Genealogy Chat

see below:

Having looked up most bmd's & got rather bored of that, I've just started on the mammoth (well I think so anyway!) task of putting ALL census data for direct rellies (& their families on those censi) on my FTM with occupation, address, & source references. I've got as far as Baker, Helen M & I'm starting to realise that it's going to take MONTHS (if not years). Is it really worth it?? Does anyone other than me really care anyway??? Sarah :-§ (cross-eyed from squinting at censi !)

I feel like that sometimes, then stop and think, this is a HOBBY, I enjoy it which is why I do it!!1 Isn't it?? And maybe children/grandchildren will learn to like it eventually. Ann Glos

Well, yes, Sarah, it is worth it, although its deadly tedious I agree. Because if you don't, the day will come when you look at something and think 'wehre did I get THAT from?' OC, who wishes she had carefully noted sources right from day one, as she went along!

I don't wish to upset you or anything..... BUT!!!! I have 800+ census sheets attached to my family history program with all the addresses, occupations etc etc typed up for each person for each census they appear on......never mind the more obscure branches where I didn't actually save the census image, but just added the info and recorded the RG, piece, folio, page and schedule number for each record. Even then, I am amazed how often I need to know something about someone and find the tiny snippet of info I need doesn't seem to be recorded anywhere!!!! Your problem is trying to do too much at once. Just do a tiny bit every day....one sheet of census, or 5 minutes of recording, or whatever.....and stop yourself from finding more....or at least never find more in a day than you have managed to record the same day......then you will know the pile is getting constantly smaller!! Merry

Thanks Ann & OC - I KNOW I have to do it but just needed telling again! & Merry - (gawd, I'm in awe of people like you who have it all sussed!) I think you're right - I'm trying to get it done too quickly (I'm the impatient type - ask my kids!) I'm just putting the census source refs on & not saving them all yet. Thanks to a thread on here the other day I'm going to save them under their reference number rather than the system I started which was more like 'BAKER 1871 Helen' which would mean probably saving the same census more than once. But I'll do that when I've finished this... ahemm, that will probably mean taking ancestry again next year... Sarah :-)

Tedious I know,but as said above vital down the line a bit when you come across a name and the brain say's I remember that name in connection with that name. At the time it seems obscure but can become a vital link when you discover it was Auntie or cousin. I have entered the details methodically by taking each individual and tracking that person through each census. Whilst they are still at home with parents I complete the detail for each person as I go by using copy and paste on the detail section. It then does not take long to fill in the numbers and source detail. Hope that helps.

Oh Merry, I've just re-read your reply & you mentioned RG, piece, folio number, page & ..........schedule number. What's the schedule number & why would I need to record it? I've been able to re-find censi sheets without it. **worry, worry - do I need to do all my Aldous & Baker stuff again adding the schedule number??** Sarah :-§ Perranmaid - Thanks, yes I think that's what I'm doing - putting the RG etc against each piece of info for each person. I do use copy & paste but I've got over 900 on my tree at the moment......

No, no, no!!! Remember......I began this before any census was transcribed anywhere!! If you wanted to re-find a person/family, the schedule number was the last bit of the equation to find them.....you don't NEED it as well as the folio/page.....really you don't even need the folio AND the page.....one folio = 2 pages, so hardly a lot to look through again!! The schedule number is that to the left of the address column. I tend to add this info through habit. Old habits die hard! Merry

Take heart Sarah, I have nearly 1300 and am still working through the censi. filling in the gaps.

Sarah, I'm the same as Merry, I have printed every census sheet. I have about four A4 binders full.......takes a heck of a lot of paper and I sometimes wonder if anyone, other than me, will ever look at it. When I first started, I just wanted to keep everything. Now I've found out I've got a whole branch wrong...I'm beginning to wish I'd never bothered....all that paper and ink !! It will be a full record when you are finished though. Jean.

Ooooooooooh Jean..... I have NEVER printed one!!!! Would have to buy up some Ink shares first!! lol Merry

Sorry Merry....I thought you meant you printed them.......it's only me that's daft then eh! (and always buying ink)LOL. Jean

lol snowdrops! last night that would have gone down quite well - but I'll stick to my tea for breakfast though!! Sarah :-) Thanks for removing my worry lines Merry! & thanks to everyone for their replies

OC Re your three comments Ditto Ditto And for your last comment, especially Ditto! Tina

I tend to print off the census, when I find them and then enter it onto the FTM in the evening, when I don't have internet access, doing it as you go along doesn't take too long. I do use a fair amount of ink though! Lynn :-)

I have seven ring binders, one for each census, these contain the returns for all my direct ancestors and their immediate families. All the information, together with the appropriate reference, is entered for each person on my family history programme. I also have a separate binder with people I thinks are mine but not confirmed, this enables me to browse through them at leisure, when I often find a previously missed clue. I also have hundreds of images for all the collateral members and their families, these are stored on my PC, DVD and backed up with all my other data on an external hard drive. With three thousand confirmed names on my tree, the thought of loosing my data, is unthinkable. Jennifer

Christine - I wasn't bored of the hobby - just of looking up likely bmds on ancestry & freebmd - really tedious - whereas looking for censi is really exciting (gawd, what a sad anorak I must be!) Anyway, I've got my courage back now (thanks everyone!) & have realised that it's possible, & even, that it's going to be quicker than I thought because, of course, if I enter the details for each person on each relevant census sheet then I won't have to find ALL census for each person as I go through them alphabetically (some of them will be there from a census I found for a different family member.... am I making sense? am I waffling? do stop me if I'm waffling, I tend to do it quite a lot these days, must be something about the anoraky hobby..... Sarah :-)