Those of you who are not able to afford subscriptions to multiple genealogy sites may have been jealous of those who have access to the very useful 1911 census data at FindMyPast.

However, Ancestry recently announced that they will be rolling out 1911 data this year. Until such time as actual schedules are available, they have started providing images of the Census Enumerator Summary Books (see here). These give house-by-house summaries of the parish, along with head-of-household’s name and the number of male & female residents. This is a nice way to locate your ancestors’ abode, and maybe even determine that their property still exists. Of course, if the address no longer exists, it helps determine where it was in the village or town of today…

Happy hunting!

Baldock/Fagg/Small Family History - ... or "An insight into personal family history research"

I cannot believe how the last 12 months has flown. It’s taken a year but I’ve finally updated the tree on my blog (find it here).
The update is substantial (approximately 45% more people and 71% more families!) and corrects some previous errors.
This update will be rolled out to Genes Reunited, Ancestral Atlas and Ancestry in due course.

Baldock/Fagg/Small Family History - ... or "An insight into personal family history research"

Ancestry has recently released the England & Wales National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations) for the period 1861 to 1941.

This has already proved (pardon the pun!) its worth – a search for the surname HAGESTADT reveals a lot of information!

The Calendars often give siblings and/or spouses as executors, and can also give dates and places of death as well as occupations of both parties, all to help populate your tree details.

Give it a look!

Baldock/Fagg/Small Family History - ... or "An insight into personal family history research"

Those of you who follow my blog may recall a previous posting where I had located two additional children of my great-great-grandparents. One was Ino Kate HOLLANDS. The 1911 census hinted that these may have died young, since it indicated only 7 of 9 children had survived till census.

However, researching this weekend , I discovered that Ino had two marriages, also had another middle name (Fanny), and seems to have died in 1942 aged 60. This has been determined via FreeBMD and Ancestry.co.uk. The resource tree I located on Ancestry revealed two other names I did not have  - Ada Ruth (died aged 1) and Edith Agnes (died aged 2).

I now strangely have ten children to this family. Curiously there is a Frank and an Uno appearing in the 1891 census, one aged 7 and one aged 5, both listed as sons. FreeBMD reveals birth of an Uno Frank (mistranscribed as Una Frank) in Q1 1884. So where did the other Frank appear from? And did the family incorrectly note their total children on the 1911 census?

The information from Ancestry on Ada Ruth and Edith Agnes would suggest that these were the two children which did not survive till 1911.

I think I need to rigorously check BMD records for this elusive other Frank ….

Baldock/Fagg/Small Family History - ... or "An insight into personal family history research"

Well, I attended the WDYTYALive family history show in London on Friday 26th February. A busy and tiring day, but I managed to visit most of the stalls I had prepared questions for, and received welcome advice, before my first day’s seminar at 12:30am. The remainder I visited dodging between the seminar schedules.

Tony Robinson signing autographs

The actor and historian, and UK face of Ancestry.co.uk, Tony Robinson, presented The Journey of a Record at the Ancestry Academy, and visitors through the day could hear beginner, intermediate and advanced talks, with the main advanced presentation being given by genealogy and history expert Dr. Nick Barratt (personally, I felt a little too much cross-over between content of the latter two that I visited).

Gill Blanchard’s talk on Norfolk ancestors was welcome, since I may have to trace there (as confirmed by a visit to the Norfolk FHS stall).

The talk on the 1910 Valuation Survey (‘Lloyd George’s Domesday’) given by Peter Park was ‘different’ but useful, amongst other things highlighting how the occupier of property is not necessarily the owner, and that occupation could change a lot within a short few years.

All-in-all, another worthwhile visit, and the extra CDs I bought from KFHS have already this weekend yielded tree expansion and clarification around Birchington, Chartham and Challock!

Ancestry Intermediate

Baldock/Fagg/Small Family History - ... or "An insight into personal family history research"

I have finally got around to updating my tree on Ancestry.co.uk ! It took a while to merge in (it has been a while since it worked in Family Tree Maker), but I got there eventually, hopefully without mistakes.

I can now make use of the ‘hint’ feature for my new data – something I find to be one of the best things about FTM. It’s a lot quicker than manually searching on their website!

Still, I will be attending some Ancestry seminars at the Who Do You Think You Are Live! exhibition in London at the end of February, so I hope to be better armed with the skills to make the most of their website.

Exhibition review at a later date ….

Baldock/Fagg/Small Family History - ... or "An insight into personal family history research"

I was surprised the day I looked up my mother’s great-grandparents on the 1911 census. The data indicated that there were an additional three children who had not survived to 1911. But who were they, when were they born and when did they die? I was not looking forward to trawling through BMD records to locate them!

Well, the first question has been partly answered – two of the three children were a daughter called Ino Kate HOLLANDS, and a son called Uno Frank HOLLANDS. What unusual names!

How did I find them? Via the 1891 census on FindMyPast ! However, the data showed why I may not have found the household previously via Ancestry – the family was listed as HOLLARD! Thanks to FindMyPast’s improved correction submission system, I have now had this corrected.

Now to find child three and when they all died …

Baldock/Fagg/Small Family History - ... or "An insight into personal family history research"

After trying so desperately to locate the family of my dad’s uncle Walter BALDOCK, I may have hit on something …

I had been searching Kent records (particularly Thanet, where they had lived) for marriage records, with no luck. I knew his wife was known as Jessie, but this could have come from anywhere. Nevertheless, I finally gained the patience to search systematically through Ancestry and FindMyPast.

And there I found it! Uncle Wally and Aunt Jessie were married in Norfolk  - Erpingham district, to be precise! Walter A BALDOCK married Jessie I ABRAM !

Now armed with a maiden name, I also found six daughters; we already knew the names of some, but this confirmed things, along with birth quarter-dates, a marriage and two grandsons. Of course, all this has yet to be verified.

I now hope to get the marriage certificate, and plan to further investigate the children to seek out possible marriages, further grandchildren, and maybe locate a family member living somewhere.

The Norfolk marriage is spooky, given my belief that the BALDOCK family may have some ancestry there. Maybe Jessie was from Norfolk? Or perhaps she was a Cromer seaside holiday romance?  The certificate will help …

Baldock/Fagg/Small Family History - ... or "An insight into personal family history research"

Following the discovery of a BALDOCK pedigree back to c1600 on the International Genealogical Index (IGI), I believe I have now confirmed the authenticity of the data. This was achieved on my visit to Canterbury Cathedral Archives last Thursday to inspect copies of parish records and bishop transcripts. It has also filled in the names of some spouses.

This now takes the tree back eleven generations!!

In researching the data, it also brought to light a few surname variations – BOLDOCK, BOLDUCKE, BALDOCKE, BALDUCKE … Entering some of these in ancestry.co.uk has already raised some new avenues for investigation.

The next step will probably be to focus on these parishes to determine children & siblings.

A tree update with data additions determined from this visit will be announced soon …

Baldock/Fagg/Small Family History - ... or "An insight into personal family history research"

I visited St.Dunstan’s church at Canterbury today, seeking CASTLE ancestry of my mother. Although I was unable to locate the relevant graves, I am confident of their existence from my sources. I believe that they are marked by some of the many weathered headstones.

Following this search, I moved on to nearby Blean and the churchyard at St. Cosmos & St. Damian. This was merely investigatory, with the possibility of locating a HATTON grave. Although I was unsuccessful in this goal, I surprisingly found a BALDOCK grave, for a couple I do not have, buried in the late 20th century. I now hope to trace these back for any possible links.

Baldock/Fagg/Small Family History - ... or "An insight into personal family history research"