Source ~ Findmypast.com

Tracing your female ancestors can be a challenge since almost all women took their husband’s family name when they were married. But, not all is lost, below are some of the many ways you can locate your ancestor’s maiden name.

The following is a link to a list of units of measure, many of which are now obsolete and which may be of assistance in your research. 

Regrettably the source for this document is unknown but I would be happy to reference it if identified.

Birth Marriage and Death records in England & Wales – Key Dates

• 1 July 1837 – Introduction of General Civil Registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths in England and Wales

I would like to acknowledge that this work is not my own.  It is an amalgum of many other web sites visited that together have helped me to create this information.

The Census in England is taken every ten years and has been since 1801; the only exception being during World War II (1941). Most pre-1841 census were not kept and therefore only a few pre-1841 census returns have been found.

Census in the UK was conducted on the evenings of the following dates:

1801 – 10th March
1811 – 27th May
1821 – 28th May
1831 – 30th May
1841 – 6th June
1851 – 30th March
1861 – 7th April
1871 – 2nd April
1881 – 3rd April
1891 – 5th April
1901 – 31st March
1911 – 2nd April
1921 – 19th June (Expected to be released by TNA in January 2022)
1931 – 26th April (Destroyed during WW2)
1939 – 29th September (WW2 National Registration)
1951 – 8th April
1961 – 23rd April
1971 – 25th April
1981 – 5th April
1991 – 21st April
2001 – 29th April

The following information was compiled in 2011 for the Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies (AIGS) and is reproduced here with permission.

It is a living document which is based on writings from the 1700 and 1800s that were available, as such it is not presented as being complete.  If you are able to add to the timeline please advise the Web Manager who will include the information here and update the author.

Whilst we would like to lay claim to the content on this page, it has been put together using snippets of many other similar web pages which can be found on the Internet. Although many, we would like to particularly acknowledge the Federation of Family History Societies web site for the basis of this text. 

Where do I start? 

On reading inventories which often accompany Wills, it can be very difficult to decipher many of the words, especially as some would be in local dialect and with odd spellings. Here are some of the words you may come across.

Common Gravestone Icons and Symbols

These are some of the most common and defined icons you may encounter in a cemetery or graveyard (source unknown).

The system of Civil Registration, introduced on 1^st July 1837 is a fantastic research tool for family historians.  Its introduction was controversial at the time.  Previously all births, marriages and deaths were entered in church or chapel registers as baptisms, marriages and burials.  The new regime reduced the power of the religious bodies and allowed couples to marry not just in the parish church but also in nonconformist chapels and register offices.  Whereas birth registration was not compulsory until 1874, since 1^st July 1837 the Registrar General has been responsible for ensuring all marriages were recorded.  The registration district usually covered several parishes and a huge number of non-conformist chapels and register offices.  The name of registration districts can be misleading.  For example West Derby registration district was not in Derbyshire but was one of the districts within Liverpool.  Parts of York to the east were part of Howden district.  A full list of registration districts is available on the GRO website.