september 25, 2020 by Legacy Tree Genealogists Leave a Comment

Diving into English Records: An Essential Guide for Tracing English Ancestry

Do you have English ancestry? We review the most requested English records and tips for using these records to build an accurate family tree.

When seeking to extend your English ancestry, it is essential to first understand the records that are available. Following are examples of the most requested English records that are vital to researchers when building your family tree, and tips for using these records to help build an accurate family tree.

General Registry Office for Births, Marriages, Deaths (BMD)

The General Register Office (GRO) has maintained birth, marriage and death certificates since 1837. Records in England are publicly accessible and available to order by visiting a local registry office, ordering on the registry website or via telephone. Telephone orders are priced slightly higher to cover administrative costs. Check out our article Ordering Records from the General Register Office of England and Wales for step by step instructions on how to obtain records from these offices.

The types of record services are:

PDF: £7 (approximately $8.75 USD). The most cost effective and quickest way is to purchase an electronic copy of the certificate. If you want the actual paper certificate, prepare to pay an extra few dollars and then some for the postage. The PDF copy is not a legal document.
Certificate: £11 (approximately $13.75 USD) plus international postage. The turnaround time can vary; for £35 (approximately $43.75 USD) you can secure a one- to two-day turnaround. Certificates are produced on colored paper: red for birth, green for Marriage, and black for death. This might be a nice idea as a gift, framing an ancestor’s certificate.

To order the certificates in any format, you will need to know the year and quarter (March, June, September and December) along with the surname and first name of the relative, district, volume and page number. The GRO can do a general search, but you could end up getting a stranger’s record without knowing the key facts of the family member. For example, if you were born 22 October 1906, you were born in the December quarter of 1906. If you were born 27 December 1906, it is more than likely the record of your birth would fall in March’s quarter in the following year.

FreeBMD allows the user to search all the birth, marriage and death GRO codes, making it easier to order the correct certificate of your ancestor. The site allows searches by mother’s maiden name, spouse’s name, and age at death or date of birth, all of which will narrow search results. Only births on and after 1911 state the maiden name.

Birth Records

Certificate color and format have changed over the years. Certificates around the millennial era have abolished the red color and are now portrayed in portrait. There are two types of certificates, long form and short form. The short form only includes details about the baby, whereas the long form includes the parents’ details. The short form is free of charge to the parents, compared to the £11 for the long form certificate.

Here are the examples of the short and long form certificates. If you order your ancestor’s certificate, you will be guaranteed the long form version. You may see the short form versions in picture hints online.

English record - certificate of birth

Regarding the father, if the father is not present at the registration, he will not be on the birth certificate. Despite the mother knowing the name of the father, he must attend in person. Otherwise it will be left blank or have a line drawn through it. The child would then take the mother’s surname as their own. If the father died before the baby was born, this is usually stated on the certificate in brackets under the father’s name or occupation. The child in this instance would have the father’s surname.

Historically, there was a stigma behind being a single woman with a child. Women would avoid this shame by registering the father as deceased. This enabled them to name the father or choose a name at random. Single mothers having sons may name the child after the absent father.

In my personal research, my three-times great-grandmother cleverly put the father’s surname as her daughter’s middle name. I was 99.9% convinced this was the case and DNA confirmed my suspicions. The only paternal evidence is DNA; just because a man is named does not mean he is the father.

Baptism Records

Baptism records include lots of information besides an ancestor’s religious denomination. Below is John Gittings’ baptism.

Date of baptism: 18 October 1896 – Baptism records can include the date of birth, written next to or after the baptismal record. Baptisms frequently occurred before the child’s first birthday. In some instances, they occurred straight away, indicating slim chances of survival. However, you may find your ancestor being baptised later in life. This was common where families could not afford the cost or time off of work. The sharing of baptisms with their siblings on the same day also occurred for these same reasons.

Name of person being baptised: John – Many parents named their children after themselves, parents or siblings. Middle names can often be the mother’s maiden name, preserving her family name. You may also find three children named Edward with all the same details bar the date and year; this sometimes occurred when the parents named their next born after a previously lost child.

Parents Name/s: William and Annie – In 1837, England started recording birth, marriages and deaths and the creation of birth certificates began. People no longer relied on religious documentation. Pre-1837, baptism records are needed to reveal the previous generation of your family tree. When researching names, look out for the abbreviation: William becomes Wm., for example.

Surname: Gittings – The mother’s maiden name may appear in baptisms. This is shown by drawing a line halfway through the section, with the father’s name on top, in line with his first name, and the mother’s maiden name below, in line with her first name.

Abode: Addison Road – The street name allows you to cross reference information shown in English census records. For example, we know the year is 1896, so by checking the censuses of 1901, 1911 and 1891, we may see this family living in Addison Road with other family members.

Profession: Slater – Knowing the father’s occupation can put limits on your research. If there is no father named on the baptism, the profession is usually listed as ‘single woman, regardless of whether the mother had a job.

The final box is the priest’s signature.

Adoption Records

In 1926, adoption records were legalized in England. Prior to 1926, adoptees could be found easily in census and baptism records. Below is the baptism of John’s youngest brother, Henry Jack Gittings. I have included the 1901 and 1911 census, showing the change in surname with a switch of middle and first name, along with the names of his adopted parents. When doing your own research, finding one person can prove difficult if the names vary from record to record.

English records - example of adoption record

The 1901 Census

The 1911 Census

Marriage Records

Marriage certificates have remained in their original format. Wedding banns are read any three Sundays before the wedding. Hints in online sites can mistakenly log the banns date as the actual date of the wedding. Like birth certificates, just because the father is named, it does not mean he is the biological father. You may find an ‘X’, frequently used by illiterate individuals where others have written on their behalf. Impoverished weddings often occurred on Christmas/Boxing Day to prevent taking the day off of work. When looking at the witnesses on the certificate, double check their surnames as this could be a relative of the bride or groom, in turn being another possible family member to add to your ever-growing tree. For example, the witnesses on this certificate are Miss Martha Niblett, the bride’s sister, and John Giddings, the groom’s uncle.

English records - example of marriage certificate

Marriage records can be found online through companies such as Findmypast, MyHeritage, Ancestry. Records of marriages that took place in a registry office will have to be ordered at the GRO.

Divorce Records

Records of divorces between 1858 and 1937 can be found at the National Archives in person or online, as well as on genealogy websites. Records before this period were less regimented and therefore harder to find. From 1937 onwards, records are held at the county registrar’s office.

Death Records

The informant on death certificates tends to be a spouse, son, or daughter. Details of the deceased are written down by the registrar and are not always accurate.

Death certificate formats have changed over time. This can be seen when comparing the death records of John Gittings and his father William. The death certificate is formatted like our long form birth certificates.

English records - example of death certificate

The evolution of modern medicine has eradicated many diseases that caused the death of our ancestors. Genetic diseases are interesting to track down, finding patterns within your family history.

As you travel further back in time, doctors might have written the certificate and are known for their notoriously bad handwriting. Be prepared to painfully transcribe the document.

Probate & Wills

Probate records can be viewed via sites such as Findmypast and Ancestry and can be purchased through the government website at £1.50 (approximately $1.88 USD); this price has only recently been reduced from £10 (approximately $12.50 USD) per record! Postal orders are also available.

When searching for the probate record, you will need to know the surname and year of death. You will also need to check the type of Grant of Representation, as not all probates include a will.

Wills can contain a variety of knowledge, revealing names, addresses, relationships and their wealth or lack of. Prized possessions from a diamond ring down to the bed linen will be listed along with their respective heirs. Reading the will may, therefore, give you an insight into your ancestor’s character and what was important to them.

