My Top 10+ Free Genealogy Sites

 

In my post "My Top 10 Fee-Based Genealogy Sites" I limited myself to only 10 fee-based genealogy sites that I regularly depend upon in my research. However, in the case of the free genealogy sites, as I started making the list, it quickly got out of hand and I just couldn't keep the list at ten sites. So here is my top 10+ free genealogy sites that I regularly check. 

Remember, these are my top free genealogy sites and I've selected them based on the names, places and time periods that I'm researching. I am positive I'm missed at least one of your favourite sites.

There is one site I didn't put on the list since its focus isn't on genealogy. That site is Google. Often when I get stuck looking for information I will use Google to explore what is out there. Often I come across those genealogy and family history gems buried on page two or three of the returned results.

1. FamilySearch

With your free account you have access to millions indexed abstracts and images along with their one world tree where anyone can contribute or correct information FamilySearch is a key tool in my genealogy toolbox. Yet there is a whole bunch of images not indexed and once you get comfortable with using their catalogue what is available to you is phenomenal. Although some of the image collections may not be viewable from home once their Family History Centers reopen many more digitized records will be accessible.

2. Library and Archives Canada

If you are researching your ancestors that at any time settled in Canada then Library and Archives Canada (LAC) is a site to visit. You may be disappointed that a vast majority of their collections are not digitized but I've found that the real value from LAC is from their various subject matter pages such as Census and the Military Heritage pages. Those pages help point you to where you can find the information, whether at LAC in Ottawa or on partner sites. Also, much like with FamilySearch, once you become familiar with using the catalogue search system so much more can be found.

3. Internet Archive

I make use of the Internet Archive to locate those out of copyright books that are often referred to as sources in family history compilations or in online databases. But that's not all that there is on the site. Maybe you are looking for the Canada Gazette for 1898-1899, you can find it here and can even download it in PDF or even EPUB format for reading on your computer later. You just don't know what is available unless you look for it. The other reason I use the Internet Archive is the Wayback Machine. This is an archive of over 477 billion (and growing) web pages on the Internet. A number of times when a web site has disappeared from the Internet I've been able to find an older copy in the Wayback Machine's archive.

4. Canadiana Héritage

First of all, this is not exactly your usual friendly genealogy web site. If you think of it as a collection of digitized microfilms that may or may not be name indexed or even fully catalogued then you will have set your expectations appropriately. Yet this has become an important site for my Canadian research. Many of the "C", "H", and "T" microfilms from Library and Archives Canada may be found here. In these often frustrating COVID-19 times where we can't get to an archive to review a microfilm, having any digitized microfilms can be wonderful. You will even find parish records from some churches in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Ontario, Quebec, and Manitoba.

5. Provincial Archives of New Brunswick

I wish all provinces were like New Brunswick when it comes to the free availability of indexed vital statistics records with images. It isn't just those birth, marriage, and death records that make the Provincial Archives of New Brunswick (PANB) site so invaluable in my research. You will find indexes to land petitions and grants, very early port returns from 1816-1838, marriage bonds between 1810-1932, Daniel F. Johnson's Newspaper Vital Statistics collection, and a lot of information contributed by Wallace Hale in the Fort Havoc pages concerning the Loyalists in New Brunswick. Those are just a few of the highlights on this site. If you have New Brunswick ancestors you really need to visit the PANB site.

6. BC Archives Genealogy Collection at the Royal BC Museum

It seems that in the various branches of my family tree sooner or later a group goes to British Columbia to live. Ancestry may have their British Columbia birth, marriage, or death indexed but the BC Archives Genealogy collection hosted by the Royal BC Museum has the births (1854-1903), marriages (1871-1944), deaths (1872-1999), colonial marriages (1859-1872) and baptisms (1836-1888) index is searchable with many of the records having images of the documents available for you to save to your computer.

7. WorldCat

WorldCat is one of those site that doesn't provide the records that we are so often looking for in our research. Instead it can help us find those sometimes hard to find books that have those transcriptions in libraries, archives, and museums. I remember one time looking for a book on the family of Simon Baxter and learned that the Canadian Museum of History had a copy in their reference library. I didn't even know that they had a reference library. A few days later I was able to review that book and learn more about that line on my family tree.

