Research

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" rowspan="2" width=210 BGCOLOR="#99CC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0408dfc3.jpg"> <div> <B><IMG SRC="059b6920.jpg" border=0 width="182" height="146" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> Drax Hall, Barbados, the 17th century Jacobean home of a Drax sugar plantation owner. He was a descendant of the 1126 tree that I have. He was a royalist and apparently fled from England after the execution of King Charles I.</div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG SRC="050a0cf0.jpg" border=0 width="160" height="207" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <div> Shelldrakes in the medieval arms of Drax Priory, Yorkshire</div> </td> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=140 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0418dfe1esnpes.jpg"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><B>Drax, Dracas, Dracass & Drakes</B></FONT><B>     |     </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Drax, Dracas, Dracass Drakes"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <B>Research</B><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id60.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="British racial origins"><U>British racial origins</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id53.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="DNA"><U>DNA</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id59.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="My DNA"><U>My DNA</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id57.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="YDNA Project"><U>Y-DNA Project</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id68.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Basques"><U>Basques</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id27.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="When where"><U>When & where</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id58.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Old maps"><U>Old maps</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Births"><U>Births</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Marriages"><U>Marriages</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Deaths"><U>Deaths</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id37.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="In Loving Memory"><U>In Loving Memory</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id26.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Relationships"><U>Relationships</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Trees"><U>Trees</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id64.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Drax"><U>Drax</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id56.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Darfield"><U>Darfield</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id50.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ellerton, Charborough Olantigh"><U>Ellerton, Charborough & Olantigh</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id61.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Dracas(s)"><U>Dracas(s)</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id43.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Tealby"><U>Tealby</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id42.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Bayons Manor"><U>Bayons Manor</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id47.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Morton Grange"><U>Morton Grange</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id46.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Thurlby Hall"><U>Thurlby Hall</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id48.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ludford"><U>Ludford</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id40.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Stainton Hall"><U>Stainton Hall</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id45.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Gunthorpe Hall"><U>Gunthorpe Hall</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id18.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Photos"><U>Photos</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id39.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mum"><U>Mum</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Rick"><U>Rick</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id36.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Jeremy"><U>Jeremy</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id49.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ian"><U>Ian</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id54.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mark"><U>Mark</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id35.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Martyr"><U>Martyr</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id69.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Waterman"><U>Waterman</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sailors life"><U>Sailor's life</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id65.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Worth Matravers"><U>Worth Matravers</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id66.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Woolbridge"><U>Woolbridge</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id51.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="W. Yorks Yeomanry"><U>W. Yorks Yeomanry</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id62.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="A Gordon Highlander"><U>A Gordon Highlander</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id38.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Reunion"><U>Reunion</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id24.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Mailbag"><U>Mailbag</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Help needed"><U>Help needed</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id67.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Missing"><U>Missing</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id63.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Wooden Bowl"><U>The Wooden Bowl</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Contact me"><U>Contact me</U></A><B>   |   </B><A HREF="id52.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The future?"><U>The future?</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=340 colspan=2 BGCOLOR="#CCCC99" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="0418dfc3.jpg"> <div> <I>Research</I></div> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B>Where to start a family history </B></div> <div> <B>and some Family History Sources & products available, from various sources</B></div> <bR> <div> By far the most important and urgent place to start tracing a family history is with living relatives, some of whom whose mere existence is presently unknown to you. Papers and photos of family history interest are being thrown out, shredded, or burned every day, often as a result of a death. These are the irreplaceable items, as archives are safely deposited and you have the rest of you life to hunt them down. </div> <bR> <div> The other problem is that many families inherit small suitcases, or boxes, of old photos with no names on them. Granny might know who they are, but you'll need to ask her to write the names on the back of the important ones, or, even better, ask to help her do it so you can read the writing later. Try to borrow and scan as many old photos and old documents as possible, that way they can be stored on CD (with names & dates) and you can quickly return the originals to their loving owner. Later, you may be the only family member who has access to most of them, as elderly people have a habit of ‘tidying up’ their affairs, to save someone else doing it when they are gone.