Cemetery Records

English cemetery records may be found within the parish archives, the National Archives or the cemetery itself. Transcribed records via Ancestry may prove inaccurate. Deceased Online, a subscription site, holds the rights to certain towns/county cemetery records, teaming up with Ancestry, who transcribes them.

Stillbirths

Parents are given a medical certificate which they can present to their local GRO within 42 days of the stillborn delivery. This is optional and not a legal requirement. However, there may be a record of a burial or cremation. Historically, stillbirths are very hard to trace as some mothers had home births and home burials.

Obituaries

Local newspapers were and still are the popular method of publishing a death notice. The notice is short and sweet. The use of pictures and mini autobiographies is uncommon in England. The funeral directors may put obituary memorials on their web page; the detail and content are on a smaller scale compared to the likes of Legacy.com. Newspaper clippings can be researched at our National Archives, local library, or various subscription sites such as Findmypast, MyHeritage, or Ancestry. The British Newspaper Archive (BNA) also is worth trialling, with over 30 million pages spanning a 300-year period.

Census

The household census records began in 1801. Inaccuracies often occurred as an enumerator carried these out. Ancestors’ names would be written as they were heard. When carrying out your research, look for similar-sounding names. For example, the Gittings surname was often spelt without the ‘G’ (Gittins) or ‘GS’ (Gittin). When John’s sister moved to Australia, the immigration papers were spelt ‘Gettings’.

Children may not show up one year because they have died, are at school or are living with grandparents/relatives. An elderly ancestor who isn’t present in the next census may have died. However sad, this information gives you a rough estimate of when they passed, revealing a timeline and narrowing the research of our death records. A teenage daughter in the 1881 census but absent in the 1891 census may have died or more likely married. By researching our marriage records, with her name and location you should find a match. Through the years, more details have been added to each census. Below are the changes and what to look out for.

10 March 1801 – 30 May 1831 – Few records remain, mainly used for a basic head count of the population
6 June 1841 – Name, age, occupation, born in the same county, born elsewhere.
30 March 1851 – Relation to the head of household, marital status, place of birth, blind, deaf or dumb.
7 April 1861 – No changes
April 1871 – Economic status, whether an imbecile, idiot or lunatic.
3 April 1881 – No changes.
5 April 1891 – Whether an employer, employee or neither; number of rooms occupied if less than 5.
31 March 1901 – Number of rooms in dwelling, work status, working from home.
2 April 1911 – Industry connection, number of years married, number of children (including the deceased), nationality, infirmity.
19 June 1921 – To be released in 2021
26 April 1931 – Destroyed by fire in World War II.
29 September 1939 – Recorded just after the outbreak of World War II; information was used to produce identity cards. The register includes the above plus gender, date of birth and married names, recording single women who have gone on to marry. Blanked-out sections indicate the person recorded is still living, abiding to the 100-year rule.
1941 – No census due to World War II

National Archives

Situated between London Heathrow Airport and Central London, Kew is home to The National Archives. Nearby are Kew Gardens, Hampton Court Palace and Bushy Park. Although the National Archives is beautifully organized and worth a day trip if you find yourself visiting England, some records can be purchased online through the National Archives. Some records are also available at Ancestry or Findmypast. The reading room contains newspapers and more in-depth records when it comes to military, immigration and prison records.

If your ancestors are from a naval background, they likely were based near Portsmouth. When looking for records in Portsmouth, you will only be able to view it depending on who holds those rights. The records will be at the archives in Portsmouth or Kew. The brick wall you’ve hit could be solved by a record sitting in a book in Kew.

Prison Records

Newspaper articles would regularly inform the public of local and national crime cases from petty theft to murder. This can lead you to further your search by obtaining the prison records. If you are lucky, you may come across photographs in the record, although a ‘mug shot’ may not need framing.

Criminal registers through the Home Office are held by the National Archives and can be viewed on Ancestry. Criminals, convicts and prisoner records along with judges’ reports on criminals and index to criminal petitions are held by Kew and Findmypast. Ancestry holds fewer rights than Findmypast. You may need to use more than one site to answer your research questions.

The Old Bailey is London’s central criminal court, and the proceedings of the Old Bailey trial records can be found on their website.

Military Records

English military records can be viewed online at Fold3 by Ancestry, Forces War Records and the Imperial War Museum (IWM) in London or Manchester. If given the chance to visit the IWM, you will find there is much more to see than just records. For example, you can visit HMS Belfast, the most significant World War II Royal Navy vessel.

For more historical maritime documents, the National Museum of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth will be your next port of call.

RAF records can be viewed at the RAF Museum in London or in Cosford. The National Army Museum in London contains historical archives from the seventeenth century onwards.

A website I often use is the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, commemorating the fallen. Its databases include information for 1.7 million men and women who lost their lives in World War I and World War II. The cemetery database features 23,000 locations in more than 150 countries. Once you have located the record you’re looking for, you can download a PDF commemorative certificate. Here is an example for John Gittings’ nephew William, who was killed in action.

A great tip when researching veterans is to cross reference the file with medals. World War I medals have the name and regiment number engraved around the rim. You may also find engravings on the reverse side of the medal. World War II medals do not have any personal details on them.

Looking forward

We have lots to look forward to!

Programs such as “Long Lost Family” and “Who Do You Think You Are?” have driven interest in family history and in DNA testing. AncestryDNA tests are popular in England, though many users will not have posted an actual family tree, just their results. Fortunately, you can upload your Ancestry GEDCOM to the likes of MyHeritage and others.

In 2021, the 1921 census will become available to the public. Many people are excited to view these records, as you will be able to see what affects World War I had on the population. As a fire and war affected both the 1931 and 1941 censuses, we will have to wait thirty years to see the 1951 census in 2051.

With the help of volunteers, the National Archives are constantly transcribing and updating English records and making them digitally available the public

This year alone will certainly feature in the history books. People in years to come will talk about the pandemic of 2020: Marriages and funerals with no guests, postponed weddings, mothers giving birth alone, and Covid-19 being the cause of death on a death certificate.

As you research your English ancestry, familiarizing yourself with the available records and how they may be used will prove invaluable in your research efforts. Happy searching!

Legacy Tree Genealogists has extensive experience in tracing clients’ ancestors, whether they originate from England or elsewhere around the globe. Wherever your ancestors are from, we would love to help you learn more about their lives. Contact us today for a free quote.

august 28, 2020 by Legacy Tree Genealogists Leave a Comment

Legacy Tree Onsite: The Historical National Archive in Cape Verde

Legacy Tree Genealogists works with researchers from across the globe to access records for our clients. We asked one of our onsite researchers located in Cape Verde to share an overview of the record collections available at the Historical National Archive in Cape Verde.

Historically, Cape Verde’s archipelago was a meeting point for citizens from Europe, America and Africa, mostly due to the slave trade, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Due to this unique past, the documents contained in the archives of Cape Verde can reveal answers about the shared past between Portugal and its islands of Azores and Madeira, Spain and the Canary Islands, the neighbouring countries of Angola, Mozambique, and Saint Tomé and Principe, and even Brazil.

Cape Verde Archives

Cape Verde’s historical legacy is preserved in the Historical National Archive (HNA), which has its headquarters in the old colonial customs building in Gamboa, Praia, on Santiago island. It is responsible for the protection of documentary heritage, and a dependency of the Ministry of Culture of Cape Verde.

In the 1960s, Cape Verde was under the administration of the Ministry of Overseas of Portugal, and was compelled to send a great amount of documentation to the mother country. Because of this, most of the key documents in Cape Verde’s history are kept in foreign collections, principally in Portuguese archives.