8. Commonwealth War Graves Commission

When researching one of those 1.7 million men and women of the Commonwealth forces who gave their lives in the First and Second World War then a visit to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission site is a requirement. There you will learn where the person is buried or memorialized, their service number (so important to later research), unit, and possibly other personal information. There may be additional documents such as what was to be recorded on the marker or panel.

9. Find A Grave

Find A Grave is one of those sites I either really love or hate depending on what I find and my mood. I love it when I comes across a memorial page that has the image of the marker that is readable or at least correctly transcribed. I hate it when there is no marker image but someone has created a memorial and they haven't stated where they got their facts. So I have learned to treat Find A Grave like a user contributed tree on Ancestry, don't trust but verity everything. That said, those memorials with images have helped me considerably in my own research. Even those without images have been handy as possible pointers to find the key records.

10. Public Libraries [Ottawa Public Library in my case]

Many of public libraries have genealogy databases available to anyone. These databases are often specific to the area and help point the way to find documents in the library. For example, if you have ancestors in the Belleville area of Ontario, Canada then checking out the Birth, Marriage and Death Indexes from the Belleville Intelligencer might be a really good idea. In these COVID-19 times many of the libraries, courtesy of Ancestry and ProQuest, have made available the library version of Ancestry to use from the safety and comfort of your home. Some libraries will even help you locate a copy of an obituary in the local newspaper as long as you provide the key details. As always, be polite when asking for help.

 

The next set didn't make my top 10 list of free resources but I couldn't leave them out. So here is the "+" list.

Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics

If you have ancestors from Nova Scotia and you are trying to find their birth, marriage, or death registration then you need to visit this site. It is free to search and view the various registrations. However, unlike PANB or the BC Archives Genealogy Collection, you need to pay to download the registrations. So be prepared to create your own abstracts unless you want to spend the money to have an electronic copy of the record.

Archives of Ontario

The Archives of Ontario don't have the birth, marriage, and death records on their site (go to FamilySearch or Ancestry instead) but where the Archives of Ontario shines for genealogists and family historians is in their research guides. Are you trying to find a divorce record in Ontario, then you need to read Research Guide 210. Looking for a birth registration and you don't know if has been released to the Archives of Ontario then Research Guides 202, 203, and 204 probably need to be read. Are you trying to figure out the districts and counties in Ontario over time? Then a visit to "A Guide to Boundaries, Names and Regional Governments" page is a good place to start. Did your immigrant ancestor come through the Toronto Emigrant Office between 1865 and 1883? Check out the Toronto Emigrant Office Assisted Immigration Registers.

WikiTree

I've been using and periodically contributing to WikiTree for about a year. This is a "one world" family tree much like what is found on FamilySearch. With a free account you can add people and update existing entries. What sets WikiTree apart from other trees is in their encouraging of making sure the information in a person's profile is sourced. This allows you to locate new sources of information in your own research.

IrishGenealogy.ie

The Irish Genealogy site should be one of your go to sites if you have ancestors that were in Ireland. They have the civil registrations for births (1864-1919), marriages (1845-1944), and deaths (1871-1969) in addition to church records of baptisms, marriages, and burials for a number of counties in Ireland.

The Ancestor Hunt

If you are looking for free archives of newspapers, yearbooks, or city directories for Canada and the United States then dropping my The Ancestor Hunt will make your search a lot easier.

The Ontario Name Index (TONI)

Courtesy of Ontario Ancestors (also known as Ontario Genealogical Society), TONI is one of those databases that can help you out in your Ontario research. As a name index it is important to realize that the database itself is just an index and will point you to where you can find the information. Most of the resources that TONI has indexed are documents held by the various branches but there are pointers to records from from other sites.

Bower-McBurney Genealogy

In addition to TONI, the Bower-McBurney Genealogy site has become an invaluable resource for my Ontario research. It isn't because I have any relatives related to that family but Wayne Bower has made available the images from the Wesleyan Methodist Baptismal Register and also the digitized microfilm index pages for the Ontario Birth Registers for 1914-1917.

Trove

Trove is just that, a treasure trove for those researching their relatives in Australia. There are digital copies of newspapers, government gazettes, maps, magazines, and newsletters. The newspapers and gazettes, especially the family notices in the various papers, are often where we as genealogy researchers head to first but don't forget to search the other collections for other nuggets.

