Family History in Leeds

Si · Post by Si » Thu 17 Jul, 2008 5:09 pm

Yes, Chris, I agree. It's important to stick to one line of enquiry until it's exhausted, otherwise it can get awfully complicated, and "branches" can be missed. Cnosni has been doing this longer than me - he even helped me with my tree (costs a few beers!) - so take his advice.Good luck!Si.

Si · Post by Si » Thu 17 Jul, 2008 5:14 pm

Cnosni (Chris Mk.I)-I have an old Victorian photo album containing pictures of my ancestors. Unfortunately, none of them are annotated. Is there any way of finding out who they were? I'm guessing that if the photographer's studios (their names are printed on the card frames) are still in business (long shot) they may have negs and records?Any other ideas, or am I being way too optimistic?!!Si.

Post by **cnosni** » Thu 17 Jul, 2008 11:01 pm

Si wrote: Cnosni (Chris Mk.I)-I have an old Victorian photo album containing pictures of my ancestors. Unfortunately, none of them are annotated. Is there any way of finding out who they were? I'm guessing that if the photographer's studios (their names are printed on the card frames) are still in business (long shot) they may have negs and records?Any other ideas, or am I being way too optimistic?!!Si. Optimistic deffo,but you will probably be able to take a good guess.There have been some articles in Family History mags about old photos,and the positioning of people in wedding pics is very interesting and could actually give a fairly good idea of who they were.My other half has some Edwardian pics and weve had no joy finding anything out about the studio that printed on the back.

Si · Post by Si » Fri 18 Jul, 2008 9:10 am

cnosni wrote: Si wrote: Cnosni (Chris Mk.I)-I have an old Victorian photo album containing pictures of my ancestors. Unfortunately, none of them are annotated. Is there any way of finding out who they were? I'm guessing that if the photographer's studios (their names are printed on the card frames) are still in business (long shot) they may have negs and records?Any other ideas, or am I being way too optimistic?!!Si. Optimistic deffo,but you will probably be able to take a good guess.There have been some articles in Family History mags about old photos,and the positioning of people in wedding pics is very interesting and could actually give a fairly good idea of who they were.My other half has some Edwardian pics and weve had no joy finding anything out about the studio that printed on the back. I thought it might be a long shot! Unfortunately, there are no wedding photos, just single portraits mainly. One pic could be my ggg grandfather who ran a pub in the IOM in the 1880s because it was taken by a photographer in Douglas - but then again, it could be someone else just visiting.I'll try Googling the photographers' names, and see what happens.Talking of old photos, a friend of mine (in the building trade) was clearing an empty house for demolition back in the 70s, when he found a large wooden box in the cellar. Inside, the box was slotted, and held about 50 old glass negatives of family groups in different Leeds locations. He spread them over the floor (in no particular order) only to notice a hand written index on a piece of paper in the bottom of the box. Unfortunately, all the negs were now mixed up, with no way of linking them to the index. Only one could be identified - a family enjoying a picnic at Kirkstall Abbey (c1875.) If only the index was left on top of the negs. I don't know if he still has them. I'll ask next time I see him.

Post by **cnosni** » Fri 18 Jul, 2008 7:42 pm

Si wrote: cnosni wrote: Si wrote: Cnosni (Chris Mk.I)-I have an old Victorian photo album containing pictures of my ancestors. Unfortunately, none of them are annotated. Is there any way of finding out who they were? I'm guessing that if the photographer's studios (their names are printed on the card frames) are still in business (long shot) they may have negs and records?Any other ideas, or am I being way too optimistic?!!Si. Optimistic deffo,but you will probably be able to take a good guess.There have been some articles in Family History mags about old photos,and the positioning of people in wedding pics is very interesting and could actually give a fairly good idea of who they were.My other half has some Edwardian pics and weve had no joy finding anything out about the studio that printed on the back. I thought it might be a long shot! Unfortunately, there are no wedding photos, just single portraits mainly. One pic could be my ggg grandfather who ran a pub in the IOM in the 1880s because it was taken by a photographer in Douglas - but then again, it could be someone else just visiting.I'll try Googling the photographers' names, and see what happens.Talking of old photos, a friend of mine (in the building trade) was clearing an empty house for demolition back in the 70s, when he found a large wooden box in the cellar. Inside, the box was slotted, and held about 50 old glass negatives of family groups in different Leeds locations. He spread them over the floor (in no particular order) only to notice a hand written index on a piece of paper in the bottom of the box. Unfortunately, all the negs were now mixed up, with no way of linking them to the index. Only one could be identified - a family enjoying a picnic at Kirkstall Abbey (c1875.) If only the index was left on top of the negs. I don't know if he still has them. I'll ask next time I see him. Bloody Hell,how lucky is that.The odds against that happening must be massive!