Record Collections at the Historical National Archive in Cape Verde

Although many collections are kept in foreign archives, the Historical National Archive keeps documentation of interest for African and Cape-Verdean culture and history, from the 16th to the 19th century, including the transition between the Ancien Régime and the new constitutional order; and the years before the independence of Cape Verde, into the 20th century. The main collections at HNA include the following:

Church Registers Collection: this collection is the most important for genealogical research and holds Catholic Church registers of christening, marriage, and death from all islands. Civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths began in 1867; the HNA keeps among its collections the church and civil registers from 1792 to 1916. In addition, the Church of Our Ladyship of Grace, in Plateau, Praia, also has a collection of earlier documents.
Registry of Notaries Collection: includes protocols and wills which can contain useful genealogical information.

Central Administration Collection: houses documents which belonged to the General Government’s Office (books of register and manuscripts from 1674 to 1928, and papers from 1803 to 1926). In addition, this collection houses documents of the civil administration, taxes and customs provincial departments; the Institute of Work, Insurance and Beneficence documents (from 1926 to 1975); and the Prime Minister’s Cabinet documentation from 1974 to 1990.

Ministerial Collection: includes documents which belonged to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (from 1975), the Ministry of Economic Coordination, Justice, Culture, Infrastructure and Transports (from several years), including provincial departments.

Taxes and Customs Collection: this collection has great value for the analysis of historical foreign trade relations with Cape Verde, including papers from the former taxes and customs authorities, such as the islands of São Nicolau, Fogo, Brava, Maio and Boavista.

Judiciary Collection: this collection holds documents of the Cape-Verdean Court of Justice: all the civil and criminal proceedings between citizens and public institutions. This includes the papers of the Regional Court of Ribeira Grande, the Court of the Region of Sotavento, and the Court of Praia (from 1700 to 1969).

Local Authorities Collection: documentation of the Administrative Office and the Council of Praia (from 1848 to 1975), and the papers of the City Council of Riberia Grande, Paúl, Porto Novo, São Nicolau, Sal, Boavista, Maio, Santa Catarina, Santa Cruz, Tarrafal, Praia (from 1812 to 1977), Fogo and Brava.

African Collection: documentation of neighbouring countries which share strong bonds with Cape Verde, such as Saint Tome and Principe, through the papers of the Guardianship of Services and Colonists (from 1900 to 1975).

Finally, the rich documentary legacy of the HNA of Cape Verde includes an important bibliographical collection of legislative documents from the former Portuguese colonies, such as Angola (from 1870 to 1974), Guinea Bissau (from 1905 to 1974), India (from 1935 to 1961), Macau (from 1926 to 1974), Mozambique (from 1926 to 1974), Saint Tome and Principe (from 1910 to 1973) and Timor (from 1920 to 1972). The HNA brings this essential African and Cape-Verdean history documentation within researchers’ reach.

If you need help researching your Cape Verdean ancestry, the team at Legacy Tree Genealogists is experienced at tracing and extending family lines, wherever they originate from. Our network of onsite researchers have access to the archives you need to make serious progress on your family history. Contact us today to discuss your research goals and request a free quote!

august 10, 2020 by Legacy Tree Genealogists Leave a Comment

Meet Rachel, Project Manager for Legacy Tree Genealogists

Meet Rachel, one of Legacy Tree Genealogists talented project managers!

Rachel Derenthal comes to Legacy Tree Genealogists with a background in business, accounting, and family history research. She originally obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Middle East Studies and Arabic from Brigham Young University however her post graduate jobs pushed her towards the field of business and accounting. In 2016 she decided to switch career paths and enrolled in the Family History Research program at Brigham Young University-Idaho with a specialization in British Isles research. While working towards this degree she was hired as a Southern States researcher with Ancestry ProGenealogists and gained experience working with DNA and brick wall cases.

In 2019 she and her family moved to New Jersey where she started her own genealogy company which focused on immigrant and African American heritage cases in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. She has given lectures on navigating genealogy websites and getting started with personal family history research.

Her own family has its share of mysteries, brick walls, black sheep, and heroes. Many of her ancestors are veterans who served in the Revolutionary War, Mexican War, Civil War, World Wars, and most recently in the Vietnam War. She enjoys locating and sifting through old military records and has used pensions and muster rolls to solve many genealogical mysteries for herself and others. If she had to choose one record group to research for the rest of her life, it would be old court records in a local county courthouse. The documents found there show the true character and tell the unheard stories of an ancestor!

In addition to researching, Rachel enjoys gardening, playing Nintendo Switch with her boys, and volunteering with the local refugee population. She is excited to use her business and research experience in her new role as project manager for Legacy Tree Genealogists and looks forward to helping you find your ancestors.

We’d love to help you with your family history, whether we’re breaking down brick wall mysteries, finding your biological parents, or just starting from scratch finding the stories about your ancestors. Contact us today for a free quote.

juli 29, 2020 by Legacy Tree Genealogists Leave a Comment

Meet Ryan, Project Manager for Legacy Tree Genealogists

Meet Ryan, one of Legacy Tree Genealogists talented project managers!

meet Ryan, project manager for Legacy Tree Genealogists Ryan Rockwood’s interest in the genealogy industry began when while living in Japan he saw how a deep reverence for and understanding of one’s ancestors can literally change people’s lives. This interest sprang into a career goal when he noticed how people of Asian descent had far fewer genealogical resources than those of other nationalities.

In an attempt to address this need, Ryan received a bachelor’s degree in Japanese from Brigham Young University with minors in Family History and International Business. While attending Brigham Young University he completed a number of internships that pushed him closer to his goal of helping those of Japanese descent with their genealogy. He was a Global Experience Operations Intern for FamilySearch, spending a portion of the internship in their Tokyo office where he assisted patrons all over Japan. He loved the opportunity to help people of all ages and experience levels discover and connect with their ancestors. Ryan also interned in the Brigham Young University Center for Family History and Genealogy where he worked on the Nauvoo Project, an initiative focused on tracking pioneers who lived in Nauvoo during the journey West. At the same time, he worked in the Brigham Young University Record Linking Lab, a lab focused on using AI and machine learning to assist in genealogical research. Although the emphases in these jobs were wildly different than that of his past internship in Japan, Ryan was grateful for the opportunity to broaden his understanding and experience in the industry. Finally, Ryan was accepted on grant and scholarship to intern simultaneously at the Hawai’i State Archives and with the Pacific Collection at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa Library in order to work with their Japanese and Asia Pacific records. These internships were both unfortunately canceled due to travel restrictions stemming from the COVID-19 Pandemic.

In his academic pursuits, Ryan has appreciated the opportunity to research Japanese migration on the macro and micro levels. He especially enjoyed researching the life and family of Seito Saibara, a Japanese pioneer who established a Christian colony in Eastern Texas in the early 1900s.

juli 23, 2020 by Legacy Tree Genealogists 3 Comments

Legacy Tree Onsite in Istria, Croatia: One Peninsula, Three Identities

Legacy Tree Genealogists works with researchers from across the globe to access records for our clients. We asked one of our onsite researchers located in Istria, Croatia, to share some of the nuances of genealogical research in Istria.

Istria is a peninsula in the Adriatic Sea belonging to Croatia, Slovenia and Italy. Its name derives from the name of the tribe Histri. When the Roman army invaded their capital in 177 BC, the Histrian king Epulon, his guard and their families committed mass suicide, choosing death over slavery. A few stones left from that period can still be seen in the open-air museum of Nesactium (known as Vizače in Croatian).