Papers Past

Much like Trove for Australia, Papers Past is the source for New Zealand newspapers, magazines and journals, letters and diaries, and parliamentary papers. I don't have many distant relatives in New Zealand but for the branch that did settle there the newspapers have helped answer questions about their lives.

FreeBMD

FreeBMD is a searchable database of the birth, marriage, and death civil registration indexes for England and Wales. Even though fee-based sites may have this index, often from FreeBMD itself, this is the free version. Where I often find it of value is being able to see the original image of the index page and also to learn what places are within a registration district. Combined with the General Register Office (GRO) site for ordering the registrations I've been able to discover "missing" children that were born and died between census enumerations.

CanadaGenWeb's Cemetery Project

Much like Find A Grave, the CanadaGenWeb's Cemetery Project is a free and searchable listing of cemeteries. However, it is focused only on Canadian cemeteries. If I can't find the image of a marker that is in a Canadian cemetery in Find A Grave I always head to this site to see if a volunteer has photographed and placed the picture of the marker here.

JewishGen

One of my connected American branches has Jewish roots and the JewishGen site has been useful in providing clues about the family. The JewishGen Online Worldwide Burial Registry even has images of some of the markers along with providing location details about the cemetery.

National Library of Scotland

Along with ScotlandsPeople, the National Library of Scotland is one of those must use sites if you have Scottish ancestors. There are two items that I often use are the Maps and the Scottish Post Office Directories. However, there is much more to be found on this site.

 

There are many other free sites that I use in my research so this is really just my highlights list. I'm certain that I've not mentioned one of your favourite free genealogy sites. If so, leave a note in the comments since I'm always looking for new resources to help break down my various brick walls.

"An Unexpected Hint Unveils...What?" Continued

In my post "An Unexpected Hint Unveils...What?" I looked at the curious circumstance of William John Gunnee and his second family in Australia while back in England it appeared that he had left his first family. So what happened to his first wife Maud Louisa Mansfield?

But first a quick recap concerning William and Maud.

On 8 May 1904 William John Gunnee married Maud Louisa Mansfield, the daughter of Harry Mansfield, a lighterman.

"London, England, Marriages and Banns, 1754-1921," database, Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 4 Jul 2012), William John Gunnee and Maud Louisa Mansfield, married 8 May 1904; citing London Metropolitan Archives, Saint Michael And All Angels, Bromley, Register of marriages, P88/MIC, Item 024.

On 6 Jan 1906, Maud gave birth to a son, Harold Sheil Gunnee, at 19 Lake Street, Ratcliff in London.

England and Wales, birth certificate for Harold Shiel Gunnee, born 6 Jan 1906; citing 1c/375/201, Mar quarter 1906, Stepney registration district, Shadwell and Ratchiff sub-district; General Register Office, Southport.

Sometime between early 1905 and early 1907 he departed England and arrived in Australia where he met and wed Ethel May Millen on 17 Feb 1907.

What about his wife Maud Louisa (nee Mansfield) and his son Harold Sheil Gunnee back in England? What happened to them? This is where it continues to stay interesting. At least from a genealogy and family history perspective.

After 1905 in the record searches I first came across her and her son living in the household of Henry George Pocock in the 1911 census of England that took place on 2 Apr 1911. In that enumeration a Blanche Maud Pocock was also included and it looked like she was the daughter of Henry George Pocock but the relationship column was a bit confusing with pencil and ink notations.

1911 census of England, London, 8 Woollett Street, Poplar, Household of Henry George Pocock; digital images, Ancestry,com Operations, Inc., Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 4 Jul 2012); citing RG 78 PN 60, RG 14 PN 1718, registration district (RD) 22, sub district (SD) 3, enumeration district (ED) 2, schedule number (SN) 66.

Possibly Blanche was the daughter of Henry's first wife since his marital status was "widower". So a few pounds and days later I had a PDF of her birth registration from the General Register Office of England and Wales.

England and Wales, birth certificate for Blanche Maude Pocock, born 22 Sep 1909; citing 1c/540/428, Dec quarter 1909, Poplar registration district; General Register Office, Southport.

