In a message dated 05/04/2004 22:02:38 GMT Daylight Time, neil.meek@ukgateway.net writes: Could SKS suggest which records I should search for the parents and birth of John MEEK please. You have John Meek as marrying in Whickham (note the spelling - that "h" is important!)c1777, so he may have been born around the early 1750s. For that you will need to find him in the correct parish or other baptism register. The IGI, with all its faults remains the most convenient way of discovering the date and parish of his baptism. Having located that, you would then need to check the original register, to confirm the IGI details and to get the full entry. . As Whickham parish is on the Tyne which, at that time, was the boundary between Northumberland and Co Durham, there is every possibility that he will be found on the Northumberland IGI, so you should check that as well as the Co Durham one. . Local parish registers are kept in the Morpeth Records Centre (Northumberland: modern transcripts exist for a few of them, but not many) or Durham County Record Office (Co Durham: modern transcripts exist for many of them). For parishes such as Whickham, which lie within the modern Tyne and Wear, there will also be microfilm copies in Tyne and Wear Archives. There is a good set of transcripts, made c1900 by H M Wood (the "Wood transcripts") covering most local registers (CMB) from their beginning up to 1812. They are kept in Newcastle Central Library, with microfilm copies in the Morpeth Records Centre. Most (not all!) have been published on microfiche by Northfiche. . Do not even think of using the BTs. They do not exist any earlier than the 1760s for Durham Diocese. If there are any Wills for the family then, for the pre-1858 period, they will probably be in Durham University Library, Archives and Special Collections. If John Meek lived all his life in Whickham and died there, then there is an outside chance there is a MI for him in Whickham churchyard. A list of all such MIs has been published by the NDFHS. Another Whickham source which might repay your having a look at is the "Speculum Gregis" ("Mirror of the Flock"), compiled by the Whickham Curate (Mr Grice) of around 1815, and containing comments on many of the families then in the parish. Be warned: some are scurrilous!). It is in Durham County Record Office. Durham County Recrd Office's catalogue is now on line. Why not have a look at it, searching under "Whickham" or under "Meek" (or both at once). You may be surprised at what turns up! Geoff Nicholson 57 Manor Park, Concord, WASHINGTON, Tyne & Wear NE37 2BU Ask for details of NBL/DUR family history research in depth by THE local expert, working for YOU.