Nesactium (Vizače) Hillfort, Istria, Croatia.

Rome was not the only foreign power to rule Istria from afar. Over the centuries, Istria was ruled from Venice, Ljubljana, Vienna, Belgrade and Zagreb. Due to this history, records for Istria are held in various archives. The main genealogical archives for Istria are in Pula, Pazin, Rijeka and Zagreb, all cities in Croatia. However, some records are also held in the archives of Koper in Slovenia and Triest in Italy.

The Three Official Languages of Istria

For genealogical research in Istria, it is very useful to know the names of towns in all three languages, because records will be in different languages depending on the time period and area. There are three official languages on Istria: Croatian, Italian and Slovene, in addition to a few ancient languages and distinct dialects. The table below shows a few examples of town names in Croatian, Italian, and Slovene:

Croatian	Italian	Slovene
Istra	Istria	Istra
Pula	Pola	Pulj
Pazin	Pisino	Pazin
Rijeka	Fiume	Reka
Zagreb	Zagabria	Zagreb
Kopar	Capodistria	Koper
Trst	Trieste	Trst
Mleci	Venezia	Benetke
Rim	Roma	Rim
Beč	Vienna	Dunaj

Changing Borders

State borders in Istria shifted several times in the last two centuries. Every time new borders were drawn, there were consequences in the record-keeping as some dioceses and even parishes were split and redefined. Therefore it is vital for a researcher to know the history of the area. The main question before beginning research is to know when the parish was created and which towns were included in each parish.

The majority of the registers for Croatian Istria are still held by local parishes or in the archives of Pazin, Poreč, Rijeka or Triest. The original books are generally still held in the churches by the local parish priests. However, sometimes smaller parishes were incorporated into a larger, neighboring parish, and then the books will be held by that parish. The first step in determining where the parish registers are for a certain town is the National Archive of Pazin, Državni arhiv u Pazinu (DAP). This archive holds a list of parish registers and family books for all of Istria, both in book form and available online. Their website is in Croatian and English, though not all English pages work properly so it is a good idea to also search in Croatian with Google translate.

Duplicate Register Books

The dioceses of Triest, Poreč-Pula and Rijeka hold duplicate books of births, deaths, and marriages from every year from each parish from 1835 until World War II. Unfortunately, there are no indexes or family books (status animarum) that can be used to narrow down the research. This means research is a bit more challenging for bigger towns where there were several hundred births registered every year. Another difficulty in researching in cities is that the baptism could be a couple of months after the birth, so knowing the exact date of birth is crucial for successful research.

The Diocesan Archive of Triest, “Archivio storico diocesano di Trieste”, holds parish register copies for all of Istria except for the southern and north-easternmost parts for the period from 1835 until the end of the World War II. The Archdiocesan Archive of Rijeka, Arhiv Nadbiskupije Rijeka, keeps the duplicates for some northeastern parts of the peninsula that are not known as Istria but are called Čičarija and Kvarner. The territory of today’s Diocese of Poreč and Pula comprise all of Croatian Istria. Its Diocesan Archive of Poreč-Pula, Porečko-Puljski biskupijski arhiv, holds the majority of duplicates from 1827 to the present. This archive is not open to public but allows access to professional historians who must write an application letter for admittance.

There are few languages used in the duplicate records: Latin, Italian, Croatian, Slovene and German. There are also two different scripts used: Latin and the German Gothic alphabet. Personal names were also translated into the language of the record in the 19th century. For example, a boy named Josip was born in Pazin, but when he got married in Pula he was recorded in Italian as Giuseppe, and when he died in Dekani, Slovenia his name was written as Jožef. For some names this is complicated further with dialect variations: the English ‘John’ is equivalent to the names: Ivan (Slavic), Ioannes (Latin), Giovanni (Italian), Janez (Slovenian), or Zouanne (a dialect). Because names were translated into the language the priest was using at the time, researchers should not make assumptions about the ethnicity of the person based on a given name alone.

Priests copied out duplicates from their parish registers very year in December or January for the past year. Since they were copies, the handwriting is generally legible, nicer and often calligraphic from the mid-nineteenth century. Using duplicates is sometimes the only possible way to research a family if the originals no longer exist, but it is important to be aware of possible mistakes that occurred while copying data.

An example of a mistake in the duplicate registers.

Digital Copies

Digital copies of parish registers before 1900 from the Croatian State Archives are available from FamilySearch. The copies are from 40-year-old microfilms, so they are in black and white. Fortunately, these copies were made before the Croatian War of Independence (1991–1995). Due to record destruction during the war, these black-and-white digital copies are the only remaining copies for certain places and time periods.

A very early baptism dated 1 February 1537, Labin, Croatia, from FamilySearch. Zaharija Dragonja (Zacharias Dragognia) baptized a girl called Matea, the daughter of Juraj Božić (Georgi Bosic).

Digital copies of microfilms and the microfilms themselves are still stored at the Croatian National Archive in Zagreb, Hrvatski državni arhiv (HDA), for the all of Croatia. This archive also keeps many family books in addition to the digitized parish registers, and the latest copies are in color. The archive is housed in a palatial building built in 1913 in the Art Nouveau style and has a huge reading room with a beautiful ambience. If you need access to these records, one of our onsite researchers would be happy to assist!

The reading room of the Croatian State Archives.

If you need help researching your Croatian ancestry, the team at Legacy Tree Genealogists is experienced at navigating the challenges presented by changing borders and record destruction to extend family lines as far back as records will allow. Our network of onsite researchers have access to the archives you need to make serious progress on your family history. Contact us today to discuss your research goals and request a free quote!

juni 26, 2020 by Legacy Tree Genealogists 2 Comments

Legacy Tree Onsite: New England Historic Genealogical Society

Legacy Tree Genealogists works with researchers from across the globe to access records for our clients. We asked one of our researchers to share the ins and outs of visiting the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) in Boston.

Planning Your Trip to the New England Historic Genealogical Society

Located on Boston’s famous Newbury Street, the New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS) is close to anything and everything. Newbury Street is a shopper’s paradise, and all kinds of hotels are within a 15-minute walk, from the five-star Four Seasons and Mandarin Oriental and the exquisitely beautiful Fairmont Copley Plaza to a Sheraton, Hilton, Westin, and Marriott, plus several boutique hotels.

New England Historic Genealogical Society (NEHGS)

The New England Historic Genealogical Society does not accommodate parking. The closest parking garage costs $40 to park over 90 minutes. NEHGS is between two “T” or subway stops for economical visitors. The Arlington “T” stop is at Boston Public Garden, two blocks east, and the Copley “T” stop is across from the Boston Public Library, one block west and one block south. Also, an Amtrak Station is a ten-minute walk away, just off I-90.

The New England Historic Genealogical Society is member-based. Individual members pay $89.95 USD per year for on-site and online access. Non-members may purchase a day pass for $20 USD. If you take the free tour on Saturday mornings (not every Saturday, so call ahead!), you are welcome to stay and research.

Visiting the New England Historic Genealogical Society

The first floor has a small bookstore to the right on the entryway. Check-in is to the left. The Rotunda in front is stocked with how-to guides, an international reference collection, and teller windows from a previous life. A break room is on the other side, next to the bank vault, with more books. The elegant wood paneling, old paintings, intricate fireplace, and period chandeliers give it an antiquated and inspirational vibe.

The second floor holds meeting rooms and the third floor, administrative offices. The fourth floor contains the microtext collection, including microfilm and microfiche. It also has two scanners and a genealogist to assist in operating them. Collections include New England vital records, deeds, probate records, and city directories as well as items like Department of Motor Vehicle records.