Hmmm, it seems that Maud Louisa has taken the "Pocock" name as her own when she registered the 22 Sep 1909 birth of her daughter Blanche. That means I should be looking for a marriage of Maud Louisa Mansfield/Gunnee sometime between 1905 and 1909. I did find several possible marriages using the FreeBMD indexes but none to a Popock or variation of that name. I reversed the search to find any marriages for a Henry George Pocock in the same time frame. Still no good matches found. So I expanded the time frame to include up to 1912. Lo and behold a marriage for Henry G Pocock and Maud L Gunner appeared in the index for marriages registered in the fourth quarter of 1911.

Screen capture of Marriages Dec 1911 results for a search for Henry Pocock in the FreeBMD index.

I've seen "Gunner" as a transcription error before and the registration district, Poplar, is the same as their daughter Blanche. Even looking at the image of the index page it said "Gunner" but I took a gamble, paid even more pounds, and waited three weeks to get the marriage registration send to me by postal mail.

England and Wales, marriage certificate for Henry Pocock and Maud Louisa Gunnee, married 17 Oct 1911; citing 1c/1108/85, Dec quarter 1911, Poplar registration district; General Register Office, Southport.

This definitely appears to be "Gunnee" on the registration and her maiden surname is Mansfield. All the information I know about her matches what is on this document. The address for both Henry George Pocock and Maud Louisa Gunnee matches that recorded for their daughter Blanche's birth. From the document Henry and Maud were married 17 Oct 1911, several months after the 1911 census, and it took place at the Register Office (not included in the image posted) and not in a church. Maud again states that she was a widow and Henry is recorded as a bachelor (not a widower!). That 1911 census enumeration really is an interesting mishmash of confusing details.

They had at least one other child, Gladys Ellen Rose Pocock¹ born on 6 Jun 1913 in Barking, Essex, England. Henry, Maud, and Gladys could even be found in the 1939 Register of England and Wales in Barking, Essex. The red stroke through Maud's entry referred to a heavily redacted page providing the exact same information.

1939 Register, Essex, England, RG 101, piece 1057A, image 15, 82 Wedderburn Road, Barking, Essex, household of Henry G Pocock.

What about William John Gunnee and Maud Louisa Manfields' son Harold Shiel Gunnee? From the various records it appears that Harold kept the Gunnee name in his name but used the "Pocock" surname from his step-father. This can be seen in the Principal Probate Registry for the Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England.

Ancestry.com, "National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995," database on-line, Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com : accessed 13 Jul 2019), entry for Harold Shiel Gunnee Pocock, died 23 Jan 1978.

Based on the marriage index and also the 1939 Register of England and Wales it appears that Harold married Rosalind Ellen Tyler in 1929 and they had at least four children.

I think a few lessons can be taken from this little bit of exploration into this branch of my family:

• Census enumerations and other documents can't be taken as gospel, people don't necessarily tell the truth.
• Always try to corroborate the facts found in the records you find.
• If there have been corrections or edits to document then following up on the changes can sometimes highlight something "interesting".
• Always expand your search if you can't find the event in the expected time frame. You might be surprised at what you come across.

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1. England and Wales, birth certificate for Gladys Ellen Rose Pocock, born 6 Jun 1913; citing 4a/1168/267, Sep quarter 1913, Romford registration district; General Register Office, Southport.

Working Backwards to Move Forward

Much like many of you I too have a family tree hosted on Ancestry. I use that tree for cousin bait and also to let the computers at Ancestry do some of the easy research for me while I sleep. Many of those hints are for census records and after reviewing the documents I make an informed decision as to whether the person on the census page really does match who I am presently working on. With my world subscription (vital for my Canadian, USA, UK, Australian, and even some Irish research) I sometimes get some very strange possible matches to people in my tree. This is one of those cases.

In my tree I have a John McKinlay (my 1st cousin twice removed) born 4 Jul 1891 at 33 Maxwell Street in Pollokshaw, Scotland¹. He is the son of James McKinlay, a cloth bleacher foreman, and Mary Baird. I had found him in the 1901 census of Scotland living with his parents and siblings. The last record of him I could find was as the informant of his father's death in 1916. At that time John was residing at 6 College Street, Glasgow (same place his father's home). After that John disappeared.

In the waning days of 2014 a little hint appeared on John's page. This hint was for a record in the "World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942" collection.

