The Pros and Cons Of The New Online Northern Irish Records Search

In April, PRONI, the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland's launched an online search facility for Northern Irish BMDs.

There were hints beforehand that the site would be the same as Scotland's People but it has a different look and feel to it.  There are positives and negatives compared to Scotland's People but the important thing is that it now gives remote access to a whole array of Irish records to everyone who cannot visit Ireland.

What Records Are Available Online?

The facility is to search for Northern Ireland only and so covers the counties of Antrim, Armagh, Derry, Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone and includes -

• All statutory birth, marriage and death records from 1864
• Non-Catholic Marriage Indexes from 1845
• World War II death registration 
• Search and view townlands for Northern Ireland

The same rules apply as on Scotland's People's online records

• birth registration over 100 years old
• marriage registration over 75 years old
• death registration over 50 years

How Does It Work?

Access the site online at https://geni.nidirect.gov.uk/

You will see that it tells you that you can search without registering and for free.  This is slightly misleading.

You can indeed do a free search but to look at the results of that search, you need to register for the site. However, given that you are there to look for records, it should not matter that you have to register.

You will also need to buy credits to look at the search results.  However, the biggest plus is that you can buy a credit for 40p and as long as you have one credit registered, you don't need to buy any more to search. The searches themselves are free so it won't use up this one credit to search.

Search Results

You will receive a list of basic results of your search and then it is up to you what amount of further detail, you require.

• Basic Search Results - Sometimes it will be enough to look at the free search especially if you are only only wanting to confirm information. Certainly, we have found there is more information given than on a Scotland's People initial search. 
• Enhanced option - This gives you a few more details of the record (costs 1 credit)
• Full option - This will show a copy of the image along with a transcription (costs 5 credits)
• Order Certificate  - You can also order a copy of the certificate.  You cannot use credits to do this and it will cost £8 for the certificate.  If you do decide to go down this route and are looking for a pre 1922 certificate then it will also be available from the GRO in the Republic of Ireland.  It is always keeping an eye on prices as it might work out cheaper to order from there. At the time of writing, prices there ranged from 4€ - 20€.

In our opinion, most of the time, it will be better to pay for the Full option as this will give you all the details available in the same way that the images on Scotland's People do.  It's worth trying different options though to see what you think.  As it only costs 1 credit to look at an enhanced image, it might be worth a try when you start so you get a feel for the information.  Remember first to click on the links above for full information on what the options will give you.

Using The  "Variant" Option

One of the options when putting the name into the search box is to use "variants".  We have not found this useful however.  Having already got several certificates in the past prior to this online facility, we used these in our initial free searches to test how useful the variant spellings feature was.

We put in the spelling from the certificates into the search boxes and it did bring us the correct results. However we did run into a problem.  Using "Ramsay" as an example - Altering one letter from Ramsay to Ramsey brought us results with only the new spelling we had entered so we did not see the record we had searched for initially using the spelling "Ramsay".  If you have used Scotland's People then you will know how useful the various options for alternative spellings can be.  Perhaps we have been unlucky (on several occasions) but we would advise that it is always worth manually trying all spelling variations if you don't come up with any results for which you are looking.

Credits

The biggest advantage over Scotland's People is that you can buy 1 credit only rather than having to buy 30 credits at a time as you have to on Scotland's People.  Also the initial searches don't cost you anything. Clearly there is a need to give them your card details which some people don't like however it is part and parcel of accessing information these days.

If there was one thing here that could make it easier, if you have not read through all the information prior to starting and buying credits, you will be unaware of how many credits that you will need to look at the information.  If you don't have enough credits then it simply tells you that you need to buy more but it would be simple to have added the extra information to explain how many credits you need to do a search or the cost of buying an enhanced or full index. Once again, it's worth checking the pages on the different types of indexes (linked above) to see what the costs are.  Even if you know at the moment, it will doubtless change over time.

Warning!

On the site, in the drop down menu under "features" you can view your saved searches however, it only saves your searches for 72hrs! Then you need to search and pay for the enhanced or full index  again!  It is the same for any notes that you make (also in the drop down menu under "features"). 

Remember therefore to make a record of the information or print it off!

Opening Up Results

This will help to open up information about your ancestors from Northern Ireland.  