</div> <bR> <div> Somewhere in the world there will be an elderly relative, albeit a very distant cousin, uncle or aunt, who has important family papers and photographs, often they even have things about your branch that your immediate family has never seen. There may even be a sibling of one of your grandparents, or one of their issue who has a family bible. </div> <bR> <div> To give you an example, please see '<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="id32.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Sailors life"><U><B>Sailor's life</B></U></A></FONT>' page.</div> <bR> <div> <U>Coats of arms for sale</U>: Be very wary of instantly available 'family histories' and their associated 'coats of arms', especially when dealing with these surnames. There are many items being sold as 'Drakes' that are actually based on the surname 'Drake', whilst the real origin of 'Drakes' is 'Drax' & 'Dracas'. However, this being said, there are often some elements that may apply to the surname 'Drakes', and they often give some idea of the origin of the word as a name rather than a family lineage. I recommend that you take any suggestion that you are actually related to the family with the 'coat of arms' with a pinch of salt! In any case, most of the information is available free on the Internet or in your local main library.</div> <bR> <div> If you are having trouble finding an ancestor, the following may be of interest:</div> <bR> <div> It is worth remembering that in the early days of WWI and WWII many people with German or German-sounding names changed them by Deed Poll, and, between the wars, many Jewish people changed their names due to the anti-Semitic problems of the 1930s. This may account for difficulty in tracing some family names prior to this period, and searches of Deed Poll records may help. Similar changes have occurred throughout our history, sometimes 'just to fit in with English names' or because 'no-one else could pronounce the family name'. This has occurred with people from various countries such as French-Huguenot and Polish immigrants. Even some of the Normans took English names after 1066, often from place-names that were associated with the lands they held. There have been many immigrants to the UK over the past 300 years for various political or religious reasons and many of them will have anglicized their surnames on or shortly after arrival.</div> <bR> <div> Another cause of spelling changes is 'local dialect' and this causes particular problems prior to the mid-1700s when spellings were not formalised, but were phonetic (by sound) in Britain. This meant that it didn't matter how you spelt a name, or any word for that matter, it just mattered what sound the spelling made when spoken in the local accent.</div> <bR> <div> Prior to the modern state 'adoption' system, many babies were adopted by personal agreement between the mother, or her parents, and the new parents and as such will have no official record. Many a 'youngest child' in a large family was the illegitimate child of an older daughter.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Major Library & Archive Sources </B></div> <bR> <div> UK National General Registry Office (GRO) index of births, marriages and deaths, from September 1837 to the present date. Microfiche versions are available at main libraries covering 1837 to about 1992. The Family Records Centre in London (this is to close soon, but will be available on-line; see below) holds these indexes in book form covering 1837 up to about 12 months prior to the current date. Anything more recent will require you contacting the local Registry Office where the event took place. </div> <bR> <div> NB. These are indexes only, and are free to use, but you cannot view the details without buying a certificate, except in Edinburgh for Scottish records, where a set daily fee allows such access. However, recent death indexes show the date of birth, where available.</div> <bR> <div> International Genealogical Index (IGI) - this is the Mormon records of baptisms and marriages from about 1590 to about 1880s, but it is not complete. Copies on microfiche are available free at main libraries, but the Internet version is better and is also free (see below).</div> <bR> <div> The 1911 Census is now available on-line: <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.1911census.co.uk/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.1911census.co.uk/"><U><B>1911census.co.uk</B></U></A></FONT>; however, there are restrictions until the full data release in 2012, see: <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www2.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/17jan2007.pdf" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www2.nationalarchives.gov.uk/docu"><U><B>nationalarchives.gov.uk</B></U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <div> Access to the 1901 Census on the Internet. You can search the index free, but cannot view the Census page (i.e. original record of the entire household) without payment see below. It can usually be viewed at most main libraries, via the Internet, but it still costs to view the actual pages. (see below)</div> <bR> <div> Access to the searchable Mormon version of the 1881 Census, can be made purchasing the CD set (see below), or you can use it free at most main libraries .</div> <bR> <div> Copies of all 1841 to 1891 UK Census returns are held at the Family Records Centre in London, and County Record Offices usually hold copies of their respective county. The 1841 Census is the earliest of use for family history research; the earlier ones are a numerical count of the population and do not show names. You will need to remember that, during the 1841 Census, children under 15 years old were shown as their exact age, but other people's ages were rounded down to the nearest 5 years. Also, it is estimated that about 5-10% of people are completely missing from the 1861 Census, and that up to 5% are missing from most census returns because of error, evasion, sleeping rough, etc. Main libraries often hold microfilm copies of Census returns, but only for their borough; so, you may not need to travel to London or a County Record Office if your family was close to where you now live.</div> <bR> <div> You will need to be aware that ages, especially of women, vary dramatically between census returns, often being fairly accurate in youth and old age but way out in between. I have numerous instances of wives gaining only 4 years in every 10 that passed, and one who didn't age at all between two censuses! The children's ages in the household are usually accurate and stand as a good bench-mark. Where they came from (i.e. were brought up) is frequently shown as their place of birth and this is not always the same place. Also, you can find three or four different 'places of birth' for the same person between 1851 and 1901. The 1841 Census only shows whether they born in the county of residence or not.</div> <bR> <div> Whilst on the subject of Census returns, it should be noted that an 1865 Act of Parliament required the numbering of houses; so, you don’t always see numbered houses before then.</div> <bR> <div> In addition to these national census records, a few earlier Parish Censes records exist; they show lists of names of landholders. However, you would be very lucky to find records for the parish where your ancestors lived.</div> <bR> <div> Another useful point to be aware of is that, prior to 1926, boys could marry as young as 14 and girls as young as 12; fortunately, such early marriages are scarce, but they indicate the fact that some children have always matured quicker than others. During the medieval period, such marriages were more commonplace in landed families; children might be married off as young as 4 to join two royal or noble families, linking their lands and loyalties, but they seldom actually lived together until they were older.