Hi List, This email is triggered by a number of emails recently asking for help with identifying parents of individuals. The appearance of indexed census returns on the web in recent years appears to be encouraging new researchers to take short cuts with their family history - in short - anything but pay for a certified birth or marriage certificate. I come from the "old school" of researchers, whereby you found and purchased certificates and then confirmed or enhanced your findings with census information. Whilst in many cases it can now be done the other way round, I still believe that the original method of researching is robust and can save time and grief in the long run. The certificates are legal documents - the census is not. What is reported on a birth certificate is usually fact - what is reported to a census enumerator could be a long stretch of the imagination. I have come across a number of people recently who have researched an incorrect line of ascent, because they failed to purchase a certificate of birth to verify correct parentage. For example, on the census someone could be listed as a child of the head of household, whereas in reality they were the illegitimate child of the mother and not necessarily a child of the head of household. There is no need to buy certificates for everyone on your tree - few of us could afford that. However, it is essential to purchase the appropriate certificates for your direct line, and then use the census to confirm and add siblings and other relatives to the tree. Regards Sandra