Thanks, Pete. Barb Brown Hootman > /\___/\ > | o o | > >(( v ))< > \ _^_ / > Dear cousins and other readers. > > Since posting my recent message about the BROWNs of Northamptonshire, I've > had several interesting discussions, mainly with people in the US. One thing > that strikes me is the general lack of awareness about the easy ways of > getting info and contacts concerning ancestors over here. If this doesn't > concern you, there's no need to read on..................................... > > In the hope that I'm not talking to myself (an unshakeable habit as I slip > gracefully into middle age) ....... I will explain how to access the easy > info, and provide a few tips. > > The standard website for UK genealogy is www.genuki.org.uk > The details are nearly all arranged by county, the main administrative > division. If you don't know the county you will have to try several, so it > gets difficult. Please note that these are the historical counties and some > of them have changed borders over the years, and more recently names. > Genuki, like the Public Record Office, always refers to historical counties, > so if you use a modern map be careful, an older one is always better. > > At the Genuki homepage, you can access the homepage for any county in the > British Isles (ie. including all of Ireland). Homepages vary in detail, but > generally there is a list of surname interests, a lookup service for > different things, a list of parishes, details of civil registration > arrangements (from 1837) and so on. Some have extra details of registers, > prison populations, trade directories as well, but there's always lots to > look through. > > Just the other day someone wrote to me about ancestors in Devon. This is way > off my area and a county that I don't know well, but a quick glance told me > that there were about 8 people interested in BROWNs in the county, two of > them for the whole county (more unusual). I also picked up details of the > family in the right town being farmers and landowners in the early 19C. With > this info, the contact now has lots to follow up. > > In truth, you will always have problems accessing most records from out of > the country, but you can achieve a lot, and hopefully find someone else who > has already done a lot of the work. If you subscribe to a county Rootsweb > list you can also post messages, requesting help with a family, or more > common information about people, places and events. > > If anyone has problems or specific questions regarding all this I'll try to > help, but please note that I am not able to do detailed searches for BROWNs, > unless they are from Northamptonshire, as I have other commitments too. > > Hope this helps.......good hunting > > Pete > > Pete Brown > Groby > Leicestershire > > Interests: > BROWN - Northants > FARR - Glos > YARRANTON/YARRINGTON - all UK > > > ==== BROWN Mailing List ==== > > contact list manager at judjack@rocketmail.com > > ============================== > Genealogy calendars, guestbooks and more: > Visit RootsWeb's Resource Center at > http://resources.rootsweb.com/ >