</div> <bR> <div> In 1534 Henry VIII, as the Head of the Church of England, created a rift with the Roman Catholic Church. Quakers and Jews were allowed to marry in their respective churches, and they still hold their own records today. However, Roman Catholics were greatly suppressed and were forced to attend the Church of England services, or pay a fine; as a result, they held their services in secret. The Roman Catholics held Baptisms and Marriages ceremonies in secret, but had to repeat them in the English Church in order to comply with inheritance laws; they were also compelled to be buried in the Parish Churchyard. From 1753, Lord Hardwicke Marriage Act made only Church of England marriages legal, except for Jews and Quakers, who were still exempt. In 1778 the laws were relaxed and by 1791 the Roman Catholics were allowed to hold their own services. In 1836, The Dissenter’s Marriage Act 1836 permitted Dissenters to marry in their own chapels and churches or by civil agreement; they had to inform the Registrar. </div> <bR> <div> The Table of Kindred and Affinities in the Book of Common Prayer forbade Anglican priests from performing marriages between a man and his dead wife’s sister; this originates with the Book of Job in the Bible. However, people tended to ignore the law; there were 1,000 such marriages recorded between 1835 & 1848 and such marriages continued until The Deceased Wife’s Sister’s Marriage Act, 1907. Other important Acts were: The Deceased Brother’s Widow’s Marriage Act 1921; The Age of Marriage Act 1929, which made marriage under 16 illegal; The Married Women’s Property Act, 1882, which allowed married women to own property in their own right. All these Acts have some bearing on research and may be the cause of problems that you encounter.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Trade Directories </B></div> <bR> <div> Local Trade Directories, which were the equivalent of a phonebook before telephones existed, can also be found in the relevant County Record Office and some main libraries. Copies of most Trade Directories, and an enormous amount of other nationwide data, are available at the Society of Genealogists, London; entry is for a fee, but is free to members. Theirs is an excellent facility and it is well worth joining this society, particularly if you live within reach of London and will used their records. Much of the data they hold is unique and includes such items as privately produced family histories and collections of family papers.</div> <bR> <div> You can search some directories free on-line at 'Historical Directories', a University of Leicester Project. This is an excellent website and there are currently 160 directories with 'Drakes'; 88 with 'Drax'; 1 'Draxe'; 12 'Draks'; 12 'Dracas'; 44 'Dracass'; 2 'Dracus'; 1 'Draias'; 3 'Drakas'; 1 'Draikes', and 1 'Drakehouse', and that doesn't include multiple entries of the names in each directory! <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.historicaldirectories.org/hd/index.asp" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.historicaldirectories.org/hd/"><U><B>historicaldirectories.org</B></U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <B>The London Gazette</B></div> <bR> <div> You can search and copy the text original pages from old editions of The London Gazette, free of charge, via: <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/"><U><B>london-gazette.co.uk</B></U></A><B> </B></FONT>However, you will need to <U>check the text</U> that you have copied <U>against the original picture</U>, as their text programme makes a few errors that may confuse you later.</div> <bR> <div> <B>Old Maps & Voters' Lists</B></div> <bR> <div> Recent local voters’ lists, and sometimes old ones, are available at most main libraries, as well as local Ordnance Survey maps back to the Victorian era, and older maps. (See '<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="id58.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Old maps"><U><B>Old maps</B></U></A></FONT>')</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>The Family Records Centre </B></div> <bR> <div> In 2008, notice was published stating that The Family Records Centre in north London was closing, and that Birth, Marriage & Death indexes will, eventually, be available free on-line; see their website re this:<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" > <A HREF="http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/frc0107.pdf" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/frc0"><U><B>statistics.gov.uk</B></U></A></FONT><B> </B></div> <bR> <div> & Federation of Family History Societies comment: <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.ffhs.org.uk/news/news070207.php" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.ffhs.org.uk/news/news070207.p"><U><B>ffhs.org.uk</B></U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <div> 1, Myddelton Street, London EC1R 1UW; tel: 020 8392 5300. Birth, marriage & death enquiries, tel: 0151 471 4800; website: <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.familyrecords.gov.uk/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.familyrecords.gov.uk/"><U><B>familyrecords.gov.uk</B></U></A></FONT> <U>This is a brilliant website</U>; it has most of the main data research sources on the 'Links' page. It is superb for both beginners and the experienced researcher, it is nice to see a government website offering this amount of help, especially since things change so quickly on the Internet.</div> <bR> <div> The nearest underground station is Farringdon followed by a reasonable walk (not good in the rain!); you turn right on leaving the station, right again at the main road and walk up the long slope past ‘The Guardian’ newspaper offices (on other side of the road), to the junction by ‘Mount Pleasant Post Office Sorting Office’ (on other side of the road); turn right there, then immediately fork right into a small road named ‘Exmouth Market’; the Family Records Centre is across the junction at the far end; it is a new red-brick building on the left. there are lockers, toilets and a ‘machine-type’ canteen downstairs, where you can buy food and drinks, or eat your own sandwiches. there is also a small shop, which sells genealogical publications, and family tree charts etc.</div> <bR> <div> Once you have a certificate reference, you can order a certificate in person at the Family Records Centre. If you don't want to travel up to London, the most convenient method (for about £1 extra, less the train fare & lunch!) is by phone: 0845 603 7788; they accept Visa, Mastercard, Solo, Delta or Switch. The cheapest remote method is on the Internet at £7 each certificate, including p&p, for the purchase of birth, marriage & death certificates. This service was orginally conducted by the General Register Office (GRO), latterly by the Office of National Statistics (ONS), and now by the Home Offce Identity & Passport Service: <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certificate/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content/certif"><U><B>gro.gov.uk</B></U></A></FONT>; however, if you do not have a reference it will cost you £10 to obtain a certifcate using this service. (NB. the Internet service is only available to UK residents, but may have changed by the time you read this)</div> <bR> <div> Don't forget that you can obtain the reference from the microfiche records at most major libraries; these cover the whole of England and Wales, but not Ireland and Scotland.</div> <bR> <div> The Family Records Centre has maps showing the various Registration Districts in England and Wales, to help you identify the coded numbers used in the references; most of these are easily identifiable by the Registration District name that is also in the reference, but some Districts are not city names, but are rather obscure political areas.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Wills</B></div> <bR> <div> Visit ‘First Avenue House’, 42, Holborn, London WC. </div> <bR> <div> <U>Conditions when I last went included</U>: No ‘I.D.’ was required, I walked in, had to empty my pockets, and was checked with a metal detector. </div> <bR> <div> However, it is always best to take good <U>proof of your identity</U> such as a passport or driving licence plus a recent utility bill with your address, when going to a facility like this for the first time, as security conditions change.</div> <bR> <div> Inside, there are rows of books with summaries of Wills between 1837 and 2000. It then cost me £5 to get a copy of a Will. It is a wonderful facility and staff are very helpful.