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IntroductionThe Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Days Saints or "The Mormons" for short, or even shorter "The LDS", has a strong belief in the sanctity of the family and encourages its members to find out all they can about their ancestors, who they can expect to meet up with in the hereafter.Click here to see what the LDS has to say on the matter. As a consequence of these beliefs the LDS has gone to enormous trouble over many years collecting information from Parish Records and the like. They have then very kindly made all this information available to the public in general through their Family History Centres, which are scattered all around the world. In more recent times they have been even more magnanimous by making a lot of information available on CDs at a very low cost. They have also developed some marvellous on-line research facilities on the Internet, all free of charge.
This page is intended to give you just a taste of what the LDS provides. If you have any queries, suggestions or contributions, please email me: |
This picture is of Wycoller Dene, standing above the ruins of Wycoller Hall and looking towards Boulsworth Hill. The stones to the left are known as a Vaccary Wall and have been standing there since the Middle Ages, they were used to mark land boundaries. |
Table of Contents
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Family Search - The LDS Genealogy Web Site IGI Library Catalogue Ancestral File Research in Great Britain Batch Numbers and Film Numbers BVRI - The Vital Records Index - British Isles |
Family Search - The LDS Genealogy Web Site
Personally I've never had any luck searching from this page so if anyone has hints and tips on how to benefit from it then please let me know.
Click here to see the LDS Home Page
There are always new genealogical developments going on at the LDS - new software, new CDs, changes to Family Search etc.
Click here to find out what's new.
Custom Search - IGI - The International Genealogical Index
Click here to access the IGI page
The following notes were collated from LancsGen by Jeanne Wood. They explain how Listers get the best results when using the IGI (International Genealogical Index) facility:
2. When boxes appear, put in the first name and surname, then scroll down to the long box to select your country e.g. British Isles.
3. Choose births, marriages, deaths or burial in the relevant box
4. Press SEARCH This will give you a selection of possible ancestors. Select the one you want (at this stage even if it is not my ancestor but one of the same surname from the same place, I click on that name)
5. When the result comes up, there is a batch number e.g. C123456 for Christenings, M123456 for marriages.
6. Note the batch number
7. Using your BACK button, (or paste the above address in) go back to CUSTOM SEARCH, select your BRITISH ISLES or whatever, type in SURNAME only, then below, where the batch no. box is, type in your BATCH number.
8. This should bring up all of that surname in that parish or area.
I find this service quite fascinating. It has a wealth of information about the places where the LDS gleaned their information. Censuses, Parish Records, Published Histories etc etc. It contains all those Batch Numbers and Film Numbers you can use when placing orders at your local Family History Centre.
You just put in the name of the town you are interested in and up pops a host of different types of records that the LDS have catalogued.
This facility also contains a Surname search which will bring up references to publications, such as Family Histories, that refer to the name. It is very American oriented but you might strike lucky.
This page looks a bit like an IGI search but takes you into the family research findings of multitudes of people who have submitted theri work to the LDS. You just might catch up with some of your ancestors this way and save years of research.
The LDS web site contains a wealth of resources, so big it needs its own search facility. The above link points to the "G"s, which includes all these references to Great Britain. I haven't read them myself but maybe one day......
Some people think they are wonderful, others think they are a waste of money; it all depends whether you find anything on them or not. When I bought my set (the first edition in 1999) I was of the latter opinion but later I got the occasional "hit" so now I think they are good value for money.Custom Search - The Family History Library Catalogue
Click here to access to the Family History Library Catalogue pageCustom Search - Ancestral File
Click here to access the Ancestral File Search pageResearch in Great Britain
Click here to see the Great Britain Index of Resources
Great Britain England and Wales, How to Use Civil Registration Birth Records
Great Britain England and Wales, How to Use Civil Registration Death Records
Great Britain England and Wales, How to Use Civil Registration Marriage Records
Great Britain England and Wales, How to Use the Index to the Civil Registration of Deaths
Great Britain England and Wales, How to Use the Index to the Civil Registration of Marriages
Great Britain England, Historical Background
Great Britain England, How to Find Compiled Sources
Great Britain England, How to Find Family Histories
Great Britain England, How to Find Information About the Place Where Your Ancestor Lived
Great Britain England, How to Find Maps
Great Britain England, How to Find the Name of the Place Where Your Ancestor Lived
Great Britain England, How to Use Census Records
Great Britain England, How to Use Church Records 1538 to the Present
Great Britain England, How to Use Court Records
Great Britain England, How to Use District Registry Wills for 1858 to 1925
Great Britain England, How to Use Land Records
Great Britain England, How to Use Military Records
Great Britain England, How to Use Nonconformist Church Records
Great Britain England, How to Use Pre-1858 Probate Records
Great Britain England, How to Use Principal Probate Registry Indexes
Great Britain England, How to Use Principal Registry Wills for 1858 to 1925
Great Britain England, How to Use Probate Records from 1858 to the Present
Great Britain Organizing Your Genealogy Using Computers
Great Britain Organizing Your Paper Files
Great Britain Organizing Your Paper Files Using Binders (Notebooks)
Great Britain Organizing Your Paper Files Using File Folders
Great Britain Scotland Historical Background
Great Britain Scotland, How to Find a Map
Great Britain Scotland, How to Find a Place Name
Great Britain Scotland, How to Find Compiled Sources
Great Britain Scotland, How to Find Information About the Place Where Your Ancestor Lived
Great Britain Sources for Previous Research in the British Isles
Great Britain Wales Historical Background
Great Britain Wales, How to Find a Map
Great Britain Wales, How to Find a Place Name
Great Britain Wales, How to Find Compiled Sources
Great Britain Wales, How to Find Information About the Place Where Your Ancestor Lived
Click here to see guidance on research in England according to the year of interest
Batch Numbers and Film Numbers
Knowledge of how batch numbers work is vital to successful use of the IGI, so it is well worth while spending the time needed to learn about them.
This site gives quite an erudite explaination of what batch numbers are all about.
This site not only explains batches it also guides you to the actual batch numbers you might want then links to the IGI Search.
BVRI - The Vital Records Index - British Isles
The second release of this Index is a set of 16 CDs published by the LDS which contain a partial collection of records of about 12 million births, christenings and marriages in the British Isles over the period 1538 to 1906. The CD set is obtainable from the LDS at a very low price. I got mine through the Family Resource Centre in Auckland.