poohbear 1,360 Posted December 17, 2011 Report Share Posted December 17, 2011 About time I did more research before I snuff it...anybody recommend a site for census details etc? Which one do you think is the best of the bunch? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,435 Posted December 17, 2011 Report Share Posted December 17, 2011 Been doing a lot of it over the past year so I'll tell you what I've learned. Apologies if I tell you stuff you already know All the online census websites will charge you to access them (beyond some very basic details); so first thing to decide is whether you are happy to pay for it. The exception is FreeBMD.co.uk which is what it says. It only deals with Births, Marriages, and Deaths. You get the dates and the area the event happened, but no addresses. It's free, but it's run voluntarily by transcribers who are constantly adding to its database. So if you are searching for a particular name you may not find it simply because the transcribers haven't got round to that one yet. But I've found a lot of info from it and it's definitely worth using. If you are a member of Nottm City Libraries you can get 1 hour a week free access (or pay £1 for additional hours) to Findmypast.co.uk which is a fully-fledged census website. It's good and I've spent hours in the library on it. Notts County Council have a similar scheme but the take you to Ancestry.co.uk which I don't like. It's the same info but the way they present it isn't as good or clear. I don't bother with them any more. And if you just want to look at electoral registers to find who lived where, you can go to the County Archives and go through every street in Nottingham since the beginning of time. That's free too. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
poohbear 1,360 Posted December 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 17, 2011 I've sussed out quite a bit including addresses back to 1861..got to pay out for some census stuff and birth certificates to go back further...but don't mind that.I've found out that Great Grandfather had five sons..eldest 19 and his wife was 32 at the time.So I guess he was married before.He was a hosiery worker and his eldest a frame work knitter...so poorly paid.But one of his sons set up a good business still going today, and two others became accountants...he must have grafted hard to get them so well educated in those days. I also got lucky...the street he lived on was all demolished years ago,just 4 cottages remain...and one was his.. Ta for the info Cliff ton. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
piggy and babs 544 Posted December 25, 2011 Report Share Posted December 25, 2011 OVER THE LAST WEEK OR SO I HAVE HAD SOME GREAT HELP FROM ANN SWAYBY IN HELPING ME TRACE SOME STUFF FROM MY GRAND MOTHER . SHE SURE KNOWS WERE TO GO TRY ASKING HER BY PM IF YOU STUCK AND COMMING UP WITH DEAD ENDS LIKE I WAS. BUT ALSO PROVED MY MIND WAS NOT PLAYING TRICKS WITH ME WITH THING I REMEMBERED AND REMEMBER BEING TOLD WHEN I WAS A YOUNG CHILD THAT MY SISTERS SAID I WAS WRONG OR HAD THE WRONG PLACE. NOW I KNOW I WAS RIGHT. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Barbara M 1 Posted December 26, 2011 Report Share Posted December 26, 2011 Free sites I can recommed are : The Mormons on Family Search , Free Cen the sister site to BMD for census's & the GRO ( General Register Office ) for all your certificates as they only cost £9.50 each. Hope this helps & good luck in your search. Barbara Quote Link to post Share on other sites
carltongal 101 Posted December 29, 2011 Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 Really must try and find out more about the murderer in my Family but at the moment i am stuck at a dead end i have got so far but most of the records are at Matlock and i cannot afford to go out there at the moment , i have been to Derby as he was executed there i think i will go back to the research library and look in the parish records Quote Link to post Share on other sites
poohbear 1,360 Posted December 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 Strange game this tracing business...Mothers side I've flown back with ease tracing ancestors... Fathers side,a bit slower until I get birth certificates. I've found Great Grandfather age 6 in a Nottingham street...house still standing...House number 248...but in later years in street directories number 248 has just disappeared.247...249 and the families living there clearly shown.Number 248 has been alien abducted...weird!..As I say...still there today but in late 1800s it has just totally gone off records. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beefsteak 305 Posted December 29, 2011 Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 Maybe they didn't fill out the census of that decade ?! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
poohbear 1,360 Posted December 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 29, 2011 Looking through many old street directories I've noticed many house numbers missing. I don't know why they bothered if they weren't going to be comprehensive. Some streets, in for example the Whites 1885 street directory for Nottingham,just listed the odd numbers...or jumped several houses.Many streets only list half the properties...it seems the publishers had a very hit and miss approach to their street directory. I did however find the house where my Great Grandfather lived in 1890,it gave his name and trade (Cotton Warper)and strangely gave the name of the factory where he worked.I searched that out on Peveril street and lo and behold it gave the factory name and a list of all the employees...interesting stuff when it's your ancestors. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
poohbear 1,360 Posted December 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2011 It appears one of my relatives was in hospital during one census in 1871...top of the page was this young lady....34 year old Sarah Churchill...occupation...prostitute... They didn't mince words in those days did they? 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
carltongal 101 Posted December 30, 2011 Report Share Posted December 30, 2011 Have traced my Dads side of the family as far back as 1654 cannot seem to get any further , but my mums side is another matter , oh well i will keep plodding on till i start tearing my hair out in frustation lol Quote Link to post Share on other sites
