Читать книгу Who Do You Think You Are? Encyclopedia of Genealogy: The definitive reference guide to tracing your family history - Nick Barratt - Страница 123

Section Four provides a unique resource for all family historians – a structured route through some of the more popular but often technically difficult topics that you are likely to encounter during your investigations into your past. However, if the suggestions included in the Section Four guides can’t answer your questions, here are a few more tips and tricks to help get you back on track again – bearing in mind, of course, that there may not actually be a solution!

Each type of document will present its own unique set of obstacles that may hinder you from finding the person you are looking for. A birth in England or Wales in 1846 may not be found in the civil registration indexes, for example, because although civil registration began in 1837, the rules governing its enforcement were not tightened up until 1875, and many people simply didn’t bother. These specific problems will be addressed when each subject is explored in detail in Sections Two and Three, but there are more general issues that affect most types of records.

Changes in the way names and places have been spelt over time are a common hindrance to family historians. When registering the name of a birth or baptism, or even when filling out a census return, the priest, registrar or enumerator would write a name how they heard it said, and very often the informant was illiterate and so would not be able to correct them if it was spelt wrong. Therefore, if you cannot find an ancestor in alphabetical indexes under the name you were expecting, think of all the variations of spelling that name could sound like and conduct a search under those options too. Common variations occur when there is a silent letter, such as ‘e’ at the end of a name.

‘If you cannot find an ancestor in alphabetical indexes under the name you were expecting, think of all the variations of spelling that name could sound like and conduct a search under those options too.’

Similar rules apply to the spelling of place names that have been known to change frequently over time, but you should also be wary of places around the country (and even the world) being called the same name. There are indexes, like F. Smith’s A Genealogical Gazetteer of England, that can help you to find in which counties a place name is found, and thus help you continue your research in the correct area.

There are plenty of useful reference books to help you with a particular line of historical research. Your local library will stock a range of publications on the subject, particularly specialist volumes that include indexes. There are also many genealogical journals and magazines released weekly and monthly, like Ancestors Magazine, The Genealogists Magazine, Family History Monthly and Family Tree Magazine and, of course, the Who Do You Think You Are? magazine. They are all packed with fascinating articles and top tips, discussing the latest finding aids, computer software and issues that affect the modern genealogist. A lot of these magazines also have a genealogy agony aunt who will answer readers’ research questions.