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Internet Sources</B></div> <bR> <div> There are an incredible number of hyperlinks to very useful genealogical websites covering almost every possible line of genealogical enquiry at: <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.cyndislist.com/ " TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.cyndislist.com/ "><U><B>cyndislist.com</B></U></A></FONT> Obviously, since the 'Cyndislist' site is dedicated just to family history research links, it contains far more ideas for research than I could possible cope with on my website, and there is no point in tying to compete with a great website anyway. The sources I list on this website, though mostly useful for any surname research, are particularly targeted at Drax, Dracas(s) & Drakes research.</div> <bR> <div> Surname searches:</div> <bR> <div> Birth & Marriage Searches 1538-1880s via the Mormon’s website, known as the International Genealogical Index (IGI), also Ancestral Files: <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.familysearch.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.familysearch.org"><U><B>familysearch.org</B></U></A></FONT>; click 'search tab; go to ‘all resources’ search page, and enter only the names of the parents, you can search for all their children in one go; however, some children may have different spellings for parents’ names. You can also enter only a first name and region to search for someone whose surname spelling is uncertain. NB. They used the Bishop's Transcripts of Parish Registers to make the IGI, so spellings are often very different to the original parish registers and, being copied twice, are open to further errors.</div> <bR> <div> Though instructions to record baptisms, marriages and burials were first issued in 1538, most very early parish registers have not survived for a variety of reasons. Prior to that date the only records were kept by individual priests who took whatever records they had with them as they moved from place to place. I understand that, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, a considerable amount of documentary evidence was destroyed; I have often wondered if any useful UK genealogical records have survived in the Vatican, if so they will undoubtedly be in Latin.</div> <bR> <div> Commonwealth War Graves Commission website, for Names search to find all who died in both world wars. It is very interesting, but also very sad; it was the first thing I ever did on the Internet. <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.cwgc.org" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.cwgc.org"><U><B>cwgc.org</B></U></A></FONT> The youngest First World War grave that I have seen, was a 14-year-old English soldier near Arras; he had lied about his age and had borrowed his brother's birth certificate to enlist. There is also a new webpage at <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.channel4.com/lostgeneration" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.channel4.com/lostgeneration"><U><B>channel4.com/lostgeneration</B></U></A></FONT>, which has begun listing the village, town and company war memorials from the two World Wars; they need your help to work on this if you can copy all the text on your local War Memorial, give a full description and, if possible, photograph it.</div> <bR> <div> If your ancestor is believed to have been in India, there is a specialist site worth searching their index, which is free (Full UK membership is £15 per annum): <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.fibis.org/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.fibis.org/"><U><B>The Families In British India Society (FIBIS)</B></U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <div> Army Lists and Rolls Calls. If you suspect that an ancestor might have served in the Army in India, Canada, The Iberian Peninsula, or elsewhere abroad since the 1600s, the following might help; though you will need to pay to obtain full search results, you can undertake a brief search free and often get good information about their Regiment and rank via: <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.findmypast.com/genericSearch.action?genericSearchType=1" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.findmypast.com/genericSearch."><U><B>findmypast.com</B></U></A></FONT> Most results seem to be about Officers, NCOs and medals awards. You can either buy credits for specific results, or full membership if you will be making regular use of the wesite. </div> <bR> <div> Free birth, marriage and death references for the English/Welsh General Records Office are available on: <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.freebmd.org.uk/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.freebmd.org.uk/"><U><B>FreeBMD</B></U></A></FONT>. However, these have been put on there by members of the public on a voluntary basis, so are not complete and may contain errors. I recommend that you double-check any references from here, or any other secondary source, at your main local library before you ordering a certificate. It is a very useful site and will get even better with the progress of time.</div> <bR> <div> Genealogy.com offers a forum for asking questions about any surname, however the free search only shows ‘Drake’ & ‘Drax’, with the option for you to include any similar names in the ‘Drake’ forum. The problem is that there are so many ‘Drake’ enquiries that are marked as 'The Drakes’ that it is difficult to identify any actual ‘Drakes’ entries. However, persistence may offer results. The last time I visited ‘Drax’ it had only one entry on it, but it linked me to an excellent ‘Drax’ website that I hadn't found using the Google search engine.  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.genforum.genealogy.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.genforum.genealogy.com"><U><B>genforum.genealogy.com</B></U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <div> You can make surname searches via the best search engine for finding ‘family tree’ items, i.e. <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.google.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.google.com"><U><B>google.com</B></U></A></FONT>, which should give you most of the websites that contain the surname you are researching. You'll need to be imaginative and think of phonetic spellings, e.g. Drakes can be found written as Draykes, Drakehas, Dracas, Dracass, Drakehurst, Drax etc. Also, the ‘k’ might be read as ‘l’ making ‘Drales’ and the ‘s’ as ‘n’ or ‘r’, making ‘Dracan’ or ‘Draker’. You can use it to find others who are working on the same surname, the locations they lived in, local history groups or family history societies & etc. Obviously you need to be selective about which pages you open, especially if your surname has an alternative meaning! A friend of mine innocently tried to find some biographical data about the TV gardening presenter ‘Gay Search’; boy was he surprised! (Another lesson learnt)</div> <bR> <div> UK and Irish genealogy: <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.genuki.org.uk" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.genuki.org.uk"><U><B>genuki.org.uk</B></U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <div> Federation of Family History Societies: <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.ffhs.org.uk" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.ffhs.org.uk"><U><B>ffhs.org.uk</B></U></A></FONT> will help you find the Family History Society for the county you are researching. These Family History Society pages often contain useful links to family history sites that are relevant to their county. Their research website is: <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.familyhistoryonline.co.uk" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.familyhistoryonline.co.uk"><U><B>familyhistoryonline.co.uk</B></U></A>. </FONT>They trade as FFHS (Publications) Limited, Unit 15 and 16, Chesham Industrial Centre, Oram Street, Bury, Lancs., BL9 6EN; website: <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.GENfair.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.GENfair.com"><U><B>GENfair.com</B></U></A></FONT>. They produce a very useful 4-CD set named,<B> </B><I>The National Burial Index (2nd Edition)</I>, which cost £45 in 2005; it covers over 13 million burials in England and Wales between 1538 and 2003, but not all.