Research Sources/Tools for Family Historians #1

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cnosni
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Post by cnosni »

Any way here is another online resource from the Borthwickhttp://www.hrionline.ac.uk/causepapers/Here is a description of what this datbase has-Welcome to the Cause Papers Database, a searchable catalogue of more than 14,000 cause papers relating to cases heard between 1300 and 1858 in the Church Courts of the diocese of York. The original records are held in the Borthwick Institute for Archives at the University of York, and are the most extensive records of their type in the United Kingdom. They offer an extremely valuable resource for family and local historians and scholars interested in social, ecclesiastical, economic and legal history. The catalogue is designed to enhance access to the papers by presenting key information about each cause and by allowing users to search these details. The Basic and Advanced Search functions can be used to search for information about people and places involved in the cases and to refine searches by factors such as date and type of case. Alternatively, you can search quickly by using the keyword box at the top right of this page. The database can also be used to order copies of original documents. By following the links at the top of the site, you can find out more about the cataloguing project and the historical background to the courts. You can also help us by contributing an abstract of the proceedings of a cause.Ive used it quite a bit,be prepared to possibly alter the spellings of your ancestors surnames especially prior to the 18th century.Also take into account that place names can be a bit ambiguous,especially if the transcriber of the basic search engine is unfamiliar with a particular area,eg describing Guiseley as "Ginsley"
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cnosni
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Post by cnosni »

This is a goldmine of old books reproduced and available for nowthttp://archive.org/details/americanaGreat for all sorts of old books and for family historians it has a lot of YPRS publications on.Obviously all these books are available free at the local libraries etc,but this site allows you to download the whole book for nowt.If you find the book that interests you on the search resulst ,click on the link that you find on the search results and then you will go to a specific page for your chosen book.On the left is a box which gives you various options to view,which include "online" "Kindle" or "PDF".The best one,so you can browse at your leisure is PDF.Click on this option,and another box opens that says Read or Save.Click Save and the book will download onto your PC,you just need to chooses where you want to save it.
Don't get me started!!My Flickr photos-http://www.flickr.com/photos/cnosni/Secret Leeds [email protected]

LS1
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Post by LS1 »

Cnosni, Is there a way to actually see the returns that the people made themselves online? It's good these sites are free, though if they misrepresent what they say then its a bit poor.I was looking forward to seeing some old returns my ancestors filled in, then I thought, did they actually fill anything in at all? I thought the census taker just went round on the evening and interviewed the heads of the household and all the notes are in the hand of the census taker.

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cnosni
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Post by cnosni »

LS1 wrote: Cnosni, Is there a way to actually see the returns that the people made themselves online? It's good these sites are free, though if they misrepresent what they say then its a bit poor.I was looking forward to seeing some old returns my ancestors filled in, then I thought, did they actually fill anything in at all? I thought the census taker just went round on the evening and interviewed the heads of the household and all the notes are in the hand of the census taker. As far as im aware the census returns for 1911 are supposed to be the original handwriting,though im sure that those who were illiterate could not have donefrom 1911census.org-The 1911 census was a household census taken on the night of Sunday 2nd April 1911. It holds information on every household, vessel, institution and overseas residencies that were part of England and Wales in 1911 (including some ships at sea, and some army units stationed overseas). A full entry would contain names of persons in each household, age, occupation, position in household (i.e. head, wife, son, grandfather etc), whether they had any illnesses and the full address of the property where they were residing that night.The 1911 census is the first census where the householder's schedule has remained the master entry, rather than the enumerator's notes, so you will be able in most cases to view your ancestors' handwriting when looking at 1911 census entries.http://www.1911census.org.uk/
Don't get me started!!My Flickr photos-http://www.flickr.com/photos/cnosni/Secret Leeds [email protected]

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