Ancestry.com, "U.S. World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942," database on-line, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 9 Mar 2015), entry for John Baird McKinlay, serial number U601, Draft Board 8, Elizabeth, Union County, New Jersey; citing Selective Service Registration Cards, World War II: Fourth Registration. Records of the Selective Service System, Record Group Number 147, National Archives and Records Administration.

The birth date was right and that document recorded that he was born in Glasgow, Scotland. Also knowing that a mother's maiden surname may be used for a middle name I was tempted to added that record. Yet a name and a matching birth date didn't necessarily mean it was the same person. It did mention that a Mrs. Lily McKinlay living at the same address was a "person who will always know your address". Could she be his wife? However, I had to put those questions to the side and deal with other branches of my tree first. Instead of getting distracted by this BSO² I created a To Do item and carried on with my research task I had initially started working on.

Today, while avoiding other activities, I decided to look into this To Do item³.

Instead of linking that record to my existing John McKinlay I created a new person John Baird McKinlay and connected that record to him. I also added a spouse with the first name of Lily. It was a guess that she was his wife but I needed to start somewhere⁴.

Next I looked for John and Lily in the 1940 US Federal Census. From the registration card I knew that John and Lily lived at 867 Sheridan Avenue, Elizabeth, Union County, New Jersey, USA and there I found them. But I still don't really have any additional details on John. I do now know that Lily is his wife and she was born about 1892 in England.

1940 U.S. census, Union County, New Jersey, population schedule, Elizabeth, enumeration district (ED) 23-90, sheet 4B, household 120, John McKinlay household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 9 Mar 2015); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T627, roll 2400.

Can I find them in the 1930 Federal Census of the USA? I didn't really even need to search since an Ancestry hint popped up for that census. But I still needed to read and analyze to make sure it was the correct census for John and Lily ... and it seemed to be the right entry.

1930 U.S. census, Union County, New Jersey, population schedule, Elizabeh, enumeration district (ED) 66, sheet 23A, p. 35 [stamped], dwelling 387, family 574, John McKinlay household; digital images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 9 Mar 2015); citing National Archives and Records Administration microfilm T626, roll 1387; Original data: United States of America, Bureau of the Census. Fifteenth Census of the United States, 1930. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1930. T626, 2,667 rolls.

A few more facts appeared. The first is that they were both first married at the age of 27 years. This puts their marriage happening around 1919. As a starting point I'm assuming they were married to each other at that time and this is not a second marriage for both of them. The second is that they immigrated to the United States in 1920. So the odds are that they were married before they came to the USA.

With any luck they married in England (Lily's birth country) or Scotland (last place I found John). If England then I will need to order from the General Register Office for England and Wales for £9.25 and wait a few weeks to get a document. So off to FreeBMD to search for a John McKinlay marrying a Lily.

FreeBMD.org search for marriages for John McKinlay between 1st quarter 1917 and 4th quarter 1920

Only three matches and when I looked at each one none had a Lily or anything close as a possible spouse. So it was off to ScotlandsPeople to see if there was a marriage there for John McKinlay.

ScotlandsPeople.gov.uk search for statutory marriages for John McKinlay, wife's forename starting with "Li", with a year range between 1917 and 1920.

Since it only found two possible matches it was definitely worth spending the 1 credit necessary to see the search results (note that the image above was taken after I viewed the index that is why it is free to view the page).

ScotlandsPeople.gov.uk search results for statutory marriages for John McKinlay, wife's forename starting with "Li", with a year range between 1917 and 1920.

Usually I don't this lucky in my searches but there is John Baird McKinlay marrying a Lila Ada Dunbar in 1918. Since the Scottish statutory marriage registrations normally include the names of the parents of both parties it is definitely worth spending the 5 credits needed to view the marriage registration.

Lanarkshire, Scotland, Statutory Marriages 1855-2009, 1918 Marriages in the District of Garngadhill: 44, John Baird McKinlay-Lily Ada Dunbar, 1918; digital images, General Register Office for Scotland, ScotlandsPeople (http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/ : accessed 9 Mar 2015).

There is the John Baird McKinlay that I was hoping to find. Here he states that he is the son of the late James McKinlay, a bleacher, and the late Mary Baird. I actually have documents for James and Mary showing that they died before 24 Dec 1918 so that helps confirm this statement. Even the address for John matches (spelling to be ignored) the information on his father's death registration and John's last known address. This is a definitely a match to my John McKinlay.

