Researching English Ancestors – Let’s Get Started

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Are you struggling to begin researching English ancestors? Your earlier research indicated your ancestors came to America from England, but where do you start?

Many American genealogy researchers look forward to – and dread – being able to “jump the pond” to in their genealogy research of English. Maybe you already have.

Was your experience like mine?

My Talbot(t) family research landed me squarely on English soil, and I had NO IDEA what to do next.

Really.  I had not an idea how to proceed.

See, you are probably like me. When you research ancestors on American soil, you know what records they generated. You know where they lived and how that location impacted their life choices.  You understand their religion and how to find those records. You understand your ancestors. (Or as my children used to say when they were younger: “You get them.”)

But cross the Atlantic to English soil, and I don’t “get them”. Additionally, I didn’t know what resources were available and where/how to find them.

But I will. 🙂

Researching English Ancestors – Let’s Get Started

If you area ready to research your English ancestors on English soil, for purposes of this post, I am going to assume you have exhausted your resources and strategies here in America. [Refer back to immigrant research posts here.]

As you began your research in England – perhaps a new location for you, the following will be good resources to learn the nuances of English ancestor research.

• FindMyPast has an excellent blog covering British and Irish genealogy topics.  No subscription is required to access their blog.
• Find tutorials at Ancestry’s AncestryAcademy. An Ancestry subscription is required.
• FamilySearch is another source of information for learning how research your English ancestors.

Note: This post is aimed at getting the researcher started in their English research and avoiding that initial overwhelm as you track your ancestors back to England.

English Census Records

Similar to the US, England created census records.  As US researchers, we are familiar with census records and they can be the core of our research both here in America and for our English ancestors.

The 1841 census is the first census  taken in England that is helpful to researchers and subsequent censuses were taken every 10 years. Look closely at the headings and the information gathered as this varies from US census records.

A few interesting facts to consider:

• Census records actually started in 1801, but prior to 1841, the English census records did not contain names.
• The 1841 English census rounds the ages of those listed down to the nearest “5”. So, a 24 year old might be listed as 20 years. Children under 15 years of age are listed with their actual age.
•  The 1911 census is the most recent census available for public viewing.

Birth, Marriage, Death Records of Your English Ancestors

1837 is an important year to remember as you began your research into your English ancestors. Before 1837, BMD records will be found in parish records. After 1837, BMD records are found in the civil registrations.

Parish Records (Prior to 1837)

In 1837, birth, marriages and deaths were recorded through civil registration. Prior to 1837, birth, deaths and marriages were recorded in parish records. Going back to 1538, these are a gold mine!  The difficult thing is Parish records need to be researched in their individual counties and there were many parishes throughout England! Unfortunately, not all parish records are digitized.

Where to find parish records that are online?

• Ancestry.com
• DustyDocs – A website to free websites containing parish records.
• FindMyPast – Has a large British records focus.

Tip: For those parish records that did not survive or are too difficult to read, the bishop’s transcripts my span the gap. Bishops were required to record birth, marriages and deaths occurring in his parish. Essentially, the bishop was creating a list of his activities throughout a year.

Notice the types of information recorded.

Civil Registrations (After 1837)

When civil registrations began in 1837, the result was a national birth, marriage, death index. The Civil Registration indexes is just that, an index. The index is used to order a copy of the actual certificate.

Find the England and Wales Birth, Death and Marriage Registration Indices can be found on FamilySearch.org.  Here is an example of the type of information found on the marriage registration index.

Other Resources for Researching English Ancestors

• The National Archives of England & Wales is a must as you progress in your research. Start here to see exactly what they have and what they do not have. You can also learn what they have online and what is not available online.
• The British Newspaper Archive – Hundreds of historic British and Irish newspapers. (Subscription required.)
• Deceased Online – a very unique database of burial and cremation registers in the UK. (Free and paid options)
• FindMyPast – Has a large focus on British Isle records. FMP also houses PERSI. [PERSI is the Periodical Source Index and is the locator guide of over 2.5 million publications. Read how to use PERSI here.]
• Ancestry.com – The UK collection is part of the World subscription. For my UK readers, find Ancestry.com here.

Finally…..

For accessing those records in English repositories or for help untangling your English ancestral lines, you sometimes will need a researcher based in England. For those occasions, I recommend Legacy Tree Genealogists.

Related Posts of Interest:

• Where Did My Immigrant Ancestors Come From?
• How To Start Researching Your Irish Immigrant Ancestor
• Successful Research With A Genealogical Records Timeline

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