If you need any further help with searching or would like information on researching you Irish ancestors - wherever they lived in Ireland - then please get in touch for a no obligation chat at kintree@ymail.com.

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Ever come across conflicting evidence and wonder what to believe?

Sometimes you can come across conflicting evidence when researching family history.

In Scotland, birth, marriage and death certificates give detailed information not only of the person or people registered in the event but also give details of the parents.

Death certificates are a common source of conflicting evidence.  The person registering the death is likely to be upset and can give the wrong information accidentally.  They may not know some of the details or guess at them.  Dependent on the registrar taking the details, they may have been encouraged to provide an answer so that no gaps were left!

However, even in birth and marriage certificates, details can bee recorded incorrectly.

For birth certificates, it is often only one parent who attended to register the birth and they may not know the details of their partner's family or some forget their marriage date!  

With marriage certificates, there may be problems as one person may have filled in the details for both even though each person needs to sign the forms.  

For any documentation, it may simply be that your ancestors could not read or write and they were reliant on someone else recording the details with no way for them to correct any mistakes.

So how do we deal with these types of problems?

Where we can corroborate the evidence then there is much more likelihood that this will be the correct information.  Sometimes of course, when it has been recorded incorrectly once, then it may be repeated if the information is simply copied.  However, what is far more likely is that it will be recorded incorrectly once and correctly on other occasions.

There may only be two pieces of evidence however so how should you deal with this? If you are recording a birth for example and have conflicting dates with no way to choose between the two, then record anything that is certain.  

John Hunter

Using the example of the renowned physician and anatomist John Hunter who was born in 1728, we find that his birth was recorded in the parish records as being 14 July 1728.  However recorded evidence shows he celebrated and believed his birthday to be 13 February 1728. 

On a family tree therefore we can record the year of his birth and the place as neither of these facts are disputed and are corroborated.

Keep a record of the other information and put a note in your files about the disputed date as you do not know what other information may come to light in the future to help clarify this.

If you are writing a family history book then you can record the date but add in the information about the conflicting evidence on the day and month of birth.  This can be an interesting item to include and most of us enjoy the mystery and to think about what might have happened!

For more information on how we can help you sort through conflicting evidence, please get in touch for a no obligation chat.

kintree@ymail.com

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Did Your Ancestor Work As A Puddler?

Old occupations and their names can leave us scratching our heads or sometimes even raising a smile at the unusual names.  

We can learn much about our ancestors' lives from their occupations and they can provide a social history as people moved from agricultural based jobs to industrial and white collar work.

So how do we find out what our ancestors did for a living and what other information can we find out from their occupation?

Usually we find out our ancestors' occupations from birth, marriage and death records along with census records.  There are many other sources of information too such as trade directories and even family papers that have been kept over the years.

Matching their occupation to where our ancestors lived means that we can research local workplaces to find out where they are likely to have worked. In some cases there is only one possible workplace but even if it's not possible initially to find only one potential workplace, with a list of probable employers, there is every possibility of finding lists of employees or trade directories which can highlight where your ancestor worked.

Another aspect of this research is to look at the conditions in which your ancestor worked.  Was it dangerous?  How many hours did they work?  What was the pay like?

Using a "puddler" as our example, we can see how expanding this basic information will build up a picture of someone's life.

A puddler was highly skilled and dangerous occupation which required physical strength, stamina and sustained concentration.

Puddlers were also known a iron puddlers and they were employed in iron works to turn brittle pig iron into malleable wrought iron during the late 18th century and the 19th century.  This meant that they had to be skilled practical chemists along with being strong and have great endurance and mental strength in extreme conditions.

They worked long hours and were unlikely to reach the age of 50 given the dangerous conditions in which they worked.  It could be a relatively well paid job due to its skill and danger however not everyone was paid well as some employers took advantage of their employees.

Iron Puddler

The process of changing the iron from pig iron to wrought iron involved adding chemicals to the iron at a very high temperature and with no monitoring devices, the puddlers had to gauge for themselves when the iron was ready for the next stage of the process.

Puddlers had to stir a ball of some five hundredweight of molten iron to expose it to the flame and often had to carry the molten balls around.