I now even have the full name of Lily ... it is Lily Ada Dunbar, the daughter of Oliver Dunbar and Lily Ada Adkins.

So the James Baird McKinlay initially flagged as a hint in the "World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942" collection is the John McKinlay in my tree. Of course a new To Do item needs to be created: find their arrival in the New World.

Tip: Don't discount those hints that don't seem to fit at first. Form a hypotheses and work through the records. Sometimes you need to work backwards to find the answer.

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1. Renfrewshire, Scotland, "Statutory Births 1855-2009," 1891 Births in the Parish of Eastwood, p. 102, John McKinlay; digital image, General Register Office for Scotland, ScotlandsPeople (http://www.scotlandspeople.gov.uk/: 25 Aug 2011).

2. BSO: Bright Shiny Object - the bane of most genealogy researchers since one can easily distract you from what you are presently working on.

3. 530 open items with 239 just for ordering records from the General Register Office of England and Wales. That is over £2200 or about $4200 CDN! Maybe I'll get them when I win the lottery.

4. Always be willing to throw away a theory if it doesn't pan out. However, make sure you record in your Research Log what you found and why it didn't work out.

Where are you Laben Mazey?

One of the attendees to the seminar I co-presented at the recent 20th Annual BIFHSGO Family History Conference had run into a problem where she couldn't find a death registration. What made it seem strange to me was that the person's name was fairly unusual. In her e-mail she spelled his name as "Leban Mazey". The known facts are:

• He was born in Llantwitvairdre, Glamorganshire, Wales in 1841
• He was married to Margaret Jones in 1867
• The last known place he was in was in Llanwonno, Glammorganshire, Wales in the 1901 living with his daughter and her husband

My starting place was Ancestry (just because it is usually open) and when I searched for Leban Mazey born 1841 only a few entries popped to the top of the list. His birth registered in the Cardiff registration district along with the 1901 census. But an interesting thing jumped out at me ... in both cases his forename was spelled "Laban"

So off to my favourite free site for genealogy research and that is FamilySearch.

When searching FamilySearch, especially when you know the region to look, it is a good idea to limit the Location the country. In this case, I restricted the search to only return records for Wales. I also used the spelling of "Laban"

And a whole slew of records were returned including the link to an image on Findmypast for his marriage registration ... not the index but the registration document itself (Happy dance since it saves £9.25 because it doesn't need to be ordered!). But it seems he was married in 1865 and not 1867. But we can't get sidetracked but that discovery (stay focused!). What is also found appears to be his death registration in Pontypridd district in 1905. Since he was found there in the 1901 census it is a fairly good chance that it is his registration.

But the only way to be sure is to order the death registration from the General Register Office and pay the £9.25.

Don't forget about checking the newspapers. The National Library of Wales has been digitizing and indexing a number of newspapers at the free Welsh Newspapers Online site. Sometimes you get lucky in finding a notice of probate, the person selling an item, a family notice, or you find out the person is not a saint but more of a sinner.


Yet why didn't we find his death in the FreeBMD index on Ancestry? After a few more searches I did find him on Ancestry but his last name was transcribed as "Mazet". Looking at the image from the index book I can see how it may be seen that way. Fortunately FamilySearch used their own transcribers for this index.

FreeBMD, "England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index: 1837-1915," database, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 23 Sep 2014), entry for Laban Mazet, Mar quarter 1905, Pontypridd district; citing the General Register Office's England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes.

So today's tip is if you can't find the information within one site, check the other sites that hold the same collection. The transcriptions used for the indexes may be different.

A Research Methodology Case Study: When did John Wragg die?

Sorry about not posting for the past week but I was involved in the very successful 20th Annual BIFHSGO Family History Conference this past weekend where I was not only the host of the Research Room but also a co-presenter on Friday for a seminar on researching your English and Welsh ancestors. As you can imagine it was a busy week.

One of the challenges we all faced as a beginner was not knowing where to look for answers. Sometimes even what should be the easiest question to answer becomes a major brick wall for someone just starting out. The following question was asked at the Friday seminar and here are the steps I took to find the most likely answer:

Question

When did John Wragg die?