The fifth floor is the reading room. It contains 40,000 state, regional, and local histories, a large table, and at least one genealogist. A branch of the American Jewish Historical Society is also housed on this floor. Manuscript requests are made here.

The sixth floor is more administrative offices. The seventh floor is the largest research floor, with six large tables comfortably spaced and six computers with access to newspaper databases and other subscription websites, including Ancestry and Fold3.

The corner to the right as you enter has current genealogical periodicals. The corner across the room has bound issues of older NEGHS periodicals. The corner to the left as you enter has a genealogist at a desk and shelves of several collections, including bound issues of the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record and The American Genealogist, and every volume of Mayflower Families and The Great Migration. The opposite corner has a table with several computers. A collection of 30,000 published family histories are in the attached room on the left.

The bulk of NEHGS’s collection are here. An off-site location houses new and less popular collections that can be accessed with a week’s notice. Off-site collections include unpublished manuscripts. In total, NEHGS houses over 1,000,000 manuscripts. Since only about 20% of NEHGS’s collections are online, a visit could be well worth your while.

Researching at NEHGS

I brought three family names to see what I could find at NEHGS. All three are old eastern Connecticut names: Janes, Slafter, and Fenton. I found that each name had its own published family history and two histories definitely had my lines! Interestingly, the two books with my lines were published in the late 1860’s.

My favorite find on the fifth floor was a published Guide to Diaries in the R. Stanton Avery Special Collections of the NEHGS. Diaries are my favorite records since they have the most potential for giving insight into personalities and daily lives. Examples of information on diaries are: “Thomas Brewer, 1798, unspecified location,” “James Cox, 1779 – 1782, on ship,” “John Fiske, 1607 – 1676, Chelmsford and Wenham, Massachusetts,” “Julia Moses “1837 – 1918, Boston,” “Louise More, 1876 – 1945, NYC socialite,” “Susan Sparrow, 1833 – 1910, Cape Cod.”

The New England Historic Genealogical Society has collections from every state and genealogists on every floor to answer your questions. It is well worth the visit. If you plan a visit of several days and know that you’ll need to get out and take a break, you couldn’t ask for a better location. The picturesque Charles River is a ten-minute walk north with a great view of the world famous MIT. The fifty-acre Boston Common is a historically significant park that is a ten-minute walk east, in the middle of Boston, with swan boats and a Frog Pond. And if Newbury Street doesn’t offer enough shopping options, my favorite mall, The Shops at Prudential Center, is a ten-minute walk west.

The New England Historic Genealogical Society is more than a research facility, it is a rich experience. As much as I enjoy finding information online at home, I value the experience of visiting repositories, especially historic repositories. Whether you research on or off-site, the collections of NEHGS can prove invaluable in extending your family history.

Do you have ancestors from the northeastern United States? Our excellent onsite researchers can access the New England Historic Genealogical Society as well as other resources in the Boston area such as the Massachusetts Archives, Boston Public Library, and National Archives to find what you need. Contact us today to request a free quote!

mai 22, 2020 by Legacy Tree Genealogists 2 Comments

From Beaver Pelts to Totem Poles: Key Canadian Genealogy Resources East to West

A guide to key Canadian genealogy resources, coast to coast!

East to west, Canadian genealogy resources offer an abundance of delights for family history! The record landscape begins with the first non-indigenous early 16^th century settlement by the French in present-day Quebec, and although things didn’t really start rolling in terms of nation-wide settlement until Confederation in 1867 — the birth of the Dominion of Canada — the tantalizing opportunity for many families to be traced in Canada as far back as the early 17^th century exists.

Yet where should your exploration begin? If your non-indigenous ancestor lived in Canada before Confederation, it’s a safe bet — with some exceptions for Métis and fur trade ancestors — that you’ll be hanging out in provincial record sets belonging to the eastern half of Canada, for the country had yet to expand significantly beyond what are now the following provinces: Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Following Confederation, you’ll be casting a wider net to embrace all of western and northern Canada: Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut. And so, let’s take a look at some choice Canadian genealogy resources from east to west — aside from those available on sites such as MyHeritage, Ancestry and FamilySearch — beginning with three national gems. All are a must-visit whether online, onsite or vicariously through genealogy professionals!

Explore Pan-Canada Genealogy Resources

You’ll want spend a little ‘getting-to-know-you’ time learning about Canada’s history and settlement, each province’s specialized records sets, and civil registration dates. Start with the mini-history over at Canada GenWeb, and pause to explore all the provincial and territorial volunteer-donated treats.

Next, shift to Library and Archives Canada (LAC) to build on your knowledge of the history of each province and territory and their associated genealogy records. From LAC’s home page, select ‘Genealogy and Family History’ from the drop-down menu under ‘Search the Collection’. To the left of the ‘Genealogy and Family History’ page, select ‘Places’ from the menu, and begin exploring! Under ‘Discover the Collection’, you can also learn about resources available for researching fur trade and Métis ancestors, and all of Canada’s ethno-cultural groups. Make sure to have a rummage through LAC’s essential collection of databases, which can be accessed again from LAC’s home page by selecting ‘Ancestors Search’ from the drop-down menu under ‘Search the Collection’. Of intrigue here are the Land Petitions of Upper and Lower Canada, for in pre-Confederation days, the paper trail was often parsimonious with information concerning an ancestor’s origins or relations. However, if an ancestor petitioned for land — which many did — the details in a petition have been known to resolve some particularly stubborn questions! Best of all, links to free, digitized images of the original petitions are provided at the bottom of each database page under ‘How to Obtain Copies’. If you can manage a visit to LAC in Ottawa, you’ll be treated to so much more, for only a tiny percentage of their dizzying collection of holdings — LAC is the 4^th largest library in the world — has been digitized.

After LAC, head over to Héritage, LAC’s partner website, where you can access, for free, close to forty million digitized primary-source documents, such as parish registers, all of which are searchable.

Explore Eastern Canada Genealogy Resources

In Ontario, the Archives of Ontario (AO) is a must-access repository. AO houses so many key records — it’s the second largest archives in Canada — necessary to tracing families from the early days of settlement in the regions known as Upper Canada and subsequently Canada West. The most critical of these are AO’s probate and land records, and, although a bit more fortuitously available, church records and cemetery transcriptions. When sought-after mentions of family members and origins evade, they are often found in these collections. AO’s value does not end here, for their holdings embrace a seemingly endless supply of maps, photographs, books, immigration records, military records, municipal records, historical correspondence, and so much more.

Research in Ontario will also benefit from a visit to the Metropolitan Toronto Reference Library. Here, you can delight in finding a bevy of local histories, transcriptions of cemeteries, church records, early township census and population returns, immigration records and passenger lists, telephone books and city directories, newspapers and transcriptions, guide books, rare historical books, maps, and more… not only for Ontario, yet all of Canada.

Quebec is one Canadian province in which you might expect to trace ancestors to the 17^th century. Also, if you suspect an early ancestor arrival to Canada — whether of French heritage or not — yet cannot place that ancestor, do try Quebec. Loyalists from the US, Scots, Irish, people of African descent, and many other groups started arriving before the 1800s. The best places to explore Quebec ancestors are Généalogie Québec and BAnQ, or Bibliothèque et Archives Nationales du Québec. Généalogie Québec is a comprehensive online source which offers, among their numerous prized sources, the complete Drouin and LaFrance collections of Quebec vital records. BAnQ’s impressive resources allow you to search online for ancestors in digitized original newspapers, directories, and importantly, files of Quebec notaries, which often contain wills and death information. For Quebec research, you will want to brush up on your French language skills, or corral the help of a translator or willing friend!