</div> <bR> <div> A free Parish Registers website is currently available for searches and its database growing in size as volunteers provide new data. If you have time to volunteer your help, please contact them; if not, then you can still search the database free of charge. <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://freereg.rootsweb.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://freereg.rootsweb.com/"><U><B>Freereg.rootsweb.com</B></U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <div> 1901 UK Census site, which gives free name searches. However, they charge a minimum of £5 if you want to see the address and whole household; it is only 50p per view, so you get up to 10 pages for this. You can buy £5 vouchers from various sources such as libraries; they are valid for six months. You can also buy on-line using a credit card; the drawback is that credit card purchases only last for a 48-hour period, so you need to get as much info as you can and prepare a list first.<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" > <A HREF="http://www.1901censusonline.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.1901censusonline.com"><U><B>1901censusonline.com</B></U></A><B> </B></FONT><U>NB: </U><U>do</U><U> not ‘log off’, </U><U>you must ‘suspend’ your purchase session</U><U>, or you will lose all outstanding credits</U>.</div> <bR> <div> A UK family tree website, where you can search for, and e-mail, people working on any particular surname. You can enter your tree and search for your family names free of charge. Registration is free, but if you want to make contact with anyone who appears to be working on your tree, it will cost you an annual membership fee. <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.genesreunited.co.uk/"><U><B>genesreunited.co.uk</B></U></A></FONT> They now offer searches of the 1851 & 1901 UK Census.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" >A UK friends website, where you can search for, and e-mail, people you have lost contact with, such as former neighbours / classmates / workmates: </FONT><A HREF="http://www.friendsreunited.co.uk/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.friendsreunited.co.uk/"><U><B>friendsreunited.co.uk</B></U></A> <B> </B><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" >This site is now completely free for searches and to contact members, but you will need to Register.</FONT></div> <bR> <div> Database of nearly 2,000 Lincolnshire Criminals Transported to Australia, Gibraltar and Bermuda between 1788 and 1868. <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/convictssearch.asp?catId=3169" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/convictss"><U><B>lincolnshire.gov.uk</B></U></A></FONT> and search the Convict Archive; if you have a name with varied spellings, try the first three letters only (e.g. 'Dra' for Drax, Dracas(s) & Drakes). If you click on any relevant entry, it should give you the transportation destination, and the crimes committed. There may be similar sites for other counties?</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >“</FONT>Paver’s Marriages - In the 17th century, a gentleman named Paver collected thousands of ancient marriage records and these were later printed and published. Some of the records pre-date the parish registers by a hundred years. Most of the people listed were locally important people, which probably means that their licences to marry had been issued by the Archbishop of York, which would also mean that the records of those marriages were kept at York. This explains how Mr. Paver was able to see and copy them. Had the licences been issued at the local church, they would now be lost to us. The poorer people, who could not afford an expensive special licence, had their marriages solemnized in the local church by the vicar." (Source: <I>A History of South Kirkby</I>, by Aaron Wilkinson, published by South Kirkby and Moorthorpe Town Council, in 1979, page 91)</div> <bR> <div> These records can be viewed at: <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/Misc/Transcriptions/YKS/PaversIndex.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/Mis"><U><B>genuki.org.uk</B></U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" >Old Bailey records (1674-1913) can now be searched and viewed on-line at </FONT><A HREF="http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.oldbaileyonline.org/"><U><B>oldbaileyonline.org</B></U></A> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" >This is a fully searchable edition of the largest body of texts detailing the lives of non-elite people ever published, containing 197,745 criminal trials held at London’s Central Criminal Court (CCC) - The Old Bailey.</FONT></div> <bR> <div> <U>By far the most rewarding family history website</U> has got to be <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.ancestry.co.uk/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.ancestry.co.uk/"><U><B>Ancestry.co.uk</B></U></A></FONT> (<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.ancestry.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.ancestry.com/"><U><B>Ancestry.com</B></U></A></FONT> if in USA), but you will need to subscribe to membership to get the full benefit from it, and it's fairly expensive. However, if it saves you from making trips to various archives around the country, or even the world, it has to be well worth the fee. Via this website, you can make surname searches of Census indexes, and then view a photographic copy of the original document. You will find that there are errors between the index and the original, such as when 'Drake' is mis-read as 'Drakes' by the person(s) creating the index; I have found quite a few of these. I suspect that there will be others indexed as 'Drake' that are actually 'Drakes', but, since Drake is a far more common surname, I haven't had time to got through them all. <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><U>If you join nothing else - join this website - it is brilliant</U></FONT></div> <bR> <div> Ancestry.com also has a searchable register of slaves and slave owners under: '<I>Slave Registers of former British Colonial Dependencies, 1812-1834</I>'.</div> <bR> <div> If you think your ancestors may have emigrated to the Americas as Indentured Servants, the Immigrant Servants Database is a free search facility covering 1607 to 1820: <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.immigrantservants.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.immigrantservants.com/"><U><B>immigrantservants.com</B></U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Booklet about Family History on the Internet</B></div> <div>  </div> <div> ‘Family History on the Web, an Internet Directory for England & Wales’, at £4.95, from the Family Records Centre, or from FFHS (Publications) Ltd., Units 15-16, Chesham Industrial Estate, Oram St. Bury, Lancashire BL0 9BZ; e-mail enquiries: <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="mailto:orders@ffhs.org.uk" TARGET="_top" TITLE="mailto:orders@ffhs.org.uk"><U><B>orders@ffhs.org.uk</B></U></A></FONT>. This is a useful book for ideas, but since the Internet is constantly changing, don't spend money on out-of-date editions!</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Family History books</B></div> <bR> <div> There are numerous ‘family history’ books on the market; a lot of them are of poor standard and many are often confusing. The following books are ones that I own and use.</div> <bR> <div> ‘Introduction to Family History’, published by The Family Records Centre, 28 pages, at £3.99. An excellent, continually useful, and concise introductory booklet; to get you started without spending lots of money.</div> <bR> <div> ‘Tracing your Ancestors in the Public Record Office’, 6th revised edition, by Amanda Bevan. Published by PRO 2002, ISBN 1 903365 34 1, 524 pages, at £15.99. The ‘bible’ of PRO research, but a lot to read and absorb if you are a beginner.