There was no safety equipment in those days and the puddlers worked in extreme heat. The trade paper "Iron" noted in 1882 that in warm weather it was no uncommon thing to see a puddler drop down dead.

As one puddler called JJ Davies recalled:

 I am like some frantic baker in the inferno kneading a batch of iron bread for the devil's breakfast.

If you are interested in finding out about your ancestors' occupations, then please get in touch for a no obligation chat to find how we can help.

Contact us at:

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++++Ten Tops Tips +++Ten Tops Tips+++Ten Tops Tips +++Ten Tops Tips+++Ten Tops Tips +++Ten Tops Tips+++Ten Tops Tips +

Ten Tops Tips For Family History Research

1. Family Information 

Most families have access to some birth, marriage and death certificates so it is always a good place to start by asking relatives what information they have.  Families can also be a wealth of information on where people lived, their jobs and interests. These can all be keys to filling in your family's story. This is something that Kin Tree professional researchers will always encourage people to do.

2. What Do You Want To Find Out

Think about what you want to find out. Are you interested in birth, marriage or deaths, surname origins, places, occupations... Plan out how you will do this. You may find out that your interests widen as you find out information.  That's great but remember to add these new interests into your plans.  Kin Tree often find that people come to us for their family tree details but then ask us to research why a family might move or to give them more information on an occupation, a work place or the living conditions of the family.

3. One Branch At A Time

Image courtesy of franky242/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Its not so good to try to do different parts of the family all at once.  It can be hard to not get confused with names, dates and places otherwise.  Whether doing research for one tree or like Kin Tree for a variety of families, its important to have files for each family and their branches.  Keep a note of where you get information.  It makes it much easier to go back and check if you need further information or to clarify anything. 

4. Keep Records Of Searches

Image courtesy of Keattikorn/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Keep a note of what you are doing. Recently, for example, one of Kin Tree's researchers was at a Scotland's People Centre and came across a birth where the mother's maiden name was not the one expected.  Although our researcher was fairly sure it was a mistake, she took the time to check out these new details for this mother - birth certificate, census records and a marriage - to check if this was a different person.  No details of anyone with the unexpected maiden name were found but our researcher noted down the research carried out.  This prevents duplication.  It is easy to forget what might have been done when you look back some time later.

5. Family Stories

Family stories can be a great source of clues to the past but sometimes they are not accurate. Our researchers were asked to find the death certificate of someone who was originally from Scotland but who had died in the USA.  He was supposed to have died helping to build one of New York's iconic buildings. The family had hit a brick wall and called us in to help.  We checked USA records on the person but could find nothing for a death.  We decided to check the Scottish records and found his death in Scotland some 10 years after the building was finished.  

6. Archives

Many archives hold great information unavailable elsewhere.  Often though these are not online.  Archives will be indexed in different ways so if you don't find the information you are looking for, try to think of a different way of looking and you may be surprised at the results! Kin Tree have experience of accessing a wide range of archives so please get in touch if you need some help.

7. Write Down Your Thoughts

Have a notebook to jot down your thoughts as you go along.  This is great for when something pops into your head at a time when you are busy but you might forget later. It's especially useful when you are searching records and it makes you think of a follow up which might also be relevant to another branch of the family tree.  

8. Be Sensitive

Sometimes you will find out unexpected information which you may find fascinating however others may feel sensitive about what you have found.  Kin Tree would suggest that you talk to people about the information before putting it all down in a book.  Kin Tree would always pass on this information but never put it down in black and white without permission.

9. Looking To The Future

If you are attending a family event, record who was there along with the date and place.  Was there anything out of the ordinary - perhaps a wedding in a location with a significance to the couple etc? What might be known to you will not be known to future generations when your family history book is passed on.

10. Expert Help

Professional genealogists such as those at Kin Tree have a wealth of knowledge which can be very useful. Do you need help when you hit a brick wall or can't access an archive yourself? Would trawling through records cost too much? Kin Tree can help save you time and money as our expertise means we know what is possible and practical and are used to costing out research. We have studied not only genealogy but also history so we can provide a rounded service to give you an extensive picture of your family's story.

If you have any questions or enquiries, please contact us! 

You can contact us by email:  kintree@ymail.com

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Next Article:  First Cousin Once removed? Second Cousin? Find Out The Difference!