Collectively, some families in the maritime provinces can be traced to the 17^th century, for many, such as Acadians, shifted from province to province. You may find that your research in the Maritimes will need to appeal to the Drouin collection of Acadian records.

For the individual maritime provinces, beginning with Nova Scotia, the Nova Scotia Archives online genealogy guide is key, as are their digitized collections of early — dating to roughly the mid-18^th century — land records, census records, and historical newspapers. Next, an absolutely critical resource is the online, searchable Nova Scotia Historical Vital Statistics database.

Neighboring New Brunswick’s Provincial Archives have amassed a collection of thirty-seven compelling databases for you to search, and in many cases copies of original documents may be ordered. And, to augment your New Brunswick research, be sure to sift through the comprehensive listing of links to further treasures over at Can Genealogy’s page for New Brunswick.

Tiny, yet teeming with genealogy resources, Prince Edward Island’s PARO Collection is the place to begin. Here, vital records from the 1770s, census records and archival collections can be searched, and copies of original records ordered. Complement your research over at a favorite of PEI historians: The Island Register, a searchable trove of information. Finally, if you have early French PEI ancestors, the Archives Nationales d’Outre Mer offers scanned images of the original parish registers of Port-La-Joye, one of the first settlements of PEI (formerly known as Île Saint-Jean). Yes, here again, the French language will be a requirement!

Newfoundland and Labrador did not join Canada until 1949, and so its record system is distinct. Start learning about Newfoundland and unraveling family ties in the cherished, volunteer-run website Newfoundland’s Grand Banks Genealogical and Historical Data, which is crammed with transcriptions of historical documents of all manner, and directions to locate sources for originals. You’ll also want to explore The Rooms, Newfoundland and Labrador Provincial Archives’ collection, embracing parish registers, wills, crown land records, and more key resources. Also, considering this province’s rich maritime history, you can explore shipping ancestors over at Memorial University’s Maritime History Archive, starting with a search of their Crew List Index.

Explore Western and Northern Canada Genealogy Resources

Post-Confederation vital statistics research in the western provinces and northern territories will be a slightly protracted affair, because the original records held by each province and territory are, for the most part, not accessible online. However, to ease your search, each provincial and territorial government vital statistics agency or archives offers searchable indexes or, in the case of Alberta, digital images of their vital statistics index, followed by instructions for ordering copies of original documents. If you can visit any western and northern provincial archives in person, hire a genealogist, or choose to appeal to any archives’ ‘research from a distance’ services, you are encouraged to access homestead — or land — records and probate records, which are all-important to genealogy research in western and northern Canada. While you wait for any of your requested archival documents to arrive, reward your patience by exploring what’s on offer at the following key resources!

If you are researching fur trade or Métis ancestors, you’ll certainly want to make use of the excellent Hudson’s Bay Company Archives offered by the Archives of Manitoba, followed by the treasured collection of online resources at the Virtual Museum of Métis History and Culture. For early Scots Selkirk settlers, the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives is again your go-to, followed by the labor-of-love website Red River Ancestry.

If your ancestors hailed from British Columbia, be sure to visit the Vancouver Public Library, home to several indispensable online collections such as their British Columbia City Directories and Historical Newspapers databases.

Traveling north, supplement your Yukon research at the very helpful site Yukon Genealogy, or the Nunavut GenWeb site.

Finally, in the comparatively sparsely populated historical regions of western and northern Canada, research in newspaper announcements can be the answer to piecing together family histories. For a round-up of digitized historical Canadian newspapers, you’ll want to explore Can Genealogy’s comprehensive summary.

We hope you have enjoyed your east to west exploration of some key Canadian genealogy resources. Do keep in mind that many Canadian ancestors were an itinerant bunch, and so you may be tracking them in more than one place!

With these key resources you should soon be nudging your Canadian ancestors into view!

Do you need help tracing your Canadian ancestors? With genealogists specializing in all different types of research and onsite agents worldwide, we can help you track down those elusive records that might provide the clue(s) needed to extend your family line. Get started today by requesting a free quote.

april 30, 2020 by Legacy Tree Genealogists Leave a Comment

“The Milkman’s Son”: Tips for Writing a Captivating Family History, and a Giveaway!

Randy Lindsay, author of The Milkman’s Son, shares tips for writing a family history others will want to read, PLUS a giveaway for a copy of his book.

Randy’s Story

In the summer of 2005, an ordinary trip to visit my dad changed my life. I should have known I was in for a surprise when he muted the sound on the television and had an actual discussion with me. Dad told me he was having dreams. He saw the faces of people he believed were his ancestors and even though none of these ghosts spoke to him, he knew they wanted their family history work done.

The responsibility for researching the family tree fell upon me. I became The Keeper of Names for both sides of my family. While I loved all of the work, the research into my surname was by far my favorite. The Great Lindsay Quest took me back as far as William “The Immigrant” Lindsay.” And that’s where I hit a serious brick wall.

William was born around 1800, in Ireland, but I could find no trace of him there. I switched gears and worked on other branches of the family tree. All that time, William taunted me. At least, in my imagination, he taunted me. Daring me to find him. Bragging about his skill in hiding from modern investigation techniques.

But I knew he couldn’t hide his DNA. I had it running through my blood. I pulled out the big guns, technologically speaking, and ordered a DNA test kit. Fortunately, they didn’t want any of my blood, just a little bit of spit. I sent in the kit and . . . waited.

Months passed by at a glacial pace. Then the results arrived. I scrambled to look through the information, looking for any evidence that would lead me to William’s location in Ireland.

Surprise!

William Petrauschke

I’m not a Lindsay. Not genetically. It turned out that I was a Petrauschke (pronounced Puh-trow-ski). Maybe it shouldn’t have been a surprise. Since high school, my siblings have teased me about being the milkman’s son. I don’t look like the rest of them. I don’t act like any of them either. The results sent a thousand thoughts reeling through my head. One emotional storm after another tossed my heart about.

It took some time, but I adjusted to having two families. Then my writer friends urged me to write about the experience. None of their efforts to persuade me worked. I wasn’t interested in writing about myself.

Then, one of my closest friends suggested that I had the ability to make this whole experience accessible to the many people who might be going through the same thing. In other words, it would help others.

Oh, horse feathers. How could I say no to helping others.

So, I wrote a memoir. People discovered I wrote about my family history and having my DNA tested and wanted to know how to do the same. These people realized they needed to make their family stories interesting or else nobody would read them.

Then it hit me. These stories were important. Future generations would benefit from know more about their origins by reading about the lives of relatives who had passed away. Since then, I’ve switched from writing fiction to helping others to tell their stories in a way that’s interesting for others to read. I mean, what’s the point of writing a family history if the readers are going to lose interest and put the story down after the first page?

Not only do I love teaching people how to write their personal and family stories, but I also want all of these amazing stories to reach as many readers as possible. Here are a few tips that I hope will help you craft an engaging story.

Limit Your Material

It’s impossible to write about everything that happens in a person’s life. Not only do you not have the time to write that much material, but even if you did the story would fill hundreds of books.

Find a theme instead. Choose a single aspect of the person’s life and write about that. Show the reader how the situation came about. Describe the related events that came afterward. Discuss how it affected the people in the story. And then tell us how it ends. Write only about that single event.

My memoir, The Milkman’s Son, is not the story of my life. It’s about how I discovered I had a family I didn’t previously know, how that discovery affected both sides of my family, and how it changed my life.

