Today, Christmas is effectively over after Boxing Day, and apart from the New Year celebrations, many of us are back at work on the 27^th, all festivities behind us.  For our society, and its worship of the great God Commerce, Christmas starts soon after Halloween, builds up into a crescendo of hysterical money-spending, and culminates in an orgiastic climax of partying, drinking and over-eating.

The Yuletide festival was very different for our distant ancestors.  Christmas began at midnight on Christmas morning, and lasted until Twelfth Night – the night beginning on January 5^th (with Twelfth Day being January 6^th).  The only tradition to have survived that relates to these twelve days is keeping our decorations up until January 6^th, when with relief we pull down the drooping tinsel, and sweep away the thick pile of Christmas Tree needles.

Very few of us, I am sure, know why we do this, and neither do we know much about the Twelve Days apart from that rather strange and slightly irritating carol.

In order to understand the Twelve Days, we have to go back even further to the centuries following Christ’s lifetime when the Christian church was attempting to establish a nativity festival and the dates of related events.  The idea of celebrating Christ’s birth was not a popular one until the end of the first century – but nobody knew on what day he had been born, and it was not until the year 336 that December 25^th was chosen.  This was partly because of a belief that the Annunciation – and Christ’s conception – was on March 25^th, and therefore his birth must have taken place nine months later.  But it was also related to a pagan festival that was already in place involving sun worship – and the Christian ‘Sun of Righteousness’ intermingled with the belief in a Sun God.  The date of the sun’s rebirth, according to this belief, was 25^th December.

This date was at that time the date of the winter solstice, the day when the sun was ‘reborn’ in the sky and conquered the dark months of winter.  This was a major feast day in the Roman Empire and a culmination of the Feast of Saturnalia (December 17^th to 23^rd) when social order was overturned, and servants could make the rules.  Holly – a symbol of the god Saturn – was used for decoration, and the festival also included the making and giving of small presents.  These traditions were incorporated into the later Christian festival.

The next decision to be made was the hour of Christ’s birth, and this was established as midnight on the morning of the 25^th, when a mass was to be held, hence: Christ’s Mass, which became Christmas.

The other name for this period, Yuletide, stems from the old pagan festival of fire and light, known as Yule in England and Scandinavia.  The druids used to light a Yule log which was kept burning for the twelve days of the winter solstice.  This tradition was still being practised in medieval times and the log would be carried into the house on Christmas Eve, decorated with greenery and ribbons, lit with the end of last year’s log and kept burning until January 5th.  There are still remnants of this tradition today.

In the pagan festival, the twelve nights following the winter solstice represented the twelve signs of the zodiac.  There was also an Egyptian festival celebrating the birth of the gods on January 6^th.  However, in the 4^th century, January 6^th gained popularity as the date that the three wise men came to see the infant Jesus, and so became the Feast of the Epiphany.  The French church proclaimed the period between the two dates to be sacred, and so began the celebration of the Twelve Days of Christmas.  Several Christian feast days became incorporated into this period, including St Stephen’s Day on the 26^th, the Feast of St John the Apostle on the 27^th and the Feast of the Holy Innocents on December 28^th.  Whether by design or not, by entwining Christian festivals with pagan ones, the Church successfully increased the popularity of its own celebrations.

By the Middle Ages, thismix of the pagan and the Christian had become well established and was preceded by a period of four weeks of fasting known as Advent.  Ironically, today’s advent calendars bear little relation to this, with doors opening to reveal chocolates or sweets.  The fasting on Christmas Eve was particularly strict, and no meat, eggs or cheese were eaten on this day.

Indigestion was no doubt as much a part of Christmas then as it is now, as banqueting – for the rich at least – started on Christmas Day and was repeated on some of the following days up until Twelfth Night.  After four weeks of fasting, this must have come as a shock to the system.  Goose, swan or venison might be eaten, and in 1289 the Bishop of Hereford was reported to have presented a Boar’s Head to his guests, which became standard fayre for the elite.

