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Ancestry Daily News
1/24/2002 - Archive
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The British CDs; What Have We Here? |
The British CDs; What Have We Here?
Ancestry has released twenty-six CDs with general headings of English, Scottish
or Irish Parish Registers and sub-headings according to region or county. Twenty-one
disks bear English place names, four relate to Scotland, and there is one containing
Irish data. Among the English disks, there are three with Shropshire headings,
a western county on the Welsh border. Some data from Wales or relating to Welsh
people is included, and there is a small amount of very early Flintshire data
on one of the Lancashire CDs. They are listed as 'parish registers' but this
is really not an accurate description for there is much more than parish registers
included on the CDs, and some contain predominantly other material.
Exploring all this data must be the genealogist's equivalent of a child being
set loose in a toyshop. Play for a while, certainly, then get past this excitement
and figure out how to make the most of the information. Begin by paying attention
to what is there, while in tune with the time, place, and relevant resources
for your own family history. Here are some details to get you started.
At the Ancestry.com Web site, general descriptive information makes several
important points about the collection.
1. The data comes from parish registers and other sources generally within the
dates 1538 to 1837, i.e., from the earliest parish registers to the beginning
of civil registration. Some other data goes back as far as the 1100s. The data
was originally extracted from registers, tombstone inscriptions, obituaries,
probate records, tax lists, court records, 'and other miscellaneous types of
records.'
2. The records are not necessarily complete, either because only some parishes
or regions are included, or because of gaps within the records. The 'Features'
notes on the Web site state that the completeness and validity of the data cannot
be absolutely verified.
3. To find copies of the original records, researchers are referred to the Family
History Library Catalog at: www.familysearch.org
In addition to this advice, Ancestry.com has been working to improve source
information. It is commendable that Ancestry is providing this information,
but I would like to see even more in future releases. One very simple improvement
that will hopefully be implemented would be to add any missing dates to these
contents lists; another would be to put better geographic information on the
CD box cover.
Improved bibliographic information on the packaging would also be welcome; however,
once you get into the program, the heading that appears at the top of the display
window or the bold print on the first page of any item states what it is. On
a random basis I have input a few of these headings into catalogs, the FHLC
in particular, and found matches with early printed volumes of transcripts and
indexes. For source references to this series in your own records, follow the
guidelines in "Evidence! Citation & Analysis for the Family Historian" (E. S.
Mills, 1997); in any footnotes, for example, cite the entry, give publication
details and briefly state the derivation of the data set.
The phrase 'other miscellaneous types of records,' which appears in every CD
description covers a considerable variety. There are school records, town court
records, musters, tax records, indexes to court proceedings, marriage license
allegations - to name just a few. This variety does not apply to each geographic
area; consult the content lists already referred to for an overview.
The warning about incomplete records is a good one and important to keep in
mind when using these CDs. Despite the size of this collection it represents
only a portion of what survives, and a good deal of what is covered is incomplete
to begin with. Beer Hackett in Dorset is an example; no baptisms, marriages
or burials were recorded from 1649 to 1657 (due to the upheaval of the Civil
War and Commonwealth period), and again in the 1740s and 1750s.
Referral to the Family History Library Catalog is pointing researchers to the
important first step whenever any large database is consulted. Here you can
try to verify the source for the data on the CD and check for films of the original
records - always the next step.
Bear in mind, however, that the FHLC offers no help as to the completeness of
the CD data. You will need to consult guides to surviving records in England,
Scotland, or Ireland. For example, with parish registers, a source for England
and Scotland is the "Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers" (C. Humphery-Smith,
1995) and for Ireland, "Irish Church Records" (J.G. Ryan, 2000). For other records
refer to the guides by J.S.W. Gibson (e.g., Probate Jurisdictions, a new edition
is due out shortly from the Federation of Family History Societies www.ffhs.org.uk),
and directly to the catalog of a county record office can also help (find these
through the Web site of the Historic Manuscripts Commission, www.hmc.gov.uk).
In closing, I want to leave you with something to consider. Some people feel
real genealogical research is taking a back seat to looking for a quick computer
derived answer. I prefer the positive view; millions more are researching their
family history and resources like these CDs draw many into the wonderful world
of family history research. I hope you are among those who dig deeper.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This article is the first in a series of articles that seeks
to better acquaint users with the UK databases that Ancestry.com has recently
published both on CD-ROM and in its United Kingdom and Ireland Collection.
The next article will focus on using the search capabilities of AncestryView,
and future articles will then move on to focusing on content. Sherry tells me
there is endless scope for exploration of the information, the records and the
historical context of these records. Stay tuned!
For detailed listings of what is available on these AncestryView CDs, visit
the individual listings in The Shops @ Ancestry.com at: shops.ancestry.com/subcat.asp?shopid=126&catid=520
Most of the content found on the CDs is also available to those who subscribe
to Ancestry.com's UK and Ireland Collections and more are being added daily
as they become available. For more information on UK and Ireland subscriptions,
see: www.ancestry.com/rd/redir.asp?sourceid=831&targetid=3345
www.interlinkbookshop.com)
in 1988; she currently lectures in Canada and the United States and is vice
president of the Association of Professional Genealogists. You can e- mail Sherry
with suggestions for future British genealogy articles at mailto:sherryirvine55@myfamily.com.
She will not be able to send personal replies, but will feature some questions
in upcoming issues of the Ancestry Daily News. Sherry also regrets that
she is unable to assist with personal research. Sherry is also the author of:
Your Scottish Ancestry: A Guide for North Americans
www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=831&key=P1046
Your English Ancestry: A Guide for North Americans
www.ancestry.com/rd/prodredir.asp?sourceid=831&key=P1045
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