Brazier Newsletter
Brazier Newsletter
By Ian and David Brazier
‘ The "paper Shuffler" here. ’
David's Message First I must apologise for the lack of imput lately, due to several chunks of computer downtime. I have been using this time to work on the MCD and now have better coverage of the period up to; and including the 1901Census. Of course it is impossible to cover every event as you will have found when trying to just locate one relative. There is no guarantee that even the registration of birth will be accurate, and spelling variations have proved to be the biggest complication in assembling a database. We have even resorted to checking the fiche to read possible name variations and have found as many as eight in one quarter's entries. Census returns are even more likely to produce errors, as the 'facts' are originally noted by the enumerator (with a blunt pencil, on a doorstep, on a dark night, in the rain Etc.) from information offered by 'the resident' who probably could not verify his name spelling. This information was then collated and transcribed, with the chance of error at each stage. This, in conjunction with the guesses at the age, place of birth as a village, a parish, or a town, is misleading. The Census IS a valuable tool though, and with a bit of lateral thinking, (and the generous use of wild cards) it can be the only source of info on a particular person. The Census of 1901 has had a bad report, mainly due to the organisation tasked with transcribing the original data seeking the cheapest transcribers possible (hence larger profits). The reported errors are endless, and the humorous ones have had a life of their own. Among the Brazier families we have :- A Mortal worker, A Violinerlist Musician, A Gold Steele spectacle maker, and a Station Largent with Meet Police. And there are many more. The Census of 1881 was put together by the LDS from transcribed info from Family History Societies, and was more comprehensive, and more accurate. At least the transcribers mainly lived in the same country as the places stated. We did have one problem with Henry Brasier Age 42 in BDF: His occupation was "French Boot Polisher" Was this A/ A Frenchman who polished boots B/ A man who only polished French boots C/ A man who applied French Polish to boots But by 1901, twenty years later he had become a Shoemaker. In your searches in past census returns if you find any Brazier (and Variants) please send them along to us, where they will find a good home, and be available to help others. If you wish us to search for someone in the C1881, or C1901 please give as many details as poss, and we will try for you. As stated at the beginning of this letter we are concentrating mainly on the period up to and including the 1901 Census. This was a decision we made when the Data protection act reared its ugly head. Of course we do hold info on living people, but access to this we restrict, and nothing is released without consultation between parties. We advise our contacts that they should NOT transfer info on living people to other contacts unless they are sure of who they are. Cases have been appearing lately of whole family trees, (not any of ours) some very incorrect, turning up on websites, and list without any permission being first obtained. If you are seeking a particular person…… please let us know. David.
URLs to help with your research
Here we go
If you are a newcomer to Genealogy, or need a refresher, a good starting point for research is. http://www.genuki.org.uk/gs/ with loads of advice, and pointers to further sites, including how to find the Family History Socy for your interest area. http://www.genuki.org.uk/gs/newbie.html is also very enlightening http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/EmeryPapers.html gives the A-Z of British Genealogy by Dr. Aston Emery. Rootsweb Mailing lists provide a direct method of researching in a specific area, or by a specific name. How to find a list, and how to subscribe, is shown on http://lists.rootsweb.com/ (In this case subscribing means joining, and not paying vast sums of money ! ) The best plan is to join the list for the county/ town where your interest lies, and then ‘Lurk’ (sit back and see how the questions are asked and answered before jumping in.) This way you can see what questions are best answered. This is a valuable resource, as on the list are many people who have been ‘There’ before you. They also hold many census records, and directories for the area, and there is always the chance that they may also be seeking the same family as you. Catholic history including Family History links Try http://www.catholic-history.org.uk/ Hatches, Matches, and Dispatches. Free site, incomplete, but valuable for finding the necessary GRO reference to order the Certificates. Free BMD. http://www.freebmd.rootsweb.com For those not available yet on the Free bmd a Pay to Purchase site. 1837 to date http://1837online.com/trace2web/ When it comes to confirming your research : each event must be checked by a certificate. There’s nothing worse that ‘assuming’ an event, and branching out on the wrong family. The GRO is the source of birth, marriage, and death certs, and details of their services, what is on the certs, and how to order can be found on. http://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/content /content/certificates/index.asp#0 > access for on-line ordering The PRO is now ‘National Archives’ Super guides are on-line to help with special research subjects. Where, in the past you had to send for leaflets, these are now downloadable from http://www.catalogue.nationalarchives.gov.uk/researchguidesindex.asp Some actual documents are available on-line F’rinstance PCC wills, WW1 Medal Rolls at http://www.documentsonline.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ If you have reached the point where you are looking for newspapers to put flesh on bones. The British Library, newspaper library , Collindale. can indicate which papers were in existence for a particular area at a specific time. http://www.bl.uk/catalogues/newspapers.html Some papers are on-line now, with plans for others to follow. Searching------- The LDS (Later Day Saints.)( Mormans) Have a Family search site which gives access to six databases inc. the Census 1881 and IGI, + Canadian and U.S. Census and Social Security death index. http://www.familysearch.org Census 1901 http://www.1901census.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ Census 1891 Full ( on a pay-to view site ) + some 1871 + C1901 http://www.ancestry Census. For a summary of what is available on C.D. and on-line ~http://www.mit.edu/~dfm?genealogy/census-chart.html> Records if British and Commonwealth servicemen (and some civvies) who died in two W.W’s. Commonwealth War Graves Commission http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/search.aspx Imperial War Museum………. Links and guidance http://www.iwm.org.uk British Army in Gt. War (1) background, and family history advice. http://www.1914-1918.net British Army Organisation and History http://www.regiments.org/ Find a Church 34,000 listed. http://www.findachurch/index.html Find a Map for u.k. These and a lot more http://www.streetmap.co.uk http://www.multimap.com/home.html Find out a value. http://www.eh.net/ehresources/howmuch/poundq.php And there a millions more.