Over this 10 week course we will look at the following areas: Research Basics Census Records Civil Registration Church Records Finding Your Ancestors

Each week will include time for individual on-line research supported by Dave

Course Overview

1. Research Basics

This section will help you to :a. Understand what a census is. b. Identify the type of information found on a census record. c. Access census records online. d. Evaluate the information you find on census records.

Tutor: Dave Carr. Email. carrspace@mac.com

Read my blog at http://davecarr.posterous.com BECOMING A

FAMILY HISTORY DETECTIVE

Common Enumerators Marks / the last person in each household in the same building // the last person in each building

M or Mar = Married, Unm = Unmarried, W = Widowed

Ag Lab + Agricultural LabourerAp = ApprenticeCl = ClerkDom = Domestic ServantFs/Ms = Female/Male ServantJ = Journeyman

Hints for Searching• Enter less information rather than more, at least to start with• try different spellings• try the spouse or one of the childrens names or a shortened first name• try the middle name as the first name• try just the first name or just the last name• always check the names of neighbours• consider checking the names of witnesses on marriage certificates• last resort, try soundex

Identify the type of information found on a census record.

Understand what a census is.

• A census is the statistical count of the population of a country.

• The first census was taken in 1841.• Census records were taken every

10 years.• The latest census available is 1911.

Identify the type of information found on a census record.

1841. Head of Household Antony Carr.

Wife Ellen (Visitor) Patrick Son James In 1841 the ages of those over 20 were rounded down to the nearest 5 years, therefore a person age 44 would be shown as aged 40. Those under 20 years of age were re-corded with their proper age.

1851. Head of Household Antony Carr

His wife Ellen is not there.Son JamesSon ThomasDaughter Elizabeth

Identify the type of information found on a census record.

1861. Head of Household James Carr

We are now in Antony’s son James Household.James’s Wife CharlotteJames Daughter Harriet

Identify the type of information found on a census record.

1871. Head of Household James CarrJames Wife CharlotteJames Daughter Harriet and Son James

Identify the type of information found on a census record.

James Wife CharlotteJames Son JamesDaughter Harriet has left

1881. Head of Household James Carr

Identify the type of information found on a census record.

1891. Head of Household James Carr

We are now in James son James Household.James Wife RoseJames Daughters Annie, PhebeJames Sons Luke and John (Jack)

Actually some of these were Roses children from a previous marriage

Identify the type of information found on a census record.

1901. Head of Household James Carr

My Grandfather Leonard Carr

Identify the type of information found on a census record.

Go to these Web sites to search the England and Wales censuses: • FreeCen www.freecen.org.uk provides partial free cover-

age across England, Wales and Scotland. Check out the coverage rates here www.freecen.org.uk/statistics.html

• Family Search also offers free searching of the 1891 England census http://www.familysearch.org/eng/search/frameset_search.asp?PAGE=census/search_census.asp

• Other sites generally charge, although Ancestry is free in libraries, and on this course. Go to the site at www.ancestry.com

Access census records online.

Exercise

• Choose a family who lived in England in the mid–1800s.

• Search the Web sites we visited to find the family in censuses.

• Compare the information in the censuses.

• Determine what the information tells you about the family.

Evaluate the information you find on census records