</div> <bR> <div> ‘Tracing your family tree’, by Jean A. Cole and Michael Armstrong. The complete guide to discovering your family history. Published by Guild Publishing 1988, by arrangement with Thorsons Publishing Group, no ISBN, 208 pages. This extremely well written book came from a ‘discount bookshop’, price unknown, but probably about £9.99.</div> <bR> <div> ‘The Oxford Companion to Local and Family History’, by David Hey. The complete guide to discovering your past. Published by The Softback Review by arrangement with Oxford University Press, 2001 reprint, no ISBN, 517 pages. This very useful encyclopedia-type book came from a ‘discount bookshop’, price unknown, but probably about £9.99.</div> <bR> <div> ‘The Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers’, 2nd edition, edited by Cecil Humphrey-Smith. Published by Phillimore & Co. Ltd., 1999 reprint, ISBN 0 85033 950 2. Available from the Family Records Centre bookshop, 305 pages, at £50.00. This is a collection of County maps showing parishes and the year their existing parish records began, following by a complete record of the years covered and locations of original records, copies and transcriptions including the IGI for every UK parish. This is an excellent volume but an unnecessary purchase in the early days of research. You will find it indispensable once you get back beyond 1837; because of the price, folk tend to borrow someone else's copy and hang on to it for too many weeks! I eventually bought a copy to save all the hassle for borrower and lender.</div> <bR> <div> Available from the ‘discount book stores’, such as are found in most High Streets in the UK, is a thin hardback book for recording your family tree. It makes a nice record to show family and friends, but you need to keep it neat so it’s best to write things in a rough notebook first; later, you can take your time to write it neatly in the book, when you're in the right mood, taking care to use the same pen each time; a different colour ink or a bit of quick scrawling ruins the appearance of the whole book.</div> <bR> <div> ‘Genealogical Books’, are publishers that deal mainly in USA material, but they quickly got me '<I>The Origins of Some Anglo-Norman families</I>', a book on Medieval English families that I could not get in the UK; it arrived within just a few days: <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.genealogical.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.genealogical.com"><U><B>genealogical.com</B></U></A>.</FONT></div> <bR> <div> The best book on Lincolnshire Wolds life, that I have found so far, is <I>Studies in the History of Lincolnshire – The Lincolnshire Wolds in the Nineteenth Century</I>, by Dr. Charles K. Rawding, pubished by the History of Lincolnshire Committee, 2001. It is brilliant and is a real 'must read' for anyone wanting to understand Victorian rural life on the Lincolnshire Wolds, and it may help to understand various attitudes and issues that come up during any Lincolnshire Wolds research.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>London Children's Hospital records 1852 to 1914</B> - <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.smallandspecial.org/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.smallandspecial.org/"><U><B>smallandspecial.org</B></U></A></FONT>.</div> <bR> <div> Medical & staff records covering the early years of The Hospital for Sick Children at Great Ormond Street, London, which was England’s first in-patient children’s hospital. You can trace patients or members of the medical staff. </div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>The Mormons</B> - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS).</div> <bR> <div> The telephone order line for debit/credit cards is: <U>08700 102051</U>. </div> <bR> <div> Any cheques should be made payable to: ‘The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints’ and posted to: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, England Distribution Centre, Family History CDs, 399, Garretts Green Lane, Birmingham, West Midlands, B33 0UH. Faxed orders can be sent to: 08 700 10 20 52. Their USA Office is: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Salt Lake City Distribution Centre, 1999 West 1788 South, Salt Lake City, Utah 84184, USA. If there is any problem with an order tel: 0121 785 2200, fax: 0121 789 7686. I should point out that I've never had a problem with them.</div> <bR> <div> When I last purchased CDs (about 2002) their list was as follows, but it may have changed since then (numbers underlined are those I have purchased and use):</div> <bR> <div> <B>50081</B> - Family History Library Catalogue - details of Church’s 2.5 million microforms & 300,000 books £5.95 inc. p&p</div> <div> <B><U>50169</U></B><B> </B>- British 1881 Census 25 discs, contains over 30 million individuals from England, Wales & Scotland £29.95 inc. p&p</div> <div> <B>50250</B> - Pedigree Discs 1 to 5 complete with index disc, tens of thousands of lineage - linked pedigrees inc. notes & sources £14.95 inc. p&p</div> <div> <B>50251</B> - Pedigree Discs 6 to 10 (as above) £14.95 inc. p&p</div> <div> <B>50252*</B> - Pedigree Discs 11 to 15 (as above) £14.95 inc. p&p</div> <div> <B><U>50096</U></B><B> </B>- 1851 Census for Devon, Norfolk & Warwick, contains about 1.5 million names £5.95 inc. p&p</div> <div> <B><U>50028</U></B><B> </B>- British Isles Vital Records, a portion of external Parish Records - approx. 5 million names. Index of records = 1538 - 1888 in England, Wales, Scotland & Ireland £14.95 inc. p&p</div> <div> <B>50095 </B>- Australian Vital Records 4.5 million names; NSW 1788 - 1888, Victoria 1837 - 1888, W. Aus 1841 - 1905, Tas. 1803 - 99 £7.95 inc. p&p</div> <div> <B>50029</B> - North American Vital Records, USA & Canada, Church, Civil & other records 1620 -1888 £17.95 inc. p&p</div> <div> <B>50163* </B>- Mexico Vital Records, 1659 - 1905, 1.9 million birth & christening & 300,000 marriage £11.95 inc. p&p</div> <div> <B>50176 </B>- Family History Source Guides, compilation of 150+ research guides, inc. maps, forms & worksheets £5.95 inc. p&p</div> <div> <B>77062 </B>- Personal Ancestral File v4 (English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese) Windows based software for recording, managing & sharing family data. £5.95 inc. p&p.</div> <div> <B>50041 </B>Personal Ancestral File Companion v2, add-on PAF4 & PAF3 enhances charts & reports plus additional types £9.95 inc. p&p</div> <div> <B><U>50174</U></B><B>* </B>Mormon Immigration Index, index of Mormon immigration into USA 1840 -1890 £5.95 inc. p&p (I bought this to get the free Viewer 3.0 with it, rather than pay £5.95 for the new Viewer alone! see below)</div> <div> <B>50145* </B>West Europe Vital Records, Alpine, Benelux, French, German, Italian, Spanish regions, approx. 12.5 million birth, christening & marriage records £ 28.95 inc. p&p</div> <div> <B>50154* </B>Viewer v3.0 New Viewer for all CDs, allows more searches in more fields, NB already supplied with 50174, 50145 & 50163</div> <bR> <div> If you are using the LDS 1881 CDs and cannot find an ancestor, try putting in their first name, place and year of birth (+ or - 2 years?) and see if that finds them. This type of search might help you to find someone whose surname has been mis-spelt, or a married women whose new surname is unknown; this method helped me to find a 'Kearley' family that had been incorrectly copied as 'Pearley'.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>S&N Genealogical</B> - a family tree software company, which includes: ‘S&N British Data Archive’.</div> <bR> <div> The 1841 to 1891 Census for London (other counties will eventually follow) are available on CD at £49.95 per Census; these are photographic copies of actual Census pages, as seen on microfilms. The 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881 & 1891 London Census CDs are available now.</div> <bR> <div> They also stock an extensive list of CDs of parish records, and other family tree related sources. </div> <bR> <div> This is an expensive way to research, but it is so very convenient to do at home at your leisure, and you must take into account accommodation costs, travelling time and costs, plus lunches out, & etc., involved in travelling any distance. (You are very lucky if you live near the archive you need).