Why am I unable to find a record and what can I do?
  • Not every event was registered, particularly in the earlier years. It is worth checking the parish registers and burial indexes for missing records.
  • Remember it is the date of registration which is indexed, not the date of the event, for example, a child born near the end of December may have been registered in January of the following year.
  • A death may be registered in a different district from the place of burial.
  • Remember the registration district is not the same as the place of birth, it covers a wider area. If you have a place of birth, check which registration area it comes under.
  • Remember county boundaries and names have changed at various times and some places near the boundaries may appear in different counties at different times.
  • Spelling of names was not always standardised. Consider possible variations and use the phonetic search surnames option on freeBMD.
  • Not everyone is known by the name they were given at birth. A second name or a diminutive or even something quite different may be used. Keep an open mind and check details against census information. Remember Bessie may be Elizabeth, Peggy may be Margaret, Jack may be John.
  • Your ancestor may have been born with a different surname from the one you know him/her by. His birth may have been illegitimate or his mother may have remarried. Keep an open mind and look for possible deaths and remarriages. If names are sufficiently distinctive it is possible to do a first name search on freeBMD if you keep the time span short, for example, you could search for Alexander James? born March 1878 in Nottingham.
  • According to the circumstances, consider checking Scottish records, deaths at sea etc.
Written By Ancestry Aid Member: Gillian


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