Recently I was searching an online index of probate records for information on one of my ancestors. I wasn’t absolutely sure of his first name, I only had an initial for him, and even that wasn’t absolutely certain as the records that I had got that information from were old and faded. I decided to see if I could match the data that I had by date. I new my ancestor had died in 1900, so I entered that date and the surname Wilde, and clicked the old search button. I got over 100 returns on the information that I had entered, but fortunately many of the deaths were for 1898 and 1899, so I could discount them immediately. As I was browsing down the lists, I noticed an entry for an Oscar Fingal O’flahertie Wills Wilde. Couldn’t be I thought to myself, not the Oscar Wilde!

As I didn’t know Oscar Wilde’s full name, I did a quick Google search, and sure enough, it was a match. I am a big fan of Oscar Wilde, and even though I realized I was being distracted from my initial objective, I decided a little indulgence would do no harm; after all, this was Oscar Wilde! It was a subscription site I was using, so rather than pay immediately to access their records, I signed up for their free trial offer. It’s a good way to access records for free, as long as you remember to cancel the subscription by the specified date. After signing up, I was able to find out that Mr. Wilde had left a mere two hundred pounds upon his death in a Paris hotel in 1900. As I was already a bit off track (but loving it, as I am a big history buff), I decided to look for a few other historical figures.

I also found records for Charles Darwin, father of the theory of evolution, and to my surprise, he left what would amount to £13,000,000 ($20,000,000) today! Karl Marx, the father of communism was also in this record collection, and true to his communist roots, left a paltry £250 ($400). There are a host of other famous names among the more than six million records in this collection which has been published online by Ancestry.co.uk, the English branch of Ancestry.com. In addition to entertaining wayward researchers, they are also useful for finding information on your ancestors!

The records have been transcribed from calendar books dating between 1861 and 1941, and include both fascinating and factual information. The largest estate recorded in the records is one that would be worth over thirty billion dollars today, though most are much more modest. These probate records summarise the deceased’s estate, noting when and where they died, who the executors of the estate were, and the main (but not all) beneficiaries of the bequest. As you can imagine, they provide countless leads for family historians to explore long lost family fortunes or mysterious beneficiaries, as well as find out about how their ancestor lived, what they left, and most importantly, to whom.

If you have struggled to find details of an ancestor’s death, searching this collection could provide you with an ancestor. The collection also includes information on many who died outside of the UK – 20,000 who died in France, 4,500 in Australia, and 18,000 in the United States. There are however a few gaps during the time period covered by these records, namely between 1809 and 1903, and from 1910 – 1911. The records can be searched using a name, date of birth or death, and a location if you know it. Keep in mind though, that while searching is free, there is a charge for viewing or downloading a copy of the original document. You could however do what I did, take advantage of their free trial; just don’t forget to cancel before the date that full membership takes effect! Oh, and try not to get distracted like I did, unless of course that is your intention!

Recently the headlines on the Yahoo.co.uk website have highlighted a few stories depicting the plight of certain groups of “English and Irish Gypsies”, or “Travellers” as they are otherwise known. The Travellers live outside of the realms of normal society, shunning what they deem to be an oppressive, conformist regime, and rather preferring to remain free from the shackles of permanent settlement and governmental red tape. As such, finding records for Traveller ancestors may be a bit more difficult than usual, as many don’t register, and often records of births, deaths and marriages are kept among themselves, and histories often passed orally from generation to generation. In order to understand the particular difficulties in tracking down a Traveller relative, a brief overview of their history and lifestyle might be helpful.

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In our eagerness to find our ancestors, we can sometimes spend too much time and energy looking in the wrong places, or even the right place but in the wrong sequence. We might also, because of our lack of understanding of the research process; overlook records that we were unaware might have revealed our ancestor. I for example, as a novice, began researching my immigrant ancestors using passenger lists. This I guess was a natural instinct for me. Coming from a sea-faring family, where many of my male relatives were, merchant seamen, sailors, and in a few instance privateers, I was keen to know about the ship on which my ancestors immigrated to America.

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Tracing your ancestor to a specific location only to discover that there are many individuals of the same name in that area can prove to be quite the genealogical challenge. Then you discover that they are all members of the same church during the same time frame. How can you find out which, if any of them are your relative? This is quite a common occurrence in genealogical research, especially before the twentieth century, yet there are certain steps you can take to eliminate those who aren’t your relative, and confirm who is. These are tried and tested methods used by many experienced researchers, and are based on actual experiences. The first is based on my own personal experience, and I found my ancestor not by my superior research skills, but by having a bit of an insight as to his personality.

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Everybody has someone in the family who has a stash of old pictures somewhere; many are even labelled and identified. Most however have no information attached to them, and so a bit of detective work is necessary to reveal their subjects or locations. In spite of a lack of immediate information, old photographs can be of immense value in identifying people, and placing them in specific locations at particular times. The secret to using photographs in family research is to understand how they evolved over time. Beginning in 1826, the printing and mounting of photographs developed over the years, but each time period had its particular style and methods – information of vital importance to genealogists. Clothing styles, and the surroundings and backgrounds can also reveal clues as to where and when a picture was taken, and with surprising accuracy. Let’s take a look at the different periods during which photography evolved, and the characteristics of those eras which we can use to identify them.

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In the eighteenth century, compared to the horrible conditions of the Workhouses and Poorhouses, Victorian Lunatic Asylums were models of social responsibility. One such asylum was the Bethlehem Hospital, a purpose built institution constructed for mentally ill and insane patients in 1776. Located at Moorfields in the nation’s capitol of London, it was locally known as Bedlam Hospital. The artist William Hogarth created a series of eight paintings known as “The Rakes Progress”, which provided a visual image of the conditions that many people believed existed in such asylums during the 18th and 19th centuries, though these images may not necessarily be accurate.
Attitudes towards the mentally ill and their care began to change towards the end of the 1700’s, and physicians began to recommend greater personal freedom for their patients, as well as to implement therapeutic exercises and advocate employment for them. The Lunatic Act of 1808 instigated further improvements to mental health patients, as magistrates were permitted to allocate funds to asylums from the tax coffers. At least twenty new asylums were thus funded by public monies between 1808 and 1845, the few that existed beforehand being funded by private charities.

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I was recently alerted to the publication of the Manchester Collection – an array of records offered by the Manchester City Council’s Libraries Information and Archives. The records are an awesome genealogical resource for those whose ancestors may have Manchester connections, especially during the Victorian era. Even if you have no ancestors from Manchester, the collection provides a glimpse into Victorian life, so lovers and students of history will benefit as much as genealogists. The collection includes;

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There are very few of us in the western world whose family did not originally come from somewhere else. Unless you’re a Native North or South American Indian, you will have an ancestor who was an immigrant. That makes a whole lot of us, and so learning how to identify and trace our immigrant ancestors is an important aspect of genealogy. If we don’t find them, our trail runs cold, and we are left with a family tree barren of leaves and branches that could otherwise have grown to be complete and full of rich heritage. There i9s no one source for finding your family member ho immigrated, there are many different records that may be used. There are however some major principles that can be applied in your search for an immigrant ancestor. They are:

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