for the elder, and Jr. for the younger.

I Wish I Was In Dixie
Finding Your Roots in the South
Carol Swensen AG® – May 5 th 2012
swensengen@hotmail.com
Mid-South Gulf – South
Kentucky Alabama
Missouri Arkansas
North Carolina Florida
South Carolina Georgia
Tennessee Louisiana
Virginia Mississippi
West Virginia Texas
Where to Begin?
Who are you looking for?
Where were they living?
When were they alive?
� Locate them on Census
� Census Maps
• Shows boundaries
� Websites for Census
• Beta.familysearch.org
• Heritage Quest
• Censusfinder.com
• Census-online.com
• Ancestry.com
� Which State?
• Locate State Maps
� Did the state borders change?
� Which County?
• Locate County Maps
� Date of formation of county.
� Border changes?
� FamilyHistory101.com
� U.S. State & County - Rotating Boundary County Maps - Maps made with the use AniMap
Plus County Boundary Historical Atlas v. 3.0 (Win)
� State Research Guides
• wiki.familysearch.org
• BYU Research Outlines [for each state]
• The Handybook for Genealogists
• Redbook by Ancestry

http://wiki.familyserach.org – Research Tools listed on main State Page will give you links to sites that
will help in your search.
Burned Counties
Burned Counties - https://wiki.familysearch.org/en/Burned_Counties_Research
� 1. A positive "track 'em down" attitude is important.
� 2. Research logs are a must.
� 3. A well-documented family group record is your research road map.
� 4. A commitment to document AS YOU GO!
� 5. Write out a thoughtful master research plan
Strategies – Burned County
#1 Background Information
• When did the courthouse burn?
• How much of the courthouse burned?
• What records were lost?
• Was there more than one courthouse for the county?
#2 Inventory of Courthouse records
• Check for published inventories of holdings
• WPA inventoried many courthouses
• Historical, Genealogical Societies or Other groups may have done an inventory of
courthouse records
**Most jurisdictions reconstructed or re-recorded many records. Deeds handed down in the
family may not have been recorded for years after a transfer.
#3 Substitute Records
• Newspapers
• Cemetery Records/Funeral Home Records
• City Directories
• Religious Records
• Title and Abstract Companies
• School Records
• Published Records
� County, Town & City Histories
#4 Check Other Courthouses
• Neighboring counties for deeds, probate & tax records and marriage records.
• Look in parent or progeny county might have the records you seek.
• Consult the courthouse in the county of their previous residence and the county they
lived in after the “burned county”.
#5 Check Other Record Repositories in the County
• Local Libraries
• Private Libraries
• Local Historical Societies & Archives
• Museums
• Township Library

#6 Check Other Record Repositories in the State
• State Archives
• State Library
• University Libraries
• Any unique repositories or special collections.
#7 Check Other Jurisdictions
• Federal Land Grants and Homesteads
• Immigration & Naturalization
• Federal Court Records
• State Census
• State Militia and Pension Records
• Land Lotteries and Land Grants
• City, Town or Village Records
Other useful websites:
beta.familysearch.org/s/search/library_catalog
**Family History Library has not microfilmed all the records**
linkpendium.com
beta.familysearch.org
google.com
books.goole.com
www.worldcat.org
Virginia Tax Lists 1790 & 1800
http://www.binnsgenealogy.com/VirginiaTaxListCensuses/
Inferential Genealogy
With Tom Jones, Ph.D., CG, CGL, FASG, FUGA, FNGS
https://learning.beta.familysearch.org/researchcourses
Southern States Websites
Alabama Department of Archives & History – www.archives.state.al.us [military records]
Arkansas CARAT Catalog of Arkansas Resources and Archival Treasures http://www.arkives.com/documenting/
Land and military records
Florida [East Florida Papers] - http://digital.uflib.ufl.edu/collections/EFP/index.htm The East Florida Papers
(178 microfilm reels) contain the complete local government archive of Spanish East Florida (1784 to 1821).
Georgia Virtual Vault - http://cdm.sos.state.ga.us/index.php Georgia's most important historical documents,
from 1733 to the present. The Virtual Vault provides virtual access to historic Georgia manuscripts, photographs,
maps, and government records housed in the state archives.
Kentucky Historical Society – http://history.ky.gov [research & genealogy section]

Louisiana Biography and Obituary Index - http://neworleanspubliclibrary.org/obits/obits.htm The Louisiana
Biography and Obituary Index references obituaries and death notices published in New Orleans newspapers
from 1804-1972 and biographical information published in older Louisiana collective biographies.
Mississippi Military Records - http://www.genealogylinks.net/military/mississippi.htm
Missouri Digital Heritage - www.sos.mo.gov/mdh [digital copies of death certificates]
North Carolina - http://statelibrary.ncdcr.gov/dimp/digital/ncfamilyrecords/index.html North Carolina
Family Records Online
South Carolina - http://files.usgwarchives.org/sc/colonial/sccolony.txt Early South Carolina Colonist 1716-83
Tennessee Genealogy & History - http://www.tngenweb.org/ several website Links
Texas - http://www.tsl.state.tx.us/arc/service/index.php Texas Adjutant General Service Records 1836-1935
Virginia - http://www.lva.virginia.gov/ Library of Virginia
West Virginia Archives - http://www.wvculture.org/vrr/va_select.aspx