Things I Have Learned

About a month ago I was really tired of hitting the BRICK WALL.  So, I traveled down to the B2 floor at the Family History Library.  B2 is the British Isle floor.  Now FYI, there are two types of help at the Family History Library; professionals and missionaries.  I am a missionary, and although we are trained rather well, sometimes you just need a professional.  So, I found a professional.  Here is what craziness I learned from the professional:

1.  No those aren't triplets on that census record or twins on that record.  In the 1841 census record the age of the children were rounded up or rounded down depending on the child's current age.  Either 5 or 15 years old was the age used.  (Which is why no descendants have had any multiple births since that census record!)

2.  Towns, parishes, and counties changed regularly even if the family didn't move.  For example a family may have lived in a single particular home in 1841 and 1851, yet each census place will  list a different residence because the boundaries changed.  That is why we have different birth places listed on different records.  In other words, Mostyn, Mold, Holywell, Bagillt, and Whitford are generally the same place.

The third thing I learned, on my own:
3.  Church records were not kept with the individual church or clergyman.  The christening entries for the WHOLE church are kept in ledgers, and within those ledgers are various churches, but not all of the churches are listed in each ledger.  In other words, the ledgers contain records, but there is no rhyme or reason as to which ledger they are kept in.  A child christened in a church will be recorded in one ledger and a couple of years later a sibling christened in the same church by the same person will be listed in a different ledger even though it should be listed just a few pages behind the first christening in the same ledger.


So, what does this mean to research---it's not as easy as it looks!!! and it is call reSEARCH because you have to SEARCH!!!

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