poohbear 1,360 Posted December 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 30, 2011 I've got back as far as ancestors born 1791 and 1808 but can't get any further info as nothing shows up in parish records for my lot...No doubt I could find more if I visited the library but health prevents me from leaving my PC and poring through records.Shame,but I'm pleased to have found what I have without leaving my house. Interesting to see that my Great Great Grandfather on my Fathers side in the 1861 census shows two children were born in Nottingham and then the next two born in Calais France around 1830...followed up by the youngest, again being born in Nottingham.So they must have been abroad for around 10 years...I'd love to find out what happened there.That's as far back as I've got. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
carltongal 101 Posted December 31, 2011 Report Share Posted December 31, 2011 One of mt lot was a farm labourer back in the 1800s he died after falling off a haystack .......... no health and safety rules in those days Quote Link to post Share on other sites
littlebro 234 Posted December 31, 2011 Report Share Posted December 31, 2011 I've got back as far as ancestors born 1791 and 1808 but can't get any further info as nothing shows up in parish records for my lot...No doubt I could find more if I visited the library but health prevents me from leaving my PC and poring through records.Shame,but I'm pleased to have found what I have without leaving my house. Interesting to see that my Great Great Grandfather on my Fathers side in the 1861 census shows two children were born in Nottingham and then the next two born in Calais France around 1830...followed up by the youngest, again being born in Nottingham.So they must have been abroad for around 10 years...I'd love to find out what happened there.That's as far back as I've got. Hi Poohbear There is a link between Nottingham and Calais in the 19th Century. Many nottingham lacemakers went to work in Calais. Did your family have lacemaking roots? http://www.thetravelmagazine.net/i-3478--the-calais-lace-museum-calais-but-with-frills-on.html 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
poohbear 1,360 Posted December 31, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 31, 2011 Thanks for the link....and yes,my lot were all in the hosiery and lace trade until the 1900s.This is my Great Great Grandfathers family in this 1861 census printout....Even the eight and eleven year olds were in the trade....poor beggars. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mgread1200 141 Posted January 1, 2012 Report Share Posted January 1, 2012 I used ancestry.co.uk their records are very good as well as the free ones already mentioned. The trick is to find the missing records when they have been transcribed incorrectly. just the head of household and the whoile family follows suit. if one of the family has an unusual christian name then leave the surname blank but make other info exact like place and date and other family christian names, that way you get a much smaller list to go through. Don't make the surname plural like "Clements" instead of "Clement" most of the time the search engine will find nothing, that is a mistake we all make. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
katyjay 5,085 Posted January 4, 2012 Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 Tracing your ancestors is fascinating, and surprising sometimes. My dad's family must have thought their Birch name through the generations was correct, but 3xg.grandfather changed his surname from Weet to Birch when he went to live with a woman of that surname, so we all should have been Weet. Unusual spelling and not many around in those days. On my mum's side, her maiden name was Whitlam, but her father had no Whitlam blood in him, seeing how is 'father' [on his BC] died 8 yrs before he was born! He should have been named Newton. Neither parent knew any of this before their deaths. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
poohbear 1,360 Posted January 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 I 'lost' my Grandfather in the late 1800s...he just disappeared from Nottingham.He was to set up a sweet business a few years later so I knew he was around somewhere.But where?....Quite by chance I found the name of a family he had boarded with in Nottingham aged 16, then they disappeared.After much searching I found their name again in St.Pancras...I wasn't sure if it was the same family or not until I saw their 'visitor'...It was amazing when I spotted his name...and his trade...'sugar boiler'...that convinced me I had the right person. He must have learned his trade there then returned to Nottingham.Where when and why is another mystery as yet. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mgread1200 141 Posted January 4, 2012 Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 This is the sought of document you can find in the archives or library, at first I thought he must have saved someones life or been a war hero but this kind of honour could be awarded simply for finishing indentures or service to business. note the "Town" status of Nottingham Quote Link to post Share on other sites
poohbear 1,360 Posted January 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 Well I'm glad I don't live in those days...With Gin at 65p a gallon I'd have never afforded a drink. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,435 Posted January 5, 2012 Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 That name rang a bell, and here is Mr Lewis Heymann Apparently came from Germany in the 1830s; became very successful in the Lace Industry in Nottingham; lived at Bridgford Hall (which still exists); was a local councillor, and was Mayor for one year. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
littlebro 234 Posted January 5, 2012 Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 And William Enfield lived in Enfield House, Low Pavement - and that also is still there Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mgread1200 141 Posted January 5, 2012 Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 My family came to Nottingham from Steyning in Sussex in the early 1800s, I do have a letter written from father in Steyning to son in Nottingham dated 1833 and in it he mentions cases of "the cholera" in Nottingham. Think it was safer to drink gin than water back then. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
poohbear 1,360 Posted January 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 One of the most highly populated and filthy towns in Britain until building was allowed in the suburbs. http://books.google....nepage&q&f=true Page 369. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Paulus 541 Posted January 5, 2012 Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 So, surprise surprise, Aspley, Broxtowe & Beechdale was an improvement........................no offence!! !rotfl! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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