Must have for all family history researchers date calculator which will work out as follows:-

• Age at Event
• Birth Date
• Event Date

You can use the link below to see how it works.

Click here to download date.calc.exe

 

 

 

 

HOW TO START

Start with family, ask Mum's, Dad's, Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles.

Look for family photographs and letters.

Ask if anyone holds a family bible.

Look for marriage and death certificates.

See if anyone has kept letters or other records.

Look on the web for the following information:

• Census returns 1841 - 1901
• Birth, deaths and marriages from 1837
• Parish Records
• National Archives
• Commonwealth War Graves Commission
• Pay per view sites
• Memorial Inscriptions
• Newspapers
• Local Libraries

 

IMPORTANT  when checking census records look at previous or next page quite often the entry of your family could be over two pages.

 

One of the things I was frequently told as a child is that past generations were quite wealthy because they had servants.  This is true but be aware that servants were often members of the family either the youngest siblings, cousins, brother-in-laws or sister-in-laws.

 

Things I had to lookup

Annuitant - this term used on census forms describes someone who receives an annuity in the form of a regular income left to them in a will.

Yeoman - the term used for a prosperous working farmer below the rank of 'gentry,' wealthier than the average farmer.  Working their own land, not necessarily freeholders their tenures included copyhold, freehold, and leasehold.  The term Yeoman was often found in wills of the 18th and 19th century.  Eventually the term was dropped in favour of the name 'farmer'.  If you are looking at the class system then farmers would be in 'Class 11', but would farm over five acres of land.  This is why when looking at census information you will see under occupation the words 'farmer', the 'acreage' and the number of people he employed.

 

 

 

This site is all about my husband's family.  I will cover the Evans family who were Brick makers who originally came from the Oswestry area then moved to Forden Nr. Welshpool before marrying into the Griffiths family.  The Griffiths family came from Buttington Nr. Welshpool and George Griffiths moved his family to Oswestry.  The Leech family who came from Salford Manchester to Dovaston Nr. Kinnerley and then some of their children settled at Crewe whilst my husband's family settled in Oswestry.

The research into these families has been extremely difficult there were not many stories handed down and the children appeared not to ask questions or if they did, they were told that their family history was of no concern to them.  The children in the Griffiths family had a very harsh upbringing possibly, because George Griffiths was a military man.  Money would have been very tight and the children's shoes often shared as Jennie Leech has told me.

Names

Unusual names are very much apart of my husband’s family tree.  One of his aunts named Florence Embrey Griffiths.  The Embrey came from her grandmother who before her marriage to John Evans was Hannah Embrey.  Jack Griffiths’ real name was, Garnet John Beauchamp Griffiths still have not worked out where this one came from.  Another son named Mel was actually Walter Melbourne Griffiths.  At this time, none of the family is any closer to finding out why. 

This site is work in progress

Take a look at my other website mypastonline.com which takes a look at the Evans family of Bryndderwen and Oerle, Trefeglwys.  The Francis family of Selattyn and Oswestry and the Groves family of Ratlinghope and Oswestry. The Hamer and Harris families