Subject: Bridging the Gap – Tracing Forwards from 1911
Speaker: Jackie Depelle
The Wharfedale Family History Group meeting took place Thursday 5th October and was opened by Chairman Lynda Balmforth who told us about the 10% discount on Findmypast subscriptions available through our website wharfedalefhg.org. Lynda introduced our speaker for the evening, Jackie Depelle who presented her talk ‘Bridging the Gap – Tracing Forwards from 1911’.
1911 is the most recent census return available to family historians who often begin their research with this resource, searching for known ancestors with their approximate or known age. This census is unique in that it provides details of how long a couple have been married and how many children they have had; providing clues to search for further information such as a marriage. Jackie describes this process as ‘working from the known to the unknown’. Parish Registers are continuing to become available online (keep checking websites for updates) and it is useful that from 1837 these contain the same information as a marriage certificate. The recently amended GRO index now incorporates mother’s maiden surnames from 1837 as well as age at death (previously only available from 1911 and 1866 respectively).
A major resource for bridging the gap between 1911 and the present day are electoral registers. Many of these are available on the main family history websites and can be useful to track a person forwards until a likely time of death. Online newspapers can provide valuable information about a person’s death and the British Newspaper Archives website enables an advanced search facility. It is also worth visiting the National Newspaper Archive at Boston Spa (as not all newspapers have been digitised). Wills are also very useful for bridging the gap and it is worthwhile searching the National Probate Index on the main family history websites or the government website Findawill. A successful search will give an accurate date of death. The 1939 Register is another important tool with its subsequent annotations of ladies’ married surnames. The National Archives website offers a very useful podcast on the 1939 Register.
Jackie went through a number of other very useful resources as follows: passenger lists, military service records, Army register of soldiers’ effects (Ancestry), Red Cross lists, burial records (recommended Deceased Online website), Yorkshire Indexers (for memorial inscriptions), library catalogues, Trade Union registers, hospital records (National Archives), school records, and Deeds Registries. It can be useful to look at online family trees (without assuming they are correct) and a Google search can be interesting too. This list is not exhaustive but Jackie gave us plenty of ideas to keep us busy. Her talk was illustrated throughout with the results of her search into the life of a UK citizen interned in Germany during WW1 which was most interesting.
President Stanley Merridew gave a warm vote of thanks. We have been delighted to welcome a number of new faces to our group recently, why not come and join us and see if we can help with your family history queries? The Group’s next meeting takes place Thursday 2 November at the Salem Church Hall, Burley in Wharfedale 7.30 pm when Phil Judkin presents his talk ‘More Deadly than the Male’. Everyone welcome, refreshments provided.