For most people, Christmas Day would start with attendance at Christmas Mass at dawn.  The congregation would hold lighted tapers while Christ’s genealogy was sung.  Afterwards, they would go home and begin their first big meal of the season.  In some areas, depending on whether your local nobility was of a generous leaning or not, the rich were expected to keep an open house for the locals.  The food might have included a precursor of today’s mince pie which was made with real meat, fruit and spices.  Christmas pudding was originally a dish of porridge, currants and dried fruit eaten on Christmas Eve after the day’s fast.  As far as I can gather, there was no tradition of gift-giving on the day itself – and certainly no Father Christmas or Christmas tree, neither of which became a part of Christmas until the 19^th century.  The day was all about food and community, whereas today we focus more on family gatherings.

Over time, entertainments became part of the merry-making, and by the early 15^th century landowners were employing theatrical troupes and musicians, and mummers’ plays and dances were performed in some villages.  By Tudor times, amusements might also include jesters and acrobats.  Some parishioners would pool together to hire their own players – or even put on their own plays in the village church.

On 26^th December, the church distributed the money from the alms boxes to the poor of the parish, which is why we call this Boxing Day.  Today’s tradition (though probably fading out) of giving small gifts to delivery workers stems from this practice.

The Feast of the Holy Innocents on the 28^th was a day for commemorating Herod’s cruelty when he ordered all children under the age of two to be slaughtered.  It has been said that in medieval times children were beaten on this day to remind them of this.  However, there is also evidence that may suggest a pre-Christian ritualistic scourging which is not necessarily confined to Christmas or to children.  The beautiful Coventry Carol, which originated with the Coventry Corpus Christi Mystery Plays in the 15^th century, suggests a more sensitive approach, particularly in its chorus and last verse:

Lully, Lullay, thou little tiny child.
Bye, bye, lully, lullay.
Lullay thou little tiny child
Bye, bye, lully, lullay

Then woe is me, poor child, for thee,
And ever mourn and say;
For thy parting neither say nor sing,
Bye, bye lully, lullay.

Whatever the tradition of Holy Innocents Day, it was certainly thought to be unlucky, and most people would not think of beginning anything on that day, as it would be unlikely to ever be completed.

As for New Year’s Day, we know, of course, that January 1^st did not officially become the start of the New Year until 1751.  However, surprising though it may seem, New Year celebrations did take place on this day, following an old Roman tradition.  It is on this day that we find evidence of the giving and receiving of gifts amongst the upper classes and from master to servant – and there is no reason to believe that the exchange of gifts did not happen in the lower classes as well.  It is this tradition that is believed to be the forerunner of the modern day Christmas present.

It was at New Year that the ‘wassail’ would be heard.  The word comes from the Saxon waes hael and means ‘be well’.  In Saxon times the lord of the manor would shout ‘waes hael!’ to his household, and they would reply: ‘drink hael!’ (drink well and be healthy).  By the Middle Ages it had become a tradition to toast each other in this way – usually with a form of mulled ale, cider or wine.  By 1600 many commoners had begun to take the wassail bowl from house to house, singing as they went, a practice that Shakespeare probably was involved in, and which has survived into the modern Christmas Carol singing from door to door.  There was also a ceremony whereby apple trees would be sprinkled with the wassail to ensure a good harvest in the coming year.

Twelfth Night itself signalled the end of the Christmas holiday, but was itself a time of religious services and feast-making.  It began with a dramatic church service and ended with what was probably the most lavish feast of the year (for the upper classes and royalty at least) and there were many entertainments and merry-making.  Twelfth Night cake was an essential part of the festivities, and often contained a pea and a bean, whoever finding them becoming King and Queen for the night.

