Tip for Using FreeReg to Search for Birth and Death Dates

FreeReg is an index to church parish registers in the British Isles.  It's a great resource for finding baptisms, marriages, and burials in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.  It can also aid in finding birth or death dates.

If searching baptisms hoping to find a birth date, you may well find one because both dates are sometimes recorded.  But it's important to remember that baptisms happened after a birth and not on the birth date.  And sometimes those baptisms happened several years after a birth.  When you put in the search years for a baptism, be sure to extend the date at least several years after the child was born.  

Burials usually happened within days of death so no need to extend the death year unless you don't know it. 

—Nancy.

Copyright © 2025 Nancy Messier.  All Rights Reserved. 
Do not copy or use any content from this blog without written permission from the owner. 
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Calling Attention to Three Search Sites Mentioned by Other Bloggers

Recently several bloggers have posted links to searchable websites that I thought worth highlighting and mentioning again.  Thank you to Michael John Neill, English Ancestors, and Teresa.
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At his blog, Genealogy Tip of the Day, Michael John Neill posted news about FamilySearch's experimental search website, United States Wills and Deeds, where FamilySearch is investigating new ways to access hard to find records.  Since this is an experimental website it may may be available for only a limited time.  I love the fact that the website's sole purpose is searching court records and that I can search by name and then narrow the search in a variety of ways such as location, years, etc.  It's already been helpful to me.  Go here to reach FamilySearch's United States Wills and Deeds Experimental Search.

If you have British ancestors, these two posts and links are for you.
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Teresa at writing my past told of her second great-grandmother's experience Testifying at the Old Bailey... and how she found the record.  Read her post at that link and search The Proceedings of the Old Bailey here.  The Old Bailey was London's Central Criminal Court.

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English Ancestors recently published the post Instant-access Birth and Death certificate images which are now available at the General Register Office website and explained the process for obtaining them, then compared the differences between these certificates and the PDF versions we obtain through email and the paper certificates that come through regular mail.  It's a great post and I recommend it if you have ancestors from England.  This is the link to the General Register Office.
Again, thank you to Michael John Neil, English Ancestors, and Teresa.  Great work, you three!

—Nancy.

Copyright © 2023 Nancy Messier.  All Rights Reserved. 
Do not copy or use any content from this blog without written permission from the owner. 
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Singing the Praises of the U.K.'s Government Register Office

Yes, yes, yes!   A scanned image of the original marriage record for my third great-grandmother arrived today!  While it took some time, I'm thrilled to have it and thrilled that the employees of the U.K.'s Government Register Office (GRO) are so accommodating.  Singing their praises, for sure!

To explain why I'm so pleased and excited about this record (in addition to the fact that it's for one of my ancestors), here is a review and timeline of the process for obtaining it.  You need to know that the GRO makes digital scans of birth and death records available online (with purchase) but they send marriage records through the regular post.

April 19.  I placed an order for two marriage records, one for Martha Reay Doyle and Thomas Richardson, one for Andrew Doyle and Elizabeth Laws. 

May 9.  The certificate for Andrew and Elizabeth arrived.  Martha and Thomas's record was not with it.  After a week I was still waiting its arrival.

May 17.  I used the GRO's contact form to tell them that Martha and Thomas's record had not yet arrived and to ask about it.

May 23.  A GRO representative responded that the certificate had been mailed on April 26 and asked that I check with my local post office to see if the envelope could be found.

June 4.  I responded that the post office had no knowledge of the envelope and asked if they could resend the marriage record.

June 11.  I received an email stating that the GRO was investigating my inquiry and that I would "receive a response in due course."

June 14.  The marriage record arrived.  Sadly, it was a typewritten transcription instead of a scan of the original record as others had been.  I was disappointed but guessed that would be the best I would get.  But it kept bothering me that one of the surnames on the transcription was different than I thought it should be.  A few days later it finally occurred to me that I could at least ask the GRO if it would be possible to get a scan of the original.

June 20.  Once again I contacted the GRO, explained my dilemma, and asked if I could have a scan of the original record.

June 26.  The GRO responded saying, "We are currently investigating your enquiry and you will receive a response in due course."

June 27 (Today!).  My response came when Martha and Thomas's marriage record arrived in the mail, as shown above.  It is a printed image of a digital scan.  And I can read it clearly!

The power of persistence pays off, but only because the employees at the U.K.'s GRO are helpful, generous people.  I am singing their praises.  Wonderful people!

--Nancy.

