Genealogy Chat

Can anyone explain to me how IGI records work please.How do I know the person I am looking for is mine.I have a Joseph Brierley born Rochdale whos date of birth varies from 1803 to 1811.Found one for 1802 and 1803 but surname spelt Brearley.Does this happen.Also marraige and name spelt that way as well.His wifes first name was Alice and her maiden name is given as Hopwood.How do I know if this pair are mine? Can someone also explain what the batch numbers are at the bottom of the page and what info will be given on there.In other words I dont understand it at all!!!!..Thank you Wanda.x

Why does his date of birth vary so much? You usually get a difference of a couple of years but 8 years is quite a lot. As to whether these people are definately 'yours', well I don't know - sometimes I have the same problem myself. When you get that far back it is difficult to prove anything 100%. In those days, people were not as literate as they are now and registrars, vicars etc often recorded names as they sounded. If that particular person couldn't read or write, they wouldn't know that their name had been spelt wrongly and wouldn't be able to correct it - so yes - mis-spellings get more common the further back you go. Brierley and Brearley are quite likely to be the same. I have Limer and Lymer for instance. The batch numbers are just given to a 'batch' of records. So all the baptisms for one particular church for say 1813 -1835 could be gioven batch C10391. Then the ones from 1836 -1851 could be C10391 and so on. If you find a child that you know is yours, you can go back to the search page, enter the parents names and the batch number and you should get a list of all other children born to those parents. Just be careful if you get say, John and Mary Smith, there could be more than one child-bearing couple named John and Mary Smith in that parish at the same time! Obviously the more uncommon your surname in that area, the more likely they are to be the same people. Christening usually start C or P, marriages are M and maybe E. See the Hugh Wallis site for a fabulous explanation: http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb(.)com/~hughwallis/IGIBatchNumbers.htm

Wanda The IGI is really good but should only be used as a guide. If you have a LDS library near you it is better to look at the originals. (on mircofilm) Ive never lived near one so usually send off to whichever records office for a copy of originals. Sheila

1841 born Salford 1811 1851 ' ' 1809 1861 ' Rochdale 1809 1871 ' ' 1813 1881 ' ' 1803 Died 1883 aged 81..birth year abt 1802.. His wife and children confirm he is the right one in each census except for 1871 where he is a lodger and widowed which is correct.In 1881 he is with his grandsons so a lot of guesswork perhaps? Have his death cert in 1883 which states he is 81..I know his wife is illiterate as she has put her mark on births but dont know about Joseph.Maybe cos he lives in Salford it was easier to say he was born there.His wife Alice states Rochdale as birthplace in same census`s for herself...and Salford on the first 2..Her date of birth varies a great deal as well..Anyway thank you both for info and will go back into it and have a look.Wanda.x

Hi Part of the age variation could be that in 1841, the census enumerator was supposed to ROUND DOWN ages (of those over 15) to the nearest 5 years, so if they were 29 they were recorded as 25, if they were 31 they were recorded as 30. However, not everyone did this and you can see the proper ages in the pages, which is a great help. If everyone on the page is a multiple of 5 years, you will now they have been rounded. As for birthplaces, in 1841, the census only counted born in county or not born in this county (of census place), but recorded I for Ireland, S for Scotland. Sometimes the difference between an 'n' and a 'y' is not great. As for later changes, who knows - I have one man who claims New York as a birthplace in every census until 1901, when someone put Birmingham for him (where he lived in his childhood). Others alternated between Cheltenham and Birmingham for some reason. Diane

Wanda, Don't forget that the records on the Mormon site, including the IGI records are a mix of Extracted from the records, and Submitted by a church member. Extracted means that the information has been taken directly from the church or parish records. Submitted means just that .............. a member of the church ahs submitted the record. They ahve not been checked! This category often accounts for a lot of the differences between entries ................. and they are not to be trusted!! It is not unknown for members of the church to have made up information just to get something down! Sylvia

Also, re the batch numbers. When you get more proficient in using IGI .................... it is possible to click on the Batch Number and be taken to the page were there are connected batch numbers. Then you might be able to see other people who were baptised, married whatever during the same period. OR ask someone how to access the Hugh Wallis site to search IGI using batch numbers.

I find them a great help but always take note if they are parish records if they are member submitted I take them with a grain of salt if thats the only record there is. But can anyone tell me, I have a FHC close by and we visited to check it out but the elderly man 'on duty' didn't really know much so I was wondering, if we ordered the actual film would we get more info than what oyu can find on the site or would we be wasting our $$$$?

You cannot be certain that a parish record relates to your ancestor. For example,all these born in the same place. 1851 John Brearley Betty abt 1803 Rochdale, Lancashire, England Head Castleton Lancashire John Brearley Mary abt 1801 Rochdale, Lancashire, England Head Rochdale Lancashire John Brearley Jane abt 1809 Rochdale, Lancashire, England Head Spotland Lancashire John Brierley Ann abt 1804 Rochdale, Lancashire, England Head Runcorn Cheshire John Brierley James abt 1803 Rochdale, Lancashire, England Daughter Spotland Lancashire John Brierley Mary abt 1810 Rochdale, Lancashire, England Head Spotland Lancashire John Brierley abt 1805 Rochdale, Lancashire, England Father Spotland Lancashire John Brierley Mary abt 1808 Rochdale, Lancashire, England Head Wardleworth Lancashire John Brierley Alice abt 1811 Rochdale, Lancashire, England Head Wardleworth Lancashire

Hi Suzie in Sydney Yes the microfilms will give more informaiton than the IGI - after 1813, baptisms include fathers occupation and 'abode' and sometimes date of birth. Marriages include fathers name and occupation of both bride and groom, residence of parties, names of witnessses. Burials (not in the IGI) sometimes include 'child of ....' or 'wife of ...', age, or even cause of death (i found one 'shot by the son of John Smith' and another death ' Occasioned by a waggon') There's also Banns records and parish chest information, vestry minutes and other things as the parish was the local council and was in charge of all sorts of things, not totally related to religous matters Diane

Also, if it's possible your ancestors were Catholic it is very likely the relevant records won't be on the IGI. Apparently the Catholic church wouldn't let the LDS (Mormon) church use their records on the site. But, you may find they were baptised or married in an Anglican church as well as a Catholic one (Anglican made it 'official', I think).