icecube · Post by **icecube** » Sat 19 Jul, 2008 8:49 pm

Hi Si, Hows it going, on the Genes reunited and Ancestry.co.uk you have to pay to get the best info and see records, so which do you think is the best site out of the two and can you view the births deaths and marrage certificates because i want to join tonight. Thank You Chris.

icecube · Post by **icecube** » Sat 19 Jul, 2008 8:50 pm

Hi Cnosni, Hows it going, on the Genes reunited and Ancestry.co.uk you have to pay to get the best info and see records, so which do you think is the best site out of the two and can you view the births deaths and marrage certificates because i want to join tonight. Has you can see i also asked Si for his oppinion. Thank You Chris

Lilysmum · Post by **Lilysmum** » Sat 19 Jul, 2008 9:15 pm

icecube wrote: Hi Cnosni, Hows it going, on the Genes reunited and Ancestry.co.uk you have to pay to get the best info and see records, so which do you think is the best site out of the two and can you view the births deaths and marrage certificates because i want to join tonight. Has you can see i also asked Si for his oppinion. Thank You Chris Hi there icecube as far as I'm aware,you can't view a copy of a marriage certificate,just the entry of the name in the register which doesn't give any more information as it's just the name you look up entered on a page. I have found ancestry uk the most helpful but have only done pay per view.Another site is rootsuk.com which I have found pretty good too and you can buy credits as and when on there if you don't want to fork out for a subscription at this point,good luck and be warned family history really gets you hooked but I find it fascinating(probably need to get out more!!)

Post by **cnosni** » Sun 20 Jul, 2008 12:33 am

Apparently the government are digitising all BMD from 1837,so you can download a certificate for a fee.However as we know the government aren't always the most efficient in anything to do with computer systems so dont hold your breath.Ok this is pretty important for BMD (Births,Marriages,Deaths)from 1837 onwards.(prior to 1837 its all Parish Registers)Ancestry has two ways of searching the GRO(General Records Office,also known as St Catherines Index) indexes of BMD's:-1.The full,UNsearchable indexes of the GRO BMD'-in other words you have to go through each quarter of each year manually.Its an index of all BMDs on the GRO index,but its not very smart.2.A searchable (smart) PARTIAL index of the same GRO BMD.-This is a database made up by volunteers for no financial return who have gone through the GRO indexes,and transcribed them(along with a view of the original index page)on to a searchable database.This means you can put in a name,eg Steve Jones,and search for every instance of that name in a particular time period,you can also narrow it down to county and even a particular registration district ie Leeds,Hunslet etc.BUT,this is partial,its an ongoing process which takes up the time of volunteers.So this means ther are gaps,many gaps, and therefore you have to accept that whilst it is partial then the answer to a search may still be out there,in the full index,and therefore eventually you will have to do the manual bit.But what you can do is use Ancestrys partial index without subscribing,by using Free BMDhttp://www.freebmd.org.uk/Free BMD has the same births,marriages and death indexes that Ancestry has,because Free BMD is where Ancestry source their partial indexes from,they pay Feee BMD which in turn funds the volunteer work.Ancestry is definitely the best online source for FH,but its not the only one,and its not all encompassing.There are aspects that it does not cover,and especially when it comes to census there are sites such as Findmypast that will find you a relative that you cannot find on Ancestry.Why?because they have a different set of people looking at the census and transcribing that info on to an index.Ancestry outsource this to people in other parts of the world for whom English is their second language,so you get errors because of this.So my advice to you at this moment is subscribe to Ancestry,but dont think that because they are the best overall doesnt mean there arent other sources to fall back on.

Si · Post by Si » Mon 21 Jul, 2008 9:01 am

I agree with Chris (cnosni,) Chris (Icecube.)I do Census research on Ancestry and use Genesreunited to "build" my tree.Regards,Simon (Si)