Don’t Start at the Beginning

The beginning of a story needs to grab the reader’s attention or else they probably won’t make it past the first page. True stories are no different. The beginning of your story should start at the point when things get interesting. There will be plenty of time to add in details you want the reader to know, once you have their attention.

An immigration story might start as the person, or family, boards the ship that will take them to their new home. That’s the point where everything is new and scary for the immigrants. Readers will be intrigued to see what happens on the journey across the sea and in the place where they plan to settle.

The Milkman’s Son starts with my dad telling me that his dead ancestors are visiting him in his dreams. Talk about an attention-grabber. My book starts where the story gets interesting.

Goals and Struggles

At the heart of every great story is a person with a goal. Humans are instinctively drawn to find out whether a person succeeds in obtaining any goal they might have. Then when obstacles are placed in the way of those goals, we have . . . struggles.

Struggles are the reason people read stories. We want to find out if the characters in a story can overcome adversity. Hopefully, to grow stronger and wiser in the process. That is a central concept in our lives. All of us face obstacles. All of us must deal with adversity. Reading about how someone else has managed to succeed gives the rest of us the courage to work through our own struggles.

The obstacles in a family story need to be related to the theme, or event, you are writing about. Obstacles in paying off a student loan might be a distraction in a story about a young woman dealing with a fractured relationship with her sister.

For example, the obstacles I used in The Milkman’s Son include long-established beliefs about what it meant to be family, emotional conflict over meeting my new family, and financial difficulties in making a second trip out to visit my biological father.

Include Plenty of Details

Details bring a story to life. Without them, the readers are basically staring at an empty stage. Without details, the readers have nothing to picture in their mind’s eyes. Writing about a trip to your grandparent’s house will have a greater impact if you give it a colorful description. The more details you include, the more vivid a picture you place in the reader’s mind.

Compare the following two sentences.

I drove my car over to grandma’s house.

I drove my cherry-red 1967 Camaro, along the crowded I-17 freeway, to Grandma Jenny’s paint-peeling, two-story house.

The first sentence tells what happens, but the second sentence allows the reader to visualize what happens. It’s the details in the second sentence that makes the reader feel as if they are right in the middle of the action. And for me, that’s what writing memoirs and family histories is all about, letting readers experience the lives of their ancestors.

Keep the memory of your family members alive with stories that are interesting enough to grab the attention of future generations. These simple tips are a good start to writing family stories that people will want to read.

Win a Copy of the Best-selling Memoir, The Milkman’s Son

The Milkman’s Son reveals author Randy Lindsay’s family tree, pulling back layers of new information as he gets closer to the truth—a biological father, siblings, and family members he never knew about.

This is a story of accepting, forgiving, reuniting, and, most importantly, it’s about the bonds that connect us and the unconditional love that makes us feel like we belong.

To learn more or to purchase your own copy, visit: https://milkmanssonbook.com/

win a copy of "The Milkman's Son"

1 winner
Value:
$24.99
Prize:
FREE book

Win a Copy of "The Milkman's Son"!

Ended

april 17, 2020 by Legacy Tree Genealogists Leave a Comment

Forensic and Probate Research Frequently Asked Questions

Legacy Tree Genealogists has a dedicated probate research division, and has been servicing the forensic needs of attorneys, paralegals, estate administrators, fiduciaries and investors since 2004. Check out our forensic and probate research FAQ.

What is forensic genealogy?

Forensic genealogy is genealogical research in relation to legal matters. This most often involves genealogical research to define the identities and locate contact information for potential heirs based on descendancy. While often involved in matters of probate, forensic research has additional legal applications, such as in real estate investments, mineral rights investments and unclaimed property. See How Can Investors Benefit From Probate Researchers for additional information.

What is a forensic genealogist?

Traditional genealogists generally research only backwards in time to find further ancestors. Forensic genealogists, also referred to as probate researchers, start with a decedent, researches backward in time only as appropriate according to individual country or state succession laws, then researches forwards in time to define extended family members and potential heirs to the decedent.

How do I hire a forensic genealogist?

If you’re interested in hiring Legacy Tree Genealogists for estate research, also called probate research, forensic genealogy, heirship research, or heir searching, here’s some helpful information:

Legacy Tree has experience working with Public Administrators, court-appointed administrators, individual executors, and even geneticists in their quest to account for heirs of common ancestors.
Unlike many probate research companies, we do not work on a commission that takes a percentages of the estate. Each hour is billed and appropriately accounted for as we strive to productively accomplish the work as quickly as possible.
We provide copies of all documents used to assemble the relationships presented, which are accompanied by citations for easy reference.

How much does probate research cost?

Payment is required in advance for a minimum of five hours used as a research retainer to initiate the research process and the corresponding Affidavit of Diligent Search for Kinship. If additional research time is required to bring the research and affidavit to completion, the client will receive a summary update of the results achieved so far and an estimate of the amount of any additional research time required. This will include cost proposals to present to courts for release of funds to facilitate advance payments. This can generally be delivered within several days. If there are time constraints we need to work within, please let us know and we will make every effort to meet those deadlines. Client approval and payment is required to proceed.

In addition to the hourly rates for research services, Legacy Tree may need to bill for outside services such as death certificates, marriage records, obituary notices/local newspaper searches, background checks (on relatives discovered, for potential relationships to other individuals), database fees, and other incidentals that may occur. Client approval will be obtained prior to incurring any additional costs.

How long does probate research take?

After client approval of proposed costs, the final report has a turnaround time of about 3-8 weeks. If success is reached with additional time remaining, the balance will be refunded upon conclusion of the project.

In order to facilitate the providing of research results as soon as possible and/or preserve estate assets, certified death certificates for deceased persons affecting the line of succession will not be purchased at this time. Deaths will be exhibited with the use of databases such as the Social Security Death Index and exhibited by documents such as obituaries. Should the client later require the securing of certified certificates, Legacy Tree Genealogists can assist the client in the ordering of certified certificates that the various identified heirs at law cannot produce themselves and make them available in an addendum report.

If an affidavit is required, these are generally completed in 8-10 weeks, depending on the availability of needed official records and certificates that may need to be ordered through the mail.

What is the difference between an affidavit and simply a report?

The kind of report you need us to provide for you depends upon the goal which you want to accomplish. All reports explain the results of the diligent and unbiased research conducted in a narrative written form. If the report is going to be used as evidence in legal proceedings, or as the basis to begin legal proceedings, the report must be in the form of a notarized report of written sworn testimony called an “affidavit.”
what is an affidavit

What are the key components of an affidavit?

An “affidavit” is simply sworn expert testimony presented in written form. The “affiant” is the person who signs the report as their personal notarized and sworn expert testimony.

Your affiant, the professional forensic researcher assigned to your case, begins the affidavit by swearing to a series of statements. Your affiant swears that they are:

An employee of Legacy Tree Genealogists.
A United States citizen over 18 years old age.
Credentialed.
Not related to the decedent or heirs.
Paid on an hourly plus costs basis and have no financial interest in the outcome of the case.
Have inspected or caused to be inspected documents.
Have personal knowledge of the facts and matters discussed in the affidavit.
Believe any statements made in the affidavit are true.

The affidavit then discloses the specific state laws the research was conducted to align with.

The affidavit also contains a series of summary charts overviewing the research results.

The main body of the affidavit is a series of facts describing the research results. Each statement of fact presented in a numbered paragraph and is accompanied by an exhibit showing the basis for the fact, including a full source citation. For example: sample affidavit exhibit
Finally, the affiant swears under penalties of perjury that the facts stated in the affidavit are true.