One of the most interesting aspects of the Twelfth Night period was a tradition that had developed from the Roman Saturnalia festival.  In Roman times, the Lord of Misrule represented the god Saturn and one member of the community would be appointed to take on this role.  This practice lasted well into the Middle Ages and the Tudor periods, particular in larger households, universities and law schools.  A mock ruler would be chosen for the twelve days who would be in a position of authority and in charge of entertainments.  The chosen one would then appoint his own guards and followers and they would dress themselves up in the most colourful garbs, cover themselves up with ribbons and lace and march to the church.  A record of the written appointment of one Lord of Misrule for the household of the Right Worshipful Richard Evelyn is shown below:

‘Imprimis, I give free leave to Owen Flood, my trumpeter, gentleman, to be Lord of Misrule of all good orders during the twelve days. And also, I give free leave to the said Owen Flood to command all and every person or persons whatsoever, as well servants as others, to be at his command whensoever he shall sound his trumpet or music, and to do him good service, as though I were present myself, at their perils I give full power and authority to his lordship to break up all locks, bolts, bars, doors, and latches, and to fling up all doors out of hinges, to come at those who presume to disobey his lordship’s commands. God save the king!’

It is not difficult to imagine the riotous and often scandalous events that were no doubt caused and presided over by the Lord of Misrule.  Their antics often caused church officials, particularly puritans, some serious concern and there were regular calls to ban the tradition.  However, many abbeys and cathedrals had their own version from the 10^th century, known as the Boy Bishop, who presided from the day before the Feast of the Holy Innocents until the end of the following day.  As well as being in charge of services, he sometimes would lead a procession, collecting money from wealthy households and spectators which would be used for parish funds.

On 7^th January all merry-making came to an end and in the countryside preparations would begin for ploughing the fields.  In fact, the first Monday after Epiphany was known as Plough Monday.

So Christmas was very different for our ancestors – but not quite the strongly religious festival that we may imagine.  The church had allowed many secular entertainments and pre-Christian traditions to become part of the nativity celebrations, and perhaps the feasting, drinking and general carousing was even more of a feature than it is today.

The following verse is taken from a long poem by George Wither written in the early 17^th century.

Now all our neighbours’ chimneys smoke,
And Christmas blocks are burning;
Their ovens they with baked meat choke,
And all their spits are turning.
Without the door let sorrow lye;
And if for cold it hap to die,
We’ll bury’t in a Christmas-pie,
And evermore be merry.

Which rather sums up the light hearted aspects of Christmas – and perhaps reminds us that, despite the fact that it is predominantly a Christian festival, we like to enjoy a mid-winter festival that brightens up the dark days of winter, just like our pagan forebears did.

Wassail!

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I am sure that you will find something here for the genealogist in your life!  Happy hunting!

Things you should know about the English census

With the exception of 1941, there has been a census taken every ten  years in England and Wales since 1801. For the genealogist, the ones taken before 1841 have no use as they do not contain names.

From 1851, the census contains extremely useful genealogical  information, including the relationships of everyone in the  household, ages, occupations and place of birth. In the 1911  census you can also see how long a couple have been married, and  how many children have survived and/or died.

The census provides essential statistical information for the  Government, and was never intended for genealogical purposes.   However, the information contained within the census has become  vitally important for anyone searching their family history.

For reasons of public privacy, the census remains confidential for  100 years. However, a loophole in the 1911 census regulations  allowed it to be published early, and it has been available on some  websites for the last two years.

How was the information collected?

It is vital that you understand how information was collected for  the census – especially the 19th century – as it will help you to  understand why some information seems to be inaccurate, or not  agree with other documentation you may have.

One thing that it is important to know is that the information you  are seeing is often a copy of a copy of a copy! This naturally  leads to many mistakes, misinterpretations and mis-spellings, which  can result in mis-information and sometimes not being able to find  your ancestor at all.

In each registration district enumerators were sent out to each  household with forms that were usually left for the householder to  fill in. If the householder was illiterate (very often the case,  especially in the early part of the century) the form would be  completed by the enumerator by asking questions. This of course  leads of variations of spellings, and frequent mis-hearing of a  name or place.

