Genealogy Chat

I am finding my family on the IGI going back to the 1700' !!! How does the information get there?? And how accurate is it??

Karen - That's a good question, I'd like to know myself because one of my ancestors is on there (born 1758). Also, is it possible to get in touch with the person who put the information there? I look forward to the replies.

Its put on by people just like us but Im sure they will be Mormons because they baptise them into the faith.Thats why some churches have refused to allow them to copy their records.Also you do get several entries for the same person with variations in name ,date of birth so they need to be checked

They go to records offices around the country and copy there's

I think there is a place somewhere on the site which explains their sources. As I understand it, there are two main sources: 1] They have microfiche/film copies of the parish registers of a number of churches - not all gave permission, because the declared intention was to convert the people named therein retrospectively in order to rescue them all into Mormon Heaven. That is why you will find birth and marriage records, but not much on deaths. Online, these are transcriptions of reasonably reliable records, so have a reasonable foundation for reliance. 2] The other source is family tree research by members of the LDS (i.e. Mormon) Church. These are as good (or not) as the quality of the research behind them - about which you have no information. I would regard them as a reasonable starting point but absolutely not to be relied upon without getting my own evidence to back them up. If it's correct, then searching for info to back up the entry will be quicker than searching for a part-specified name at an approximate date, which is all you'd have without it. You may still have to search on that basis if you can't get the evidence you need, but you won't have lost anything other than a bit of time - so long as you haven't relied on it for anything else. All the records are labelled stating whence the info came. Christine PS - if you find a baptism record based on Church registers, you can use the batch number to find out the names & dates of other baptisms which are attributed to parents with the same names - an excellent way to track down siblings.

I just think the site is amazing ! I am wondering if I have someone out there who has already done my family tree for me !?!? My ancestors were poor farmers & probably illiterate, so that's why I wondered how there could be so many records of them.

I think they transcribed the parish registers but that some churches would not allow them to do so. That is why some parishes are missing. Some records are submitted by individuals. I have found information on very close relatives who are within my living memory and I was quite annoyed that the records had been submitted by someone without saying who they were. I did however find one other submitted record which gave the name and address of the submitter and I wrote to the person on spec. I had a charming letter back from what was obviously a very elderly gentleman in California and he sent me a copy of the whole relevant branch of his tree. As for the accuracy of the information, I reckon that the parish register transcriptions are pretty reliable (after all, they can be checked against the originals) but don't take too much notice of the submitted ones where I have found a lot of mistakes.

How can you tell if the records are parish records or from someones own tree??

From my experience, any name in ALL caps, it a parish record. Any that isn't, it someone's personal record. There is the odd exception (as with everything), but on the whole that works.

Tracy.........why is your name green???? Everyone else has a blue name, except for mine which is black !?!?

Some of the info is from people like us - you dont have to be a mormon to submit it! If you want to put your work on, click on the tab at the top of the home page on the LDS which says "Share". Also, if you look at the ancestral trees, if someone has given over a whole gedcom you should be able to follow a tree for your name. It tells you on the sheet you are looking at if it has been submitted or taken from parish records. If from parish records it will have batch numbers at the bottom. If its from a private person they also put the info on a cd which can be purchased. Often you can find the submitters name and address to contact. Obviously people like us make mistakes, so you do need to double check the parish records yourself. Though I have to say those I have checked have all been correct.

well I have learnt something this morning ! I didn't know any of that. thanks everyone

If you go and search the IGI that is held at say your local library you will see that there are numbers in the end 3 (I think) columns. This is the info needed to work out if it was inputted by someone from parish records or from someone's personal files.

If for example you have entered a name and come up with a number of people ,then click on any one of them and you will get "an individual record" scrolldown and there is the source.

Christine, thanks for the tip about the batch numbers. I didn't realise that :)

Yes, thats really handy - I used it a few weeks back and found 3 other kids for the same parents.

Argghh, Tracy you've gone blue again!! Why were you green in your first message? Anne

Quite awhile ago someone put this useful info on this message board and I have found it very helpful! Batch or film codes that start with C,K,J are baptismal Batch or film codes that start with M or E are marriage Batch or fim codes that start with P are printed or typed copy of manuscript All of the above are fairly reliable Those starting with A or F are submissions by members of LDS church and are generally less relaible. Hope this helps. Barbara