Will the affidavit say for sure who the heirs are?

No, only potential heirs based on familial kinship and the applicable state laws. Only a judge has the legal right to adjudicate heirship.

What if the court wants the affiant to testify in person?

As providers of expert testimony, we are happy to testify in person. However, in person testimony is rarely required by the court.

Can you answer my legal questions so I will not need an attorney?

No. As professional genealogists and not attorneys at law, we cannot offer any legal advice.

Can I, as the client, request changes be made to an affidavit or request that certain information be left out?

As providers of expert testimony, we must remain completely unbiased as to the research results, else our testimony would not be of value. If a client shares documents, directly related to the case, we are happy to include them. We cannot remove information from the affidavit and remain unbiased.

How long does an affidavit take to complete?

Normally an affidavit can be completed in 8-10 weeks from the time of client payment, depending on the availability of needed official records and certificates that may need to be ordered through the mail.

How am I charged for an affidavit?

Research is conducted on an hourly plus actual costs basis. As providers of expert testimony that is unbiased, we cannot accept commission or contingency agreements.

Is all forensic research conducted in the same way?

No. Forensic research is conducted in a way consistent with appropriate state laws. Each state has different intestate succession laws. See our article, Intestate Succession – 50 Laws for 50 States for additional information.

Can I help keep costs down?

Yes. Provide us with all the documents you can such and birth, marriage, and death certificates. We do not want to waste resources ordering and waiting for documents that you already have. Be open with us about your concerns so we can address them cost effectively.

How do I order my forensic research project?

Orders may be placed using our secure online order form here, or by contacting our Client Solutions Team at 800.818.1476 (U.S. and Canada) or 0800 0488530 (UK and International).

As a probate research firm, our forensic genealogists are experienced at providing expert genealogical research, analysis and reporting for legal proceedings involving kinship. Contact us today for expert probate research assistance.

mars 27, 2020 by Legacy Tree Genealogists 2 Comments

Legacy Tree Onsite: A Genealogist’s Guide to Australian Archives

Legacy Tree Genealogists works with researchers from across the globe to access records for our clients. We asked one of our onsite researchers to share an inside look at the resources available for family history research at various Australian archives.

Australian archives can be broadly sorted into governmental, public and private collections. They can occur at each of the three levels of government (federal, state and local), within other public institutions such as state libraries, or within private organisations – either the creating body such as the Lutheran Church of Australia or collecting bodies such as genealogical and historical societies.

There is a certain lack of consistency about which records can be found in which archives for any particular record type or series before the mid 20^th century. As such, it is important to know at least which state or territory your family member lived in.

It’s also important to remember several key points about searching these records:

Nearly all of the colonial and federal census household census returns and enumeration sheets have been destroyed.
Naturalisation was only relevant to non-British subjects.
Migration records were often only created and kept if the migrant was sponsored by the government.
Where US spelling uses a ‘Z’, Australian spelling often uses an ‘S’, and archive search tools often need both spellings used to return all records.

National Archives of Australia (NAA)

The National Archives of Australia collects governmental records created by the government and agencies of the Commonwealth of Australia, although certain records sit with specialist collections such as the Australian War Memorial or Parliamentary Library.

The NAA holds the following important records for family historians:

migration and naturalisation and defence post 1901 (Australian Federation) as well as some pre-1901 colonial records in these areas
WWI Army Service Records (B2455, First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920)
naturalisation records for colonial South Australia and Victoria (other states pre-1901) records are still held at a state level. A large number of these records are available as digital images for free, and other records can be requested for digitisation at a cost.

Check the NAA for a more complete list: https://www.naa.gov.au/help-your-research/whats-collection.

Australian archives - Certificate of Naturalisation

South Australia Certificate of Naturalisation (NAA: A821, SET 1/NO 4 FOLIO 1 Page 1 of 4).

State/Territory Government Archives

In each state or territory (Australia has 6 states and 2 self-governing territories) there is an agency responsible for the archiving of government and governmental agency records. A different name is given for this agency in each jurisdiction:

South Australia – State Records of SA (archives.sa.gov.au)

Victoria – Public Records Office Victoria (prov.vic.gov.au)

Western Australia – State Records Office of WA (sro.wa.gov.au)

Tasmania – Tasmanian Archive & Heritage Office (libraries.tas.gov.au/archive-heritage)

New South Wales – NSW State Archives and Records (records.nsw.gov.au)

Queensland – Qld State Archives (archives.qld.gov.au)

Northern Territory – NT Archives Service (https://dtsc.nt.gov.au/arts-and-museums/northern-territory-archives-service)

Australian Capital Territory – Archives ACT (archives.act.gov.au)

These collections are less accessible than the National Archives records. All have online collection search functions; however the amount of material digitized or even indexed varies greatly. Some of the archives have partnered with providers such as MyHeritage, Findmypast, Ancestry and FamilySearch to provide access to digital versions of these records.

The collections are particularly useful for colonial migration documents, access to local government annual land assessments (if not stored with the local government), police and court files, wills and probate, school attendance, and government employment records. Some state records are managed by a different state body, but there are usually links from state archives to the relevant department. This includes vital records (known as BDM in Australia) and land titles in particular, but also some probate and will documents.

South Australia Certificate of Title (SAILIS: Certificate of Title Vol. 584 Fol. 30).

State Libraries

Most state and territory government archives grew out of their respective state libraries, with non-government collections staying with the state libraries after the service splits. These collections include diaries, journals, photographic collections, maps, organisational archives, and private archives. A number of religious bodies have chosen to archive their material with state libraries, for example the Uniting Church and the Anglican Church in South Australia have archived their records with the SA State Library. Even where a state or national organisational archive exists, such as the National Lutheran Archives, some individual parish records can be found in state libraries.

The rise of interest in family history research means that most state libraries have a dedicated section for family historians and have created significant indexes of their holdings where they relate to family history.

Australian archives - State Library of SOuth Australia, Map of Hundred of Bright

State Library of South Australia, Map of Hundred of Bright 1876 ([cartographic material] zsmp 830 bje 1:63,360 Bright 1876).

Local Government Archives

Records relating to the various local government bodies in Australia are kept in a variety of places and may include tax assessment (rates) registers, council minutes, and records of local health and welfare bodies prior to state management.

Larger councils may have their own archival facilities (eg the City of Adelaide Archives), while smaller councils may choose to co-locate records or deposit them with state archives. Others have passed records deemed as historic to local history groups for management and access. Due to significant reform within the local government sphere, there are currently only 537 local governments in Australia as of June 2018, so determining who holds which records is not too difficult. Most local council areas also have a local history group that works closely with the council on history and heritage matters and can help with accessing specific records.

Australian archives - assessment book from City of Adelaide

Assessment Book (City of Adelaide Archives, Series S5 Assessment Books, Series 2 1846-1849, Vol 1 1847-1848 p. 78).

Private Archives

As noted above, private organisations often use state archives and libraries as their repositories of record, but others maintain their own archives at a state or national level. Access may be freely available or heavily restricted, so it is necessary to contact each organisation individually. The most important of these organisations for family history are the various church archives and the collections they hold beyond parish registers.

Lutheran Archives, Hope Valley Parish Papers (researcher’s personal file)

Australia is one of the world’s largest immigrant-based countries, meaning the majority of the people living there have family trees that originate from somewhere else. If you need help researching your Australian ancestry, the team at Legacy Tree Genealogists is experienced at tracing and extending family lines, wherever they originate from. Our network of onsite researchers have access to the archives you need to make serious progress on your family history. Contact us today to discuss your research goals and request a free quote!