The enumerator then copied the information from these schedules  into enumerators’ books. These are the records that are available  to the public, so are not the original document (which I believe  were destroyed). This copying again led to various mistakes.

In latter years, these enumerators’ books have been indexed and  transcibed, both for use in archives, and, even more recently, for  internet use. Once again, the act of transcribing has resulted in  further mistakes, and the indexers’ interpretation of often difficult Victorianhandwriting has led to some names and places being so badly mis-transcribed that they do not show up when  searching the indexes.

But don’t be put off! Yes, there are many mistakes and mis-spellings on the census – but it is still an absolutely vital and  fascinating resource for family historians.

How to search the census.

Nowadays, it is very easy to search the census online if you have a  subscription to Ancestry.co.uk or one of the other big genealogy  websites.   You can usually start by doing a name search, putting in as much  information as you can into the other search criteria boxes (e.g.  year of birth, place of birth etc). Even if you are sure of the  date of birth, it is best to give a range of at least 2 years each  side, as the age may not have been given accurately when the  information was taken.   If you do not get a satisfactory result – or you get too many  possibilities, then you need to start taking out some of the search criteria, and then see what comes up.

Search the UK Census collection

I have sometimes found an ancestor whose (for example) surname has  been completely mis-transcribed, by leaving the surname blank, and  marking every other piece of criteria as being “exact”. You could  also do this the other way round by using the surname only without  the Christian name. I found my own grandfather this way. His name  was Francis Manley. But it was only when I entered “Manley” into  the search criteria – with place of birth, age etc all marked as  “exact”, that I found him. His Christian name had been written by  the enumerator as “Fracis”, which is why he had not shown up in the  earlier searches.

In theory, everyone who was living in England during the night of  each census, should be on the census. So if you cannot find your  ancestor, my advice is to just keep trying. Of course, there are  circumstances which may explain a person’s absence. They may be  out of the country (unusual for Victorian working classes – unless  they have an occupation which would involve them travelling, such  as sailor or army officer).

Another reason why your ancestor may not turn up is because they  have changed their name for some reason. I have seen this  particularly happen where the subject was illegitimate, and may  have been baptized with his father’s surname, but used his mother’s  surname later on (or vice versa).

My grandfather (again), was actually baptized Francis McEwen – but  after his parents’ early demise, he was brought up by his married  sister and her husband, John Manley. Hence from then on my  grandfather was known as a Manley – and all his children were named  Manley. This caused some complications in my searches I can tell  you!

Oh – and if you had a suffragette in your ancestry, then she may  not turn up on the 1911 census. Many suffragettes stayed away from  home – often sleeping rough – on the night of the census as a form  of protest against the Government.

As with all genealogical searches, you often have to use your  imagination. Remember, you are dealing with human beings, and  human beings can be tricksy!

And just because something is written down does not mean it is 100%  true. Every record you look at must be backed up by other  resources where possible.

Despite its difficulties, the English census remains one of the  most interesting and useful resources for the family historian, and  provides essential details about your ancestors lives and  lifestyles.

There are 4 main ways of ordering my genealogical services.

You can either use my hourly service, which gives you a minimum of 2 hours of research up to whatever spending limit you want to set.  This leaves you in control of your budget and means that the research can be done in stages.  It is also the best option if you just require a record look-up in the local archives.

Alternatively, there are also 3 packages at varying levels, depending on your budget and requirements.  You can either decide to pay in advance, using the Paypal buttons, or email me for further details.

Whatever your research needs, feel free to email me at info@tracingancestors-uk.com to discuss what kind of option will suit you.

For more details on my genealogical research options CLICK HERE.

Today, however, almost anyone with internet access can research their own family history using online resources – at least as far back as 1837, using census records and BMD indexes.  There is even a growing range of parish registers that can be read online, so if you are lucky, you may be able to press back further than 1837 without leaving your desk.

Does this mean that work for professional genealogists is drying up?  Actually, the answer seems to be Absolutely Not!

