From: Ann Burns <ann.burns@rogers.com> > I am looking for suggestions on where/how to look farther back in time > for my SUNDERLAND ancestors in Yorkshire (Halifax to Bradford and > Bingley). As I am in Canada my searching has been limited to Internet > resources up to this point in time. I seem to have run out of > appropriate certificates to order and I have not found any sources > earlier than the 1841 census. The IGI has some potentially helpful > information about birthdates but for now I can't verify that I found > the right folks. The family does not have a consistent history of > church affiliation butit does seem like everyone was baptised at that > time. An LDS microfilmcontains "Bishop's transcripts of Halifax parish > registers from 1600 to1879". It seems like my most useful next > resource but wonder if therewould be enough information to verify that > I've found the folks I'm lookingfor. > > I have the marriage certificate of my 2nd great grandparents, Joseph > Sunderland and Ann Stansfield - both born in 1828, in Halifax. They > married in Halifax on 16 Sept 1849. Joseph's father was named > Thomas Sunderland and Ann's father was James Stansfield. Might the > parish register have something not on the certificate from the GRO? > > The 1841 England census shows a Sunderland family, headed by a > Rachel (possibly widowed), living in Halifax. Son Joseph was the right > age - listed as age 12 in 1841 (close enough). The names of the > children correspond with names used in the family through subsequent > generations. The IGI has the marriage of a Thomas Sunderland to a > Rachel Wood in 1817 - which also fits this family as Rachel's oldest > son was 22 yrs old in 1841, and thus would have been born 1 to 2 > years after that marriage. > > I have not yet ordered the LDS microfilm (referenced above) from > which this marriage information was extracted. Could I reasonably > expect to verify from that film, that I have the correct Thomas > Sunderland (and Rachel Wood) as I have no idea of their parents > names?> An entry in a parish register for a marriage in 1817 will NOT give the names of the parents of the parties, I'm afraid. Nor is the register likely to contain any extra information about the marriage of Joseph and Ann beyond what's on the GRO certificate. What you can expect to find on the 1817 entry are the names of both parties, marital status (i.e. bachelor, spinster, widowed, etc), the bridegroom's occupation, whether both were of the parish of Halifax or one of them was from some other parish, the name of the officiating minister, signatures or marks of the parties and signatures or marks of the witnesses. BTW, bishop's transcripts were copies of the registers that had to be made annually for the bishop, not the actual parish registers themselves. The LDS has often filmed the BTs rather than the registers because when they began their filming and extractions many registers were still in the hands of the incumbent who wouldn't permit them to film for religious reasons. Thus, they had to go to the diocesan office (usually the same as the county record office) and film the BTs instead. As you have no doubt discovered, Sunderland is a common name in Halifax. Indeed, the 1841 census reveals 538 entries at Halifax and Todmorden. -- Roy Stockdill Professional genealogical researcher, writer & lecturer Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History: www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html "There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about." OSCAR WILDE