Copyright ©2018, Nancy Messier.  All Rights Reserved. 
Do not copy or use any content from this blog without written permission from the owner. 
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Helps for Finding Pre-1858 Probate Records in England

In pre-1858 England wills were probated through the Church of England, generally where the ancestor lived and held property.  Probate records were church records.  Within the Church of England there are a number of courts in which a will could have been probated:  a Peculiar Court, an Archdeacon's Court, a Bishop's Court, and an Archbishop's Court, among others.  An executor would generally have taken the will to the lowest court with jurisdiction over the area where the will could have been probated.

The first step to finding probate records for an ancestor who lived in England is to learn where he lived and held property.  Census records, a death record, and a burial record can all help you determine that location. 

The National Archives (U.K.) has an excellent online guide to assist and direct in searching for pre-1858 probate records.  You can find it at Wills and probate before 1858:  further research.

In the book A Genealogist's Guide to Discovering Your English Ancestors by Paul Milner and Linda Jonas there is a chapter devoted to searching for pre-1858 probate records.  It explains the church court system (parish, peculiar, deanery, etc.) and suggests the steps to follow to search for records.  This is especially helpful because there may be several courts' records one needs to search, each successively higher and geographically broader.  In addition, there is a section devoted to finding and using probate indexes. 

FamilySearch has a book devoted to researching British probate records before 1858.  Information is available at Researching British probates, 1354-1858 : a guide to the microfilm collection of the Family History Library.  There is link to digital images which can be viewed at local Family History Center or at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.

While you're at the FamilySearch website (and after you've found where your ancestor may have owned property and died), be sure to search the catalog by location to see lists of probate records available for that location at FamilySearch.

Helps for Finding Northumberland Probate Records

The Northumberland Probate Records wiki at FamilySearch offers a step-by-step guide to searching records.

Durham and Northumberland Probate Records, 1527-1857 is a website offered by Durham University Library.  It is searchable by name and also offers an advanced search.  I believe this is a work in progress based on the explanation in the opening paragraph and is a website I will search again in the future.

English Probate Jurisdictions -- Northumberland is pamphlet offered through FamilySearch with a step-by-step guide for searching.  You may need to sign in to FamilySearch to see this website.  (It will look like a blank screen so be sure to scroll down.)  This is a guide through the court system -- search here first, here second, etc.

Letters of administration and probates granted, ca. 1832-1893 for Northumberland and Durham gives information about a FamilySearch microfilm (#252774 / #004629095) which is available for digital viewing here (possibly after you sign in to your FamilySearch account or it may be available only at a Family History Center).  The images are not yet indexed.

Have you had success in finding early English probate records for an ancestor?  Do you have any tips or hints for my readers and me?

 --Nancy.

Copyright ©2018, Nancy Messier.  All Rights Reserved.

What Are the Chances My Northumberland Ancestor Made a Will?

William Doyle was a coal miner who died in Northumberland, England, in 1838 after being run over by a cart wheel.  He was about 36 years old.  What are the chances he wrote a will?

Reasons a Will Was Created

1. A person who owned property wanted to declare who was to receive the property after his death.   
2. A person wrote a will when he anticipated his impending death.

Would William have owned real property?  It's hard to imagine that a coal miner would have accumulated enough money to buy land, or even that he would have worked at the same mine long enough to wish to own property.  He probably owned furniture, dishes, bedding, clothes, perhaps his own tools.  Would his possessions have been "will worthy" --  worth the time, effort, and perhaps expense, to make a will?

Coal mining is and was a dangerous profession.  When miners went underground to their work every day they probably knew it could be the last time they might see the light of day.  At what point would a coal miner have decided it was time to make a will?  

I doubt there's any easy way to know whether William had a will other than to search for one.  And even if he had one, it would have to have been probated for there to be probate records.

I'm on foreign ground with this next question.  Did England have an Orphan's Court and, if so, would a guardian have been assigned to William's five children?  This happened in Pennsylvania after the death of one of my ancestors:  the children were assigned a guardian through the Orphan's Court though their mother was alive and cared for them.  Would that have happened in England in 1838?

And, of course, there's always the question of whether finding a will would help in my search for William's place of birth and his parents' and siblings' names.  Is it worth my time to search or should I move on?

Researching in another country is an interesting experience, especially when it goes beyond indexed census records and birth, marriage, and death records.

Do you have experience researching in England?

--Nancy.

Copyright ©2018, Nancy Messier. All Rights Reserved.
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