I seem to busier now than I ever have been.  The nature of my work has changed radically (I spend more time at home at my computer than I do at the record office!), but I have a healthily large pile of work folders on my desk and no sign of it drying up.

So – if it’s so easy for people to trace their own ancestry, why do they still need the services of a professional?  Here are a few of my ideas.  If you have any more, please feel free to comment!

• Even though there are easy-to-use name indexes on many genealogical websites, it is still possible to hit a brick wall and find that an ancestor seems to have completely disappeared from the records.  A professional can often get through these brick walls because they often have a better knowledge of how the search engines for each site works, and also how different name spellings and transcription errors can result in an ancestor not showing up in the results.  They may also have knowledge of other resources and documents not available online that may help to find the missing ancestor.

• Most professional genealogists have an interest in and studied local and/or general history and can often provide a good understanding of local migratory habits, industries, education and lifestyles.  This depth of understanding can enrich your knowledge of your ancestors and what their lives were like.

• While the census and BMD certificates can help you trace your family tree back to the early 19th century, there are many documents that will flesh out the information about a 19th or 20th century ancestor.  Only a few of these are available online, and you could be missing out on fascinating information if you only stick to certificates and the census.  Wills, directories, occupational records, land records, criminal and military records can all provide you with interesting information about your ancestor.

• Before 1837 your main source of information are parish registers (as well as the other records just mentioned).  While some parish registers (particularly for London) are now online, the vast majority are still only available by visiting local archives.  Online indexes such as the IGI can be helpful – but should not be relied upon.  It is essential ALWAYS to follow up such information by checking out the original documents.

• A professional genealogist will usually have membership of various genealogical societies where they may have access to information not readily available to other members of the public.

• Once you do get beyond 1837, and need to find local researchers, using just one researcher who will sub-hire other researchers on your behalf will save you lots of time – and probably money.  If you are following several lines, you will probably find that your ancestors came from many different areas, or you might find one line where the family moved around a lot, and trying to find researchers in each area takes a lot of valuable time, and is not always that easy.  A researcher who will act as an overseer, and collate all the information for you makes it all very much easier for you.

I think that as long the professional genealogist keeps up to date with modern changes and moves with the times, there will always be work available.  In many ways, I find it more satisfying now than it used to be.  Instead of most of my jobs just covering the one area, I very often have charge of the whole tree, and am able to get involved in a far more in-depth way than ever before.

For more information about my own genealogical services, covering the whole of the UK, CLICK HERE.

Ros

This book is completely FREE, and is available to read on its own, without any further obligation to buy.  However, if you like the book, and you want to get a more detailed guide in tracing your ancestors in the UK, then you can buy my second book Tracing Ancestors in the UK, Volume II for the current price of $15.00.

This book is packed with detailed advice on how to trace your UK ancestors, and gives you an easy-to-read,  step-by-step process which will take you through all the necessary searches you need to make.  Volume II enables you to start tracing your ancestors straight away as long as you have internet access.

If you have read either of these books, and would like to leave some feedback, please feel free to write in the comment box below!  Thanks.

Remember – Tracing Your Ancestors in the UK Volume I is completely FREE.

The most frustrating situation is where you have an ancestor with a common name, and do not have a specific area of origin.  Unless you can gather more information from other sources, this is always going to be the worst scenario.  A “John Smith of England”, born about 1827″ is not going to get you anywhere!

All the same, even if you have a definite place of birth, and/or an uncommon name, there are some ancestors who just don’t seem to want to be found!

Here are a few tips that have helped me get past many a sticking point in the past, both for myself and for my clients:

• Siblings can be very useful in tracking an elusive ancestor.  Brothers and sisters of the person you are searching may be found on census records or may be witnesses to a wedding.  If you are unable to find your direct ancestor, then try searching for their brothers and sisters, not only back in time, but forward in time.  You could find that your missing ancestor was living with a brother or sister, and the name has been badly transcribed therefore not turning up in index searches.   If you can’t find a baptism for your missing ancestor, then try looking for the baptism or birth record of their siblings.