</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" >They will post you a current stock list free of charge. Their adverts are often on the back page of various family tree magazines; they are the largest UK family tree CD stockist that I know of. They are based at West Wing, Manor Farm, Chilmark, Salisbury, Wiltshire SP3 5AF, and also have an office in Jersey; tel: 01722 716121; International tel: +44 1722 716121; website: </FONT><A HREF="http://www.sandn.net/index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.sandn.net/index.htm"><U><B>sandn.net</B></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>192.com</B> - the UK people/business/map search website: <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.192.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.192.com/"><U><B>192.com</B></U></A></FONT>, are also suppliers of UK people-finder software on CD-Rom:</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b7014000000000.png" HEIGHT="21" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">UK-Info Pro V15 - British people finder on CD-Rom. Search 25 million names and addresses from the 2009 Electoral Roll, 14 million Directory Enquiry listings and 3.4 million company listings. £349.99</div> <bR> <div> Enquiries & orders via website: <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.192.com/products/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.192.com/products/"><U><B>192.com/products</B></U></A></FONT>.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Contacting lost (living) relatives via </B><I><B>Traceline </B></I><B>(an ONS service) </B></div> <bR> <div> Sadly, this service, which was based at Stockport, ceased about 1.4.2008 and there is currently no other Government-run alternative. You will have to search official records by other means, such as: phone books, 192.com, Voters' Lists, Marriage & Death Registers, & etc.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Tracing an Adopted relative</B></div> <bR> <div> If you were adopted as a child, you can receive a great deal of help about tracing your birth parents and siblings; but, if you are closely related by birth to someone who was adopted (e.g. a brother or sister or half-brother/half-sister), you have been very much left without any hope of tracing that person, until now. </div> <bR> <div> At present (November 2005), you can register an interest in someone who was adopted, and it may be matched with a similar enquiry made by that person, if they have made one. If not, then your interest will be held on file pending that adopted relative making such an enquiry, if ever.</div> <bR> <div> However, from 1st January 2006, a new agency will be in operation, which will actively help you to trace such an adopted relative, for a fee.</div> <bR> <div> In both cases mentioned above you will require documentary evidence of your relationship, such as the adopted person's birth certificate (which you can draw fairly easily if you have their rough year of birth and their birth name isn't too common; e.g. not John Smith!), and your own birth certificate.</div> <bR> <div> Sadly, if you think that you have an adopted half-brother or half-sister, who is the child of your father, and the 'father' section of his/her birth certificate is blank, as was often the case, neither of these methods will be available to you. However, if the adopted child's mother had other children whom you can trace, and if they can prove their relationship to the adopted child by their birth certificate(s), and if they are willing to help you by applying themselves, and then introduce you if the adopted person agrees, then you may still have some success. Though, in such a case a this, you are unlikely to be able to actually prove you relationship without a DNA test. [<FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#FF0000" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="id53.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="DNA"><U><B>see DNA page</B></U></A></FONT>]</div> <bR> <div> All these methods of tracing adopted relatives are loaded with precautions to prevent any unwanted contact being made with the adopted person. No-one wants to upset to them as a result of such enquiries, and they will always be in control of whether or not you eventually make contact with them. No information will be given to you without their prior consent.</div> <bR> <div> Advice about tracing an adopted relative can be obtained from:</div> <bR> <div> Adoptions Section</div> <div> General Register Office</div> <div> Smedley Hydro</div> <div> Trafalgar Road</div> <div> Southport</div> <div> PR8 2HH</div> <div> tel: 01514 714830</div> <bR> <div> The staff there are very helpful on the phone; if your case is suitable, they will send you an application form by post. </div> <bR> <div> NB. Both the applicant and the adopted person must be over 18.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>The Salvation Army (Worldwide Relative Tracing & Missing Persons)</B></div> <bR> <div> You may also wish to use the worldwide services of The Salvation Army, who will search for you for a reasonable donation according to your circumstances. They put a lot of work into these searches, often for people of very low income, so please be generous. </div> <bR> <div> They traced my half-brother in Canada for me in 1991, whom I'd never met. The reason that I hadn't been able to find him was that he was one of the few who have dropped the ‘s’ and is known as ‘Drake’ and he was using his family nick-name as his first name. The Salvation Army were brilliant.</div> <bR> <div> However, if someone doesn't want to be found they will respect that and just tell you that they are well.</div> <bR> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div> <B><IMG SRC="2844bea0.jpg" border=0 width="331" height="490" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Think you might be related to Medieval Kings or Earls?</B></div> <bR> <div> The Foundation for Medieval Genealogy website is a brilliant resource to help you find a possible family link to Royalty or Earls; it includes several links to other interesting pages that are well worth reading through: <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ENGLISH%20NOBILITY%20MEDIEVAL1.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/ENGLISH%"><U><B>fmg.ac</B></U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <div> The possibility of being related to a titled ancestor, or with luck Royalty, seems to be the wish of many genealogists, but this wish is not so far fetched as it first appears. It has been estimated that well over a third of the UK population are related to Royalty, or Noble a family, somewhere back in their past.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>The Harleian &</B><B> </B><B>Surtees </B><B>Societies</B></div> <bR> <div> The Harleian Society has been publishing Genealogical records for over a century. Their publications include printed and bound versions of the 16th century Herald's Visitations, when those using coats of arms had to justify their right by descent or immediately cease use. In doing so, the Heralds, Flower & Glover, created one of the best resources of Medieval Family trees in the UK. Many of these family records are particularly interesting as they include minor Baronial families, whose name might otherwise be lost to us. Copies of the publications of The Harleian Society are available at various county archives and main libraries, as are the similar publications of the Surtees Society.