Ancestry.com- Shaking Your Family Tree, November 12, 1998

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Shaking Your Family Tree

November 12, 1998

Shaking Your Family Tree, by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, C.G.

BRITISH ISLES VITAL RECORDS INDEX

by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, C.G.

The British Vital Records Index on CDs, recently released by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, contains nearly five million names. Some of these refer to records dating back to 1538.

These CDs contain individuals' names extracted from parish registers, civil registration, and other record collections in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. There are five CDs, four of which are birth and christening records, and the other is marriage records. The amount of accessible data varies greatly from parish to parish. This set of vital records is part of an ongoing project which will be updated periodically, according to the public affairs department of the church.

"These new CDs may save families hundreds of hours of time and painstaking research,'' said Elder D. Todd Christofferson, executive director of the church's Family History Department. In a recent press release Christofferson notes that the church is aggressively working toward developing other products that will simplify genealogical research, making it faster and easier to access needed information and trace family histories.

"Nearly half of American families can trace part of their lineage to the British Isles,'' Christofferson said. "Our repository of records is the most comprehensive source available to help these families trace their roots, not just to ancestors who arrived in America, but to their forbears in 16th-century England.''

The British Isles Vital Records Index contains the highest number of records from the English localities of Sussex, Kent, Herefordshire, Lincolnshire, and Derbyshire (100-plus per county where records were collected). Next in representation (50-plus) are: Yorkshire, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Wiltshire, and Dorest; followed by (25-plus) for Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Staffordshire, and Northunberland.

Keep in mind that not all vital records for any particular locality are included. This giant index has been put together from the work by thousands of volunteers who examined microfilmed records and extracted information such as names, dates, places, and family relationships.

The set includes the Family History Resource File Viewer, which takes about five minutes to install. You can search by surname or by surname and given name. Additionally, searches can be modified to specific time periods within a five-year range and to certain localities. Moreover, you can further limit your search by including names of father, mother, and/or spouse. Unless you check the box to search for an exact spelling, searches will provide you variant spellings of the surname — an invaluable aid in finding surnames that are often spelled peculiarly by modern-day American standards.

After searching for a particular individual or for, say, all of the Peacocks (one of my English lines) in a particular locality, you can print out the data or save it in RTF (rich text format) or in GEDCOM (PAF 3.0 format). A search provides the Family History Library's film number where the information was found, along with where it was recorded.

System requirements: Pentium processor, Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0+, 8 MB RAM minimum, 16 MB recommended, CD-ROM drive (4X minimum recommended), VGA monitor with 256-color-capable video card and 25 MB hard disk space.

The British Vital Records Index (1538-1888), item 50028 on five CDs, is available for $15 plus a small shipping fee. Credit cards are accepted. Order from: Church Distribution Center, 1999 West 1700 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84104-4233; by telephone at (800) 537-5950 (U.S. and Canada).

(c) 1998, Los Angeles Times Syndicate

Myra Vanderpool Gormley and Julie Case are co-editors of Missing Links, a free weekly genealogy e-zine. To subscribe, send your request to: Missing Links Newsletter

Return to Myra Vanderpool Gormley Main Page
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November 12, 1998
	BRITISH ISLES VITAL RECORDS INDEX by Myra Vanderpool Gormley, C.G.
The British Vital Records Index on CDs, recently released by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, contains nearly five million names. Some of these refer to records dating back to 1538. These CDs contain individuals' names extracted from parish registers, civil registration, and other record collections in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. There are five CDs, four of which are birth and christening records, and the other is marriage records. The amount of accessible data varies greatly from parish to parish. This set of vital records is part of an ongoing project which will be updated periodically, according to the public affairs department of the church. "These new CDs may save families hundreds of hours of time and painstaking research,'' said Elder D. Todd Christofferson, executive director of the church's Family History Department. In a recent press release Christofferson notes that the church is aggressively working toward developing other products that will simplify genealogical research, making it faster and easier to access needed information and trace family histories. "Nearly half of American families can trace part of their lineage to the British Isles,'' Christofferson said. "Our repository of records is the most comprehensive source available to help these families trace their roots, not just to ancestors who arrived in America, but to their forbears in 16th-century England.'' The British Isles Vital Records Index contains the highest number of records from the English localities of Sussex, Kent, Herefordshire, Lincolnshire, and Derbyshire (100-plus per county where records were collected). Next in representation (50-plus) are: Yorkshire, Lancashire, Nottinghamshire, Hertfordshire, Wiltshire, and Dorest; followed by (25-plus) for Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Staffordshire, and Northunberland. Keep in mind that not all vital records for any particular locality are included. This giant index has been put together from the work by thousands of volunteers who examined microfilmed records and extracted information such as names, dates, places, and family relationships. The set includes the Family History Resource File Viewer, which takes about five minutes to install. You can search by surname or by surname and given name. Additionally, searches can be modified to specific time periods within a five-year range and to certain localities. Moreover, you can further limit your search by including names of father, mother, and/or spouse. Unless you check the box to search for an exact spelling, searches will provide you variant spellings of the surname — an invaluable aid in finding surnames that are often spelled peculiarly by modern-day American standards. After searching for a particular individual or for, say, all of the Peacocks (one of my English lines) in a particular locality, you can print out the data or save it in RTF (rich text format) or in GEDCOM (PAF 3.0 format). A search provides the Family History Library's film number where the information was found, along with where it was recorded. System requirements: Pentium processor, Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0+, 8 MB RAM minimum, 16 MB recommended, CD-ROM drive (4X minimum recommended), VGA monitor with 256-color-capable video card and 25 MB hard disk space. The British Vital Records Index (1538-1888), item 50028 on five CDs, is available for $15 plus a small shipping fee. Credit cards are accepted. Order from: Church Distribution Center, 1999 West 1700 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84104-4233; by telephone at (800) 537-5950 (U.S. and Canada). (c) 1998, Los Angeles Times Syndicate Myra Vanderpool Gormley and Julie Case are co-editors of Missing Links, a free weekly genealogy e-zine. To subscribe, send your request to: Missing Links Newsletter Return to Myra Vanderpool Gormley Main Page Return to Columns Main Page
Copyright 1998, 1999, Ancestry.com Inc. and its subsidiaries. Terms and Conditions \| Privacy Statement