• Witnesses on marriage certificates – even if they don’t look like siblings – could be useful.  Try finding them on the census and working out how they are related to the subject.  Sometimes witnesses are church officials, but often they are relatives or friends of the people getting married.  A female with a different surname may be a married sister, or they could be nephews, nieces, uncles, aunts or cousins.  Researching these people could provide you with clues as to where your ancestor was living or where he came from.

• Relatives and Visitors on the census should also be noted and researched.  Any extended relation who is living in the household on the census should be thoroughly researched.  Sometimes widowed parents-in-law lived with their married children, as did unmarried brothers or sisters.  Visitors and boarders are not always un-related and quite often turn out to be relatives by marriage, so should also be checked out.

• Phonetic searches are not always reliable, so don’t rely on your search engine to come up with every possible variation of a surname spelling.  Try as many different spellings of the surname as you can think of .  Think of how a surname might sound (could that “n” sound like an “m”?) – or how it might look when written down.  Not only were name spellings not standardized, modern transcribers make many errors when writing the indexes, so use your imagination when searching and keep trying different spellings.

• Search Engines in many genealogical websites can have very useful search criterias, and you can try searching with all kinds of different information to try and locate your ancestor.  If your ancestor’s name is fairly uncommon, and you are fairly confident you know where they came from, you can try searching for a Christian name without surname, or vice versa, using the place name as an exact search.  I found my own grandfather this way – his name was Francis Manley, but I could never find him in the 1881 census.  When I tried searching for Manley without the Christian name, with a definite year and place, I found his name had been written as “Fracis” – which never came up in the index search!

• Military or Maritime ancestors might have been away during the census, so if you think your ancestor might have been a sailor or involved in overseas military campaigns, this could be why he does not show up on a census.  Some military and shipping records can be seen online at the National Archives Website Documents Online Service.  Other records of this nature can only be seen by visiting the National Archives at Kew, but you can still search some indexes online.

• Baptisms & Marriage Records of the parish registers can be useful if you are unable to find a birth or marriage certificate.  Of course, you need to know where they were likely to have been born or married.  Only a few parish registers are online at present, so you will either need to visit the relevant county record office, or hire someone to do this for you.

• Wills can be very useful if you cannot find an ancestor in the parish registers or other records.  If your ancestor was fairly wealthy, and held property in more than one county, he is likely to have left a PCC (Perogative Court of Canterbury) will, which can be downloaded at the National Archives Documents Online website.  However, if he only had property in one small area, it is more likely to be an archdeaconry will – and you will need to have an idea of where he was living when he died.  It is always worth looking for wills of possible relatives of your ancestor – as they may mention him or her in their will, and this can help you establish parentage and origins.  Looking for wills can be time consuming and sometimes expensive – but if you do find a will, they are well worth the search as they provide very interesting information about our ancestors’ lives.

• Land records can also be useful if you have an idea of where your ancestor lived.  Sometimes these can provide family information if, say, an ancestor was passing a piece of land to a son, or transferred land as part of a dowry, for example.

• Ancestry.co.uk allows you to make a general search at the bottom of their home page, and if you have come to a full stop this search engine can be very useful for finding any other possible sources of information and documents.  I have on occasion come across baptism records and criminal records for clients’ ancestors that I had not found before.

• Know Your History! Having a bit of knowledge about the history of the time can help you to understand your ancestors’ possible movements and his possible actions. For example, a factory worker in mid-19th century Manchester or Liverpool could be an Irish immigrant.  If your ancestor worked as a gardener, he may have worked on one of the large private country house estates, and there could be local land records showing employees and salaries.

Remember that every single piece of information you have about your ancestor is a potential clue.  Never dismiss anything, and always follow up every bit of information you have.  It may lead to a dead end, but it could also lead to a real breakthrough.