</div> <div> <A HREF="http://harleian.co.uk/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://harleian.co.uk/"><U><B>harleian.co.uk</B></U></A><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" > & </FONT><A HREF="http://www.surteessociety.org.uk/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.surteessociety.org.uk/"><U><B>surteessociety.org.uk</B></U></A></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Some more of the many Websites that I have used for research</B></div> <div> Please click on the titles to connect via a hyperlink</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.ffhs.org.uk/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.ffhs.org.uk/"><U><B>Federation of Family History Societies - National Burial Index</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.btinternet.com/~timeref/hstt46.htm#J1379" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.btinternet.com/~timeref/hstt4"><U><B>TimeRef - History Timelines</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.btinternet.com/~timeref/hprindex.htm#G" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.btinternet.com/~timeref/hprin"><U><B>TimeRef - History Timelines - Medieval Person Index</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.documentsonline.pro.gov.uk/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.documentsonline.pro.gov.uk/"><U><B>Public Record Office  DocumentsOnline  Home</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.pro.gov.uk/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.pro.gov.uk/"><U><B>Public Record Office  The National Archives</B></U></A><A HREF="http://www.pro.gov.uk/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.pro.gov.uk/"><U><B> - </B></U></A><A HREF="http://www.pro.gov.uk/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.pro.gov.uk/"><U><B>Public Record Office at Kew</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.1837online.com/Trace2web/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.1837online.com/Trace2web/"><U><B>Find My Past - Family Research Link. Original indexes of Births, Marriages and Deaths for England and Wales from 1837 to 2001.</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.amazon.co.uk/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.amazon.co.uk/"><U><B>Amazon.co.uk (books)</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhisto"><U><B>BBC - History - Your History - Family history</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.catholic-history.org.uk/cfhs/index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.catholic-history.org.uk/cfhs/"><U><B>Catholic Family History Society Homepage</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/bodley" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/bodley"><U><B>Bodleian Library</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/blpc.html" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/blpc.html"><U><B>British Library Public Catalogue</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://www.locallife.co.uk/wakefield/libraries3.asp" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.locallife.co.uk/wakefield/lib"><U><B>Wakefield Libraries</B></U></A></div> <bR> <div> plus many more websites found using the <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.google.com/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.google.com/"><U><B>Google</B></U></A></FONT> search engine</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Other sources used</B></div> <bR> <div> The 1881 Census CD set from the LDS (Mormons)</div> <div> The 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1891 Census on microfiche at Lincoln Archives & Library</div> <div> General Registry Office (GRO) birth, marriage & death indexes on microfiche at my local main library (most major town libraries hold copies)</div> <div> Lincolnshire Parish Records on microfilm at Lincoln Archives</div> <div> Various sources at local libraries & archives, especially Lincoln</div> <div> Public Record Office at Kew.</div> <div> National Army Museum, Chelsea</div> <div> Imperial War Museum, London</div> <div> Plus an ever growing army of fellow researchers around the world who freely share data with me</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Family Tree Programmes </B></div> <bR> <div> There are numerous family tree CDs available at about £10 each that will be adequate to stored your data, but you will eventually grown out of them and move on, probably to either Broderbund or Sierra. </div> <bR> <div> I have an expensive family tree program (£50), though I prefer to use a simple layout in MS Word, a sample of which can be found on my ‘Trees’ page, to give you an idea. This sample shows the start of the earliest Drax (Drakes) tree that I am currently working on.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Confusing dates around 1752?</B></div> <bR> <div> English records used the Julian Calendar prior to 1752, and the Feast of the Annunciation, which was always celebrated on 25th March and was the first day of the new year, and 24th March the last. From 1752 to the present, the Gregorian Calendar has been in use with the new year beginning on 1st January, and ending on 31st December. Therefore, prior to 1752, the years recorded in Parish Registers began on 25th March, and ended on 24th March when the Registers were signed by the Rector/Vicar, if there was not an interregnum [i.e. no priest in charge, during a change-over], and the Churchwardens.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Found someone who was both 'baptised' and 'christened' in Parish Records and don't understand why?</B></div> <bR> <div> Strangely, in the early 1800s Parish Baptism Register at Winteringham, Lincs., most children were ‘baptised’ then ‘christened’ a couple of months later, and most of those who weren’t also 'christened' had died shortly after they were ‘baptised’.  In the 1960s, the Vicar of Winteringham was asked what the difference was between 'baptism' and 'christening', and even he thought they were the same thing! </div> <bR> <div> However, it turns out that 'baptism' could be, and usually was, performed in the home at the very earliest opportunity after the birth, in case a child died before it could be 'christened', and thus ensure that its soul was safe should it die in early infancy. The actual 'christening' ceremony would be performed later, when the parents were able to bring the child to church. </div> <bR> <div> It apears that this was probably common practice elsewhere as well, but few parish priests recorded the home 'baptisms' in the parish registers, unlike the Reverend Grainger of Winteringham, who not only recorded the 'baptism' and 'christening', but also the birth date of each child. He also later added the further note 'died', if the child died in infancy.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" >I must thank John Kirk of </FONT><A HREF="http://www.winteringham.info" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.winteringham.info"><U><B>winteringham.</B></U></A><A HREF="http://www.winteringham.info" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.winteringham.info"><U><B>info</B></U></A><FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Times New Roman" > for kindly solving this problem for me.</FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Lost someone? Maybe there fell on hard times and were in the workhouse?</B></div> <bR> <div> There is a dedicated 'Workhouse' website that may help you; it includes Census Returns, and also helps you to understand the concept of a 'workhouse' and the conditions experienced there by the inmates. <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.workhouses.org.uk/" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.workhouses.org.uk/"><U><B>workhouses.org.uk</B></U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Want something different, such as an unusual and beautiful wall chart to display your family tree on?</B></div> <bR> <div> The Parish Chest is a family history and genealogy shop where you can buy CDs, maps, books, blank family tree charts, parish transcriptions, etc.  In fact, just about everything you need to help trace your ancestors and build your family tree. They have some brilliant tree-charts for you to record and display your family names. <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Times New Roman" ><A HREF="http://www.parishchest.com" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.parishchest.com"><U><B>parishchest.com</B></U></A></FONT></div> <bR> <bR> <div> <B>Got another useful website?</B></div> <bR> <div> If you have found a another useful website for general family history studies, or one specific to Drax/Dracas(s)/Drakes research, which I haven't listed, please let me know and I will be pleased to a add a link. Also, if you have used one of my hyperlink and noticed significant changes from my description, please contact me.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>