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When searching parish records, e.g marriages, why does information appear to have been omitted i.e. age of person, father's name, married in presence of etc?
Hi Mike,
It depends on the time period you are interested in.
Going from memory I believe it was about 1812 where ages,fathers names and occupations where added.
Who and what are you interested in so we can answer more fully.
Elaine in Ottawa.
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Hi Elaine, I'm researching my own family which is BRUCK. I have identified quite a few family connections around Sheffield & Rotherham in the UK which are eighteenth century, which is prior to the period you outline. Because my family had a habit, not unusual in those times, whereby sons were given their fathers names, I am having difficulty in reconciling one branch of the family with another, which is further complicated because in some cases they appear to have lived in the same or nearby parishes. Any words of wisdom which may assist me would be gratefully received, maybe it needs a visit to the Archive in Sheffield?
Regards, Mike.
Hi Mike,
Lots of Brucks in our database but you need to be more spacific. i.e dates etc.
If you have the last person that you know for certain when he or she was baptised that would help. Sheffield and area had very very few churches in the 1600-1700s so I am sure we can come up with suggestions. What is now Sheffield Cathedral was the Parish Church and most if not all events would have taken place there.
Apart from what we have transcribed, and we have transcribed what was readable
S&DFHS have also transcribed many events. You can purchases their work through `Genfair`. Have you also checked Family Search (Old IGI) for information.
Of course FindMyPast & Ancestry will have information.
Dont be afraid to ask if you find its a hard slog.
Regards.
Elaine in Ottawa.
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Hi Elaine, Thanks for your response & suggested guidance.
The majority of records I have acquired have been sourced thro Ancestry, along with others from other search engines & local societies.
With regard to births, these records show the name of the subject, place & date of birth, along with the father's name & often the occupation of the father. The dilemma I have is where the same father's name appears on multiple subjects, within an acceptable time frame & place of birth, a I can be reasonably confident that these subjects are brothers & sisters or indeed who are the father's siblings.
The last record I am confident of, is my fourth great grandmother Lydia Bruck born 11th Feb 1781 in Ecclesfield, Yorkshire, England. Her father, my fifth great grandfather, name of Joseph was born in 1740 of unknown whereabouts & was a mason.
I have for some considerable time have had quite a few records of births, marriages & deaths & would love to be able to assemble all the pieces if that were possible. Because of the difficulty of achieving this, I wondered if the missing pieces were not actually available, & for example they had been destroyed during the bombing of Sheffield during World War 2?
I don't mind making a visit to the Archives in Sheffield, but wondered if I may be wasting my time, inasmuch that they may only be in possession of the same records that I have been able to access on line.
Once again thanks for your interest in my crusade & hope to hear of any suggestions you may have.
Regards, Mike
Hi Mike,
I will have a look and see if I can spot anything extra to what you have.
I am sure "our slueths" will also have a look for you also.
Sheffield Archives is the depository for all Ecclesiastical Records for the Sheffield area.
Elaine in Ottawa.
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Hi,
Just a few observations that "Might" help.
I found Lydia Bruck baptism 11th Feb 1781 at Ecclesfield. Their abode at that time was Whitley which is just North of Ecclesfield.
I am using the CD from S&DFHS.
Lydia and her five siblings are in the section 1752-1823.
I then switched to 1599-1751 to look for a Joseph.
Only one Bruck a Thomas father Joseph 1742 abode Shiregreen.
What I did notice there were a large number of Brook(s) in the area.
I wonder??????
1736 BROOK Jos: Joshua Greno:
and Joshua also has a Lydia
Sep 1739 BROOK Lydia Joshua Grenoside
Just a suggestion.
Elaine in Ottawa.
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Hi Elaine, I do have the relevant CD's from SDFHS.
I have strong evidence that Lydia had her son Joshua, who was born in Ecclesfield Workhouse, out of wedlock & the birth is recorded as Brook & not Bruck. However, in later life, Joshua recorded himself as Bruck for his marriage in Tankersley & also his death.
Are you in a position to advise me as to if the records of BMD's held in Sheffield Archives for 18th century are more informative than those created by the transcribers at SDFHS?
I ask this with all due respect, as I am concerned that I think it is not good practice to assume that someone with the surname of Brook is actually Bruck, as Brook/Brooke are surnames in their own right. The Brucks who anglised their surname to Brook in 19th century, I am aware of.
Once again thanks for your assistance.
Regards, Mike
Morning Mike,
I can understand you wanting to be absolutely sure of the name connections.
They seem to place Bruck/Brook/Brooke together in their (S&DFHS) transcriptions.
Angela Treweek I am sure will be able to help you with how they at S&DFHS transcribed these Ecclesfield records. I am sure they will have transcribed from the original registers.
editor@sheffieldfhs.org.uk
I didn't use the Brook name only when looking further back. I looked for Lydia the earlier one with Joshua as her father. I could see Joseph calling one of his children after a sister. But...... time will tell.
Elaine in Ottawa.
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Mike,
you should not place modern values on 18 th century name spellings. The majority of people were illiterate so the spelling of the name at baptism, marriage and death would almost inevitably be decided by the vicar or his clerk. He would simply be putting his choice of spelling for what he heard was the name. And he would not check back at marriage to see what was written at the baptism by what may have been his predecessor. It is highly unlikely that Joshua registered his name spelling at his marriage, and he certainly did not spell it at his burial. In just the same way his mother would not have spelled his name at birth. It is not just possible, but is actually highly likely that one person would be recorded with different spellings on their birth, marriage and death records.
This sort of problem only diminished as education slowly improved through the nineteenth century and people were able to spell their names.
In my own family tree I have a highly amusing name spelling created by an illiterate great great grandfather in the mid 19th century The vicar obviously heard his broad accent ( from a distant county) and wrote down what he heard.
Dave
Hi Elaine and all
We (S&DFHS) transcribed fully the information in the baptism registers. Also the images for the baptism registers are now on FMP.
One of the most common errors when researching family history is to stick rigidly to one spelling of a surname. Errors occur whenever names are recorded and surnames naturally evolve and change over the years.
The less common surnames you can generally find with several different spellings. The problem is that as you go back, you'll find many of those variations on official documents too. Sometimes they're accidental, sometimes your ancestor might have wanted to change the spelling for some reason. As you delve through records it becomes imperative to keep an open mind when you're looking, and to use your imagination when it comes to spelling.
It's difficult enough tracking someone who's changed a surname.
It's worse when you have to deal with accidental changes on official documents.
Often it's because clerks or clergymen, entering the names, have misheard and mis-spelt, either through plain error or imagination. Since there's a fair chance your ancestors - especially from the early 19th century backwards - were illiterate, they'd have no way of knowing it was wrong and asking for a correction. They may even have allowed the writer to decide on the spelling himself.
Only when the function of keeping vital records passed from the church to the state in the 19c did the spelling of surnames generally assume a standard form
Angela