Some of these tips will be more useful than others, depending on how much you already know about your ancestor, and what kind of person he was (e.g. a factory worker is unlikely to have left a will – though you should never rule this out).

My overall advice is to never give up and to keep looking.  Sometimes, if you really are completely stuck, it is a good idea to leave it and work on another line for a while.  Often, when you come back to this ancestor, you will have a new idea for how to go about your research – or more information may have become available online.  More and more information is being published on the internet, so it’s always worth checking what’s available every so often.

Find an elusive ancestor can be frustrating, hard work and ultimately disappointing – but on the other hand, when you do make that breakthrough it is so exciting that it will have been worth all that hard work.

Happy hunting!

Of course, in recent years, the internet has made it much easier in the sense of being able to access sources.  In the past, all family history research involved travelling to county record offices.  In my job as a professional genealogist, my work has completely changed.  I spend a lot more time at home on the laptop than I do in a record office in front of a microfiche reader.

So, in many ways, it is a lot easier to search your ancestors now that the census records and GRO indexes are all online – and many other records, such as wills and a growing selection of parish registers, are also increasingly available online.  If you could not afford to travel across the country – or even to another country – to visit the appropriate local archives in the past, you either had to give up, or hire a local genealogist (which could be difficult if your ancestors came from lots of different places) – but now most people with internet access can – in theory – trace their ancestors back to the early 19th century.

I say “in theory” because it’s not always as easy as it sounds!  Here are a number of reasons why people get stuck:

• Search engines at the main genealogy sites are a great way to find ancestors quickly – but if your ancestor’s name has been badly mis-spelled (which happens far more often than you might imagine) by the original enumerator, or by the modern transcriber, you might find they seem to be “missing” on the census or in BMD indexes, even when you use phonetic searching.

• If your ancestor has a very common name like John Smith, particularly if they lived in a large town or city, it can become almost impossible to work out which John Smith is yours.  The search then becomes more complicated as you really need a lot of information to start with in order to work out which one is the right one, and a large amount of detective work is necessary.

• Where an individual was born in another country, the records in the resident country may not say anything other than “born in England”.  Unless the name is extremely unusual, this can be almost impossible to find, unless you have some other cross-referencing information such as a marriage that took place before emigration.

• Once you get past 1837 (the date when birth, marriage and death registrations became law in England), the records get less reliable.  Parish registers are the main source of information, but as you go back in time, they are often badly damaged, difficult to read – or sometimes lost or destroyed.  There are other records that can be helpful, but the further down the social class your ancestors were, the less likely they were to be on any documentation – apart from paw loor, criminal records or settlement records.  Very few of these are online.

There are all kinds of other reasons why people get stuck.  Sometimes the results just get very confusing, and sometimes documents contradict each other, or ages and places of birth don’t match what you know. We need to remember that most historical documents were not created for the pleasure of future ancestry seekers!  They were there for different purposes, and often we have to read between the lines, look at the context and know a bit about the historical background in order to make sense of them.

I am truly not trying to put anyone off searching their family tree!  Tracing your ancestors is an exciting, fun and fascinating hobby, and the chances are that you will be able to trace many generations of several lines of your family.

The difficulties and frustrations that result from the problems I have outlined above are all part of the fun – and you need to be prepared to come across some or all of these problems as you trace your family.  Just don’t get led to believe that you can trace your tree in a few days.  And don’t forget that every time you go back a generation, the number of people on the tree doubles – that’s a lot of people to find!

Professional genealogists often work very hard to work out puzzles, and get past brick walls that amateur family historians get stuck at.

In fact, for the professional genealogist, this is becoming the main thrust of the work – getting people past brick walls, rather than doing the whole thing from scratch – because more and more people are doing it for themselves.

So, to sum up.  Yes, it’s much easier than it used to be for anyone to trace their own family history – but it is not in itself easy.  If you are interested in history, determined, tenacious, have a mind like a detective, imaginative and have attention to detail, you will find the ups and downs of ancestry research extremely rewarding.  But if you are looking for an easy hobby that doesn’t take up too much brain work, I would try something else – and get a professional to do your tree!