Known facts

• He was living in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England
• An elderly aunt said he died the day she was born which was August 25, 1901
• His wife's name is Annie Marsh
• The following children are known: Rosa (b. 1876), Lydia, Annie, Lucy, William, John, Dorothy Lydia (b. abt 1891)

Step 1 - Finding out John Wragg's birth year

Which the last child born about 1891 I decided to start looking for the family in the 1891 census of England. Since I have a world subscription to Ancestry that was the easiest place to look for the family, especially since their search system allows me to include all his children as part of the search. Below is the Advanced search screen I used for the query.

As you can see, I only entered in the very basic details and restricted it to collections from England online.

When I focused the search results to the 1891 census of England there were only two results that percolated to the top of the list. Of those two, the first one had five of the seven children that we knew about.

Unless additional information appears the proves otherwise I'd say that the first census is the one we are interested in.

1891 census of England, Yorkshire, Civil Parish of Sowerby, Sowerby Bridge, folio 101, page 2, Household of John William Wragg; digital images, Ancestry.com, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 23 Sep 2014); citing PRO RG 12/3600. 

Viewing the image of the census reveals some information we didn't know when we started.

• His full name appears to be John William Wragg
• He was 38 years old when the 1891 census was taken so he was born about about 1853
• He was born in Wadsley, Yorkshire
• He is recorded as being a labourer in 1891

Step 2 - Set the limits on when he died

Can we find him and the family in the 1901 census of England (according to the elderly aunt he should still be around)?

1901 census of England, London, Civil Parish of Camberwell, folio 143, page 4, Household of John Wragg; digital images, Ancestry.com, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com : accessed 23 Sep 2014); citing PRO RG 13/506. 

This looks to be the household but now they are residing in Camberwell, London and not all the children are there but that is understandable since the eldest children are of marrying age and have probably moved away. But it does seem that John Wragg is alive in 1901, but is he still living in 1911?

A search for him in the 1911 census of England returns no results that appear to match but searching for Annie Wragg, born about 1853, in Swindon, Wiltshire (from the 1901 census) returns her listed as a widow living with a son Jack, age 24 years, in Dunstable, Bedfordshire.

So it appears that John Wragg died between 31 March 1901 and 2 Apr 1911, the dates of the 1901 and 1911 census respectively.

Step 3 - Finding his death registration

Using FreeMBD (just because I like to highlight other resources, especially if they are free, but you can use Ancestry too for this) I entered the details I believed I knew were correct into their search form:

Surprisingly there were only two possible entries found. A John William Wragg that was 52 years of age that was recorded in the registration district of Luton and a 2 year old in the registration district of Rotherham. I'm fairly certain we can rule out the 2 year old.

So what does the registration district of Luton include? Clicking on the Luton link a screen pops up stating that "The district Luton spans the boundaries of the counties of Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire". He was in Bedfordshire in 1891 and his widow is back there for the 1911 census. This looks promising. Following the links on FreeBMD to find out more about the Luton registration district brings up a page on UKBMD that has Dunstable on the list of civil parishes for that district.

You could stop here and order his death registration from the General Register Office (never order it from Ancestry since they tack on a surcharge) to confirm that it is him. But there is one more place to check and that is the "England &Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966" collection on Ancestry.

Step 4 - Extra Credits

A search of the "England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966" collection results in finding the following entry:

Name: John William Wragg
Probate Date: 4 Oct 1904
Death Date: 20 Aug 1904
Death Place: Bedfordshire, England
Registry: London, England

Looking at the entry on the index page you see that he was of the "Crown" inn Houghton Regis near Dunstable. This actually matches additional information that was known about the family (but not divulged until I had found this record). Even better we now know that he died on 20 Aug 1904.

Ancestry.com, "National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966," database and images, Ancestry.com (http://www.ancestry.com/ : accessed 23 Sep 2014), John William Wragg, probated 4 Oct 1904; citing Principal Probate Registry. Calendar of the Grants of Probate and Letters of Administration made in the Probate Registries of the High Court of Justice in England. London, England.

Everything appears to fit with what had been provided. Except that the elderly aunt was wrong as to the day and the year of his death.

Just remember to always take with a grain of salt anything that has been told to you. There is usually a kernel of truth contained within but stories need to be verified.