Seriously, though, most people, once they start tracing ancestry, find it completely addictive.  That’s why I became a professional.  Tracing my own tree just wasn’t enough.

And I like a challenge.  Luckily – it still is – and always will be.

Ros

Do you need someone to help you trace your ancestors?  See my RESEARCH SERVICES PAGE.

Normally, I find they are pretty quick at sending out certificates when you order online, but I have ordered several certificates lately, and wondering why they had not arrived within the usual week, I looked at their website and found the following announcement:

Service Announcement – Thursday 29 April 2010

Current Despatch Times
Customers may wish to be aware that standard orders are subject to a delay of 7 working days. This additional time should be added to the estimated date of despatch given at the time of order.
The priority service remains unaffected and orders placed via this service will be despatched on the next working day from receipt of order, if received before 16:00.
GRO apologises for any inconvenience this may cause to our customers. We anticipate that normal service will be resumed by the week beginning 17 May 2010.

I’d better warn all my current clients who are waiting for information!

Anyway – if you’re wondering where your certificate is – that should answer it for you – though It would have been nice if they had given a reason.

Ros

The family tree of Herzog Ludwig I of Württemberg (ruled 1568-1593

It is only in the past 5 decades that tracing ancestors has become a popular past-time for all members of society. However, it is not a new idea. In times when it mattered to be a part of the upper classes, many wealthy people felt it was important to be able to prove their lineage and validate their standing in society. 

However, it was not something that was of interest – or even possible – for the middle and lower classes. It was not thought to be of any benefit to trace your family’s history, and even if it was possible to do so, there would have been no pride in tracing a line of agricultural labourers or tradesmen. Family history was for the noble classes.

Times change, and so do attitudes. In the last century, professional historians have come to realise that social history is just as important as political history, and an interest in family history has grown alongside the growth of interest in the history of the common people.

Tracing your family tree became more popular in the latter half of the 20th century as records became more accessible to the general public, and parish registers had to be held at County Record Offices rather than at the church itself.

However, in the last few years, the internet has made some records even more accessible to people on a global basis, and while some documents still need to be seen in situ, records such as census returns and birth, marriage and death indexes can be searched for and viewed online.

Along with TV programmes such as Who Do You Think You Are, this accessibility of records has made it far easier for anyone interested in their roots to trace back several generations quite quickly.

But what is the attraction of tracing your ancestors? Why is it such an addictive and fascinating past-time, despite being, at times, incredibly frustrating and disappointing? Is it just because, as human beings, we have an inbuilt curiosity, or is it more than that?

I believe it has something to do with our need to establish a personal identity, to understand more about ourselves, and why and how we are who we are. It also gives us a sense of continuity and belonging. We are not totally alone. We are made up of the genes of those who came before us, and our genes will be continued in those who come after us.

Genealogy connects us with the past as no history lesson can ever do. I personally became more interested in history through an interest in my own family history. It had never interested me at school. Now I have a degree in it.

History, whether family, social or political, tells us where we have come from and teaches us that while fashions, attitudes and technologies may change, basic human nature does not. Yet it also teaches us to avoid the mistakes of the past so we can choose a better path.

Nowadays, we are more likely to be fascinated (if a little discomforted) rather than shamed by finding we have a criminal or a workhouse inmate in our family history. It’s interesting. We want to know more about them.

While there are still those who would like to find they are related to royalty, I find that the ancestors I have (tradesmen, factory workers, fishermen, labourers, railway workers) are just as fascinating as any royal – if not more so. I am proud of them because they worked hard, suffered and survived, and because they are a part of me.

Tracing ancestors is a hobby that is never finished – that is both the beauty and the frustration of it! Once started, it is almost impossible to stop. You will be caught in its grasp and it won’t let you go. You have been warned!